The really, awful horrible, ghastly, appalingly dreadful, lousy, fanfic

Before I begin ...

As I stated in the summary, there are a few rules you need to follow when writing in general. Then there are rules to follow when writing a fanfic.

First off let's define what fan fiction is ... 

A fanfic based novel is always based on an existing medium. What you're doing is expanding on the existing world you're writing about. There are endless choices for you to base your story on, television show, novels, bands, movies, comics, and on and on. 

Now that you know what it's about, what are the rules of writing fan fiction?

1. Choose something you are intimately familiar with

     - Don't choose to write about a book series you've only read say one or two books of or a TV series you've watched once. Why? Because diehard fans will rip you to pieces if you don't know the material. 

2. Take some time and read a few fanfics based in the universe you're going to be writing about

     - You'll find some awful ones, trust me. But you'll learn a lot by reading the work of others, either what not to do or what might work.

3. Maintain the spirit of the original source work

     - If you're using characters from the original work don't have them act out of character. Unless of course there's a specific reason they're doing that you've written into the story. But you don't want a character from a work that never swears spouting curses left and right. It wouldn't be in their nature to do so. 

- Make certain you know characters, places, and items from the original. Spell them correctly or again, those diehard fans will call you on it. If you aren't certain or if there are difficult spellings, make yourself a separate document file with a list of those items so you can have it for a reference. 

4. Don't start every chapter the same way, especially if it's an incorrect reference

     - One, beginning every chapter in an identical manner is repetitive and boring for readers. Two, if you're doing it and the thing you're referencing would never happen in the universe you're writing about it will only annoy fans even more. I.E. beginning every chapter with a detailed description of what the character is going to wear that day when the school has uniforms is useless. 

5. Add a disclaimer

     - A lot of fanfic authors add a disclaimer at the beginning of the work crediting the original author of the work (if it's a novel) or simply stating it is a fanfic and give credit to say Marvel or DC, if it's a comic/movie fanfic. It isn't necessary, but it can save you some trouble sometimes. 

     - If you're writing, for example, a Marvel fanfic, you might want to let readers know if it's based on the movies or the comics, because they vary greatly. The diehard comic fans hate the movies (for the most part) and they try and argue the details with authors.

Now that we have a basic understanding of what takes place with a fanfic, let's move on to my "review" (it's a more of a commentary) on this horrific Harry Potter fanfic. 

Trust me, it's entertaining ....