FlightofzFans requested this!
This will be a basic/beginning course thing, and if you want it more in depth or something then you can sign up for the PM thing.
I will split this up into sections by genre. You can skip it all until you get to the genre you generally focus on. They are in bold.
Table of Contents or Guide Thing:
Fanfiction
Fantasy/Adventure/Action Stuff
Mystery/Thriller/Horror
Humor/Comedy
Nonfiction/Historical Fiction
Script
Anyway, here we go!
~•~
Fanfiction
I think Fanfiction is probably among the easiest for plot stuff. Before you start arguing with me about this, let me explain myself.
First of all, people have lower expectations for fanfictions. Second of all, the foundation of most of it is already there if you plan on staying relatively true to the original story. And lastly, it's easy to look at someone else's fanfiction and think, "I'm pretty sure that this character would never do that," and then realizing that would change the whole plot, and then making that new plot into an entirely new story.
Okay, now feel free to argue with me.
So, if you ever get really stuck on a fanfiction, don't think "what should happen next?" and instead think "what would these characters most likely do next?" This will probably work because of you're writing fanfiction, you've probably done at least one of the following:
A) Read the original work, and are therefore already familiar with the characters;
B) Read a bunch of fanfictions, and are therefore already mostly familiar with the characters;
C) Or it won't work because you are a weirdo trying to write a fanfiction for a random you know absolutely nothing about except for the characters names.
Or something else, like you're not really writing a fanfiction but instead you're just too lazy to think of new names for characters or something, but I wanted to keep it at three letters. :)
Of course, you should probably do both of the previously said questions at once, but it will probably be more help if you focus more on the characters' reactions than you do on other things, since the best authors tell the story through actions and the characters, not just tell it with words and boring narration.
Now, since I'm already focusing on characters a whole lot, let's go to the character development side of things!
When it comes to character development, it might be a little bit harder with fanfictions. Before you start writing, you need to become familiar with each character and their behavior, thoughts, relationships on other characters, motivation, etc. If the story is in first person (ex: Percy Jackson and the Olympians) or third person but with a clear main character (ex: Harry Potter), then you can focus mainly on becoming familiar with that character, since the other characters will likely become muddled when going through the filter of the character in question.
At each point in the story, think about these things and how the character would likely change because of the events in the story.
Fantasy/Adventure/Action Stuff
When it comes to plot, you may feel pressured to come up with things that are completely original. But that's the thing: no story is completely original.
For example, the Percy Jackson series is heavily and obviously based on mythologies like Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse. The characters that aren't taken directly from the mythologies (and even some of the one's that are) are a whole lot like the one's in the Harry Potter series. Both of these can be connected back to other books, such as Lord of the Rings, which pretty much every book these days is similar to in some aspects. Lord of the Rings can be taken back to other stories and stuff as well. Even ancient mythologies and legends (and current day religions, but disregard this part of it's offensive) were started by people who looked at the world around them and wanted to both explain it and control other people.
My point is, no story is completely original. Let's say you managed to think of a new, never thought of before idea, which is impossible. It's still likely to have been based off of your own life and experiences and the world around you to some extent.
(Matter cannot be created not destroyed. Neither can anything else. Things can only be changed. But this is the beauty of it: you manage to make a new world, a world of magic and awesomeness, while still being confined to the laws of our universe. In a way, authors are wizards. IMAGINATION WIZARDS!!!)
Anyway, just remember your idea doesn't have to be completely original. When it comes to actually making a story, then remember that one of the hardest parts is starting. Once you've got the base, foundation, and framework down, the rest isn't too hard. Let the characters (your construction builders in this analogy, I guess) lead the story for the most part, and just be there to instruct when needed. Be ready to fill up those plot holes, though (no one wants a leaky roof or holes in their walls)!
Easy peasy! Well, as long as you have motivation.
If you don't have motivation, you're probably doomed.
Characters...
Oh my gosh....
Okay. So. If you want well rounded, there dimensional characters, then there a couple of main things to remember.
1) Keep them consistent. Even if random is their consistent. Don't suddenly change them without reason.
Example: Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. Her traits stay relatively the same through the whole series, only really changed as her character developed through the new situations that she encounters.
2) When you're making characters, remember that every character has a motivation. Even the bad guys. Every character has a backstory. Every character has reasons behind what they do. Also, remember that every character needs flaws. Yes, even the good guys.
Example: Adrian Monk from the show Monk. Everything he does is based in his backstory, and his flaws are extremely prominent from the first episode (OCD freaking sucks, in case you were wondering) despite the fact that he is the main character in it.
3) Don't be afraid to make similarities and parallels! In order to create realistic, relatable characters, you should put some of yourself or other people into them. It's not a bad thing to incorporate real life or other people's ideas in your stories, but remember there is a limit!
(For parallels there's not as much of a limit, actually, to be honest.)
Example: ...Pretty much every good book ever, probably. And ones that are heavily involved with things like depression and stuff are probably linked to real life.
Mystery/Thriller/Horror
For all of these, a big thing in the plot is usually the unknown. While this is true for lots of stories, it is extra true for these ones.
In other types of stories, usually the big picture is known, but not really the details. The details get reviewed over time.
These stories, on the other hand, are generally more of an "I don't really know anything for sure, but I do have theories and guesses and I think that if someone stopped me from reading this I'd die from anticipation."
In other words, these stories mostly go for one (or both) of two things:
1) Suspense, or
2) f*CK!NG CREEPY STUFF
So... For more info sign up for PM lessons or look at the Fantasy/Adventure/Action Stuff part.
Humor/Comedy
Some people say this isn't a "real" genre. Many people say that humor or comedy things don't really take good plot and character development, but just a good sense of humor.
I beg to differ.
Obviously having a sense of humor is crucial for this genre. However, humor is completely subjective, so it's actually not as important as one might think. However, if you don't have an actual plot of some kind, then it's kind of just joke after joke after joke, with no real anything. In that case, I would suggest being a comedian instead of an author, or write jokes for comedians or something. (Comission jokes XD)
If you look at any humor and comedy stuff stories of shows that you really like, you'll probably find they have a plot, even if it's kind of abstract.
For example, Hetalia. It's extremely random. It seems to be complete nonsense. Personally, I find it really funny. However, you can see a lot more than just that from it. The plot is history-based. It can get really dark at times and if you really pay attention, everything that happens is not really happy, yet presented in a comedic, humorous matter.
...Now, I know what you're probably thinking. Or I might not. But here's what I'm going to guess: "Could you possibly give us a less racist, serious, depressing, completely random, political, inappropriate, and/or offensive example of comedy/humor?"
And my answer is "Well, the only other comedic or humorous shows/movie I really know is Stephen Colbert, Monk, Our Cartoon President, Kung Pow! Enter the Fist, Camp Camp, and South Park, so no, not really."
I'm sorry, but in my opinion all good comedy and humor is either a) straight up dark or serious stuff presented in a humorous or comedic way, b) funny stuff with an undertone of dark or serious stuff or is just funny because it's random or c) things so freaking offensive that you laugh out of shock or that you were so caught off guard that you laughed.
For things on developing characters and plots, look at the Fantasy/Adventure/Action Stuff one.
Nonfiction/Historical Fiction
Right off the bat, I'm going to say this: if I pick up your nonfiction book and it's just listing facts about something, I'm going to put it down. I don't want something like this:
American Revolution!!!
*some information about what led up to the war*
*some information about some important battles and a whole bunch of dates I'm going to immediately forget*
*there was this Independence Declaration thing*
*also there's this Constitution and an American Dream that is being deconstructed and our progress is being reversed because the people in charge are f*ck!ng idiots*
Actually, if it contains that last part, I might read it. But that's not the point.
My point is that I don't want to feel like I'm in history class reading from some textbook. I want it to be kind of interesting!
(But if you're writing one of those animal nonfiction things, then as long as there are lots of pictures I'm happy. XD)
I don't have many good examples of this, since most people are weirdos who think I'd actually enjoy reading bland facts off of a page, so I'll have to give some sort-of examples. I will put the examples after I say something else.
Lots of stuff by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson, Magnus Chase, etc.) is sort of informative, though is not nonfiction. However, I think I can use it as an example here. The series contains a whole lot about mythologies, and can be considered informative and somewhat teaching-like or something. However, it also has a story and a plot, three dimensional characters, and is pretty interesting.
Another example is the Hamilton musical. It's awesome. I would say this is a fact, but unfortunately it's an opinion, and opinions are subjective. The Hamilton musical is creative, uses real people in history, and makes them actually seen human. Because here's the thing-in other books of nonfiction or poorly written historical fiction, there's a disconnect. In reality, everyone has a personality. Everyone has flaws. Door example, Alexander Hamilton may have been a founding father, immigrant, the national treasury's founder, abolitionist, but he also cheated on his wife (a throughout it all showed a severe lack of self control/restraint). He was human, as was everyone around him.
Of course, Lin Manuel Miranda did take some liberties and it wasn't completely accurate, which you shouldn't die if your writing nonfiction, but still. When you're doing research, try to find out what kind of people everyone was (and keep in mind what sources you are using and stuff).
Historical fiction is basically the same as a fiction thing, but also different. On one hand, you get to make up a character, and their backstory, and the details about them; on the other hand, the plot is already somewhat predetermined since you have to stick mostly to the timelines of actual things that happened. So it's kind of like a fanfiction, but with stricter guidelines/rules (the guidelines/rules being the original story/history).
The only real difference between nonfiction and historical fiction is that historical fiction is, well, fiction. However, historical sticks to things that really happened, just makes it more personal, in a way. Like I said, real people went through that kind of stuff. Historical fiction kind of makes it easier to eliminate the disconnect.
See Fantasy/Adventure/Action Stuff for more info on character development stuff.
Script
Pretty much the same as other things, just different. (Sorry, I'm tired. More through PM.)
I hope this lesson thing helped somewhat! If you want it in more depth, sign up for PM lessons or something!
(Speaking of personal things from that Nonfiction/Historical Fiction section, the PM lessons pretty much exist because helping lots of people at once is hard and it's easier if I get to know how the person learns a little bit before reaching them. It's a little more personal or something.)
(Tbh I have no idea what I'm saying right now. It's almost 3 A.M. and apparently there's this thing called "sleep" that I need in order to live.)