Fanfiction is a very popular pasttime of many anime and manga fans. The concept of fanfiction has been around longer than I can remember, and even I penned my own first fanfiction sometime back in 1999, shortly after I first saw Ronin Warriors aired on Toonami. Today, fanfiction writers continue to thrive with new writers coming to the fanfic world every day.
There are many different types of fanfic writers and each writer is defined by his or her writing style and ability, and the genre and anime or manga chosen to write. I have read my fair share of good fanfiction and bad fanfiction. Very few times have I found fanfiction excellently written in terms of originality, grammar, and spelling. Writing fanfiction is not meant to be a chore, but it can be a chore for readers if it is written terribly.
To write a good fanfiction, there are several matters to consider. I'll list them in bullet form for a more comprehensive focus.
- Why do you want to write a fanfic? This question probes for the answers only you can answer to determine whether or not fanfiction writing is for you. For some fanfiction is a means to creativity and for other reasons. Some write fanfiction because they have an idea they want to share.
- What world will you base your fanfiction on? The world will depend on numerous factors, including a particular show or book you want to focus your story upon. Do you want to write a fanfiction from the world of Harry Potter? Or would writing a fanfiction out of the world of Blue Exorcist suit your desires?
- Once you have chosen which world to base your fanfiction on, you will need your characters. For some, it is better to choose the characters you will use, and then place them into scenes. In fact, I find it easier to choose characters and develop a scene around them. But you can choose scenes first, and then add characters. The choice is yours. My recommendation: Choose what is easier on you.
- Once you have your characters, you will need your plot. The scenes and the characters can be written in chronological order to head toward the plot.
- Having an idea for a plot is only the beginning though. If you're going to write fanfiction, you must be sure you have good spelling and good grammar. There IS a difference between their, they're, and there. Writing out detailed sentences is another matter. Too often I've come across fanfiction worded like this: Keven smiled at her. She smiled back. They decided to kiss. This is boring and lacks any feeling to it. Adding detail to any sentence engages the reader's attention and gives them a better understanding. As a writer, you want your readers to get to know the characters and the world they're in through your eyes. This also applies to original characters.
So in short..
1. Know what you want to write about.
2. Select the world you want to write about and the appropriate characters.
3. Choose your scenes and write them in order, leading through to the beginning of the plot, the middle, and finally the conclusion.
4. Add detail to your sentences. The more detail, the better.
5. Proofread your writing. This means using Google or an actual dictionary to look up words that don't make sense. For example: They're dog is great is not correct. Also do not take up two pages long to describe what a character looks like, and refrain from using words that have the same meaning. Example: Beautiful, gorgeous, exquisite.
There are many self-help writing tutorials out there, far better than this article. I do not generally approve of writing generators, but I do approve of writing classes. You can find many good books on writing at your local library. And as always, practice practice practice. I further suggest reading different types of fictional and non-fictional books. Reading novels inspires the desire for writing and with it the need to enhance one's skills.
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