50 Tips For (fanfic) Writing

50 tips for (fanfic) writing

have fun

write whatever is interesting to you, even if it won’t be interesting to anyone else

appreciate kudos when they come, but don’t expect them

appreciate comments when they come, but don’t expect them

if you wish you could just write that one scene you have in your head, do that. you don’t need to create a 30K backstory for it first.

embrace one shots

embrace drabbles

embrace writing your story out of order

rough drafts are meant to be rough. if you can’t think of a word, put in a placeholder for it and keep going. 

try not to get stuck on the little things

it’s okay if your readers can’t see the picture inside of your head

some people work well when they have a posting schedule. some people work well when they don’t. it’s okay if you don’t know which kind of person you are, and it’s okay if the type of person you are changes over time.

if a rule you created for yourself isn’t working for you, get rid of that rule.

make fandom friends. even if they don’t read your fic, they’ll cheer you on while you write it.

cheer on other writers you know. you’ll be cheering yourself at the same time.

no trope or genre is better or worse than another one. they all just appeal to different audiences.

quality and popularity are not the same thing, although they do sometimes overlap

numbers and statistics will never tell you whether or not you’re a good writer. they will never tell you how valuable you are as a person. 

you belong in fandom if you want to be there

you’re a writer as soon as you start writing things

writing and posting are two different things. your story is still worth writing, even if you never plan to share it

you don’t need to apologize for what you write or what you post. 

don’t worry about taking up too much space. the internet doesn’t have a maximum size. 

keep your readers in mind when you’re tagging your content. how could they search for your fic? if you use a tag, will be a reader who loves that tag be satisfied with how much it appears in your story?

if you have a relationship in your fic that plays a minor role, tag it in the Additional Tags section instead of the Relationship section so that people who love that ship don’t get their hopes up

be cautious when looking at bookmarks on your fic. they aren’t “extra comments.” that’s a space where readers make notes for themselves and each other, not for authors. 

you don’t need to know everything about canon before you start writing fic

you don’t need to read fic in the same fandoms you write for

you don’t need to read fic at all in order to write it

love your work because sometimes you’re the only one who will - and that’s okay

if your hobby starts feeling like a job, you might need to take a break before you get burnt out

if you get stuck on a story, you can always start a new one

if you fall out of love with a story, you can always stop writing it. if you’re worried about your readers, you can always give them a bullet point summary of where you were planning to go with thing. for a lot of people, that’s satisfying and provides closure

if you get hate, report it

use the tools at your disposal to block hate before it can come in (limiting or turning off comments, limiting or turning off asks, blocking users, etc)

try replying to comments sometimes. it can be a lovely way to make fandom friends

don’t be afraid to reblog your own writing posts.

if you get stuck on your summary, just write 1) who the story is about 2) what they are doing and 3) what problem gets in their way

notice when your writing makes you smile. that moment is a gift. enjoy it.

notice when your writing makes you cry. that moment is a gift, too.

even if you’re disappointed in how your story turned out, there’s something in there that’s fantastic. find that thing and focus on it and feel proud.

some ideas are ones you want to write. some are ones you want to read. if you ever have too many ideas to deal with at once, give some of the latter ones away to someone else. 

sometimes the things you write will be really personal. be careful about putting them where other people can comment. they won’t know how personal it is for you, and you need to remember that comments aren’t about you, they’re about the story.

remember that you can write series as well as stories. if the story is done but you still have passion or ideas, start a new one in the same universe.

enjoy the satisfaction of finishing a story. savour it. bask in it a little while.

don’t feel guilty about abandoning a story. not every story gets finished, and that’s okay

you can have separate accounts for different fandoms. you can have one account with a million fandoms in it. do whatever works for you.

sometimes writing is more important than sleep - but only sometimes

it doesn’t matter if that story has been written before by someone else. it doesn’t matter if it was written by you. write it again.

only follow the advice that makes sense to you. the rest isn’t important.

Yeah boi a fable haven blog! I haven't read the series in years. My family listened to the full cast audiobooks when I was a kid, & we just read the first book again in the summer, with plans to reread the full series.

That’s so cool! Awesome that you’re getting back into the series, too!

Siblings

This is set after Zzyzx, but before Dragonwatch... Hope you enjoy!

“Ha! I win!” Seth’s shout was loud enough to rival the drumming rain outside.

“No way! You cheated! I saw you look at the cards when you were dealing!” Kendra retorted.

“It’s not cheating if you can’t prove it.”

“So you admit it!”

“I didn’t say that!”

Ever since they were little, Kendra and Seth had been having their infamous sibling-bonding games nights. They were infrequent, but everyone knew about them- the only requirements were that it had to be at night, and it had to be raining. Nobody else was ever allowed to join in, but the sibling rivalry meant that the entire preserve probably could have heard every word. The nights had become so well-known because the first time they’d held one at Fablehaven, they’d accidentally woken the entire household up in the middle of the night with their shouting. After everyone barged in, thinking that something was wrong, Seth and Kendra had united, driving everyone out of the attic, and set about pranking every member of the household, innocent or not. Eventually, Grandma and Grandpa made everyone swear not to interrupt the games nights after a particularly life-threatening retaliation involving a frying pan and an unhealthy amount of bubbles.

Kendra and Seth were currently sitting on the floor in the attic, surrounded by mountains of games, Uno cards scattered all over the floor after Seth had thrown them in the air as a part of his victory-dance.

“You totally cheated, Seth! You can’t look at the cards, dealing or not.”

“We never said we couldn’t.”

“AHA! So it went from flat-out denial, to ‘no evidence’ to ‘not in the rules.’ If you keep changing your defense, you won’t have one left!”

“So I do have a defense, and therefore my defenses all had merit. You’re the one digging yourself deeper, Kendra.”

“That didn’t make very much sense, Seth. Your defense’s defense has even more problems than the original defense!”

“Now I’m just confused. How about we call it a draw, because I don’t think either of us understands what the other is saying right now, and I want to play truth or dare.” Seth grinned at his sister, leaning against his bed, as they both tried to figure out what they’d both said.

“Fine,” Kendra relented. “But I get to go first- truth or dare?”

“Is that even a question? Dear sister, do you even know me at all?”

“Just answer the question, Seth!” Kendra rolled her eyes.

“Dare.” His sister’s grin turned evil.

“I dare you to sneak out to Warren’s cabin, put fluro pink dye in the showerhead, and remove every last mirror in his house.” Seth laughed.

“Where are we getting the dye from?”

“I may or may not have prepared for this earlier, and if you hadn’t for some unforeseeable reason asked to play truth or dare, I would have done it myself.” Seth’s eyes widened in understanding.

“This is payback for when he called you cute, and practically dared you to something about it last week, isn’t it?”

“I shall neither confirm nor deny, but if I were to say something, I would say that you are correct.” They both grinned at each other.

“You’re on!” Seth suddenly shouted, and raced over to to Kendra’s bedside table, pulling out boxes of glitter and pink dye. “Do we have a large enough bag to carry all Warren’s mirrors? He has A LOT.” Kendra nodded. “That brings me to my next question. Won’t he see the pink when he takes a shower?”

Kendra thought for a second. “You know how he has that shampoo he uses every day? I checked, and it’s pink, too. Hopefully he won’t notice until Dale kills him. Although we should probably put the dye in his shampoo bottle instead of the shower head.”

“Sound’s foolproof- let’s go!” Seth raced over to the door, still shoving everything in his emergency kit as he ran. Kendra followed just as eagerly. Ever since Zzyzx, Kendra and Seth had felt a lot safer going out at night, and hardly ever even asked for permission to go into the preserve after Grandpa Sorenson had finally caved and shown them both a map of boundaries, where was safe and where wasn’t, and told them to be careful. The path to the cabin was always kept in good repair by Hugo.

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“You ready?” Kendra whispered to Seth, sneaking to the cabin’s front door, drenched due to the rain. After learning that it would be a games night, Vanessa, Dale, and Tanu had all made some form of excuse, and fled the main house to bunk with Warren for the night. While Vanessa and Tanu could sleep through anything, Warren and Dale were notoriously light sleepers.

Seth fished the spare key to the cabin out from under the dead and currently drowning pot plant Warren had insisted on keeping, unlocked the door, and replaced the key. He was inside before Kendra could blink. After several tense minutes, Seth crept out out of the cabin, dragging a heavy sack behind him that must have been filled with Warren’s mirrors, and spread his hands to show that he wasn’t holding the dye any more. For someone who lived in a cabin in the woods, Warren seemed to care an awful lot about his reflection.

“How’d it go?” Kendra whisper-shouted to Seth.

“Fine. They were still holding their phones and pizza, out like Olloch.” Continuing to drag the mirrors off the front porch, the wet sack fell off the last step, making a tinkling, breaking-glass sound as it hit the ground. “Oops.” Seth winced, before freezing as the unmistakable sound of someone waking up followed. Warren’s voice could be heard waking the others up, and cursing as he apparently got whacked with one of Vanessa’s shoes.

“RUN!” Kendra screeched, grabbing Seth’s hand, ditching the broken mirrors, as the people inside the cabin seemed to be running towards the door. Just as they were reaching the edge of the edge of the clearing near the path, Seth looked back, and saw a half-asleep Vanessa opening the door, missing a shoe, and waking up immediately as she saw the siblings escaping.

“QUICK! TANU! WHERE ARE MY DARTS!? THEY’RE GETTING AWAY!” The sound of something heavy falling came from inside the cabin, and Kendra could hear Dale cursing and shouting something about ‘looking where you’re going, and not falling on top of people.’

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They were nearly back at the house when Kendra heard Warren following them, shouting encouragement to the others behind him- “Come on! Let’s get them! Hurry up! They broke my mirrors!”- and other similar phrases. Kendra tackled Seth into a nearby dripping bush, breaking off his complaints with a hand over his mouth as Warren barreled past their hiding place.

Kendra and Seth let out twin sighs of relief.

“I can’t wait to see his face when he finds out about the dye. It’s permanent, too.” Kendra giggled.

“Thanks, sis.” Seth grinned at Kendra, thanking her for saving him from being steam-rolled by his distant cousin, and she returned the smile, water running down their faces.

“No problem. What are siblings for?”

They might not always get along, and might fight a lot, but they both knew the other would always have their back.

Dear Brandon Mull-

If you put Seth or Kendra through any more angst, put Bracken in prison again, kill an awesome character, or ignore all the amazing ships you’ve ever created, you will answer to your fandom :)

I’m sorry but Demons by Imagine Dragons is the most PERFECT Fablehaven theme song ever

Just imagine the Sorensons getting tired of Bracken and Vanessa’s constant bickering, and dumping them in the middle of the woods together to work it out without casualties.

Maybe some trouble then happens, and they have to work together to get back to Fablehaven. And come to accept/trust each other.