How to write 'Good' fanfiction

[Tom the Fanboy]

OK, SPOILERS in the stars as I explain the series continuity.

I use the word series because I was told that the BBC doesn't call the year's run of a specific show a season, they call it a series. As in "the series of episodes run in 2006".

Edit: I haven't seen any evidence of this on the wiki so I might have to stop.

**********************
**********************
**********************
*NEW WHO started with Eccleston as the Doctor.
*end of Series 1 he goes away.
******Christmas Invasion
*Series 2 is the tongue-man David Tennant
*end of Series 2 Rose is ditched (yay!)
******Runaway Bride
*Series 3 introduces the brilliant Martha Jones
*end of Series 3 has the Master
******voyage of the Damned
*
*I thought (correctly)the Master was played by the main guy from Life on Mars.
*I was right! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Simm
*************************
***********************
********************

End of Spoilers!

[Jbaum2]

If it's good, why don't you post it? There's a 'Good Fanfiction' thread on the second page, just waiting for posts...

Alright, I'll put up a link to the guy's profile in a minute.

[DEBO]

Stuff

Series, Season, semantics doesn't matter.

I actually missed those episodes when they were on TV (stupid scheduling, I've managed to miss the last 4-5 episodes of every season so far) so I'd only read the plot summary, and got confused, and excited. Really going to need to track down a copy of those episodes.

But typical BBC for you, shared writers, actors and even character names, combined with shows that both have timetravel leading to confusion.

[Narf the Mouse]

15) It doesn't matter how OC the characters are, as long as Your Amazing Plot! can move forward!!!

16) People don't want to read the boring stuff, so just leave out all the story between the important bits. It doesn't matter; you can just explain that stuff halfway through the next chapter, if you bother at all.

[Narf the Mouse]

I present to you, almost every fanfic ever written.

[DrunkenPrayer]

I use the word series because I was told that the BBC doesn't call the year's run of a specific show a season, they call it a series. As in "the series of episodes run in 2006".

Edit: I haven't seen any evidence of this on the wiki so I might have to stop.

Yep it's series over here. I think it's because shows in the states tend to air at specific times of year (summer, winter, autumn, spring) hence the "seasons" moniker. Whereas over here we don't really do that and the series are much shorter, 16 episodes is the top end usually I think. You know that explanation makes complete sense considering I'd never thought about it before. If I could be bothered I could look up the airing dates for Red Dwarf, old Doctor Who etc to see if the theory works.

Oh and John Simms is excellent, I keep meaning to watch Life on Mars purely because he's the main character in Human Traffic, one of my top five films of all time.

[Narf the Mouse]

17) Don't bother to figure out power levels. It doesn't matter if one character once moved a planet and the other could flip a compact car; clearly, Your Favorite must be a threat to anyone and everyone.

17a) And no, I'm not talking about Kryptonite.

[Narf the Mouse]

18) We all know that women are weak and emotional, so take every opportunity to have them break out into tears and or jealousy.

18a) It doesn't matter how capable a girl is, she needs a man to rescue her. Its, liek, a uneversel lawe or somthinj.

18aI) The quickest way to render a woman helpless is to capture her. Simply grabbing her upper arm is sufficient.

As always, all 'gudliens' have actual examples.

[Narf the Mouse]

19) Nothing says 'Feemal Empowirrment' like a Mary Sue. Remember, she must be beutifull, intelligent, couragous, kind and fall in love with a main character - And/or vice versa.

19a) Especially a main character who has never shown signs of wanting a love life.

19b) Or one who is with someone who is simply unsuitable. After all, it's up to You!, Yes, You!, to correct the 'Mistakes' of the Original Writer, who is clearly crazy/incompotent/stupid/mean.

19c) Having horrific things happen to her for absolutely no reason at all will enhance the story. Really.

20) Angst contributes to every story. I mean, a story needs intense emotion and angst is intense emotion, so every time you need to add tension, just rachet up the Angst!

Angst is to story like swearing is to humour.

[John Allenson]

Oh dear, I used to be one of the few men who wrote slash and I've seen far too many examples of bad fanfic. But remember Sturgeon's Law
90% of science fiction is crud but then 90% of everything is crud.

A few more suggestions. (And yes, I've read these as well.)

1/ No heroic character can have a gay/bisexual past. If they do then they are not really heroes. Every slash relationship must be based on a transcendance of the normative heterosexuality of the characters.

2/ WUV, TWUUUU WUV 1TP!!!! Nobody wants to read about a plot when they can watch two people who WUV each other talk about how much they WUV each other.

3/ Once you find TWUU WUV you become absolutely monogamous and cannot even feel a physical attraction for another person. Even if you're Captain Kirk or Brian Kinnehy (QAF USA)

4/ You can show your deep respect for Native culture by throwing in a wise Shaman. The best part is that you don't have to do any research about any actual culture.

5/ Every female character who might have a romantic interest in the hero is a BITCH!!!

6/ v53 1337 411 teh +1/\/\3 2 5l-l0\/\/ l-l0\/\/ 5/\/\47 u r.

7/ People get as bored reading 'X said' as you do writing it. Let them figure out who is talking. Better yet pull out a thesaurus and have "he said...she exclaimed...he replied...she inquired...he stated...."

8/ You know what the characters and the setting look like why bother telling the reader?

9/ You're not Japanese, couldn't tell the difference between Kanji and Kana and your only experience of Japanese culture comes from reading Naruto. Why not use a lot of Japanese terms without learning what they mean?

10/ No matter how much two characters despise each other in the canon you'll write a story where they are in WUV TWUUUU WUV.

-----------------------------------------------------
Enough already.

Crossovers can work quite well. What makes them fail is when the writer doesn't think through the implications of differing tones to the canons.

Example: Smallville is smuggly self-righteous and the world is essentially good with bad people being outsiders in some way. Angel was focused on the faint possibility of redemption in a corrupted world. The West Wing strove to be idealistic and realistic. But the three of them blended very well in Them Mean 'ol Landro Calrissian Blues where the token black male sidekick from each of the series got together in the White House cafeteria to talk about black characters in mainstream culture. Funny as hell.

[Narf the Mouse]

21) Nothing says great romance like two characters falling into sudden and overwhelming lust. Especially if it's totally out of character. I mean, it does save having to explain things and worrying about pesky things like personalities.

[Narf the Mouse]

22) Characters are interchangeable. Really.

[Narf the Mouse]

23) Once you've got everyone on the edge of their seat, cancel the fic. Or go on hiatus. (Guitly. Very guilty)

[Lunaroki]

Ooooo! I could do that! *wicked grin* Of course I know a bunch of people who would hunt me down and kill me if I did ... *whimper*

[John Allenson]

Unfortunately, I have done that. I got very sick a few years ago halfway through a Roswell/X-Files crossover and one-third of the way into an X-Man movie story. I haven't been able to write anything since.

[Narf the Mouse]

Try just writing a few sentences, then expanding them.

[Narf the Mouse]

24) The last thing I want to hear about is your sexual fantasies.

[Narf the Mouse]

25) Some famous guy said that good authors steal from the best. So, 'lift' some scenes, re-write some names, and hey! You got yourself some great prose, and you didn't even have to work or be creative! Horrors!

[Narf the Mouse]

26) When moving a key person from one fictional universe to another in a fanfiction crossover, it is important to take note of small changes that will happen...Like, 'Will this result in the destruction of all life on Earth?' and other such things.

[Narf the Mouse]

27) Wun gud wai of starting a romantic crossover is to have a romantic partner turn out to be evil or not care at all, no matter how unlikely. Who cares about respecting the original authors' creations?