The Ultimate Guide to Harry Potter Fanfiction

The Introduction

Harry Potter is a big deal, and I take Harry Potter fanfiction as a big deal, too. Think about it – Harry Potter is going to be influencing people for generations to come, and your fanfiction might just be the thing that makes it breaks it for a reader. If a Wattpadder has never read Harry Potter, and sees all these cliche fanfictions, what from that will make them want to read the real thing? That's why I'm here to help. I'm on a crusade to make the Harry Potter world a better place, and it starts with you!

To do this, I'm going to need help from you guys. If you think of a cliche I haven't covered, tell me so I can cover it! If I haven't read any fanfics that fall in that category, I will go read some. If you think of a topic I need to address, tell me so I can address it! Also, if you have questions, send them in. I'll dedicate a chapter to you and your question, and answer as best I can!

Also, consistent readers who interact a lot will have an option (if they choose) to write a chapter of this. Or, at least, part of a chapter because honestly I'll probably want to say something about any topic I cover in this book. So, if you have any ideas, pm me and we'll talk about it!

Now, first thing's first. A fanfiction is not less than a normal book, and should not be treated as less. You can't lower your standards for fanfictions, because then you slip by with "text talk" and grammar errors and typos that an editor would catch in an instant. There is nothing wrong with typos. I'm sure my works are full of them. But you can't let that be the norm! You have to proofread and fix mistakes, and make sure that whatever you present to the muggle world gives them a good opinion of our intelligence (because let's be honest, does this, "omigerd im hary Poter's sis thisis 2 coo," look intelligent? And yes, that happens way too often.). I mean, yes, at Hogwarts we stop taking English when we start first year, but they don't need to know that! So, get out those wands and turn on spellcheck, because you're definitely going to need it if you want a quality fanfic.

All right, that's enough of that boring muggle stuff, onto the fun things! In this book, I'm going to be showing what to do by showing you what not to do. I'll be writing cliche stories that'll make you cringe, but hopefully they'll point out what we're doing wrong (myself included). I'll admit, even now I fall into cliches. I'm not Hermione, people! I mean... Well... That's a story for another time. My point is, we aren't perfect, and I've never seen a story with zero cliches. However, there are some that you should avoid at all costs, and I'll be outlining a few of those.

I'll also cover topics like OCs, originality, romance, and any other topic I can think of. There are so many great writing tips out there that fanfic writers tend to ignore. After all, that's meant for authors of original stories, right? Absolutely not! We need that advice as much as they do! And for your convenience, I'll be putting it all into the terms of Harry Potter fanfiction!

As we get further along, I will get into some of the finer details of Harry Potter fanfiction. There are some cliches that are very general, and the thing about those is that if you give them a twist, they actual can make your story better. So some cliches aren't all bad, if used in the right way. I'll make sure to give example of how a cliche could be turned into something incredibly awesome or unique if I think of anything! Feel free to use any ideas I spout off to kick start your own fanfic, if you'd like, because I'm much too caught up with Star of Gryffindor and its sequels (my own contribution to the HP world) to put much effort into them!

Speaking of Star of Gryffindor, I will take any opportunity to use my own work to illustrate a cliche. So, if you've read that, you may recognize bits of it scattered throughout this book!

Anyway, I hope this guide is as helpful as Hermione and as funny Ron, because that combination is perfectly amazing in every way and that would mean I'm doing something right!