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This is something I've been wanting to do for a while, just for fun :)
If a first-time fanfic writer asked you for advice on writing fanfic, what would you tell them?
Me...
If a first-time fanfic writer asked you for advice on writing fanfic, what would you tell them?
Me...
Straight forward - don't have your first story centered around an original character you made up. There's nothing wrong with putting an original character in a fanfic, but people read for the canon characters. If you're just writing fanfic because you have a nifty original character you want to share with the world, but don't really care much for the fandom you're writing in (you just think your original character is cooler than everyone else and would fit in perfectly) then you shouldn't be writing fanfic. If you believe centering a fanfic story around an original character will make you story popular, you're setting yourself up for a massive let-down.
The best way to handle an original character in a fanfic, in my opinion, is to have the story just as much - if not more - about one of the canon characters than your made-up character. And whatever you do, don't heap all the interesting stuff only on your original character. you're better off saving the good stuff for canon characters. Again, no one reads fanfic for nifty original characters, they read for the characters on the show.
Before posting, get someone else to look over your story. Barring that, read through your story at least twice - preferably three times - before posting. The cleaner the story, the better the reception.
When asking for advice on how to better your story, don't listen to anyone who tells you that adding romance/slash/whump to your story will bring in more readers. They're just serving their own purposes by telling you how to write. Do listen to people offering advice about how to better what you already have in the story. You don't have to necessarily practice what they're preaching in your story, but you should at least take what they have to say into careful consideration.
Put up warnings, ratings; if the story contains sex, slash, violence, swearing. It doesn't give anything in the story away, and no one appreciates being blindsided.
Going along with that, decide in advance what your genre will be - romance, slash, gen, whump, dark fic. Again, no one likes to be blindsided, and to have a gen fic suddenly turn into romance or slash without warning is incredibly unfair to those readers who aren't a fan of those genres. If your story does take a turn into another genre, then put in the proper warnings.
The best way to handle an original character in a fanfic, in my opinion, is to have the story just as much - if not more - about one of the canon characters than your made-up character. And whatever you do, don't heap all the interesting stuff only on your original character. you're better off saving the good stuff for canon characters. Again, no one reads fanfic for nifty original characters, they read for the characters on the show.
Before posting, get someone else to look over your story. Barring that, read through your story at least twice - preferably three times - before posting. The cleaner the story, the better the reception.
When asking for advice on how to better your story, don't listen to anyone who tells you that adding romance/slash/whump to your story will bring in more readers. They're just serving their own purposes by telling you how to write. Do listen to people offering advice about how to better what you already have in the story. You don't have to necessarily practice what they're preaching in your story, but you should at least take what they have to say into careful consideration.
Put up warnings, ratings; if the story contains sex, slash, violence, swearing. It doesn't give anything in the story away, and no one appreciates being blindsided.
Going along with that, decide in advance what your genre will be - romance, slash, gen, whump, dark fic. Again, no one likes to be blindsided, and to have a gen fic suddenly turn into romance or slash without warning is incredibly unfair to those readers who aren't a fan of those genres. If your story does take a turn into another genre, then put in the proper warnings.
