Warriors Fanfics: Specialized Writing Guide

Original Clans

The only thing keeping our clans separate is the Erins and the demands of the plot. But this presents us with an opportunity to explore the clan cultures that never were.

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YOUR FACTION, YOUR RULES

So the main difference between your clans and the canon's is that you can go more diverse with yours than the Erins can with theirs. Your original clans are likely away from the canon, even if they are located in a forest or around a lake. There are probably four of them, maybe a tribe thrown in depending on how many super editions you have read. And after all that, your clan probably reads like this:

- Catclaw is from DarkClan, a mysterious and ruthless clan that only acts in its best interests. DarkClan lives in an exposed area that lacks trees or large rocks, so they had to learn how to skulk quietly through short grass instead. They also hunt and fight at night to avoid having their movements tracked by the other clans, who operate during the day. Catclaw, one day, would like to unite the others under ShadowClan rule... but not today. Someday, though. The thought always persists...

DarkClan sounds a lot like ShadowClan, does it not? And our non-canon lake setting is a lot like the ones the clans moved to after the forest fire. Our four clans, divided carefully by the warrior code, all seem to mimic the canon ones. And no matter what we write, DarkClan (which is a surprisingly common name in fanfics) always seems to be the 'bad' clan, right? Sadly, most original clans are written to mimic whatever clan the writer took inspiration from. All cats who live out in the open learn to be super stealthy and territorial. All who are near rivers know how to swim and only eat fish. You do not have to do this! Your clan, your rules. Remember, the Erins did not give the canon clans enough culture for you to take any good inspiration from them.

This section is here to help make your clans different. Using the same number of clans or the same biomes is not as bad as copying the canon clans outright. What can we do to make our factions stand out?

For starters, we can focus on the name, and other small, subtle details that convey culture to our readers. There are not many subtle details about the clans in Warriors. Not only is everything from politics to social customs stated directly from characters to audience (words over action), but there is no difference between these details among the clans. Even different regions in the same country have some cultural differences. People in California may live in the same country as those in Louisiana, but dietary choices, mannerisms, and dialects are different. This does not even count living conditions, economic differences, politics, or biome. You do not need to have clans be drastically different from each other, not even as different as two provinces in the same nation. But when you see one clan's cats care for elders like they were leaders and another using kits for that work, it shows (not tell) details about how a clan goes about its business.

Branching from that, an original clan is your opportunity to add subculture. A subculture is one that branches off of a primary majority. In the case of our Warriors fanfics, clan culture in general would be the main (assuming we are writing a story about clan cats). This is where we have to start brainstorming, for the only decent subculture that exists in canon is the tribes. They are almost exactly like clans, expect for the name swap for StarClan, their leadership hierarchy, and how they go about political disputes. At their core, they are just like clans, and their culture derived from them. Maybe you make a clan that does not follow the warrior code, or one that has an overzealous belief in StarClan. The only thing to remember about subculture is that it must branch from a primary one. BloodClan's habits would be subculture of clans. A band of rogues is subculture for nothing. The good part about adding subculture to a canon concept that has none is we can do virtually anything. I am a strong advocate of adding them, as I use them in almost all of my original clans (and since I write AU fanfics, I have a lot of original clans).

Be careful for single-trait cultures and culture copying. By single-trait cultures, I mean making a society based around one dominant trait with all other pursuits, developments, and interactions sidelined. BloodClan had this problem. The only things they cared about were violence and domination; it is in their name. They were forgettable for that reason. The only thing BloodClan brought to the story was Scourge. By culture copying I mean taking an existing society and transplanting it directly into your story. This is very popular in modern media and novels. Ever noticed how the 'bad guys' in sci-fi and fantasy always resemble Romans, Nazis, or cartels and gangs? Out of all those traits between those three societies and you choose to take only domination, racism, and questionable ethics? We can do better than that. What about what the Romans ate and why they did so? How about including what your Nazi rip-off culture did to their environment? Taking a culture from real life is normally fine, but copying them makes them forgettable. Look into these cultures and societies and see what really made or makes them stand out other than the obvious traits. The most dominant cultures in human history have many subcultures and traits that gives them broad appeal or set them up for success internally to last centuries. So can your clans (to an appropriately scaled extent, of course).

There are so many aspects to culture, religion, and politics that affect a society. Even environment has an effect on these things (it has a major impact on these things, in fact). Your clans can be altered significantly from the canon's. You might decide you do not even want clans or clan politics! Worldbuilding tends to snowball once you start with the big details and work your way down.

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IN CONCLUSION...

The Erins left out culture and interesting differences with their clans, but you do not have to with yours. Of course, most will derive from canon, and there is no problem with that. But when the canon has nothing to offer your fanfics on a particular subject, it can be hard to make your derivative work stand out. Warriors is a minority in this case, as many professional fictional works have problems with too much cultural worldbuilding. In any case, your MarshClan can be different from their RiverClan. Much different. All you have to do is let yourself explore (should you want to).

Each step your DarkClan takes away from their ShadowClan is one where you can make yours into what theirs never was. Your faction, your rules.

- Tyto