Okay, kids! I guess you know that by the title, this is a friendly page where you can learn to write fanfiction better!

Now, before I get into all the details and everything, please know that I am not perfect. I may be saying some things on here, and you'll clutch your hair in desperation, with much moaning and gnashing of teeth.

"But LBC," you cry, "I was just reading one of your chapters, and you totally broke one of your own rules! Hypocrite!

Yes yes yes, tell me something I don't know. Nobody's is perfect, not even Hannah Montana, so don't go banging my head in whenever I don't follow something that I say. I am incredibly lazy. I hate editing. Despise it. It drives me crazy because it just takes up time...that I can afford to waste, actually. Did I mention I was lazy?

Now that all of that is out of the way, I thought we'd start with something at little simple.

Or, maybe not that simple.

Mostly, I just want to get this section out of the way.

Characterization!

[cue trumpet fanfare and moaning]

Part 1: Getting the Main Characters Right

Now, first I'll explain why this thing seems so easy, yet so incredibly hard. One thing that I've noticed is that whenever I'm writing an original story of mine, characterization can be easy to me because I am familiar with my own characters. I can easily think of what they might say, do, or think, because I am the person that created them.

BUT, when writing fanfiction, making sure that the characters you are writing about are following the guidelines that the fabulous (or maybe not-so-fabulous) Double R lay down is a bit trickier. These characters are not your own, so it's much more difficult for you to understand how they will act in certain situations that the obnoxious gods throw at them.

Annabeth

Now, one thing that I find incredibly annoying is when people just completely get the characters wrong. Specifically, Percy and Annabeth. So many people always portray Percy as a one-sided idiot that can't even tie his shoelaces, and Annabeth as a pouty whiny fool that gets mind-numbing flares of jealousy about every single little thing and I just cna't evne t ype rihgt nw.

YOU.
GUYS.

Annabeth ran away from home when she was seven. Seven. What were you doing when you were seven? Playing princesses and watching Disney movies? [Please, I don't need an onslaught of whatever you were doing when you were seven in the reviews. Keep it to yourself] Annabeth was taking out monsters with a hammer! She managed to take care of herself before she met Luke and Thalia. She is independent, intelligent, and calculating. I'm pretty sure she doesn't whine whenever Percy doesn't give her a goodbye kiss at the lockers or whatever. I have seen this way too many times:

"Annabeth, what's wrong?" Percy asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing," she snapped, turning away from him and flicking her hair over her shoulder in a conceited way.

"No, please, I want to fix it." Percy grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. She glared at him.

"I can't believe you forgot! I thought you cared about me!" Her lower lip trembled.

"I do! Tell me what I did."

She sucked in a breath, holding back tears. "You didn't tell me you loved me before you went to class. You didn't even kiss me! How am I supposed to know that you care about me if you don't even do something that simple? I am so DONE with you, Percy Jackson!"

Oooh-kay, maybe I overdid it a bit, but I think you get the point. Annabeth don't need no man to make her feel good about herself. I'm pretty sure she doesn't need five minutes reminder that Percy cares about her.

Please! Put yourself in her shoes. Think about what has happened to her throughout her life. She may be blunt, but don't give her the emotions of a rock, but don't make her prissy either. That is the complete opposite of her personality.

Percy

I'm going to say this once. Maybe twice. Percy is not stupid. I repeat. Percy is NOT STUPID.

Maybe people are trying to get down the humor and sarcasm that Percy has, but they're failing. Even I suck at it. But remember, Percy does not skip down the halls gleefully, sucking lollipops. He does not pout childishly (usually). He doesn't whine like a baby whenever he doesn't get something that he wants, unless he's being funny about it.

"Percy, would you please stop?" Annabeth asked, angrily squeezing water out of her hair.

"Why? It's fun!" Percy said, spinning around, splashing Annabeth with a tidal wave.

"No, it's not! You got seawater in my eyes!"

Percy just giggled. "Oh, sorry, I forgot you get wet! What would happen if I do...this!"

Annabeth pushed Percy out of the way just in time. "No, I'm done. I'm tired of you acting like a child. Come to me when you've learned to grow up."

People, puh-lease. He does not have the personality of a five year old. He's sixteen, almost seventeen, for goodness sake! Same with Annabeth, he can take care of himself. It took him five books before he got in a relationship. Remember that third book, The Titans Curse? Annabeth was not with him. He managed. Sure, he was going to save her, but he was not holding her hand with every step he took.

Overview of Part 1

1. Annabeth can take care of herself. She's independent

2. Make Percy intelligent and actually have a brain. Don't make him an idiot

3. For help with characters, go back to the books! Think of how they'll react in situations and put yourself in their shoes, and if you need help, just look back at what Riordan has written. That will always be a good guide. He knows the characters better than anyone

And now, the second half:

Part Two: Your Original Characters

[ugh, really?]

Yes.

I know.

"But LBC," you pout, "they're called original characters for a reason! They're mine, so I'll do whatever I want with them!"

Honeys, I know. They are called original characters. They are 100% yours, so that means that you can do whatever you want with them, right?

Eh, kind of.

Flaws

People, the characters have to be realistic. Like I said above, nobody's perfect, not even Miss Rainbow Sunshine Pony that you came up with. Everybody has flaws! Flaws are good! They make a character stronger, not weaker, because they show that they are human. The only bad flaw that your character can have is perfection. Just...no.

Honestly, I'm afraid of using an OC in a story. I want them to blend in with the scenery and seem natural in the storyline. Kids, you don't want your OC to stick out like a sore thumb. If they do, that can be a sign that they are just too unrealistic.

Now, I'm going to use one OC in my story as an example [however reluctant I may be]. Her name is Bethany. One thing that I like about her is that she's impulsive, sometimes acts rashly, and is also independent. Another thing that I adore about her is that she's insecure to be in a relationship. I've noticed that a lot of people create an OC because they want them to have a romance. Not this chick. She doesn't like to get to attached to people because she knows that she can't handle the loss if they get hurt. Because of this, she's distant and can be lonely. She's not perfect! She's realistic! There are plenty of people out there that feel the same way that she does. That is her flaw.

Imperfections of Skill and Appearance

Your character can be athletic! They can be talented! They can have awesome powers! That's good! They just can't be good at everything. They can't all use a sword, knife, shield, bow and arrow, and spear and be amazing at all of them. That's unrealistic. Your character has to be bad at something to make them more relateable. (relatable? Word is getting mad at me for both of them)

Another way to show that your OC is realistic is to provide certain quirks about their features. They can't be muscled, attractive, and have perfect skin with incredible supermodel hair that's always flowing in the wind provided by an invisible fan. Having a character like that is hard to imagine. Give them a too big nose, maybe a scar on their arm, or a blemish on their skin.

Parentage

Finally, the last thing that I'm asking you to consider (you can ignore everything I've just said. I don't care) is the OC's parentage.

Daughter of Hermes? Excellent, young grasshopper

Son of Apollo? Fabulous!

A satyr? A nymph? Holy cow! You hardly see any of those!

Child of a maiden goddess? Slow down there, buddy

Child of the Big Three? Could you please not...?

Especially Poseidon? Just stop.

Yes, yes, I know, original characters. But if you want to make your OC as realistic as humanly possible, don't make them a child of someone who wouldn't even have a child in the first place. Rick Riordan has made the exceptions, and that's it. No more. Set in stone. I can 99.9999999% guarantee that Ricky will not pull a daughter or son of Poseidon out of a hat. If he does, I'll eat my shorts. Marinate them and grill them and everything.

The subject above can segway into another thing:

Chaos stories.

But I think I'll save that for later. Maybe that'll be chapter two.

Overview of Part Two!

1. Give your character personality flaws! It creates stronger characters, trust me

2. An imperfect character is a perfect character

3. Make them realistic to the PJO world. Don't go on a heyday with their parents

Zoo wee mama, I think that's it. Please know that I was not trying to bash any writer on this website in any way. No offense was meant to be given. I'm sorry if I insulted anyone.

Also, know that none of us are perfect! We all make mistakes, but they can be fixed! I know that I have made plenty of mistakes in my writing, and I will make plenty more in the future. Remember, with practice, you'll get better. I swear on my fish's lives that you will.