Just some random writer writing different kinds of random fanfiction about shows I like. My greatest dream is to be a professional writer but getting the creative juices flowing in my young age for now writing whatever fanfiction story I feel like doing. You can feel free to make story requests with me, but know I am only going to write stories I feel passionate about telling. Feel free though to give feedback via comments/messages and I hope you enjoy what I make. Also: if you're interested...

My Five Important Keys to Writing Fanfiction

I’ve been writing fanfiction my whole life. First on bits of paper with crayon when I was little (I would draw my fanfiction long before I could write it), to typing and posting online. I’ve gone from making crude stories about my favorite childhood cartoon characters, to more sophisticated tales featuring characters from my favorite TV shows. Along the way I’ve learned many valuable lessons in how to write fanfiction and kept those lessons posted near my desk. Now I share them with anyone who cares:

1. Don’t just write your happily ever after romantic fantasy and that be it. Many people when they watch shows or movies, have an idea of which character should end up with who romantically and then make it happen in fanfiction. But stories still need conflict. Characters still need challenges. Don’t just make your two favorite characters an item, and that be it. Make them work towards being a couple. Or: let them be an item, and explore how they now have to tackle challenges in their lives in a new way. Remember, if everybody is just smiling and happy all of the time, you have the same level of conflict as an episode of Barney the Dinosaur.

2. Figure out why this story needs to be told. Don’t just write a fanfiction story because you want to play out the characters doing things they wouldn’t do in their respective TV shows. Figure out why this story needs to be told. What hole in the characters’ back story needs explaining? What new level of growth does your favorite character need to reach? What important new issue or challenge does this individual need to get through? In short: your character needs a goal. Not just a setup that makes it different than the source material.

3. Be careful of inserting too many original characters. People come to read fanfiction to read new stories featuring familiar faces. They didn’t come for your original fiction. If you’re going to introduce a new character, ask yourself: does this story need a new character? Can an already existing character do what I plan for this OC to do? This new character should only come in if they bring an important new dynamic to the already existing characters’ lives that forces them to grow and change in a way they couldn’t before. An obvious example could be a character becoming a parent for the first time and having a baby. The baby may be an original character, but they are the focal point of helping that existing character begin a whole new important chapter in their lives. And don’t make an original character based on yourself that dates your favorite character. Those stories almost always wind up coming across as shallow and are an out-dated fanfiction tradition.

4. Write something that’s personally important to you. Don’t just write what fans out there want to see happen to those beloved TV characters. Write what you want to see happen to those beloved TV characters you love so much. Hearing out other fans’ requests can sometimes inspire you to discover new ideas. But if you just write what someone else tells you to, you’re eventually going to find yourself writing a lackluster story. Find an important moral issue that means a lot to you, and then have your favorite TV characters learn about it. Remember an important challenge you went through, and then write your favorite TV characters living out a similar experience alongside your memory. Think about something that you think is funny, and then make the characters say and do that funny thing. If you’re invested in it, the readers are more likely to be as well.

5. Make the journey the most important part of the tale. Too many writers try to rush to an ending. However: it’s much better to make the journey to the end the most important thing to work on. If your whole story is your character walking down a sidewalk to get to a store, don’t just have them rush to the store and that’s that. Have them stop and catch up with a friend they see along the way. Have them try to get around road construction. Have them somehow get accidentally mixed into a marching band in the middle of a road intersection. In short: let the readers be entertained by how the character makes it the store; not by just the fact that they got there. That way, even if the reader can obviously see where your story is going, they’ll still want to read because they’re intrigued by how the characters will get there.