the vampire diaries fanfic writing tips

✧ changing ships

i know that fanfics are a way for people to change what they love about the show and that often includes pairing your favourite ships together and breaking up ones you didn't like.

unfortunately, if you're trying to make your story stay as true to the show as possible, you shouldn't just do this.

you need to give a reason as to why this couple is no longer together and why this one is.

for example, in season 4 elena and stefan break up and she starts dating damon.

unless you have a reason to change this and unless you don't care about staying accurate, this still needs to happen.

unless you can give a reason as to why your oc changes this. your oc has to do bring something to the table that didn't exist in the show.

for example, in my fanfic stefan and elena get back together at the end of the book.

why?

because damon and my oc (who is elena's sister) really don't get along. he's wronged her quite a few times and almost killed her when her humanity was off which resulted in kol (her love interest) killing him.

therefore, elena and damon weren't really an option anymore and my oc does encourage stefan and elena to be together.

what ships don't happen in my book?

despite a lot of readers hoping i'd go down that book, klaus and caroline never date in my book even though their both best friends with my oc.

why?

because i couldn't come up with an idea that would justify putting them together. they weren't together in the show and there was nothing about my oc that could've actually brought them together. klaus still goes to new orleans and has his life there, caroline still stays in mystic falls.

if you can't justify why your oc brings something to the fanfic that justifies you changing canon in your fanfic, don't do it. this applies to everything not just ships.

if you want your fanfic to be realistic, you do have to stick to what's in the show and ONLY change things when you are certain that having this new character (or many) would change things.

it is a very small detail that does make a big difference.

for example, if i'm reading a fanfic that has elijah and katherine, stefan and rebekah, kol and bonnie, and klaus and hayley for no reason other than the author loves these ships and wanted to see them together, it will take me out of the tvd universe. these ships didn't happen in the show and unless you can give a reason that actually makes sense as to why they're now happening, it doesn't feel true to the show.

again, this is only if you're trying to stay true to the show, not if you just want to change what you didn't like or it's a fanfic specifically for ships that didn't happen or something along those lines.