Do You Have Any Tips For Writing Fanfiction, Or Just Writing In General?

Do you have any tips for writing fanfiction, or just writing in general?

Do the thing

Do not try to be perfect

Remember that every doc is editable - and so is every fic you post on AO3/FFN

If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to cut it - even if it’s your favourite thing

Take any and all writing advice with a grain of salt

Anyone else have some advice to share?

fanfic titles be like “we have not touched the stars (nor are we forgiven)” and then you look at the tags & the first one is “anal fisting”

My advice when folks are struggling with writing in the third-person omniscient is to Lemony Snicket it up. Give your omniscient narrator strong opinions about what’s going on. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that the third-person omniscient perspective must also use the objective voice; those are two separate things, and many of the most popular and successful writers who’ve written in the third-person omniscient do not, in fact, use the objective voice.

Types of Narrators

For the latest issue of The Southampton Review.

The Shape of Ideas book | The Shape of Ideas sketchbook | Poster Shop

I don’t want to write this extremely specific fanfic of which I am the primary audience, I just want to read it.

How to Plot Your Story Using the But/Therefore Method

Here’s another sneak peak from my forthcoming book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers!

The but/therefore method* is an easy way to create your plot and test the cause-effect connections between your plot and character motivation.

If you don’t have a plot yet, it can help you create one. If you already have one, the method almost always reveals gaps that need to be addressed with new or stronger chapters/scenes. (For help with your character motivation, check out the PDF “Creating Character Arcs” in my Free Resource Library.)

Use this template for each scene or chapter:

[Main character] wants ______, but _______, therefore ______.

In the first blank, put the motivation for that chapter or scene.

In the second blank, the conflict or obstacle.

In the third blank, the result or action the character takes, which leads into the next goal, and so on, and so on.

Chapter-by-chapter it might look something like this:

Chapter 1: Julian wants to ask Matt to the dance, but he’s scared of being rejected, therefore he slips a cryptic note into Matt’s locker.

Chapter 2: Matt doesn’t see the note. Now Julian wants to get into his locker and retrieve it, but the principal sees him trying to jimmy open the lock, therefore Julian is given detention for a week.

You can also do this scene-by-scene. My suggestion would be to start with the chapter outline, see what it reveals, then move into the scenes. If you’ve already written a draft, you can outline your draft using the template, which should reveal holes in character motivation, plot, and cause/effect, all with one fell swoop!

Hope this helps!

*I adapted this method from South Park writer Trey Parker, who first introduced it in the documentary Six Days to Air.

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The Literary Architect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler. For more writing help, check out my Free Resource Library, peruse my post guide, or hire me to edit your novel or short story.

The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers will be available for purchase soon. Follow the link if you want to be notified when it is released. xoxo