Fan Fiction Official Tip Collection

[I]

Originally Posted by Guile

And do remember that you're at a Kingdom Hearts forum; therefore the majority of the population are children and young teens. Now, I understand completely what you're saying about the tip about colours and I honour your opinion. However, there are not always mature people in a forum that read these fanfics. They need something, other than the actual context to liven up the story. Personally, I haven't been reading fan fictions here because of just seeing a long length of words that don't catch my attention, at all.

Also, although I do honour your opinion, since everyone has their right to one, I do not appreciate the insults that you throw. Whether or not your intentions are just or not, your manner of giving your opinion is, or at least can be, considered as flaming. Just because you may have started your writing at seven and ecetera does not mean that you the right to insult another for their view.

Personally, I would ask that this thread just be trashed. Let the writers, new or old, come up with their own ideas for their stories. If people started using tips as given by other people, you'd probably not get anything unique anymore. Let the 'avid writers' come up with their own style. If they make mistakes, or something doesn't work, then they can ask people to edit and give their suggestions. Live and learn, ya know?

Okay, I know that what I said may have sounded really harsh, but I'm not apologising for making a decent point and offering some kind of constructive criticism to help other people. Really, it may have sounded like an insult, but it wasn't intended to as I don't tend to sugarcoat my expression of personal opinion. I honestly have nothing to gain by putting your opinions down, but I'm merely stating the truth of the matter. People are going to criticise your ideas and your writing, and eventually the writing community as a whole needs to learn to take the reviews at face value, get what information they can from them, and move on. Once again, not an insult, not a flame, you don't need to take it as such.

----

Okay, now, my first tip that I thought of when replying to the above quote: Just because you are writing for an assumed less-than-mature audience does not mean that you need to lower your writing standards to 'fit' said audience. Children's literature (or so it may be called) does not need to be... I'll use the term immature for lack of a better word. Or maybe subsatisfactory might be better. Anyways, even though you may think you're writing for someone who may be the most immature person on the planet, you can still produce good, meaningful work - which also means that the fandom that you are writing for does not matter. (Really, now, yes, Kingdom Hearts, it's Disney, you'd assume small children might play it, but the fact is, the game is quite mature when you think about it, it takes some bit of understanding of the situations presented to truly comprehend it. That being said, it's obvious by this forum that it's not just small children who play this game, you have adults and teenagers and whatnot who can and do understand maturity. You can have mature, meaningful writing for this fandom without sacrificing 'fun' and 'interest', as so presented by the numerous fanfictions that exist on the internet. I'll say nothing more.)

My next tip: If you have some serious writer's block, and you've tried everything that you can but you still can't get around it because you've written yourself so far into that corner that you can't turn around... Okay, go to your last chapter, wherever you have it published, saved, wherever. Select the entire piece. Press [DELETE]. Save it. You should have a blank page with no trace of that last chapter. Now, don't apologise to your fans, they'll get over themselves eventually. Now, here's the great part: you have no choice but to rewrite it, and you are free of that evil little corner. Believe me, it works miracles. You might feel bad about it at first, you might angst over losing what you consider your heart and soul, but you'll feel better about it once you realise you're over writer's block.

[Gullwing Yunie]

Originally Posted by axelownshardcore

My next tip: If you have some serious writer's block, and you've tried everything that you can but you still can't get around it because you've written yourself so far into that corner that you can't turn around... Okay, go to your last chapter, wherever you have it published, saved, wherever. Select the entire piece. Press [DELETE]. Save it. You should have a blank page with no trace of that last chapter. Now, don't apologise to your fans, they'll get over themselves eventually. Now, here's the great part: you have no choice but to rewrite it, and you are free of that evil little corner. Believe me, it works miracles. You might feel bad about it at first, you might angst over losing what you consider your heart and soul, but you'll feel better about it once you realise you're over writer's block.

Wow, that's actually a really good idea. I would've never thought of that.

Tips of my own...hmm. Listening to music can really help inspire you. That's all I can think of for now. =P

[princess namine]

Okay, so far the tips have been excellent because well know people have voiced their tips on how to write. Now here are mine tips.

1. Music is good to listen to while writing. Don't put on music that you want to dance to because then you want to dance to it and delay the chapter which is bad.

2. It's okay to use color on certain things like I use a color when I'm using a song. Reason why is that you can pick a color that matches the emotions of the song and the person. Here's a color code I use when I chose colors.

Blue = Sad
Red = Anger
Green = Jealous
Yellow = Happy
Pink = Love
Orange = No certain mood

3. Start a new line when someone else starts talking. It looks crappy when you have " " next to each other.

4. If you don't have word or any other helper, ask someone if they can edit the chapter for you because they can make things sound better if you have a problem with the way it sounds. Also make sure they credit you so it doesn't sound like their stealing the story.

5. Each chapter title has to relate to the chapter somehow. The title has to be interesting but doesn't give away the plot of the chapter.

[imtherealnamine]

sorry axelownshardcore.im not trying to be rude or insult your oppinion but i know my fan fic sucked but i need insparaion for writing which i didn have but ive been writting since kindergarten and our school sysem ives out awards for best author or each grade i jus finished 9th and ive won all but 2. 5 and 8th grade. so i do know how to write and sometimes its jus fun to color code your dialog and sometimes it makes it a lot easier to understand and it makes it a little bit more organized sometimes especially if your not a good writer. i still do that on my rough drafts

my tips

~music works. if its depressing your story will likly end up depressing happy a happy story ect. so the music genre helps
~dreams work too it sounds silly but if your writting a horror story a nighmare migh come in handy to help yes everyone dreams its just a matter of remembering
~another tip for writters block: put it away for a while unless you have a due date for school or something
~you dont need a title first sometimes you have to let it come to you as you write it. one of your characters may have a famous quote of your story that may hit you and become your title.
~go back and read your chapters if you have them make sure they flow together. unless it is about another characters thoughts or feeling.
~seperate dialog i mean which looks better.....josh said "Hey Sue, do you want to go to the movies?" "sure!" sue replied.....or
josh said "hey sue, do you want to go to the movies?"
"Sure!" sue replied
~if there is more than 2 characters talking make sure you tell who says what.
~if there is only 2 you dont usually have to say who is talking
~put emphases on the words if sue was excited about going to the movies you could have wrote "Sure!" she replied excitedly. it shows she was excited to go
~try not o use just(.) but other punctuation too and dont make your sentances too long or to choppy.
hope this helps

[TheLastKnight]

1. act out your fic, sometimes, it really helps

2. imagine your char's in an animated world.

3. try thinking of something unique

4. sometimes, for me...I don't try that much, idea's just come...DON'T pressure yourself, think of something totally different, and idea's will come

[Zoidberg!]

New tip from that wae416 guy. Enjoy

1. For some reason, I find it good to play video games when I have writer's block. Which happens often. Don't know, it might work for you.

[Chariot of Fire]

Not sure if this has been said already, but it needs to be done.

1. Make sure you know what your character looks like from chapter one! I am now on page 164 of my fanfic, and didn't really have an idea of what my character looked like until the middle. Make sure you know, or you will be in big dookie one day.

2. If you write long posts, break it up. Do not write it all at once. You'll fail. And try to write a little bit each day, for those who end up posting once a month (coughmecough).

[Rose]

Ok, here are a few of my tips.

Firstly, know what your story is about. If you truly do know what it's about, then you should have a planned beginning, middle and end. This way, you shouldn't get lost. If you DO get lost, then you haven't planned the story well, have you? Note your chapters down ... in your mind or even down on paper with a pen. Experiment with it!

Next, descriptions. Sure, it's good to have "he had black hair and blue eyes". But what about his attire? What about the area that surrounds him? Descriptions can grip a reader's attention. If you're unsure about descriptions, get reading some books like Harry Potter. Those kind of books have detailed descriptions.

As many have already said, music really DOES inspire you. I myself know from experience that listening to music can actually inspire ideas hidden deep within your creative imagination. To add on to that, depending on what chapter you are doing, pick a particular song. If you're doing a romantic chapter, then put some love songs! If it's tragic, then put ... emo music on. Play whatever fits to the mood of the chapter.

Another tip is to plan your characters well. It just doesn't mean their appearances, but their personalities, own background stories, etc. The key to having a good story is having well developed characters, but also strong and powerful storylines.

Phew, hope that helped!

And this should be stickied for future reference if you ask me.

[TheLastKnight]

yeah, I almost thought it was stickied, then I looked, and it's not...and this thing almost died!

people should give more tips

[Dantés de Divinity]

1. Put thoughts and onomatopoeias in Italics.

2. Don't rush to complete a chapter or your fan-fic. No great work has ever been rushed and became all it could have been.

3. Giving a character an accent or limited vocabulary gives a better mental image of the character. Ex. ''So you are the one that they all call Stev.'' Ex. "Vhat do chu vant now!?''

4. Don't be afraid to bring out the similes when describing action or objects especial if it something only found in your fan-fic world.

5. THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF WRITING!!!! Add emotion! Every single piece of literature has a beginning, middle, end, and characters. What makes a story a good story is emotion and things the reader could relate to. What every fiction writer wants is to get someone to think ''Oh I remember when I went through the same thing.'' or ''This guy is just like me.'' Character that readers can relate to is key.

That is all. And remember writing should be a fun enjoyable experience so if you want to stop for awhile stop. We are not publishers looking for a way to get our company famous so don't feel pressured to post.

[kazukifafner]

While many of the previous tips are excellent and should help anyone looking for advice, there is a couple of things that I would like to add.

1) Use interesting Chapter names. You can certainly get by with using just "Chapter One", "Chapter Two", etc. However, using more specific and interesting Chapter names can lend that extra boost of interest to the reader. Chapter titles can also provide a good spot for foreshadowing what is going to happen in that chapter.

2) This ties in with the first tip. It is a very simple, and very helpful (as well as fun, imo) process that will get the order of events in your stories engraved into your brain. What is this process? Write down, in order, the titles of the chapters that you will have in your story. This is also good in gaging how much you have done.

[Ban Mido]

For the color coding thing, I generally don't think its a good idea. Get to many hues and shades going, It can get reather tedious in the long run.

And Expand your vocabulary. More words mean you can express things more intricately. Your vocabulary is your tool for painting images for the reader.

And if you can, try to avoid using the word 'said' when indicating a certain dialog. There are lots of synonyms to it that add a lot of information to the scene without typeing. Here's a good list for said synonyms.

synonyms for said

finally, I try to keep it a maximum of two quotes per paragraph when I use dialog. The first one for an introductory statement or a hook for the character, and the second to relay the information I want the character to give, using the space in between for descriptions of facial expressions, body movements, etc. Try to capture all the unconscious movements and gestures one makes while talking. Makes it seem that they are actually interacting and reacting to each other's statements, while showcasing their emotions. Make them seem like they're actually alive, so to speak. I can also use the space between the quotes to give some story or back story.

[Lycanthrope]

I'm liking some of these tips... I honestly forgot about them.

- Try to use as much imagery as possible, without just drowning the reader with pointless details, such as an appearance of every person in the city that you come across. Just keep it interesting and on track.

[Ban Mido]

Originally Posted by Frozen Fate

I'm liking some of these tips... I honestly forgot about them.

- Try to use as much imagery as possible, without just drowning the reader with pointless details, such as an appearance of every person in the city that you come across. Just keep it interesting and on track.

Going back to imagery, It's okay to really paint up a character that might be important or if an existing character had changed their appearence. Minor characters that the main cast interacts with can be dressed up some, but don't spend a long time on them. Just give enough for the audience to picture what they basically look like.

[Evrae_Valkyrion]

Hmm well...

#1: When writing a fic, think of a solid story first (crack fic excluded). Without a basic..."image" of the story, you might go off-story by the later parts. That always happened to my *coughspontaneouslywrittencough* fanfictions.

#2: I agree with the 'don't push yourself' part. Or should I say "don't push your brain". Writing a chapter when you got a block just won't do. (written from experience.)

#3: Don't think that you fail all the time. Motivation is needed in writing a fanfiction (or let's just say anything written.) Get yourself a motivation to make you write. (reviews, usually.)

#4: Prepare for ideas anytime. Sometimes ideas pop out when you least expected them to. This happens to me a lot. Since I'm quite the forgetful type, I tend to bring pen and papers everywhere. (in logical terms. I'm not going to bring writing tools to a bathroom...)

#6: Looks like the most efficient way to make a nice fanfiction is to get yourself a beta, online or real life. Well, I don't use online beta that much, actually. -snickers-

#7: Try to think different. Sometimes people tend to think too general, and at the end, made a not-so-interesting story. Be a trend setter! Think new! Readers will get bored if you use the same "type of plot" again and again.

#8: Stick to a certain topic at a time. Don't "move" to Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom when you still have unfinished works in the Naruto fandom. (*coughinspirationchangecough*)

Sorry if this is taking too long to read, have no absolute point, and is filled with random tips. Most of them are general things I often overlook.