the vampire diaries fanfic writing tips

✧ happy endings

i want to make this clear because i think a lot of people feel pressure to do this.

your love story doesn't have to have a happy ending.

and i don't mean that in the typical sad ending for fanfics where the oc dies.

i mean the couple does not have to end up together.

it doesn't have to happen.

they can break up.

i think this is especially true when dealing with characters like kai or katherine.

the love story doesn't have to be some perfect romance where oc changes the character and they live happily ever after.

maybe they don't.

maybe your oc realizes they're never gonna change or decides for whatever reason they can't do it anymore.

that's acceptable. it's very rarely seen in my opinion. both in fanfics and actual shows or movies.

you need to think about what you want for your oc. how do you want them to grow? what lessons do you want them to learn?

because here's the thing. as writers, we usually have an idea of where we want the story to go.

but is what we want what we wrote?

let's say you're writing a love story between klaus and an oc.

you want your oc to love klaus.

but sometimes, you can write a character and the way you write that character makes it super unrealistic that would happen.

your character isn't a real person. but you need to think about them like they are. with the way you've written them, is it likely that they will carry out the plan that you want them to? maybe not.

for example, i know a lot of people say that elena being with damon was unrealistic.

now i have mixed opinions on this, but what i will say is that i never felt there was a moment when elena went from being the type of person who would never be with damon to being with him.

there was never that "oh wow something changed" moment for me.

nothing changed for her as a character and after she got used to being a vampire, they continued to write her like nothing changed. but for her to make that decision, something would've had to change.

so to me, it was unrealistic in that sense.

i just wasn't fully convinced!

and i think i see that in writing a lot, especially love stories.

sometimes we write our characters in a way that what we actually want them to do doesn't make sense.

so while it's important to have a plan for what you want, don't get caught up in that and in having the ideal/perfect relationship with a happy ending. have a goal in mind, but remember things might change.

i feel like i changed topics like three times. . .