[ Poll ] The Anti-Guide

How do you try to improve your writing?

I try to avoid old, stupid things.		17.2%	[ 1693 ]
I add new things.		15.3%	[ 1506 ]
A combination of both (if one more than the other, pick it).		67.5%	[ 6640 ]

Total Votes: 9839

[Ambrey]

It is perfectly normal for a story with female characters to fail the Bechdel test.

[DarknessofHeavenandDreams]

Ambrey

Bechdel test.

(( question ))

[Ludera]

DarknessofHeavenandDreams

Ambrey

Bechdel test.

(( question ))

Bechdel test.

[M e i]

Here's a list of totally awesome!Fanfic plots that you should always fall back on if you get stuck.

1. Character X likes Character Y but is omigosh! too nervous to confess. Include several chapters of 'angst' that consists solely of Character X pining over Character Y.

2. Super Awesome Special Beautiful New Girl with Mysterious Past shows up and falls in love with EVERYBODY. Read: Mary-Sue/Self-insert.

3. Super Sexy Hawt guy gets genderbent and becomes a Super Sexy Special Beautiful girl. All Guy-Turned-Girl plots must include one rape scene and/or period trauma. Because you know, periods are SO awful and rape is a perfect romance starter. Also use as an excuse for writing a yaoi couple without the yaoi. And regardless of whatever kind of tough guy the hawt guy was before, he automatically becomes weak and helpless as a female, because you know all women are weak.

4. ALL characters get genderbent.

5. Character Y gets turned into a chibi! Use this word even if the story does not take place anywhere near Japan and has no Japanese characters. Bonus points if you say 'chibified'. This is also a brilliant excuse to bring up CHILDHOOD TRAUMAS. Because everyone who is sexy has them.

Remember: all of these can be converted for original fiction too.

[Misuki Marishima]

M e i

Here's a list of totally awesome!Fanfic plots that you should always fall back on if you get stuck.

1. Character X likes Character Y but is omigosh! too nervous to confess. Include several chapters of 'angst' that consists solely of Character X pining over Character Y.

2. Super Awesome Special Beautiful New Girl with Mysterious Past shows up and falls in love with EVERYBODY. Read: Mary-Sue/Self-insert.

3. Super Sexy Hawt guy gets genderbent and becomes a Super Sexy Special Beautiful girl. All Guy-Turned-Girl plots must include one rape scene and/or period trauma. Because you know, periods are SO awful and rape is a perfect romance starter. Also use as an excuse for writing a yaoi couple without the yaoi. And regardless of whatever kind of tough guy the hawt guy was before, he automatically becomes weak and helpless as a female, because you know all women are weak.

4. ALL characters get genderbent.

5. Character Y gets turned into a chibi! Use this word even if the story does not take place anywhere near Japan and has no Japanese characters. Bonus points if you say 'chibified'. This is also a brilliant excuse to bring up CHILDHOOD TRAUMAS. Because everyone who is sexy has them.

Remember: all of these can be converted for original fiction too.

Here's another good fanfic and original fiction to write.

A bad guy, more powerful than the previous Big Bad has become a ninja and kidnapped the President! Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President?

Cookies to all who get the reference. 8D

[Balisong Ermenegilde]

Always ALWAYS put in random Japanese words in your sentences, especially outside of dialogue. your story could take place in medieval England, but there better be a "KAWAII" in there somewhere.

And who needs to separate the text into organized paragraphs? A nice, long, breakless wall of text is always easier to comprehend.

[r i c e + n o o d l e s]

Your character must be able to diffuse bombs (or destroy any items otherwise detrimental to their immediate health) in a limited amount of time (usually within fifteen minutes or less of, e.g. the bomb exploding) with some sort of special skill (intelligence, magic, good ol' luck) like an extreme MacGyver.

Characters' appearances must never be described with simple terms. Eye colors are always described with gem colors, e.g. sapphire for blue, emerald for green ((guilty of having done this a couple of years ago)). Having different colored eyes for no apparent reason is a huge plus.

Swords always pwn guns, no matter the age and time--because obviously, your character can move faster than bullets.

And remember, under-aged chosen ones that continually angst or complain about saving the world (or contrarily take on the job with no sweat) are teh sex.

((I am absolutely in love with this thread <33))

[The Phoenix Rises Again]

Fanfics should only have

1. Romance
2. Dress up
3. Making sure the reader know just how bad the Big Bad is

[MiaIkumis#1Fan]

The Phoenix Rises Again

Fanfics should only have

1. Romance
2. Dress up
3. Making sure the reader know just how bad the Big Bad is

Also, your fan fiction character must either:

- Be best friends with the main character.
- Be the child of the main character.

In all good fan-fics, you MUST insert yourself in Mary Sue form a totally awesome new character that everyone will love.

[Clare_N]

Balisong Ermenegilde

Always ALWAYS put in random Japanese words in your sentences, especially outside of dialogue. your story could take place in medieval England, but there better be a "KAWAII" in there somewhere.

In addition, you must always have at least one character who has a Japanese (or Japanese-sounding) name, even if there is no logical reason for that character to have such a name.

[Ludera]

MiaIkumis#1Fan

The Phoenix Rises Again

Fanfics should only have

1. Romance
2. Dress up
3. Making sure the reader know just how bad the Big Bad is

Also, your fan fiction character must either:

- Be best friends with the main character.
- Be the child of the main character.

In all good fan-fics, you MUST insert yourself in Mary Sue form a totally awesome new character that everyone will love.

People searching for fanfiction are looking for original characters, not existing ones (we have enough of them in the canon). Your OCs, therefore, should always be the centerpiece of your fanfiction.

Why would we want to read about the main character doing cool stuff when we can see a cardboard representation of his orphan lovechild one-upping him on everything?

[I am The Compendium]

Ludera

MiaIkumis#1Fan

The Phoenix Rises Again

Fanfics should only have

1. Romance
2. Dress up
3. Making sure the reader know just how bad the Big Bad is

Also, your fan fiction character must either:

- Be best friends with the main character.
- Be the child of the main character.

In all good fan-fics, you MUST insert yourself in Mary Sue form a totally awesome new character that everyone will love.

People searching for fanfiction are looking for original characters, not existing ones (we have enough of them in the canon). Your OCs, therefore, should always be the centerpiece of your fanfiction.

Why would we want to read about the main character doing cool stuff when we can see a cardboard representation of his orphan lovechild one-upping him on everything?

Because seeing them makes people go 'Squee!' so you have to have them there a lot, but its okay to make them do stuff they would never do according to canon the most awesome stuff ever

[avearia]

I am The Compendium

Ludera

MiaIkumis#1Fan

The Phoenix Rises Again

Fanfics should only have

1. Romance
2. Dress up
3. Making sure the reader know just how bad the Big Bad is

Also, your fan fiction character must either:

- Be best friends with the main character.
- Be the child of the main character.

In all good fan-fics, you MUST insert yourself in Mary Sue form a totally awesome new character that everyone will love.

People searching for fanfiction are looking for original characters, not existing ones (we have enough of them in the canon). Your OCs, therefore, should always be the centerpiece of your fanfiction.

Why would we want to read about the main character doing cool stuff when we can see a cardboard representation of his orphan lovechild one-upping him on everything?

Because seeing them makes people go 'Squee!' so you have to have them there a lot, but its okay to make them do stuff they would never do according to canon the most awesome stuff ever

((I once read a fic where the OC was an underling for the Big Bad, and got a job as the main character's Garbage man. He gave the MC really bad advice and eventually all the main characters died. it was funny. I think it was a parody. razz ... anyway...))

Romance is truly the only reason to write fanfiction. What? You say that the fandom you're writing for is an action show, aimed at a child audience? That's okay! Everyone knows Action is TOO hard to write, and your readers will even forget that the characters are supposed to be in a different realm running for their lives, if you just throw some random smut in their faces!

Remember, ANY character can go with ANY other, regardless of their previous interaction in the show/book/game/cannonfandom, without any explination or setup at all. if they look good, they'll be a great couple. No one will question why you're pairing the main character's best bud with the chick that died three seasons before he joined the team. ((God, this gets on my nerves when people do this. I agree that any character an go with any other, IF IT'S DONE RIGHT...))

Good romance plot:
"Character X gets kidnapped by the big bad! Will character Y be able to save her?"
It's an overused plot, but that's just because EVERYONE loves it.

[Ludera]

Quote:

((I once read a fic where the OC was an underling for the Big Bad, and got a job as the main character's Garbage man. He gave the MC really bad advice and eventually all the main characters died. it was funny. I think it was a parody. razz ... anyway...))

(( rofl That is one OC fanfiction I would want to read. Assuming it wasn't written like most OC stories are anyway. What was the fandom?))


There are three fanfiction plots you may make use of:

1) "Character X gets pregnant with Character Y's illegitimate child! How will they cope?!" (Another variation is "Character X and Character Y accidentally find/adopt a baby!" )
2) "Character X meditates upon random stuff! When will this get interesting?!" ((Answer: never. I don't know if it's in any of your guys' fandoms, but a few of my favourites are overrun with multi-chapter stories in which the characters do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. As in, there's no action at all, except when they're recounting some long-gone moment which would be almost as equally as boring to watch.))
3) "All the characters get high on sugar! What zany fourth-wall-breaking hijinks of dooooooom and cheese and RANDOM CAPSLOCK will ensue?!"

As a side note, being "sugar high" is not absolutely not a myth!

[avearia]

Ludera

Quote:

((I once read a fic where the OC was an underling for the Big Bad, and got a job as the main character's Garbage man. He gave the MC really bad advice and eventually all the main characters died. it was funny. I think it was a parody. razz ... anyway...))

(( rofl That is one OC fanfiction I would want to read. Assuming it wasn't written like most OC stories are anyway. What was the fandom?))


There are three fanfiction plots you may make use of:

1) "Character X gets pregnant with Character Y's illegitimate child! How will they cope?!" (Another variation is "Character X and Character Y accidentally find/adopt a baby!" )
2) "Character X meditates upon random stuff! When will this get interesting?!" ((Answer: never. I don't know if it's in any of your guys' fandoms, but a few of my favourites are overrun with multi-chapter stories in which the characters do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. As in, there's no action at all, except when they're recounting some long-gone moment which would be almost as equally as boring to watch.))
3) "All the characters get high on sugar! What zany fourth-wall-breaking hijinks of dooooooom and cheese and RANDOM CAPSLOCK will ensue?!"

As a side note, being "sugar high" is not absolutely not a myth!

((I'm not sure, but I think it was Teen Titans. It was a couple of years ago, so my memory's a bit fuzzy--And there was something about a giant robot in the middle, so I'm not sure that's the fandom. But hey, it was a parody, so maybe it was. which reminds me: ))

Giant robots are an excellent addition to any fanfic. So are random cat girls, someone getting amnesia, and a totally-not-cliched christmas party with mistletoe. These elements have proven good in the past for their respective fandoms, so why not throw them all together?