help at a fanfic

Well, I don't really see fanfic different from any other story, except you already have the foundation laid out for you (the characters and the setting). Meaning, you can experiment. If you want to write fanfic, try considering writing something different from the last book re-written or writing your own versions of the books to come. Look at things from a different perspective will make it stand out and be more interesting.

Practicing writing short stories is often good before you go onto long ones, is a good way to start. If you can manage to do this, emptiing all your ideas onto the paper, then rereading it aloud and editing it in general. It'll help build up your confidence in prose slightly. You don't want to make your prose 'purple' and have about five ridiculous adjectives for everything - you need to be reasonably economical. Practice in general is more of the way to go - sometimes, you just need to force yourself down and write. And the more you practise, the more skills you can pick up, the more things you can consider.

A common problem for those starting out is that their chapters aren't long enough. You need to think about all the details - the emotions which the characters are feeling, and the mood. Is it tense and fearful? Is it gentle and quiet? Is it chaotic? or simply normal? Building up mood is one thing, especially in scenes which have lots of atmosphere. Wheras a scene which is just more of a normal conversation may not need it at all. You need to have some indication when this changes - not always saying 'Jimmy suddenly felt scared,' but something a little more subtle, perhaps mentioning Jimmy's thoat constricting (that's a cheesy example, I know). Setting is also important, but here you really don't want to overdo it (do we need page long descriptions of things irrelevent to the plot?).

Emotion is something to consider in writing. Characters all have their own ideas and personalities - and sometimes they simply won't agree, and have their own ideas (not everyone goes along with the protagonists plan). How will they be feeling inside at certain moments? How will they present this mood, if at all (for example, if a character is annoyed, will they obviously show it, dropping huge hints, or will they just pull a face once or twice?). How will they react differently to one thing? Knowing your characters nad how they tick is important here, as well as being subtle without it being so hidden no one can tell. Esepcially in speech, and spoken/body language used here, it can give subtle hints about their inner feelings (sometimes people can have contradicting emotions). Not all conversations are simple and easy - many are awkward.

Pacing is another thing. You want to have some moments faster and action packed, than others, which are slower. Shorter, simple sentences, less adjectives and uneeded details are the way to go (I personally find - you may have different methods) for something a little faster, though you don't want to be too sketchy. If it's a long fightscene with lots of opponents you make want to detail the first minute or so, action by action, then taking a general approach. Or if it's a more important fightscene, you may want to detail nearly every move, as long as it doesn't get repeptitive. Also balance up the number of fightscenes/high-pace action moments you have with plot. Do you need them all the time?

As for a couple of plot pointers in general - will you follow the typical good vs. evil plot? Do you have to? do people need to be on set sides? As well as this, what about twists and turns? Try not to foreshadow - that's annoying. Try to think ahead of the typical possibilities when coming to plot - you need to scavage ideas here, try and put twists. Sometimes a typical happy ending, (especially where you kill off all the characters you dislike rather than the characters which would work with the plot) may not work, and you might need to be more brutal. And do you even need a happy ending at all? I haven't seen many fanfics without one.

With romance, (there always seems to be romance in fanfic), first off - Do you need a romance? Is this romance realistic for the setting/time/place? (is it possible for a romance to occur several years afterwards/alternate settings?). Are these people compalibtle or not (honestly)? Does this romance have to work out at all? Is this the exact same romance everyone else is doing in fanfiction (try taking another route)? Secondly - be subtle with people's intentions and emotions. Often people are in denial of liking someone, and don't show it. There's also a lot of confusion and various emotions in romance apart from 'love' and 'elation'. Fear, anger, and sadness can play it's part as well. Consider those moments where you have connection between characters - meeting glances, touching accidently, awkward conversations, which happen inbetween events. Often many other things are happening and 'love' is not a priority at all.

Here's another good site just starting up, SevenWrite, which has been made by a number of members on these forums. (Yeah, blatant advertising, but there are good reads/listens here).

This is also another good starting point. Limyaael is a good basic wake up call to the clichés in fantasy, though I wouldn't listen to everything she says though.

There are also a load of brilliant reads in threads around here. I'll try to dig some up for you.

Reading a large amount (and not just restricted to fantasy - open yourself up and look into different genres) will help you build vocabulary and give you an edge in terms of most things. Simply by opening your favourite book (or just a book), and asking yourself what specifically is good about this book? Is it the main characters? The supplementary characters? The pacing of the book? Or something else? Then asking how the author makes this so good can help you understand some of the processes behind a book.

The most important thing to remember this that writing is flexible, and this is all general advice straight from my head, and perhaps, you may want to discard a few bits of it. You don't want to sound like a clone of someone else - we all speak differently, even when on the forums (for instance, I use the '-' more than most, and often use questions for pointers). Developing your own voice and your own style in writing is important, but that often comes with practice.

I mean, I'm not a great author myself (I can never stick to stuff and don't really have the patience for it), but these are some of the things I've picked up just reading and being around here.

Inheritance Forums: help at a fanfic - Inheritance Forums

#1 Brom Vraelsson

#2 eragon kingslayer

#3 evarya

#4 Pixel

#5 Cielina

#6 cartman

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