Shugo Chara! Fanfiction Writing for Dummies
Rated T for repeated swearing and pediatric cruelty.
A no-holds-barred guide on how to write Shugo Chara! FanFiction, by the Grammar Nazi quasi-marginal author Tsuki no Kimi, with guest appearances by her Mary-Sue burning beta Lina.
Let's Brush up on Slang
The fanfiction world has various terms that you might not be familiar with, so before we start let's just make sure you're not a fucking moron.
AU – Stands for 'Alternate Universe'. Which means that the story's set in a different reality where Amu doesn't join the guardians, for example, or Rima never transfers to Seiyo. More drastic AU's can be where they all go to completely different schools and/or don't have charas.
A/N – Stands for 'Author's Note'. These are usually put in parentheses or bolded to indicate that it is not part of the story. This Author's Note may have something significant to do with the story or it may just be a snide comment but either way you should read it for a laugh.
Beta - A beta reader, often shortened to simply beta, is like an editor but for fanfiction who is familiar with the canon of the story. They're usually knowledgeable in spelling, grammar, punctuation and story outlining and plot.
Canon - Canon, in terms of a fictional universe, is any material that is considered to be "genuine", or can be directly referenced as material produced by the original author or creator of a series.
Crackfic – Fanfiction that's usually a hit-or-miss because of it's depth of randomness. They can be either drop-dead hilarious or stupid. Usually depict the characters in bizarre, weird situations and OOC to the extreme.
Disclaimer – "I don't own Shugo Chara" in some size, shape, or form.
Fluff – refers to the warm, fuzzy feeling you get after reading sweet and lighthearted fanfictions of the same genre. They usually don't veer off too dark, but keep it light and funny with a few shoujo/romance moments.
Lemon – refers to explicit sex stories that will steal your innocence at a tender age if you're not too careful. Usually Amuto because Nagihiko/Kukai/Kairi are well-brought-up gentlemen. However, they can be very informative. Usually rated M.
Mary-Sue – Has no character development to speak of and is beautiful in every size, shape and form. Usually blatantly described within the first paragraph. An OC that is usually a long-lost relative of Ikuto or Amu who wins the heart of Ikuto/Nagihiko/Kukai, has four or more charas and is immediately loved by all the guardians and welcomed into the fold – but hark! She works for Easter! What a cruel twist of fate! Are you hating her yet? I thought so.
OC – Stands for 'Original Character', referring to a character made by the author that doesn't exist in the original canon. See Mary-Sue.
OOC – Not to be confused with OC, OOC stands for 'Out Of Character'. This is a magical occurrence where suddenly, for example, Nagihiko turns into a total shameless playboy and Rima turns into a total tsundere-spaz *coughcoughRimaCan'tSpellcoughcough*. It is usually regarded as a source of shame for authors, however they're usually just being modest and secretly like this new personality they've given the canon character.
POV – Stands for 'Point Of View'. This is used by people with the IQ of a dust bunny that believe that the readers are so stupid that they need to be told that they're reading from "RIMA'S POV!!!111!!1!!1"
R&R – Stands for, 'Read and Review', referring to tyrannical dictators, aka authors who demand a sufficient flow of egostroking for them to upload the next chapter.
Songfic – refers to Fanfiction that has excerpts of songs stuck in it as a kind of inspiration or theme for the story. In many archives songfics are banned due to copyright infringement but put a disclaimer and no busybody lawyer can get up your ass.
Part 1: Before You Publish
1.1: Title
Think of a title. It has to attract the attention of your readers, but a lot of idiots go to ridiculous lengths to get their story out there.
Putting the title in capitals will NOT make people want to read your story.
Neither will putting in Yahoo!Babelfish translated pieces of Japanese.
If your story is blatantly one pairing, however, it's perfectly acceptable to put ", A _____ Fanfic".
No, you cannot put "A Shugo Chara Fanfic" because any half-wit can clearly see that it is since it's under that category... eh, stupid?
1.2: Rating
This is fairly straightforward.
Do not rate it T "JUST TO BE SAFE."
You can change ratings at any time, so if there's no repeated reference to sex, drugs, prostitutes or other things it's not some source of shame to rate it K+ or even K! In fact, you'll get all the more readers by keeping it clean.
If there's things like explicitly describing sex or rape, or going into lovely detail about how you turn someone's intestines into a lampshade, then it's best to keep it at M so that you don't emotionally scar some nine-year-old.
If you like, you can explain your reasons for rating it that in your synopsis but remember that summary space is limited.
1.3: Summary
I can think of some right off the bat here.
Do not put "full summary inside". People are too lazy to open your story without even knowing what it's about, and if you can't sum up the plotline in 3 measly sentences than you're a shame to society.
Summary writing can take some practice, so try opening up a blank document and writing out several to see.
Don't type at the end of the summary "READ AND REVIEW!!" We'll decide if we want to "Review", or "Read", or even "And".
Same with writing "I suck at summaries" or "summary is better than story" IN your summary. That just reeks of unprofessionalism and nobody cares.
Okay, so you got this stuff down, right? I admit I break a couple of these rules myself but it's really best if you follow these all. Your readers will thank you.
Part 2: Writing Your Story
2.1: Extras in Your Story
Next – Extras that can show up in your story. Many fanfiction authors like to add A/Ns, opening sentences or comments at the end. This is what you DO NOT do:
Katty-chan: hey minna-san!! I've got a new great story here that's Rimahiko of course lol lol, right Ikuto?!
Ikuto: Yeah, you're so cool.
Katty-chan: and so anyway it's about... *blathers on about story*
Ikuto: wow *smirk* sounds interesting, I'm rly exciteeddd!!!
Katty-chan: so who's gonna do da disclaimer?
Ikuto: Not me!
Amu: let Pepe-chan do it!!
Characters argue on for four pages about who's going to do the summary.
Amu: FINE, FINE, HENTAI COSPLAY NEKOMIMI!! I'LL DO SUMMARY!! Katty-chan does not own Shugo Chara, only this kickass story!!
In fact, it would be advisable not to put any author's note at the beginning at all. Let the story tell itself and unfold, and then if you wish you can do all your blathering at the bottom (I call the space where you talk at the bottom the footnote). Separate the footnote and the end of the story with a border, or at least something. In your footnote, make sure to introduce yourself to your readers but don't go into detail. The first footnote should just depict stuff about the chapter, like conception creation etc. You might want to include a preview of Chapter 2 as well.
2.2: Disclaimer?
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I don't own Shugo Chara!
So please do not sue~
People make a big deal about how you HAVE to do a disclaimer in a story. Their uninformed little jaws start flapping about lawsuits and copyright infringement and blahdady blah blah. This is not true. Fanfiction is a non-profit organization. In other words, you're not making any money out of it. If I were to take my fanfiction and start flogging it in the streets of Vancouver? That would be different, and unless I was paying a fraction of my earnings (royalties) to PEACH-PIT for the original story then it would be illegal. Even so, in 's Terms of Service you'll see that they provide a blanket disclaimer for every story published under their archives stating that they don't own any of the material. So, get off my ass, you misinformed fangirls.
2.3: Proper Spelling and Grammar
I cannot emphasize how important spelling and grammar is for a fanfiction author. Most of the time these mistakes are from people that are just learning English, but I get a lot of people who just don't know the correct way to format something. If English is your second language, you might want to look up North American grammar and punctuation rules, because the more you do it wrong, the harder it gets to correct your mistakes. Anyway, bullet time.
Let's say a sentence of yours starts with, "Rima's eyes widened." That's the whole point. Rima-APOSTROPHE-S eyes widened, not "Rima eyes widened", which I see a lot.
"Your an idiot!" ----- WRONG. The English word "Your" is a possessive particle, only to be used when referring to an object that is yours. For example, "Your package arrived". In the case of "Your an idiot!", what you are trying to say is You are. The contraction of You are is You're.
Its. Same deal. If you mean something possessing another thing, like "Every dog has its day", its is correct. If you're meaning to say it is ("It's raining"), then the correct form is it's.
After a period, you put one OR two spaces before beginning the next sentence. None more, none less. End of story. Look it up if you don't believe me. Same rule with commas as well.
When you go, "dot-dot-dot" at the end of a sentence (Like this...) there are actually proper rules on how many dots to put. If the dots are going at the end of a sentence, then it's three dots going after. However, if the dots (which are actually called ellipsis) have a line or sentence all their own I find that sometimes five can be appropriate.
In titles, every single word is capitalized except for the type of words called articles (the, and, a). Let's say your fanfiction is called "Tsuki no kimi is a fucking grammar nazi." It would be capitalized like: Tsuki no Kimi is a Fucking Grammar Nazi." (the no in Tsuki no Kimi remains lowercase because it is, in fact, an article as well. Just a Japanese one).
Exception: The first letter in a title is capitalized, no matter what.
Spell Check is your friend. When in doubt, LOOK IT UP!! There are also different spellings for the same word (Bear, bare) and using the wrong one is embarrassing. BIWAYRE.
Before starting a bracket or parentheses "( )", put a SPACE after your last word. You also capitalize the first word in the brackets if it's a noun. For example, Cat(dog) ----- WRONG. Cat (Dog) ---- CORRECT.
Okay, for some people this might be way too much to handle. In that case, you can just get a beta reader. Beta readers are a little-known tool that's a bit of a supply-and-demand issue. There are plenty of people willing to be betas but people rarely ask someone to beta for them no matter how many mistakes are in their chapters. If you don't know where to find a beta, you can easily browse them on . Also, I can volunteer myself and Lina if you need a beta reader as well ^^;
Part 2.4: Wapanese
Oh, god. Please. Just no.
Wait, let's backtrack a little. What IS Wapanese? I think an Urban Dictionary definition is in order here.
"Wapanese girl: Konnichiwa! My names Kyoshi-chan! I eat sushi obento everyday and watch Inuyasha! Isn't my high school uniform Kawaii?"
Real Japanese girl: Shut up! Your name is really Katie and not Kyoshi. You're such a Wapanese!
Wapanese girl: Well...I'm off to listen to my new Puffy CD! Sayounara Keiko-chan!
Real Japanese girl: What a loser!
This anonymous hero on UD summed it up very well.
But, before you start accusing Tsuki no Kimi of being a hypocrite, bear in mind that I only gained this knowledge after a long, long time on and that's why there is still some shameful Romanized Japanese in my fanfics.
Now. Wapanese, basically, is where an author tries to show off her knowledge of minimal Japanese by putting it into her story. The Japanese is usually misspelled, and/or put into the wrong context. EG: "Ohayou Amu-chan! It's the middle of the night!"
The thing that annoys me most about Wapanese is the people who seem to think adding U's to the word makes it more "authentic", for example:
Ohayo = means "good morning", for if your seeing someone for the first time that day. Turns into = ohayou. If you wrote down that word in Japan they'd think you were a retard.
Minna-san = polite way of saying "everybody". Turns into = Mina-san. That's a name, not a word, you sots.
Kokoro = heart. Turns into = Kokorou. What the hell is this?! Who's been teaching YOU Japanese?!
Baka = idiot, stupid. BAKA!!BAKA!!BAKABAKABAKA!!! ---- WRONG. If you screamed this at someone in your class at school, your family would tie you to the ceiling fan by your ankle. Because it's actually incredibly rude.
If you've been using some of these words in your story and are feeling pretty uncomfortable, don't worry about changing it now. Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start using English.
Part 2.5: The Plot Itself
This might amaze you, but in the world of Fanfiction, plot is not important. Your story is character-driven. However, plot is still a driving force so... please... no clichés.
COMMON SHUGO CHARA FANFICTION CLICHES:
"And they all lived happily ever after"
"Ikuto is the school's resident playboy but will new transfer student Hinamori Amu turn it around?"
"SC Girl gets beaten by her drunken father/mother all the time until SC boy rescues her."
"Rima keeps a funny sarcastic diary on Nagihiko."
(Quite a recent one I've been seeing) "OH NOO!! Nagihiko/Kukai/Ikuto has turned into a baby, now we're gonna rip off Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
"SC girl(s) are a famous pop idol/band, but then they a) fall in love or b) a new band/pop idol shows up and they compete for a couple chapters before falling apart."
"A new Mary-Sue shows up to steal Nagihiko's heart but the author puts it under "Rimahiko" because they're a dirty lying cheating snitch."
"Rima meets Nagihiko the smexy vampire and she angsts about it for a couple chapters."
If none of these are in your story, good job! With some funny jokes your plot will be the least of your problems now.
Part 2.6: Characters
Characters are everything.
They are the soul, the brain, and the inspiration, so if you fuck them up you'd better watch out.
OOCness – aka, out of character-ness – is quite acceptable, to an extent. After all, you have a couple of canon characters to manipulate and if they act exactly like their anime counterparts then you won't get any exciting stuff happening. The trick to a good fanfiction is finding a healthy balance of canonity and OOC. This balance varies depending on your story; in some you can get away with ridiculous amounts of split-personality syndrome and in others they have to be quite rigidly the same. It may take a while to figure this balance out, but that's why you read it over before you publish. I like to pretend that I'm reading the story for the first time and it's someone else's – does the dialogue sound natural? Can you imagine the scene going on in your head? This can get kind of tiring and discouraging so try not to do it so much, just as a minor editing ploy.
OCness – aka, original character-ness – is also acceptable but not as much as someone being out of character. Remember, someone is reading the story for the main anime characters, not for characters you invented yourself. But there's nothing wrong with making a couple minor characters to stir things up if no canon characters are available. Just make sure that they don't:
Resemble another canon character in the story/from another fandub unless it's as a joke or a minor crossover.
Resemble a MARY-SUE. They take over a story like wildfire. There are many tests available to test your character for sueity, and to find a good one simply enter "Mary Sue Litmus Test" into your preferred search engine.
Look like a self-insertion. This is where you create a character that's basically, you in literary form. They laugh the same way you do, have your eyes, hair, and skin, carry your pet around in their lap and sometimes they even introduce themselves as the author of the story. THIS IS NOT A CHARACTER!! THIS IS YOU!! and occasionally this "you" can turn into a flaming Mary-Sue and take over the story... like wildfire. Again.
If you got this all down then you're ready to go. But wait... wait just a minute here... what if I AM making an OC Story?
Part 2.7: Making an OC Story?
Hello~ This is Kimi's beta-reader, Lina. And you have just found yourself in the OC section. *grins evilly* Well, I'm not gonna go easy on you, so to put this bluntly…
We really don't give a crap about your characters. Sorry, but we read your story for you know, the CHARACTERS.
First of all—and this concept IS used frequently in OC stories… The child of (insert your favorite pairing here) is back from the future! She's in trouble! Oh noes! Well, you see, I don't care if the concept was used in Sailor Moon. You're far, far away from Takeuchi Naoko's level.
Now, I'm not saying that all OCs are bad. It's the Mary-Sues that annoy the heck out of me. And for my personal enjoyment, have an example of a Mary-Sue from Shugo Chara.
"Name: Tsukiyomi Hana
Age: 14
Race: Half Japanese, half Chinese
Languages: I can speak Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean!
Hair Color: Mainly brown, but it changes color naturally according to the weekday. Monday, it's light purple. Tuesday, it's a light blue. Wednesday, it's brown. Thursday, it's green. Friday, it's pink. Saturday, it's a VERY light brown. Then, on Sunday, it's a rainbow color! Isn't it awesome?!
Eye Color: Mainly blue, but it changes according to my mood! Isn't that AWESOME?!
Charas: Oh, I only have about…maybe, 20 charas? Not THAT many…Oh and therefore I'm the new joker and I'm like, awesome that way, and so I get to get the Humpty key! Take that, Amu!
Job: I'm a model, singer, idol, and I'm awesome at schoolwork because I'm just perfect that way, and I'm also good at schoolwork!
Relations: I'm Iku-rin's half-sister. Aren't I just awesome that way? But I suppose that's the reason why I'm not marrying him...
Past: My mother died when I was seven. Yes, it's sad, isn't it? And so my dad had to take care of me, but he's a horrible parent because he gets drunk all the time and beats me up. So, I have to run away. That's the only reason I came to Japan, you see, to get away from him. But he miraculously found me and tried to murder me, and he almost did! Then Nagi-chan thought I was dead for a while and cried a lot, but then I came back! And so we're getting married!
Oh, and did I mention that I'm Nagi-chan's childhood friend? Yeah, well I am! So I'm marrying him! Isn't it awesome?
I also was tied up by rabid fangirls. They were jealous because of my stunning good looks and my relationship with Nagi-chan. Isn't it horrible?
There's one other thing I'd like to mention...
I'M PERFECT! I'M SO STUNNINGLY PERFECT THAT ALL THE BOYS FALL HEAD OVER HEELS FOR ME! So if you hate me, you are most definitely lying. I mean, who wouldn't fall for me? And my angsty past with my father! How can you not be attracted to that? I'm completely absolutely 100 percent perfect. Even if no one's perfect, I AM. I ranked number one in ALL of my classes, I play piano, violin, guitar, oboe, clarinet, and flute! And, I'm secretly a famous rock star! So therefore, I'm 100 percent perfect!
And so, that's the whole reason why I'm marrying Nagi-chan. Although Kukai-kun wanted to marry me. So did that Samurai guy named Kairi...but whatever!
Oh, here's some more information from me!
Weight: 68 pounds. Yes, I'm light, but I'm not anorexic. I'm at the border, which is perfectly fine. That's what makes me so stunningly beautiful.
Height: 5 feet 5 inches.
I'm perfect. So that means my lips are perfect, my body's perfect, my hips are perfect, etc. etc. I'm just perfect that way."
I'm done now. Scary, yes? You see, if you have a character like that people will run away screaming from your fanfiction. Unless it has a hot make out scene in it or something. Then, rabid fangirls will comment saying "OMGGG!1!!!1111! BEST STORY EVARRRR!ONE!!!!1!"
And just for clarification, that is a real OC. She was someone's roleplay character back in my Mary Sue days....
So to avoid someone like that…
YOU NEED TO MAKE HER HAVE FLAWS. LOTS OF FLAWS. PROBLEMS!
Oh and have at least one of the Guardian characters hate her/his guts.
And for the flaws part, if you say her flaw is "being so beautiful that people hate her"—
Close the internet window
Douse yourself with ice water
Burn all evidence of the Mary Sue. BURN IT.
Things that also do not count as flaws: being adorably clumsy or overeating but still not getting fat. Cause seriously. Those are not flaws, okay? The first one is a moe-turn on (according to my sources), while the other is a rip off of Sailor Moon.
Completed 26.12.2009.
Last Updated 11.2.2009.