Looking for Advice for my first fanfic!

[Hime-No-Yamii]

-Priceless Junk-

From the view of a reader: I'm not an expert on writing but this is what I've heard from good writers.

Well practice makes perfect. No one starts out awesome, and some people hate them for it. It happens that people will dislike the things you worked hard on. The important thing is to keep on going and trying to improve.
Just keep writing because if you don't the story will eat at you and eat at you and haunt you in your dreams. So as I been told.

I'd advise you to carefully read over what you write to catch spelling mistakes and so on. Maybe even print it out to read or have someone else look over it. This is very important to read over what you write if you want to have a nice looking story. Well what I'm saying is this is something you must do if you care about making it look nice and not something a newbie would do. It's fine if you make a few errors but it's a bit silly if there is a lot that you missed that could've been solved by looking over it closely a few times.

Wow that's really deep advice Priceless-san! Thank you! I was going to have my bf read it over anyways so maybe he can help me catch mistakes I make when I'm done with each chappie!

[MysticalLove22]

Hime-No-Yamii

MysticalLove22

I like Bulma and Vegeta fics just not as much as Goku and Chichi. It's gonna be up soon as I plan it! It's an A/U don't know if you like that. It's not like Saiyan takes over Earth A/U. But well all I can tell you A/U. I know! I can act mature...just not all the time. I mean it would be nice to be goofy and silly and not so serious all the time. But whateves I can be serious. I understand I'm making Goku and Chi Chi's daughter. But at times people think Mary Sue so I'm like O.K I'll change this and that and blah blah...I'm going the whole 9 yds. Charrie...Sonic right? I have a Sonic FC named Ling, Shen, and Foxie...well thats her nickname working on her real one. But I don't listen to anyone on that because to me they are so funny and cute. Like Ling-Ling is a loli character and Shen is so sorry bada** I guess. And his girl friend Foxie is a tomboy but she loves Shen's little sis Ling Ling and is people tell me Mary Sue that is the only time I won't listen cause they are totes awesome. Yay! We are I just turned 13. And everyone made it great. I got presents, drawings, a surprise party the day before my birthday.

YW. I think when people get more encouragement and complements and actual advice and they will do better. And don't worry if all fails make your own RP. You make the rules and if you want the rules looser then they will be looser and if you want them stricter than you can make them that way. Right now I am just browsing RPs for DBZ until I get like a you know an idea for a name and what the rules should be. =D

Sounds like a totes interesting fanfic! And sorry but I know nothing about sonic because like its too mainstream for my liking. LIke wow, making my own rp? Sounds like a lot of work...work I'd like rather put into the fanfic once I figure out how I wanna like start it! Oh and I totes made i t into the rp I was working myself into! yaatttaaaaa! I've been posting a few times too and it is like, so much fun! I'm really excited to get my charrie into some interactions and not just Chichi.

Yay! It is alot of work. I am still on name. =p I am happy you like it! RP is so much fun for me! I need a just beginning one since I totes not good at logically putting them in there. But I would need Mods and everything and o far your my only friend. Good luck and have fun. =D

[haowopcmasjkka]

1. Make sure you understand the characters and the setting. I'm not in DBZ fandom, but in Naruto fandom, it is extremely common to see fic written by people who don't know s**t about the characters, which is really sad.

2. Spell- and grammar-check everything. It's fine if you make mistakes, just make sure to look over everything you wrote at least twice before you post it. A sure way to lose readers is if they have to wade through a s**t ton of spelling and grammar errors. If you need help with this, ask someone to proofread it for you.

3. Make sure you enjoy what you are writing. If you don't like what you're writing, you can assume that no one else will.

4. Read goodfic. See what you like about how that author told the story and portrayed the characters and see how you can apply it in yours.

5. Read badfic. This sounds counter-productive, but if you can see what the author did wrong, you can apply that knowledge to your writing so you don't make the same mistakes. Also, seeing something and knowing that you can do better is a huge confidence boost :winky:

6. If you use OCs, please, please, for the sake of every fanfic reader out there, do not make a Mary Sue. Not sure what that is? There are plenty of threads about it, as well as "litmus tests" you can do to determine whether your character is a Mary Sue.

7. Keep writing. The only way to get better at anything is to practice. Writing is no different. The more you write, the better at it you will become.

8. Accept constructive critisism. You're not perfect, I'm not perfect, no one's perfect. We all make mistakes, and the fact that someone has taken the time to leave you a review pointing out your mistakes and how to fix it is gold, and you should take the time to correct it so that you do not make it again.

9. And, for god's sake, please do not threaten to withhold chapters if you don't get a certain amount of reviews. First fanfics don't always get the amount of reviews you want, and if you write something common to your area of fandom, it may get overlooked. Withholding chapters because you didn't get the reviews you wanted will make the readers you do have less excited to read the next part.

This advice may sound a bit harsh, but it is something that every fanfic writer should know. I am very glad that you want advice on how not to commit the same mistakes as many other fanfic writers.

If you have any questions or anything, feel free to contact me. I don't bite, and would love to help more if I can.

[NamiStar]

Don't be discouraged or intimidated. Everyone has a starting point, and you need to write your own pace. To improve, I suggest practice some writing techniques by published authors. Read the stories and find the time to know your strengths and weaknesses. It is also best that you can find someone who could read your work that doesn't always give compliments. Critiques are a writer's best friend to improve not to let you down, no matter how harsh some may be. From reading your small summary, you have a good original storyline. Well-polished stories usually have beta readers and such to give the story more of a clean look. That's all the advice I can give you. Good luck and have fun writing! The key point is to enjoy it. Never EVER let anyone to tell you otherwise or else writing would never be a fun enjoyment.

[Chief Oof]

I have one line of advice for you.
Get a good beta, a second persons opinion on your peice of writing directly is more helpful than this cuz they know what there working with, that or post it here before hand.
Betas are gods to ff net writers. heart

[Hime-No-Yamii]

Wow such deep and really insiteful advice Foxie-chan, Nami-chan, and Dreamy-chan! Don't worry, my bf is totes a critical person about suff and he said he is willing to like help me out a lot and stuff! And I'm pracitcing my writing on a rp like right now and I feel like I'm really going to like get to know my charrie very well soon! So like, where's a Mary sue testy thing and how do I find betas?

[Rasquathena]

I've never sought out a beta-reader other than my beloved fiancee, so I don't think I can offer any sound advice there. However, I can offer you a link to:

The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test

It's worked wonders for me to double-check my dear charries in the past. ^_^

[Hime-No-Yamii]

Rasquathena

I've never sought out a beta-reader other than my beloved fiancee, so I don't think I can offer any sound advice there. However, I can offer you a link to:

The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test

It's worked wonders for me to double-check my dear charries in the past. ^_^

OMG like, thankies so much Rasquathena-chan! *huggies* I'll totes take this test and find out if my charrie Abazure is good or not! ♥ Coz like, I dunno some people on the rp I'm on don't seem to like her too much, though a few say they do like her, and they did accept her so she must be at least like, a little okay right? Though like, I dunno if they don't like her because of her personality or if they think she's like, a totally bad charrie or something. I dunno. I'm afraid to ask them what they think of her so far.

[Hime-No-Yamii]

OMG THE TEST LIKE SAYS I NEED TO KILL MY CHARRIE?! (and this is like when she is how she is for the fanfic) and for the rp it says I have to redo her?! But like I redid her like a million times! What could be wrong with her?!

[Rasquathena]

Hime-No-Yamii

OMG THE TEST LIKE SAYS I NEED TO KILL MY CHARRIE?! (and this is like when she is how she is for the fanfic) and for the rp it says I have to redo her?! But like I redid her like a million times! What could be wrong with her?!

I'm sorry to hear that. O.o
I usually score between 15 and 17 in that particular test. There is a warning in that test's rules that you can achieve ludicrously high scores if you only skim the rules, though. (Not that I doubt you. smile )

The Mary Sues are incredibly dangerous things. But there's a pretty easy way to weed them out (there's a link to a different test in that somewhere). Chances are if your character is unusually talented, beautiful, strong, and essentially the best of all worlds, they're quite possibly a Mary Sue. While it may seem like it's good fun, its a terrible pitfall. It often leads to people rolling their eyes and wanting nothing to do with a character at all, or makes people want to avoid a fic entirely. (I'm sure you've probably heard this somewhere before, so I apologize if I'm beating the proverbial dead horse by saying this. I created a Mary Sue or two before, and it's absolutely horrendous. She kills everything! DX)

If it's any help, give you character flaws and quirks that will get in the way of them achieving whatever goals they have in mind - but not something like their good looks or incredible skill, it only adds to the Sue-ish-ness. Phobias, inferiority complexes, even a disability like being blind or an amputee work fairly well. The more "human" (and by human I mean believable in the universe you put them in) a character is, the greater the chance you can avoid the curse of the Mary Sue.

I'm more than willing to offer help in re-working if you want.
Just drop me a PM or something sometime. ^_^

[Hime-No-Yamii]

Rasquathena

Hime-No-Yamii

OMG THE TEST LIKE SAYS I NEED TO KILL MY CHARRIE?! (and this is like when she is how she is for the fanfic) and for the rp it says I have to redo her?! But like I redid her like a million times! What could be wrong with her?!

I'm sorry to hear that. O.o
I usually score between 15 and 17 in that particular test. There is a warning in that test's rules that you can achieve ludicrously high scores if you only skim the rules, though. (Not that I doubt you. smile )

The Mary Sues are incredibly dangerous things. But there's a pretty easy way to weed them out (there's a link to a different test in that somewhere). Chances are if your character is unusually talented, beautiful, strong, and essentially the best of all worlds, they're quite possibly a Mary Sue. While it may seem like it's good fun, its a terrible pitfall. It often leads to people rolling their eyes and wanting nothing to do with a character at all, or makes people want to avoid a fic entirely. (I'm sure you've probably heard this somewhere before, so I apologize if I'm beating the proverbial dead horse by saying this. I created a Mary Sue or two before, and it's absolutely horrendous. She kills everything! DX)

If it's any help, give you character flaws and quirks that will get in the way of them achieving whatever goals they have in mind - but not something like their good looks or incredible skill, it only adds to the Sue-ish-ness. Phobias, inferiority complexes, even a disability like being blind or an amputee work fairly well. The more "human" (and by human I mean believable in the universe you put them in) a character is, the greater the chance you can avoid the curse of the Mary Sue.

I'm more than willing to offer help in re-working if you want.
Just drop me a PM or something sometime. ^_^

Like, she is beautiful and a witch that uses her powers to seduce people in her story, but like her spells can be broken and stuff and she does have like a nasty temper and doesn't care about people so I don't see why she's a Mary Sue! And like, everyone is strong and talented in DBZ (like even Yamcha is for awhile!) But like, didn't the test say that like, having a bunch of unneeded phobeyas and stuff could count against you? It just doesn't seem like Abazure to have disabellities or mental issues (other than the like not caring about anyone but herself and being selfish.) I'm so confused! Maybe that linkie you sent me will help clear things up, so I'll totes look it up!

[Mon_Shire]

My first time posting a fanfic, I was rather worried as well. However, it's worth it to post it. Then, later write more to it or fix it when you improve in writing and raise your standards you can always fix a story. I still have my first fanfic on one of my posting sight. I've not touched it but it's there to remind me how badly I used to write and that it can only get better. It keeps me from feeling down when I can't seem to get something to come out right. Just try and keep trying. That's what we all have to do. None of us have confidence when we first start posting. So just don't worry if you don't get any reviews, or even if you get bad reviews. No one likes everything. So some people won't like what you write but don't be discouraged.

Hope that helped some.

[Hime-No-Yamii]

Mon_Shire

My first time posting a fanfic, I was rather worried as well. However, it's worth it to post it. Then, later write more to it or fix it when you improve in writing and raise your standards you can always fix a story. I still have my first fanfic on one of my posting sight. I've not touched it but it's there to remind me how badly I used to write and that it can only get better. It keeps me from feeling down when I can't seem to get something to come out right. Just try and keep trying. That's what we all have to do. None of us have confidence when we first start posting. So just don't worry if you don't get any reviews, or even if you get bad reviews. No one likes everything. So some people won't like what you write but don't be discouraged.

Hope that helped some.

Wow that is some really deep and inspirational motivation Mon-chan! Thank you for sharing your personal experence with me. I was feeling confedent in myself to start writing and posting my story on ff.net soon but like, I'm not sure if I should if everyone thinks Abazure is a Mary Sue.

[Mon_Shire]

Hime-No-Yamii

Wow that is some really deep and inspirational motivation Mon-chan! Thank you for sharing your personal experence with me. I was feeling confedent in myself to start writing and posting my story on ff.net soon but like, I'm not sure if I should if everyone thinks Abazure is a Mary Sue.

Even if people think she's a Mary Sue, it doesn't matter. You need to post what you think is good and leave it at that. As you improve your writing (and I'm still improving constantly, so I don't want you to think that you're being told you're not a good writer.) and thus increase your standards, you'll fiddle with characters and make them more and more life like. The more you play with a character the more you're going to bring it to life.

[Rasquathena]

Mon_Shire makes a good point. Even if something comes across as "Mary Sue-ish", clever writing can remove that brand from a character entirely. If you like her how she is, run with it and see where it gets you. It's very hard to improve if you don't take gambles every now and again. ^_^

I think I read a quote somewhere that applied quite well to that, but for now, I'll leave you with this one:
"When the world says 'give up', Hope whispers 'try it one more time'."