How to Write High-Quality Fanfiction ✍️💝
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- Опубліковано 25 лис 2024
- Here it is! The video I made specifically for all those people typing "how to write fanfiction" into the search bar. 👀 Here, I offer you four areas to focus on so that you can gain the foundation of knowledge that will help you write fanfiction that dances with canon, entices the fans, and has prose and plot that sings off the page. 😌
Recommended Writing Resources
springhole.net/
mythcreants.com/
tvtropes.org/
ShaelinWrites Diction Video.
• Word Choice, Diction, ...
For anyone reading the description with a screenreader, you may have missed that I accidentally confused her with Vivian Reis. The correction was made in the video via text on-screen.
A little about me: I am a creative writing graduate, professional copywriter, and self-proclaimed fanfic writer extraordinaire with over 9 years of experience here to help you live your best fanfic writing life! Subscribe to my UA-cam channel for your fortnightly dose of dreamy fanfiction tips. 💞✍️
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Music: music box cover of 'Bolero' by Maurice Ravel. Cover by R3 Music Box
• Bolero/Maurice Ravel [...
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Hello, fellow fic-writers! I'm really grateful for all the traction this video has been getting lately. Just wanted to let you know that if you want more dreamy fanfiction tips, including how to write your summary or make the most of your author's notes, then check out this playlist I've put together 👇 Maybe show these videos some love too if you're feeling generous 💖
ua-cam.com/video/h327pLyxhWo/v-deo.html
Hello fellow Fanfiction writer,
I am writting a Fanfiction about my own world and own characters in the German Language. Im Just scared that Nobody will See it when im done, is there Something i can do that people See my Fanfiction even If its Not a Canon fandom?
@@lazy_rosemary5382 I'm not sure how your work is a fanfiction then, if the world and characters are wholly your own. What makes you label it as fanfiction? Is it because you plan to publish it as a web serial, possibly on AO3? Just want to understand where you're coming from better.
Thank you for making those vids you are SO underrated
@@jujuoof174 Thanks so much 🥰
@@CoraMaria thank you to you and np!! ^^
I struggle with not focusing in how the characters were feeling, except when I do, it feels a lot more shallow than it did in my head
Conveying emotions in a way that feels authentic is definitely tricky. It's something that takes a lot of practice and is done in a lot of different ways. Mythcreants.com recently published an article about six ways to add emotion to your narration that might help: mythcreants.com/blog/six-ways-to-add-emotion-to-your-narration/
The best part about the article is that it offers a lot of practical advice.
My advice : gather up all of their history, their usual canon behaviour, their way of reacting to certain things. You need to understand their logic. Why are they presenting themselves that way? Why would they like this person and not the other? Why would they do this?
Now, how would they react to this? Would they like that behaviour? What are their habbits and where do they come from? Any experiences that shaked them up to make who they are now? Any goals??
And now try to see the world trough their eyes, their mind. I hope this helps!!^^
@@jujuoof174 this! But I'd like to add: don't explain all of this explicitly in your writing. Suggest it - let your reader connect the dots on why character X feels angry towards a remark from character Y (perhaps they remind character X of someone they hate,who you've introduced earlier in the story or will introduce later).
@@mikanchan322 Yeah of course!! I didn't mention it but it is also very important!! Props to you!
Oh wow! Thank you all for the great advice I'm so glad I saw this!! ❤️
This fandom I'm in is so unpopular it made me a writer
Someone out there is going to love you for this 💖
@deadchannel7895 I had to write the only fic on ao3 for the fandom I'm in.
Ur so me w aromantic reader fics😭😭 LIKE WHERE ARE THEY? Gotta make em myself ig🤷♀️
Edit: except i dont like my writing style so I don’t post☝️
Real, im here for that lmdaoaooa
SAME OMG
I have adhd and I really struggle with writing more than 1000-5000 words, and when I make a short fic I feel unaccomplished, like “oh man, only 2000 words? I wish I had more motivation so I could write something great with 10000 words or more.”
If you told most non-writers that you wrote a 2000-word story, they'll be impressed. There's also a lot of readers out there who prefer oneshots and that's all they read. I know my channel has a bias for longfic, but that's something I'm working on. I actually envy people who have tons of great oneshot ideas, since it's rare I get to feel the accomplishment of a finished story since mine always take so long! And also while I have a pretty good track record for completing longfics, for some reason, I'm REALLY not great at finishing the oneshots I start writing.
If you really do want to write a longfic anyway, then my ADHD tip is to try a free program called Stimuwrite, which offers fun backgrounds, soundscapes, typing sound effects, a progress bar, and emojis so that you have plenty of stimulation to keep your brain occupied and happy so you can keep writing. I haven't been diagnosed with ADHD though my circle does strongly suspect that I have it, and I've found Stimuwrite really helpful for getting more words down and focusing better.
Tbh, a lot of people with ADHD might be grateful that it's short because they might not be able to keep occupied on a story for long. I know I read and skip past lots of detail to get to the real meat of stories, I like a story being to the point. Too much detail gives my brain nothing to make up and imagine, and I get bored.
Hey dude that's fine one of my favorite fics has chapters that are 900 words at maximum (Fire Fist and Fire Dog) they just have a lot of chapters, You just have to do what makes you comfortable.
i'm the same way. when i start a story, i don't get past 5000 words before giving up. i try to aim for oneshots but i always have this full-fleshed story in my head so it doesn't always work out.
I love reading 1-2k word fics, mostly so that I can actually go to sleep at a reasonable time 😂. Don't overthink it
Something I've noticed in the fics I've read is that your personal voice has a strong effect on the audience's perception of the story. For example, I've read fics where the author adds a poetic touch to their work, elevating it's emotional and romantic tones. I've also read fics where the author keeps most descriptions short and funny, and includes jokes within the dialogue specific to the characters, so the result is enternaining yet uniquely sylized. Study your favorite author's voices and use them to determine how you yourself want your writting to sound. Hope this helps!
For how I prefer me canon, I’m kind of a mix
I live for AUs so the world can be literally whatever, but if the characterization is off, it’s hard to read
Honestly I think good characterization is the best way to get me to like a fic
For how into fanon I am, for ddlc anyway, I’m very into the gay side of things where everyone agrees that the four girls are dating. And I want to see even more of that, but I want the fandom to expand on that if that makes sense? Just, more Poly Doki fics! (Which is why I’m writing my own lol)
Hard agree on the good characterisation! In my fandom, the protagonist of the source material is a blank slate for the player to project themselves onto, so a lot of fanfic... forgets to characterise him? Which like? The most fun thing about writing him is that he's basically free real estate for you to write him how you like?
I'm good with AUs and canon-divergent fanfics but still adore when the author shows attention to detail and understanding of the source material. You can tell how intentionally they're remixing it that way 💖
@@zephyr_heart Gotta photosynthesise and make your own food! Totally get not finding the content you want. For my ship, I feel like people overlook the deeply rooted, systemic injustice preventing them from actually being together or if they do look at it, they dismiss it as an unsolvable problem, therefore the ship can only ever end in tragedy. No way, I say!
i struggle with characterisation, especially because the fic im writing now’s characters are very complex (hard to understand lmao) or irrelevant, so it’s up to personal interpretation, but i really want to stay true to canon. advice?
Same!AUs are awesome for when I run out of ideas in my fandom,so I usually just do what if’s,it’s really fun.
I’m a guy and I’ve written a couple of fanfics. I’ve posted them on my channel. My advice for writing fanfiction is put yourself into a character you like whether it be a movie or book character and be familiar with the setting they’re in. Once that’s settled you write away. I find fanfiction much easier to write than an original story to be honest.
Thanks for sharing your advice! There's just one thing I'm confused about, By "put yourself into a character you like", do you mean projecting your own personality onto the character, or putting yourself into their shoes in order to understand them better? I ask because one way involves possibly erasing the character's canon personality (if they have one unlike, say, Link from Legend of Zelda) while the other is a way to ensure that you write them in a way that feels in-character.
@@CoraMaria I mean like become familiar with the character and their personality. I’ve written in first person so that’s why I said it that way.
i love doing that! sometimes ill make a note of my core personality traits and manipulate them for the story, that way it feels like a fresh writing experience with the characters yet i’m still manifesting myself through them
@@_alternianIdiot however I would also encourage you to write original stories as well. Nothing wrong with writing fanfiction but, that shouldn’t be the only thing you write.
@@huntercoleman460 why not? If you don't want to be a writer, but want to write fanfiction I don't see an issue with it.
im writing an original fiction but fanfic advice is so much more helpful than original fiction advice imo 😭
Maybe it's because I haven't actually started on doing both, but I feel like making original fiction is easier than fanfiction
Here's a line that makes my story the story it is.
"I weaved this with all my heart."
Ooh I like that! Especially as a lover of fashion that has sentimental value (though it might not be clothing you're referring to, that's where my mind jumped.)
@@CoraMaria it is clothing. In fact it is what makes the story the story it is.
One way I started a fanfic was “Eat Shit or Die” meaning that the character was referring to eating crap food or be killed
@@SIRDUCK-yx4xv well that's inappropriate
I wrote about 1200 words after this video lol
Out of context:
"And maybe just slightly because he's a bit of a kleptomaniac. Maybe."
Your kleptomaniac character and my kleptomaniac character should be friends 🤝
my weakness is it starts out with great ideas and I get stuck on small dialogue to fill gaps
Small dialogue as in small talk? (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) Have you tried starting and ending your scenes on an impactful line of dialogue? That way, you can cut away all but that which progresses your story.
I can't remember where I learned that tip from since it was from my high school days, but I remember the example it gave was that instead of starting a scene with "Hello", "Hello", "How are you?", "I'm good. How are you?", you start it on something like:
"Margaret was murdered last night."
Rob almost dropped his rake. "I hadn't heard."
Hope that helped!
@@CoraMaria more as in small scenes. like I have basically a whole fic done but stuck on one person's dialogue and reactions to what's going on
Me, simultaneously playing Omori and writing fanfiction about it:
(Dont worry, I know canon! I watched a three hour summary on the game and cried at least three times!)
Me during my Twilight Princess replay lmao
can i have the link please im starving for omori fanfics
@deadchannel7895 happens to everyone
YES A VIDEO FOR THIS! Im writing my first fic and i’m struggling man, it all goes so well in my head but as soon as I go to write it down ITS BLAH.
I’m so bad at writing conversations, THIS IS MUCH APPRECIATED 🙏🏻
Glad to help! I think Abbie Emmons has a good tutorial on dialogue? I'd grab the link but I _just_ woke up 😅
@@CoraMaria oh I’ll look her up! Thank you so much
same, i have high expectations and it works flawlessly in my thoughts, but as i try to translate it into a document, it just doesnt feel right, or its lacking something.
im kind of okay at conversations, but i suck at descriptive interactions (aphantasia moment) like fight scenes, and i tend to be TOO descriptive with scenery
i love that you have real captions on this and not auto generated :)
Oh of course! It's essential. Auto-generated captions should only ever be used as a starting point so you can go through and correct them.
My biggest problem is probably motivation and procrastination. In fact, I’m using this video right now to procrastinate! But yeah, I have a certain style I write in and it’s really poetic and I have to be in a certain “mood” to write in it, so I end up not writing much ever.
PS: I love all of the fandoms you mentioned in this video! Esp the Zuko joke; LOVE that inclusion
Ah, watching videos when you should be writing. How relatable! 😂😅 I have this video here which goes a little bit into motivation if you're interested: ua-cam.com/video/d8RP7tCOZMo/v-deo.html
@@CoraMaria Ooo yes, thanks for the recommendation! Just subscribed, as I can see a lot of your videos I’m interested in watching. By the way, I really admire how you take the time to respond to all of your comments, even a year after posting. You’re inspiring!
@@AngelDustBrainrot Aww thank-you 🥰
I’m jokingly writing a fanfic about my friends, but I want to make it kinda good to add to the humor of it all.
They'll forgive you for it if it's one of the best things they've ever read 😛
@@CoraMaria and they loved it lol
This video was so helpful thank you for posting! I want to improve my dialogue and the descriptions of interaction between characters!
Aww I'm glad you found it useful! Trying to think of the best resources I've seen for dialogue. I remember one really good one but not where I found it. Maybe give this article a go? terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/07/05/25-things-you-should-know-about-dialogue/
As for a tip regarding character interaction, it helps if they're doing something other than talking, because then you can use more than basic body language to express emotions or break up the dialogue. A sparring match? Packing the dishwasher? Dining? There's a lot you can convey about how aggressively one might cut their steak. Does that help?
EDIT: Please think critically about the advice from the article I've linked. I've recently learned that the writer... sends some questionable messages in his blogposts...
I didn't realize I followed tip 1 and 2 until I saw this video. It wasn't until recently that I put the time and effort to learn how to write and of course, practice is necesary. :)
*"Maximise the fun."* This is 100/10 advice, Cora! Truly!
Thanks 💖
i struggle writing a fic without cringing horribly while writing, so thank you!!
Always glad to help! Sometimes it's hard not to cringe at our own writing, but it's often better to have something on the page than nothing at all! There's nothing cringe-worthy about progress 💖
Hello, fellow fic-writers! Did ya find this video to be of any help to you? I'm always eager to hear your feedback and any topics you're interested in seeing content on, so comment below anything you'd like to share~! 💝
Yeah, it's wonderful!!
@@jujuoof174 💖
@@CoraMaria 💖💖
I have a fanfiction that has been going around in my head for a few weeks now, I have the plot and such all planned out but I always find it hard to actually WRITE since I know my skills won't properly convey what I want them to, this video was so helpful for that :) thank you so much!
Yay so glad my content helped!
Thank you for your video - somehow watching summary videos to catch up on canon never crossed my mind?!
THANK YOU! I was struggling with my own fanfic (but that was partly because whenever I make something I always criticize myself for every little thing) but this saved my life and now I'm pretty much ready to upload it. When I eventually pick between Ao3 or Wattpap
Why not both? Nothing wrong with crossposting! (And yay I'm glad my content helped you out)
I’m currently writing my own Harry Potter fanfic just for me! But maybe I can make fanfiction on UA-cam. I’m not the best writer but I’m passionate about fanfiction! It has always been apart of me since middle school. I’ve been reading and writing fanfiction since I was 10.
I wanna write a harry potter fanfic where he rides in a mecha suit fighting Godzilla in Hell!!!!
I think my biggest problem when writing is how I make the characters not act like how they do in the canon when I wish to make them more like canon. I also have a problem with plotting and pacing my fic.
What is it you struggle with writing in-character in particular? Speech patterns? Understanding what motivates them? Figuring out which actions the characters are most likely to take? Or do you find yourself drawn to writing plots and characters that just don't mesh well together?
My main problems are to many WIPs, editing/revising, and constantly second guessing myself. im getting better at that last one tho!
With regards to those last two, I have a few videos you might like!
👉 How to edit: ua-cam.com/video/F6GpAHnClkw/v-deo.html
👉 How to feel confident in your writing: ua-cam.com/video/_9w2MMyjGYQ/v-deo.html
Out of context line I wrote after this video: “Muriel had attempted to find a compromise by playing death metal covers of songs from ‘The Sound of Music,’ but this had pleased absolutely no one.”
HAGSDJHGADG I LOVE IT! 😂
Honestly I misread that for a sec and thought this was a guide for writing Dream SMP fanfiction. 🤣
But this *was* very helpful. Thank you!
Lol not my fandom but each to their own! Glad you found this video helpful 💖
1:27 - "Because a pen wields no skill, unless the hand that holds it has passion"
Lol, nice Twilight Princess reference
6:32 -
Cat: Human is doing something! I help! Human is talking, so I talk too!
9:08 - Reminds me of all the times I or someone around me has said something and I've just gone "lol well that's quite the sentence outta context"
And funny that you mention outlining, as that's basically my biggest writing weakness (as I've probably mentioned in our convos before, lol) - the joys of being a Plantser!
Half the time my mental outline ends up being something like
Plot Point A ------ Plot Point B ------ Plot Point C ----- ???? ----- Plot Point E
or sometimes even
Plot Point A ----- ???? ----- Plot Point C ---- ???? ---- Plot Point E
Sometimes writing it out can turn the second one into the first, but there's still those annoying holes where I know the plot goes from point A to C but I haven't the foggiest clue what path gets it there.
Thanks for commenting! Always gotta rep our fandom, am I right?
Yes, the cat is meowing at me even as I type this comment.
When I checked the timecode to see which line was the out of context quote, my boyfriend saw me on video say "Let there be crack!" and his jaw dropped.
I might need to do a video on my outlining process one day, but I'm hoping I can get Milanote to sponsor me if I do since I'd be demonstrating with their product.
When it comes to canon vs fanon it really depends on the franchise for me. For example, say that you were basing it off of an anime that is incomplete and the manga hasn’t been fully translated yet (that’s the boat that I’m in when writing fanfiction for Nanbaka). In that case I don’t really mind. Also if it is written to purposefully be an alternate universe and is meant to be different then I don’t mind it. However, I’m not a fan of fanfics that have characters act completely differently without a reason. I’m that case I just stop reading them and move onto the next one. It fully depends on the specific circumstances for me.
Side note: I spent the rest of the video writing this comment and now I have to rewatch it to actually get something out of it😂
Out of context:
“God he hated cars.
Or any enclosed moving vehicle.”
Lol get that character a convertible!
I made a lot of fanfictions I'm not proud of, but maybe this video will make me better, this video makes me think about things I had never thought of before, and I'm sad I didn't but glad at the same time because I found this AMAZING channel 😭❤
I'm glad you love this video and channel! Just remember that "failed fanfictions" are still part of the process. The whole reason why this channel exists is to teach the lessons that took me years of mistakes to learn.
@@CoraMaria ❤❤ I LOVE YOUUU
I'm going to write really in depth backstories for a lot of side characters lol
That's awesome! Give the supporting cast some spotlight 🌟
Thank you so much for you videos about writing fanfiction! They've really helped me out a lot! :D
I decided to bite the bullet last night and finally post the Hazbin Hotel fic that's been buzzing around my head for weeks haha, and I think my favorite out of context line yet might be:
"Long story short, cannibals are turning human again when they eat angelic flesh apparently. ¿Comprendido?” xD
Ahh I'm glad I helped! And congrats on posting your fic. I'm proud of you!
Thank you! I'm working on my first fic for Back to the Future and this is really helpful. I appreciate that this video isn't solely focused on romance/shipfics since other types are a bit rare.
Aww I'm so glad! Yes, while I am a shipfic lover myself, I know that not all fanfic writers and readers are into it or in the mood for it all of the time. Usually I prefer fanfic where the ship serves as a subplot anyways 💖
I know how that feels, i See a Lot of Fanfictions about romance/Ships and even tho i don't mind it, it gets annoying Overtime. I Personaly write Fanfictions about my own Made Up worlds and characters, i don't really Go to the romance a Lot, but there is still some in there. I Concertrate more on the Action and Story Line, than the characters thinking about Love. But everybody has their own opinion and i don't mind that.
thank you very much for the tips! the end encouraged me to continue a one shot i started two months ago and i ended up deleting the whole thing and rewriting it. i cant wait to continue where i left two months later
your outfit is like an elemtry school teachers , I LOVE IT! Also!!Im currently working on my and my friends first fan fiction,(we’re writing it together)it’s called rainbows journey :kindness is magic and it’s a my little pony fan fiction about my oc ,rainbow,she’s my pfp!
Thanks for the compliment! And I wish you and your friend the best with your fic 💖
I’ve decided to attempt writing a Genshin impact fan fiction featuring an oc I ended up creating for a character I absolutely adore. It’s a bit difficult at the moment since I haven’t tried writing a fan fiction since I was like 14 and I was never able to finish any of them. With the Inazuma archon quest continuing to be an issue for me to complete I have even more trouble since the character my oc was made as a counterpart for is from Liyue you’d think it would be easier. But I had the bright idea to make my oc be from Inazuma. I’m glad to have found your channel however, since attempting to start writing notes and a draft last night didn’t go amazingly. Here’s hoping I can finish this one because I truly like the basic storyline I have come up with and the title I decided on.
Fingers crossed! I hope writing this story is a satisfying process from start to finish 💖
I just watched a movie that I didn't really like, so I'm going to write a fanfic based on it, while adding a few minor tweaks here and there.
Sometimes you just gotta open your laptop and fix it!
@@CoraMaria Yup!
I started writing my Earthbound/Mother 2 fanfiction earlier, then I found this! It was very helpful to me. Thanks so much! I subbed
Yay thanks so much~! Hope to hear from you on other videos 💖
@@CoraMaria You're welcome! I'll definitely watch your other videos
@@OneOfFourLucasMains Hope you find them just as helpful 💖
Honestly I’ve done really well on free writing when I have made good writing but with fan fiction you have to figure out the characters personality so you would know how they would react in the situation you put them in so thank you for this video
You're welcome 💖
i am a new writer, like so new in the fact that i am just now trying to get all of my MANY daydreams down, and it is such a daunting task to even string ideas togther to make a plot i am so scared
It's okay. Plotting takes time and practice. Here are two Mythcreants articles I recommend to anyone plotting a story.
What is a Throughline in Writing?: mythcreants.com/blog/what-is-a-throughline-in-writing/
How to Pace Your Story: mythcreants.com/blog/how-to-pace-your-story/
OMG YOUR ROOM SETUP IS MY DREAM ROOM
I love your outfit, its so fun! Thanks for the good advice:)
Thanks for the kind words 🥰
so fun seeing fanfic vids on youtube! i have a few fics that i'm working on (in the once upon a time and agents of shield fandoms), but i find it SO hard to write them because they are basically these really long epics and i want to make them perfect before i post. grrrr, guess i'll just sit and listen to my fic playlists and daydream the plot instead of writing then 🙄
I dunno if you came across them yet, but my latest two videos were all about writing longfics and epics. Here's the playlist if you're interested: ua-cam.com/play/PLzIstuFPSU2KHxX9M5EplREDshWlGnCH3.html
And as for perfectionism, I've found the 70% rule to be helpful. As long as something is 70% perfect, it's good enough to post. Definitely check out Struthless's video on the rule: ua-cam.com/video/SxA69uUGEUI/v-deo.html
Also would it help if I made a video explaining my outlining process for my epic?
POV: your righting fanfiction about a fandom that has a lot of canon mistakes and also only has like 5 fanfictions written in it 2 of which focus on the character you want to write on
Your fashion and kidcore aestethic is wonderful aaaaa!!!
Aww thank-you so much, lovely 🥰
Of course, of course pal!! ^^
Thank you so much! This helped me a lot. I always struggle when I write fanfiction, especially when I want to write ones on the things I haven't even watched
Really glad this video helped you out! 💖 I hope you find my other content helpful too 😊
I stick with canon stories at first before breaking out and really messing with events and altering outcomes. It's fun. You really do have to know the source material inside and out.
i think a lot, so the onky fanfic i've posted is just a psychoanalyzation of my favorite genshin character's backstory (mika's backstory) and its effects on him
Not me watching this despite writing fanfic for like 14 years and getting a minor/second major in Creative Writing and being like "hmm yes how do write good fanfic. I must know. The Answers:tm:"
No but for real, everything about your video was kinda spot on for what to find in a good fanfic at its most base level. It was 11/10 information.
Answers to some of the questions you posed: I prefer more canon-based fics with some divergence like keeping a character alive *coughStrangerThings4coughLesMiserablescough* and I like reading and writing as close to canon characterizations as possible. Missing episodes/side stories, more adventures/that sort of stuff is my jam. Although, I have dabbled in Coffee Shop AUs before, but ah, the characters were brought to a modern era, but their characteristics were canon? Or if it was some sort of divergence, canon was taken into consideration and like transposed accordingly for the fic, so it was like "AAHHH I see why this choice was made because of xyz in canon! clever!" (see also: me reading this one fanfic of an anime where I forgot that one of the characters may die/disappear in canon and then said character died at the end of the fic and I was still sitting, staring at my iPad in shock, till I remembered canon and why this "human" AU worked so well. I mean, I cried, but I understood.) I'll go divergent on the plot in certain areas but try to keep the characters canon more or less. Or at least how I view them canonically with a dash of fanon that's widely used enough to be canon.
I can think of one (1) fanfic I've written where I took a character who was canonically the villain and made him ... not the villain. Tried to keep all the nasty characteristics about him, but show them in a different POV, and then gave him some better qualities based on another character the same VA had voiced years prior to this one. But with that character, he wasn't written as a nuanced villain but a static stock character (which isn't a bad thing.) But for the fic I was like "But why don't we add some *good traits* too?" I took one line of dialogue and sorta ran with it at least subconsciously, but I was writing from a Limited Third Omniscient from the POV of an OC so I couldn't get into his brain without either head-hopping or having a chapter or section be from his POV. All this to say, I don't know if that counts as like... canon-characteristic divergent because I still tried to keep the essence and most if not all of the traits from canon, while just. adding more? It slaps. It's 30K words of pure insanity. I made a playlist for it. (I make playlists for nearly everything.)
One of my favorite out of context lines from a fanfic either read or written was "She was but a potat. A spud with curves." And I think about it to this day.
I'm currently reworking an OC and a fanfic thread I had started 6-ish years ago. Renamed the OC. Different ship. Elongated ending. H*cking more angst. I'm debating on writing it in small sort of "vignettes" that can be strung together to create a whole story or read separately or just doing the whole thing in one long novel format. (Or novella. Or whatever the length wants to be.) Should I be editing my next "original" novel so I can ship it to the main editor? yes. Probably. Am I figuring out how to write a fanfic for a show that has no plot? mAyBE.
I am so sorry for this novel a comment. I got excited.
I love the novel-length comment and if I had the time and energy then I would absolutely respond to it point-by-point!
I just want to say that as a fellow creative writing graduate who has also been writing fic for over a decade, who googles "how to write a good fanfic" on UA-cam quite regularly, you are such a mood. It's why I make these videos: few people were giving me the kind of content I'd want!
Hopefully I get the privilege of reading your awesome comments again someday 💖
Thank you for the video. I really like your aesthetic and appreciate the subtitles with really clear speech. I mostly struggle with actually putting my ideas into text. I tend to over analyze and I have too much going on in my head so I mostly write one shots. I want to write something more lengthy. I struggle with creating the plot of the story because I focus on world building a lot and this is my favorite part of fanfiction. I remember I developed a lot of fanon and headcanons about undertale so the original lore was smaller than my fan lore lol. I couldn't write anything about this because at that time I considered this cringe (I changed my mind now, I'm cringe and proud of this) and because there was like ton of stuff including really detailed magic system, explained time travels, multiverse, original characters, 4th dimension magic, politics, law, social norms, separated monster's language and list goes on and on. Despite the fact I add a lot to the canon I don't like to go against it. Now I'm writing for the source I know almost nothing about so I study lore and canon a lot. But I'm too scared to write the draft or outline of the fanfiction because I might accidentally base my plot on something that goes against the canon. And I'll have to rewrite everything.
I found you on Tumblr and I saw your post about creating accessible fanfiction so I'm interested to watch your future video. My future work will heavily relay on italicized and bold text to describe different languages used in dialog so I'm curious how to make this enjoyable for visually impaired people too.
Thanks for your comment! Really glad you like the subtitles and articulate speech. I'm someone who has trouble processing audio input sometimes so I know how important it is from that standpoint. As for my aesthetic, I appreciate the compliment 🥰 I'm very influenced by Harajuku fashion in particular and love sustainable, ethical, indie brands.
In regards to your struggles with plot, my approach is to always start with a thought dump (this is when I just write down any and all ideas I can think of into a notes document) about possible plot points, and in that process, some kind of throughline will usually present itself. There are a lot of plot structures out there that people swear by like Save the Cat Writes a Novel and The Hero's Journey, but I don't think they're as universal or helpful as they claim to be. They're basically designed for 70k-110k word novels, rather than shorter fics or epic-lengths (the latter of which is what I'm writing).
That's why my favourite take on plotting is Mythcreant's 'Your Plot is Fractal' blogpost: mythcreants.com/blog/your-plot-is-a-fractal/
What I love about it is that it points out a pattern in storytelling that you can easily scale up and down. It's visible at the scene level, chapter level, arc level, story level, and series level.
I also recommend two more blogposts that I think you'll find particularly helpful:
'What is a Throughline in Writing?' will help you create a focused plotline that doesn't meander or feel like a lot of disconnected events:
mythcreants.com/blog/what-is-a-throughline-in-writing/
'Harnessing Your Passion to Strengthen Your Stories' explains how to 'centre your darlings' which is Mythcreant's alternative to the 'kill your darlings' mantra. I think this article will help you figure out how to put all your worldbuilding and headcanons to good use by involving them in your plot as much as possible: mythcreants.com/blog/harnessing-your-passion-to-strengthen-your-stories/
Hope this helps!
@@CoraMaria wow thank you a lot. I'll check these out for sure.
The lighting, all the colors, your accessories, the music box Bolero, I’m just here for this. I haven’t even listened to what you’ve had to say yet 😍
Edit: alrighty here we go. Studying other Fanon is surprisingly helpful. I’m a Oncer, OUAY fan, and I never realized how popular the Mad Swan ship was. I haven’t written any ff on OUAT, but I think it’s an awesome ship and makes a lot of sense, even tho it might stem from kidnapper to lover, which is problematic… aaaanywho.
I'm a Zelgan shipper so who am I to judge the kidnapper to lover trope? 😛
I'm currently writing a fanfic myself and decided to diverge from the canon with some events I wanted to add, such as a college subplot prior to becoming a good father by making that character into a shitty dad who only went to college to party before eventually changing for the better. I love me some juicy naunce and redemption arcs.
As someone who clicked on this video because I am contemplating writing fics for ATLA and Miraculous, the fact that you brought those two fandoms up made me happy lol
Good tips, I'll keep this stuff in mind! :)
They're both shows I'm familiar with that are very Fandom so they make excellent examples!
Wishing you all the best with your fics
💖
I write the most foul most weird fanfiction there can be I'm talking about cannibalism and shit but i love your videos!!!!! 🎉
Write that weird, unhinged fanfiction!
thankss for the subtitles !! i was watching this late at night and coudnt here anything omg
No problem! Subtitles are super important to me too because I can have trouble with auditory processing.
I love the way you dress! You look so cool :D
Also, thank you so much for the advice! I’ll try to get better at writing! :)
Thanks so much, lovely!
I've never wrote or read fanfiction, i fell kind of overwhelmed about how to do so since i don't know how to express what's in my mind, or how to make things flew with naturality, so i just copy how the writing works at the novels i read. Yet, i took your advice 9:34 (even tough it was way more than ten minutes, anyways) i got to write 15 lines and a half in 7 sentences, in wich i got to make 2 small dialogues and 2 small character descriptions. Here you go for your out of context line (asking for feedback)
""Thank you for your kindness, dear brother" - said Raphael with a mocking tone and a grin on his face"
Good job! Finding the words can be hard sometimes, and studying other prose can be a good place to start. I imagine it'd be like using references to draw.
I used to be so good at writing fanfics and then I went through really bad depression and lost interest in everything I loved, I finally have that feeling again and I'm trying to be good again
I'm so sorry you had to deal with that, but I just want to say that I'm proud of your healing journey and I wish you all the luck with returning to this wonderful hobby! Remember that if you're a little rusty, that's okay and it's normal, and your writing will improve as long as you keep doing it 💖
thank you, I appreciate it.@@CoraMaria
I personally like a bit of cannon convergence, but also i saw the amazing tag that is and i quote "i took cannon to the back of the shed and shot it" and that fic was an amazing fic
3:49 I've found timeline summaries to be super helpful! Really helps, especially if you're writing about something with flashbacks.
Tysm for the tips, I've been wanting to write a fic about an AU I came up with I have had a whole plot planned out but was unsure of how to execute it these tips help quite alot
Ahh so glad this video helped!
Grateful i subd to you back when you did fashion vids because I never would have thought to look for fanfic specific writing advice. I've decided to write a fanfic that's been in my head since 2008. Unfortunately, the CSI:NY fandom is basically dead so I'm truly just writing this for myself. Still having fun though.
Thank-you so much for following me into this niche and good luck writing!
I love how you use ADHD key words keeps me interested lol(btw all ADHD i different you may want straight to the point)
Personally, I _love_ AU's! I love seeing what people can do with what they're given in cannon! However, despite this, characterization that adheres to cannon is very very important to me in a fanfic. I can look past a few flaws, especially if it's made clear it's part of the AU, but I still love when fanfic writers clearly know the characters. This definitely stems from my love of Undertale and Deltarune, in which the creator (Toby Fox) always pays attention to every possible choice you can make and every word or action you take gives you something about a character
Edit: As for the second question...focusing so much on a characters internal thoughts and feelings that I forget to put any action or setting description into a scene. This has happened more than once.
I've been reading through the earlier chapters of my fic and noticed how lost I've gotten in some of the monologue as well, with a few scenes that were solely monologue. I think it's one of those things you're more likely to fix in editing rather than avoid during the drafting process.
Ok your channel is SO UNDERATED!! I HAD to suscribe! From the calming ambiance, the VISUALS AAA, wonderul advice, so pretty and cool and wonderful!! Kudos for making this!!
I'm glad you find my channel inviting and informative! Hope I get to hear from you again on future videos 💖
I am glad you made it!! ^^ And yes I'll try my best to be active and supportive!
Firstly I just want to say I LOVE your style! It's super pretty! This video is very helpful, I'm going to use it as a point of reference from now on. I've been wanting to write full on fanfiction for a while, and I actually started writing an incomplete one in 2020, but my writing was... Not very good to say the least. I didn't even plan an outline for it (some people can write great things without outlines but I'm not one of those people lol). But, it's 2023, I'm three years older with more more writing experience through school essays and small Tumblr writings, plus pages and pages of research and dialogue done. Once I finish my outline, I'm going to get right back into it and finally write something I'll be satisfied with!
Heck yes! Planners unite! Glad you found this video helpful and thank-you for the compliments 🥰
I'm jumping back into the world of Ponies for a story focus fiction, with the intent of deepening the backstories of some main characters as well as their traits. There is an OC insert, but I'm shaky about what I want his role to be. He's an eventual love interest for one of the characters but I'd like to spend a good length of the story actually getting to that point without making it the chapter-by-chapter focus. That sounds a bit strange, but it's the best way I can explain it right now. My main downfall is trying to explain where I want this character to go in a short (yet good) summary. The best I've got is:
He's a guard, he wanted to be a mage, and the early half of the story is about him getting the courage to pursue his dream again.
Sounds like the phrase you're looking for is romance subplot?
Thank you for the tips they where great!
Always glad to help!
I love the editing and graphics in this video! Made it very fun to watch
Thanks! Editing and graphics are definitely something I'm trying to improve on, so glad I did well here.
4:08 I personally like when it follows the plotline, but not during the events of the movie/show/game like the fanfic follows the story before or after the movie/show/game takes place. Or creates things that could realistically happen during the movie/show/game
I never thought I'd find myself ever asking this question, but here I am.
Sorry, I'm confused. What question? Do you happen to read the title of this video as a question? /gen
I find that it depends on the fandom whether I prefer the fi c to be canon or not. BBC Sherlock and Ghosts canon is pretty painful, but I'll take a post-canon Strange&Norrell fic any day
PS! I love all your rainbows :)
I feel that. For me, it can really depend on how much the characterisations depend on the setting. For example, I love reading clone-centric fics that take place in canon-divergent or canon-compliant settings, but the moment you put them in an AU? Too much is lost. Miraculous Ladybug, on the other hand, has characterisations and dynamics that can be applied to soooooo many different AUs 💖
This was a really fun video, I enjoyed the energy a lot, and Cora's style was so good - loved the glasses. I'm going to try the dialogue exercise as well, thx!
Thanks so much~! 💖 Good luck with the exercise
I clicked on this video thinking some LoZ fic I want to write, and then Princess Zelda was name dropped so I'm at full attention now
Ah, a fellow LoZ fic writer! Welcome 💚
My biggest flaw is that I don't know english that well so I don't really know any fancy words.
A simple style can still work well. Sometimes writers get carried away with fancy words, so learn them in your own time and keep making the best use of what you do know 😊
I'm at a point where I can reread my fanfic and actually enjoy it especially if I wait awhile and I kinda forget I'm the one who wrote it. Though I'm sure I'll get to a point where the ones I can read now will seem cringe. I can't even look at the first fic I posted I try not to think about it tbh but I refuse to take it down because one time someone commented that they loved it. So I keep it up in case they want to revisit it or someone who might also like somehow finds there way there. Anyway that fic you keep locked in your drafts even though it finished POST IT POST IT NOW
motivation, i have a bunch of ideas but when im writing it i just dont know what to write next. like i usually have a great idea for the end but idk what to write to lead to it
Have you tried thought-dumping? I have a video that goes into it here: ua-cam.com/video/9Uoe5FAZjIw/v-deo.html
Out of context line: 'Danny is very confused.'
Also the thing I struggle with writing the most is probably on how to keep the characters in character.
A very common struggle that I shall have to make a video about at some point! I've answered the same question in these comments already, so definitely take a scroll if you can 😊
P.S. Hope Danny gets answers eventually!
So, I am doing MHA (My Hero Academia) fanfiction and I have a whole story in my head but I'm having trouble putting my ideas onto paper. Do you have any tips to help with putting pencil to paper?
PS: I'm doing a fanfiction centered around an OC.
Kind of unrelated but ur outfit looks so awesome!
Thank-you 🥰
okay that's it, i'm subscribing
Im in a fandom that basically doesnt have any fan content so im gonna make the first fanfic so im a bit nervous lol
Good luck! Someone out there is going to be so incredibly grateful to you for doing that 💖
I struggle a lot with characterization especially since the character I'm writing makes a lot of references to things I'm not as familiar with such as D&D. :(
Ah yes, that's always a challenge. I remember having to write a character who earnestly wanted to learn how to sail, but I very much was not interested in sailing.
"For instance in the Miraculous Ladybug Fandom"
Ah, salt fics.
"It's tacky to not tag your salt fics"
AYYY
As someone who genuinely loves the show, I'm so sick of bad faith salt takes based on like 2-3 episodes alone 🙄 Like there's definitely some stuff in that show worth criticising, but believing that everyone would turn against Marinette on a dime just isn't supported by canon. There's a reason why Lila sits alone 90% of the time. She offers cool stories and nothing else.
thank you so much for this! i like how ur voice is soothing too :)
Aww thank-you so much~!
In my own writer’s mind, I think I already do a couple of these things. But, it’s also good and wise to follow these steps, as well. Thank you for this video, Cora. It will help me with my mountainous fanfic ideas and few stories I’ve written (or started on, at least) 😏😆❤
Really glad this video was helpful and helped you recognise that you're already on the right track 😉
Oh, eight years? Lordie! It has taken me... 50 years... I guess only 20 if you don't count the decades of writer's block I suffered with... I will say that absolutely every time I started writing after a bad case of writer's block, I wrote better. As you can tell, I'm old. I write shows from the 1960s, mostly... ahhh yeah, I wrote a Lois and Clark story and somewhere I wrote a Sentinel story if I can find it... However, except for Doctor Who (classic) and The Man From Uncle, I have almost always crossed them with my original characters. Well, there was that one short MacGyver story... and the Tomorrow People story, but here we start talking about Doctor Who crossovers. I've done a lot of them, back in the 1980s.
My weakness is descriptions. I'm trying hard to improve, but I've always known it was a weakness because I want to get to the action. Or, as I tell people, my first words were: "Butterfly fly over house. BANG! Butterfly fall dead." Yes, my mother swore those were my first words. I then tell them they are like all my stories, short and violent.
Welcome, fandom elder! It's always so cool to hear from people who have been writing for decades (and funny how you mention 60s TV shows because I've been rewatching The Addams Family sitcom.)
In terms of descriptions, it's always been a bit... intuitive for me with practice? So I have yet to actually figure out how to DESCRIBE my method (heh heh). I have found that trying to think about how my POV character specifically would view or liken something is helpful, like how a farmer might constantly use farming metaphors to describe things. Wish I could be more helpful 😭
@@CoraMaria no problem. If you want to see what I write I'm ElicBxn on AO3. I have 8 original fics up, the last one I just finished the other day and posted Wednesday night.
Just became your 1000th subscriber! Thank you for the tips, very helpful!
Also, I prefer seeing canon in a blender! Like, I like writing Link as outgoing, less traditionally masculine and a bit extroverted, even though its totally different from the actual games, lmao! Its just fun
Ahhhhhh thank-you so much~! 🙏💖 I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately but I have another video that's almost finished which will be posted within the next few days.
@@CoraMaria Yw! And no worries
hello! thank you for making this video!
can i first talk about how pretty you and your room is? i usually open the transcriptions and quickly scroll through for the main points because i don't want to sit though ten minutes, but this was definitely an exception. i really love the rainbow colours and how calming the background music is!!!
something on my fanfics that i'd like to improve on is making a really deep, thought out story. I've seen other writers make books full of lore, references, foreshadowing, plot twists and so on. and I really want to make a story like that. I feel like my book ideas are just straightforward.. boring, compared to other's. it confuses and amazes me how they write such an amazing, beautiful plot. Are there any tips, or do the ideas just come?
another thing i'd like to improve on (i have too much i don't like about my writing) is writing faster. I once requested an author i like for a oneshot, and they wrote it in hours? and the quality is just as good. I have no idea how some people manage to update daily or more. My chapters take days, if i'm feeling motivated/inspired, weeks, and some sit unfinished for ages. Is it because I manage my time badly?(i probably do.) should I be devoting more time to writing? Maybe I just want to post more content for the fandom and make a difference. Is that bad- am I pressuring myself?
Aww thank-you so much for the lovely compliments 🥰
I'm the opposite in that most of my ideas are quite complex and plotty, but it does take a while for the broader plot to form. Usually I think of the premise first, and the premise naturally lends itself to a bigger story because it involves some kind of large scale change. Perhaps what helps me find my plot is what can help you expand your plot: thought dumping. This is when you write down all your ideas about a particular story, no matter how strange or awful it might seem. The act of writing down even "bad" ideas can lead to tangents that eventually give you better ideas. If you thought-dump for long enough, eventually a longer, plottier story will form in your head.
(And also there's nothing wrong with a simpler story. I know I wish I had more oneshot ideas.)
As for your writing speed, a chapter written in a matter of days or weeks is very good! That's generally my writing speed too (though not as of recent since I've been dealing with NaNoWriMo burn-out).
If you really are intent on improving your writing speed, then I'd say it comes down to two things: goal-keeping and reducing friction. For goal-keeping, I like to use the NaNoWriMo website even in the off-season. I simply assign myself a goal and a deadline and update my word count every day. The website takes care of the stats for me. As for reducing friction, it basically means reducing every obstacle between you and your draft as much as possible. For me, that means having my outline and document open at all times. For you, it could mean writing in a program that is easy to switch to between desktop and phone. It's up to you what process you'd rather.
I will say that I do generally think it's a bad idea to update daily. That can become overwhelming for readers and make them feel like they're always behind, and it can lessen the number of comments you get (if that is something you prize) since instead of commenting on individual chapters, readers will often wait until they've caught up to offer any feedback. You might think writers who update every day are worth aspiring to, but I think it's the ones who space out their updates but still update regularly who are the shining examples.
Hope this response helped! Also I am afraid I'm too tired to proofread this so if there's any typos or weird implications in my tone, that's why haha
@@CoraMaria
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! (it's shocking for me to see a reply from a youtuber- AND WITHIN A FEW HOURS?? THANK YOUu)
thank you so much for the suggestions to improve! it definitely helps
@@cherry-rr3jw Alas, UA-cam doesn't do a good job of alerting me to replies, but I wanna make my commenters feel seen and heard, hence why I respond so timely!
I’m trying to fuse the cannon of two different series to make an amazing mash up (hopefully) and I just hope it lands well I feel like it’ll be super amazing once done right
lol I’m currently in the making the plot for the fanfic I’m writing, it’s a Marauders and Mythology fanfic
i have problems understanding the characters and knowing what they would do in a certain situation which isn’t portrayed by canon…such as how they would say things, how the would feel in this circumstance, etc. also i want to take the main character of this fanfic and have him sort of ‘evolve’ and become a new person (because i am depicting him as traumatized and things, so i want him to recover from the trauma effectively, which did not occur in canon yet). any advice?
@Raedits I find it helps to go into their background and find some internal logic behind all their decisions, actions, and mannerisms. If you can figure out why a character acts the way they do in canon situations, then you can translate that logic to new situations and write them in a way that still feels in-character.
Does that make sense?
Omg I love your top! So pretty❤
Thanks! And it's super versatile too. See how many outfits I wear with it in my videos!
You are wonderful at this!!
your cat is a perfect being
(sees a comment about someone losing a zelda fic they wrote) oh man, that sucks, happened to me too...
...wait that was my comment...
lol
i ended up not remaking the fic, for a lot of reasons, but i'm writing for different fandoms recently and its a lot of fun!
I'm glad you found a way to move on from the loss of your fic 💖
thank you for this video, it helped allot.
I'm writing fan fiction. I recently decided to change it to be an original story so I can publish it without copyright issues when I want to, and/or monetize it.
I'm doing great at writing deep characters (who don't all necessarily seem deep on the outside or even know that they are deep), making them have different personalities and voices that aren't like my own, using nuanced yet realistic character design to show their personalities just by looking at them (I use Bing AI image maker to make concept art), and writing plot that really matters and feels natural, realistic, colorful, and emotional. I'm also good at writing dialogue in screenplay format.
But actually writing in nice, non-repetitive ways is hard for me. For example, not repeating “he said” over and over. I plan to use Chat GPT to do that part for me. (Bing AI, even with GPT-4, isn't as good at writing with the emotion you ask for, I found).
I also really want a lot of the characters to be wearing really pretty clothes, and I'm sure there's a niche for this, but I'm a bit concerned that the part of the audience that likes that kind of thing and the part that loves this kind of fan fiction may have only very little overlap, so people may not like it.
When it was only a fan fiction, not intended to be original, I dreamed of making it span multiple TV shows. (It’s sci-fi so allows going into multiple TV shows). But now that I want to make it original, I’m not sure I know how to make the audience understand and care about each made up TV show without slowing the story down WAY too much. I only have stuff thoroughly planned for the first TV show (Milo Murphy’s Law/ Phineas and Ferb), and the rest is mostly a list of stuff I think would be cool to do (e.g., join the villain), rather than something that really drives the plot and theme forward. So I’m thinking about just making the story span the one TV show and do the others separately. Maybe even make original stories just to make fan fiction off of my own work! XD
But if anyone has ideas for how I can make the readers care about multiple fake TV shows and their unusual histories smoothly, please let me know!! And any other comments you can give.