How to Write Fanfiction

First Time Writing Fanfiction

So, You Want to Write Your First Story
by amep057

Before We Get Started...

So, you want to write your first story? The first (and most important!) thing to remember is this: no one (and I mean no one) ever starts out with — or ever fully achieves — perfection. Perfection is purely subjective, meaning that no two people will ever have the same view of it. What one reader may deem as "the perfect story," may not be another reader's cup of tea.

It is important to remember that as you embark upon this journey (that is, writing your own story) that you are going to make mistakes. Your story will most likely not be an instant success. And, though there will certainly be readers that love it, there will also be those that may criticize it. And all of this is okay. All of this will help you grow as a writer.

Whether it be posting what you thought of as a completed chapter with a pesky grammatical error that eluded you, or writing yourself into a corner that results in having to go back to change some of the story (JRR Tolkien did this many times while writing The Lord of the Rings), or publishing a new update that has a continuity conflict with something you had written previously (most notably, JK Rowling herself was guilty of this with the first published edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which *SPOILERS* the graveyard scene depicted apparitions of Harry's parents being released from Voldemort's wand in the wrong order), just remember that you are human and tackle these challenges as they come. All great authors had to start somewhere, and it was usually at the bottom with very little writing experience.

Alright, you have accepted the fact that the first thing you decide to write and (possibly) share with the world is not going to win you a Pulitzer Prize. I would now like to offer you a few bits of advice to help you get started, most of which I discovered while planning my first real attempt at writing anything of substance:

Tip #1: Start Small

My most well-received published story, American Noise (a Captain America fanfic), started out as nothing more than a random scene that crossed my mind: A Post-Avengers/Post-Thaw Steve Rogers wandering around an antique store with a melancholy look on his face. Where the idea came from, I could not tell you. However, regardless of its origins, the thought intrigued me. I started thinking (or, I guess you could call it daydreaming) about why Steve was there, his exchanges with other people in the store, how he felt about those exchanges, etc. And BOOM! I was creating a story without even realizing it.

The point I am trying to make is that a story does not need to be an epic length tome akin to War and Peace. A story can be only few sentences or paragraphs long that describe a single image or emotion. You do not even have to provide too much context. In the fanfiction community, these types of short stories are most commonly referred to as drabbles or oneshots (depending on length). They are a great way to get your feet wet if you are just starting to think about writing for the first time.

Tip #2: Plan for the Long Run

Oftentimes, these smaller scenes can develop into larger narratives as inspiration begins to take hold. One thing that has been greatly beneficial in my own writing process is outlining where I want the story to go and specific events that need to happen in order to get there. This kind of note taking will help to keep you on track as your story grows. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I went back to my outline and found a critical note for the story that I had completely forgotten about while working on the next chapter.

Another resource that is great to have in your arsenal are character biographies, especially if you are creating your own characters to include in your story. Everything from hair/eye color, to the street they lived on as a kid, or where they went to school are things that can be useful to you down the line. There is no bit of information too small. You do not need to include all of these bits in your actual story but having it handy as a writing reference can help you plan how your characters will interact with each other, as well as how they will grow as individuals over the course of you story.