the vampire diaries fanfic writing tips

✧ breaking from canon

when you are writing a fanfic true to the original story, you want to stay true and not break from canon. i get that.

but let's be honest, how realistic is it that you won't break from canon?

let's say you're introducing a new mikaelson sibling.

is it possible that the show stays exactly the same?

if you keep your main character away from it and give it little to none originality.

is it possible that the show changes?

yes. one hundred percent depending on how you write your character. it can go hundreds of different ways.

let's say your new mikaelson is incredibly close with elijah and maybe not so close with klaus. let's say the bond between the OC and elijah is incredibly strong. stronger than any of the sibling bonds we saw on the show and let's say them and klaus are like finn and klaus.

is it possible that the mikaelsons show up in season 2 the same way? could be. but more likely, this would throw things off completely.

if elijah is closer with this OC maybe he stands by them against klaus. maybe he chooses to help them kol rebekah and finn and they aren't daggered. maybe then klaus isn't in control of the family the way he was before. maybe kol is able to complete that dagger to work against klaus and the whole story changes. maybe the family becomes stronger and works together.

it's entirely possible. i think it's actually more possible when an OC changes canon than when they don't.

my point is, don't be afraid to break from canon. i think fanfics often call for it but i completely understand why someone wouldn't want to. changing the show too much makes it different and it is a fan fic, you want to stay true to the original show.

so here are some things to keep in mind when deciding whether or not it's time to break from canon.

1. think about it this way. you are adding a new character to a show. that means new friendships, new relationships, a whole new person is now entering a story. they are usually now the main character. it is no longer elena or stefan or damon (though of course they likely will still have a roll and could still be main characters in your story).

new characters can change things!

for example, let's say damon had a best friend growing up and this best friend turned into a vampire with him. maybe this best friend was to damon what lexi was to stefan. maybe they helped him get over katherine and damon is much nicer than he was when he arrived at the beginning of the show.

of course this would change things! he'd need a new reason to go back to mystic falls for one, his relationship with katherine could change. is it possible to do this? yes. is it easy? not likely. if you're trying to stay true to the story, you want your character to have an affect, but make sure that you give new reasons for things to happen.

for example, let's say you're writing a klaus fanfic and the OC is introduced before the show starts and let's say this person is his spouse who helps him grow, develop, become less evil whatever. is it possible that this could deter him from wanting to break the curse? yes. should you let it? my advice would be no. don't stop it, change it. maybe now it isn't just about power and control. it's about power to protect his spouse.

i think that the best way to introduce a new character is to let things change, but limit these changes. don't change things too much so that the show no longer is the show. of course there are fanfics where that is the case and if that's what you want that's fine.

2. i would say not to try to fix every mistake that you think the show made.

i know there are things about the show many people don't like (like klaus' death) but these things are written into the show. they are a part of the story.

if you want to change a few things that's fine, but i wouldn't recommend having your OC be your way of correcting everything you didn't like even when it doesn't always make sense.

for example, having your OC always show up and save someone from dying like jenna, jeremy, klaus, elijah, hayley etc. let the show still be the show to some degree.

(just so you no i'm not talking about fix it fanfics where the sole purpose is to do exactly that).

i recommend sticking to canon enough so that your readers still feel like they're in the universe of the show. or at least make a note of it so that they know.

i hate to say that it's happened to me before where i fell in love with a fanfic, read quite a bit of it, and then somewhere along the lines it strays from canon and no longer even feels like the show.

changing the topic a bit but it's personally why i only read fanfics where the OC is related to a main character. i personally get lost when there are too many OCs in the fanfic and it's more about this character that isn't really connected to the show with a family not connected to the show. not saying that you shouldn't write that way. it's your book. i was just talking about my personal preference very quickly and wanted to give an insight as to what problems breaking too far away from canon might have!

it can also just be very hard to balance. i've done it before and it's not easy. you have to craft a pretty complicated plot. if you are going to do this, i'd recommend laying out what you want and sticking to it. try not to get lost from it.

to wrap it up:

don't be afraid to break from canon.
keep it balanced.
let it occur naturally as the story sees fit.
be cautious of how far you abandon canon.