The Fan-Fiction Guide-Version 1.1

Special thanks to WHiTEDAiSiES and Skypirate for advice! I couldn’t have done this without their very generous help. For now, enjoy!

Contents

Part I - Getting Readers And Major Turnoffs.
Part II - Plot Issues.
Part III - Obeying The Rules.

Part I - Getting Readers And Major Turnoffs.
Are you new to the fan-fiction board and want to start writing, or a veteran trying to make a comeback after a disastrous first try? Or are you just looking for some tips for your successful/alright fan-fic already on the board? Well, you’ve come to the right thread. Here I'll list what turns potential readers off, and what reels them in. I hope this guide will help you to the best of my ability!

What Turns Them Off

- The tone of the title.
Most readers will completely ignore your story if you have things like: “Desperately need readers!” or “Not enough readers!” Also, avoid titles like: “The unbelievable diary of the one and only… Phyllis! How she ended up in town hall! The complete story!” From what we know, it turns loads of potential readers away.

- Your replies.
If you get desperate for readers, and constantly bump and say things such as: "I want 10 more people to say it's good, and then I'll write the next chapter!" In that case, you're not writing for fun. You're writing for fame. Big no-no right there. Another thing is, if somebody takes the time to give you advice and constructive criticism, accept it! They're trying to help you out, not defame you. Flaming people who try to give you advice, is pretty much like defaming yourself. If it keeps up, it can lead to a moderator locking your thread for too much flaming. For those people who comment, saying: "Good story!", "Nice job!” it's nice of them to comment, but do you really need to reply to every single one of their posts? No. Many people would just think of that as a reason for you to bump your thread up to the first page, at the very top.

- Number of posts.
There are some people out there who are just too lazy to wade through loads and loads of posts. Too much, and they'll feel like it's a chore to read. Not enough and they think it isn't worth reading.
But then again, there are loads of people who like stories with plenty of posts, and there are some who like the shorter ones. So you could encourage people to post if there isn't enough, or get people who comment a lot to either slow it down, or post a rewrite.

- Mary-Sues.
Mary-Sues are basically characters in a story who are perfect, or flawless. This means they’re beautiful/handsome, intelligent, has powers, unusual skin/hair/eye colour, a over-tragic past, no parents, solves everything s/he comes across etc. They just spoil the fun by solving every complication. If you want to test if your character is a Mary-Sue, try this test.

- Chapter length.
If your chapters are a few short sentences in length, most readers will read it in twenty seconds, decide it’s not worth reading, and go off, or even give you harsh criticism. But, if the chapters get far too long (And I’m talking REALLY long here) readers will gape at the big walls of text and not bother reading, or just skim it. So, if you’re one of the very, very few who write super-long chapters which need a lot of room, or one of the many who write something that looks like it’s taken two minutes to type, change your ways!

- Spelling/Grammar/Punctuation.
Serious readers hate having vague terms like 'IDK', 'AKA', and 'LOL' put in the actual story, nor do they like (f)emotes around. Spelling mistakes and typos should be alright if there's only a few floating about, but if you're not sure on how to spell a word, GOOGLE is your friend. Or you could always copy and paste your chapters into Microsoft Word if you have trouble with spelling and punctuation.

- Diary Issues.
If you are a diary writer, steer away from writing like a five year old, like this.

Diary Entry Number Two
Mammy and I went to the pie shop today. We bought three pies, one for mammy, one for daddy, and one for me! Blueberry pie, that is. Good night little diary! I love pie… I love pie…

It’s too short and babyish. But, if you’re spoofing, then writing like that is fine.

What Turns Them In

- Cliffhangers.
This works particularly well if your story’s genre is Action/Thriller/Murder/Mystery. They make readers cry out for more, unless they’re used in the wrong places.

- Advertisements.
On the fan-fic advertising thread made by ManekiNeko, post an advertisement for your story. The constant viewers will check for updates, so give it a good summery and you may be presented with some new readers!

- Constant updates.
Well, nobody is going to find it if it’s on the bottom of the board! They also break the suspense of the previous chapter and make your fic more visible to potential readers. But too many updates, and you’ll finish it too soon. It’s best to set a deadline that suits the overall sizes of your chapters, either if they’re enormous or a few small paragraphs.

- A good plot.
A quick summary of what I mean is unpredictable, thrilling, suspenseful, emotional, descriptive, full of plot twists and actually believable (Unless you are writing a fantasy, where you can let it go a bit). This will be explained further in Part II.

- A good title.
As I mentioned in what turns them off, do not make the tone of the title turn off everyone who comes across it. Go with a short and catchy title or a long and meaningful one. It could be useful to write at the end which chapter you’re on if people comment on the thread all the time, so your readers won’t be impatient with expecting to find a chapter and finding someone’s written “Great story!”

- Rule Following.
If your fan-fic breaks a board rule, you will get violation points and the part of your fan-fic that violates the rule will be removed, or your thread could even be locked. Better to stay on the safe side and ask the people at the Fan-Fiction Board Rules FAQ, or just not include the part if you are worried.

- And the golden rule… PATIENCE!
Do not expect a post saying “I love this story!” or “You are such a good writer!” several minutes after you post a chapter. Do not lock the thread if there are no readers by the end of the day. Just keep writing! Remember, there’s a fan of every story, even if it is sub-standard or you think it’s awful.

Part II - Plot Issues.

Well, this is the part where you get some advice for your fan-fic. I will take you through a few of the needed elements, taken from other fan-fictions on the board from a selection of authors.

- Don’t have an unexplained sudden plot change. It wouldn’t seem right to readers if for instance, suddenly, instead of continuing detective work on the mysterious murders in his/her town, the main character runs away to the city for no apparent reason. Explain why. Embed it in the plot..

- Your plot has to have a complication to attract a swarm of readers. It wouldn’t work if you write a story without a problem that ends in “And then she lived in this town forevermore.” Bring some excitement to the story.

- If you are writing the resolution, this is the part where it has to be believable. It wouldn’t make much sense if you wrote “And he jumped over the ten metre crevasse, found a jet pack lying around, put it on, killed the Bird Lord in one strike and rescued the princess.” It’s not very enjoyable if everything just happens automatically to the main character without a struggle.

- Include lots of description for every chapter. Add adjectives to nouns you normally would leave alone. A few similes and metaphors here and there can add an artistic touch, but beware not to go overboard with the amount of description. Description can turn a dull sentence into a clear imagery of what’s going on.

- Try not to write a story copying tens of others around the board, unless you’re writing a spoof, making a spin-off (with permission), or trying to prove not all cliché fan-fics are bad. It would be boring, finding five stories on page one all about Rosie’s tragic life, Bob and pie, etc.

- Do not get into the main complication straight away. Stretch some description out for the first few chapters, and then slowly start to introduce the plot. But, this could be overlooked if writing certain types of fiction, such as script.

- Do not copy other’s story ideas. Trust me; you’ll get a flaming battle by the original author’s readers right on the thread, claiming you copied the plot. I’ve witnessed many of these battles before. It also makes you and the original author feel bad.

- If writing a mystery, it wouldn’t make sense if the main character becomes a detective and doesn’t do any detective work or finding clues. Don’t let readers down.

- For a fantasy, it is alright to make some unbelievable happenings and creatures, but not too far-retched. For example, “The pink fairy waved her frilly wand and we were in Fairyland and everything was made of pink candy and the sky was purple with big chunks of chocolate raining down.” is maybe a little too unbelievable for your readers.

- A comedy should be actually humorous, not just random. The professional comedians get more readers than people who make random scripts.

- Most diaries seen around the board nowdays are usually several undescriptive sentences saying what a random popular AC character did that day, for every entry. They are putting a bad label on diaries all around, but you can write a good diary and be proud of yourself by adding description, editing grammar, having a fantastic plot and such. By actually trying hard.

Part III - Obeying The Rules

Remember to follow all the forum rules to avoid your story getting locked or partially removed. They are listed below.

• No romance.
• Only post fictional stories.
• Make sure your stories are AC based.
• Only post in your own story.
• No co-authoring unless... You write it together in a PT and the same person always posts the stories in the public thread.
• RPGs are STILL not allowed.
• Only advertise in your signature.
• No drawing unnecessary attention.
• No plagiarism.
• No offensive language or content.
• Post in English only.

Well, that’s about it. Good luck and HAPPY WRITING!

Copyrighted by Julia_9922. All rights reserved.

This is really good, the revised version is much better!

love it! *flags*

I better flag.

|>
|
|

I think it's a great idea to make a story about someone who hasnt been written about. Rover, Able, Phyliss, and Pelly have been used a lot, yet Lyle hasn't been.
Human's are usually written has nice, awesome in stories, and even if they are rude, they usually change. I'm making mine stay mean.
Diaries is anothert thing. You have to make the descriptive. And make it a character that hasn't have a diary yet/is popular. Like Gaston 8D
[/THESEAREMYIDEASDONOTCOPY]
But yeah, do things like that 8D

Well, this has helped a bunch! I had better flag this before writing one.

Organization helps too, and I love reading stories with strong words, that really describe the setting and characters.

(these are suggestions to the guide.)

Yeah, that's the most important trait in writing. Next to not boring your readers to death.

He felt the soft sand in his hands. They were small and yellow like. When the wind blew, the sand would get in his eyes.

---

Bad xample, but yeah, dont bore your readers to death

It would be more like.....

As the train went on to town. He watched the trees, flowers and occasional butterflys go by. He saw a boring little town called Boringville. He sat, and he sat, and he sat, until he eventually and inevitably got tired and fell asleep. The train kept on going, and going, and going... and............ Zzzzzz....

That made me yawn

Anyway, nice guide

I was thinking about maybe making a fanfic... But I dunno what to write about. Any ideas?

Something original. You can PT me if you want help. 8D

Ok, thanks!

"- A comedy should be actually humorous, not just random. The professional comedians get more readers than people who make random scripts."

I love you.

Nice job fixing the issues too, I only spotted one which I could question, and that one being the ging into the plot too soon. I actually like a fast start to a plot, so I wouldn't say don't advise it, but say why you should, and why you shouldn't.

Otherwise, good job!

EDIT: Oh, and this.

"- Don’t have a sudden plot change. It wouldn’t seem right to readers if for instance, suddenly, instead of continuing detective work on the mysterious murders in his/her town, the main character runs away to the city."

You mean plot twists? They're fine, as long as they're explained. If the main character ran away to the city to avoid an assassin, then that's an explained plot twist, albeit, not a good one. Unexplained plot twists can also work, as long as you explain them later in the book, although this makes for very confusing writing. *Pokes self knowingly* So yeah, don't tell people not to do it, but tell them the pros and cons.

I made a mini guide in a PT I was in
Just to help others, I'll post it here, I guess

By the way, I started that Fan-fiction I was talking about. It's called Jobs. Check it out please!

Here I go
First, the question is:
What AC character do you want to write about?
It's best to write about someone who's not popular, such as Tom, Scooter, or Tank.
SEcond thing is a plot. Wanna write about Ava getting a job at GracieGrace, not knowing anything about fashion? Sounds good. the thing is, dont go into cliches. They're bad, and only professional writers can pull them off. Ava getting a job at GracieGrace and magically knowing EVERYTHING about fashion and everyone adoring her is a lot less interesting/less cliche then Ava getting a job at GracieGrace and being horrible, and is getting humiliated.
The third part is about the chapters. Never make your chapters too short, unless it's not consitent. Sometime's we're in a rush, or we forgot to write something that might be crucial to the plot, but not at the time. Example, if Most Ava chapter's are long, then a short one could be accepted. Just don't make it too short.
"I looked at Gracie and said, "Are you using me?" The tears in my eyes rolled down my cheek.
"Of course not, darling." Gracie replied. "You are my employee, I'd never do that to you."
The smile one Gracie's face made me smile. "Okay, Gracie, I'll do my shift."
"Good, darling, go tell Label that you're back."
"I will." "
That can be crucial because it shows that Gracie can lie easily and convincingly. It shows that Ava's emotional, too.
The title is pretty much the end. Something short, yet has to do with the story is good. If your title's "The Moonwalk," for the Ava story, it's misleading. Something like, "GracieGrace's New Worker" might be good.
Last, here are some important tips. Don't make your characters a Mary Sue. Make them have 'human' flaws. Example,
Ava's a clutz and is very emotional. She knows nothing of fashion, /yet thinks that everyone likes her/.
GracieGrace lies and cheats to get what she wants, /she's nice to supermodels[]designers/
Label's shy and scared of her boss /yet can be nice to regular customers/
Everyone has there ups and downs, their flaws and their strong points.
Great words can make a story awesome, like "plaintive" "plethora" and "iota", but not when they're used and makes no sense.
Example, the clothes were iota.
Iota means small space.
Clothes were small space? No sense, the clothes were small? Just say that.

Isn't that what you PTed me?

Nooo... *throws pillow* *hides*

Ok..... Well.....

That's an awesome guide :o And I like yours too bpj. I'm gonna keep all that in mind when I write.