Writing Advice

Easy Ways to Improve Your Fanfic Now

As writers, we are constantly trying to improve our stories to make them the best that they can be. In this article, we have compiled some of our members' favorite quick and easy ways to improve a fanfiction.

Presentation is an easy place to start. First impressions matter; make sure that you are doing your best to present your story to potential readers. Make your first sentence in your book's description the most important sentence in the piece. In many instances, it is the first and only part of your description a potential reader can see without clicking on the story first. Consider perfecting those couple of critical paragraphs within your description. You can introduce the central conflict or create interest in the main characters. Use this as your opportunity to prompt any kind of interest in your potential readers. Make sure it's interesting, well-written, and grammatically flawless. A boring, self-deprecating, and error-filled description will attract no one. You can also scrap your current description and write a brand new one if it doesn't seem to be attracting any readers.

Remove any kind of unnecessary parts in the description. This can include: unnecessary copy rights, listing every award your book has won, explaining what universe your book is set in, author's notes, and anything that is not relevant to what your book is about. The only exceptions may be a one sentence credit to a cover creator or one award that you are particularly proud of. It is preferable to place these at the very bottom of your book's description, after the important stuff. And if you have any self-deprecating comments such as, "ignore the mistakes", or "this book is really bad", remove them immediately. Using appropriate tags is also important and can be easy to overlook or forget about.

Another common presentation mistake is author's notes. While they can serve a purpose during the publishing process, such as informing current readers when the next installment will come out, it is best to remove them when they become irrelevant. It can be majorly distracting to the reader to be bombarded with author's notes found at the beginning, middle and even the end of a chapter. These author's notes can pull them out of the story they are reading, interjecting over all the hard work you have put into writing that story. This can have a negative impact on the readers' experience, and we typically recommend removing them from your story. That's right, you can improve your fanfiction by simply pressing the backspace button!

While having a perfect description can add tons to your presentation, you want to make sure you have the most attractive cover you can possibly have. There are many good cover shops out there to choose from. It is wise to look at the artist's portfolio to make sure that their style matches the style you want for your book cover. Appearances matter, and having an attractive, fitting cover can make all the difference if you find yourself short on interest, despite having a well-written story. Watch our live stream for more tips on selecting the perfect cover!

It is important to remember that editing is essential, not optional. You should go over every chapter before you hit the publish button. Even the most advanced writers make mistakes; there is no such thing a perfect first draft. Spotting errors in your own work can be a difficult task— you may have to go over it multiple times before it is perfect. This does not mean you are a bad writer; it is completely normal. It is also why editors exist in the publishing industry. Since you are a Wattpad author, it is your responsibility to make sure your writing is as close to error-free as you are capable of.

One method of combing for errors is to start on the last sentence of the last paragraph and work your way to the top. People can find themselves distracted by the plot and end up reading the chapter instead of spotting errors. Working backwards makes it harder to become distracted by the plot and easier to stay focused on finding errors. Another method is reading your story out loud or having a text-to-speech engine read it for you. Many types of errors are easier caught by ear, and technology can be incredibly helpful if you have a reading or learning disability that makes this task extremely challenging.