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Dr. Merlin's Guide to Fanfiction
- By Merlin Missy
- Published 09/13/2007
- Dr. Merlin's Soapbox
-
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Merlin Missy
Merlin Missy has been active in online fandom since 1994. She likes fanfics with plots and happy endings.
View all articles by Merlin Missy
(Note: This essay was originally published in 1996.)
Hi there. So you want to write fan fiction. Maybe you've already written a story or two, posted them to the appropriate newsgroups, and have received feedback, mostly positive. If so, you're probably feeling pretty good, and thinking to yourself, "I shouldn't be reading this. I already know how to write this stuff, and it's easy." Who knows? Maybe you honestly don't need it.
Maybe you're the next Alice Walker, or John Irving (or Kibo, for that matter). If so, you don't need to be reading this. However, if one or two of the responses you received were less than favorable, if someone was confused, or even if you got a lot less fanmail than you anticipated, maybe you should take the time to read now. Heck, it's only advice, and it's relatively free, depending on what service you're using to access (my own service is school-related, so I only have to pay $2500/year plus fees). Besides, it's either this or check out the spam in the alt.startrek.* hierarchy.
Hi there. So you want to write fan fiction. Maybe you've already written a story or two, posted them to the appropriate newsgroups, and have received feedback, mostly positive. If so, you're probably feeling pretty good, and thinking to yourself, "I shouldn't be reading this. I already know how to write this stuff, and it's easy." Who knows? Maybe you honestly don't need it.
Spread The Word
Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by Jade)
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(sorry for any mistakes there might have, english is not my native language)
I have recently begin to write my own fanfiction (only the plot by now though) and I have learn a few tips on your guide that, I'm sure, are going to be useful for my writing.
Tank you for sharing your experiences with us, i am really grateful
Comment #2 (Posted by coolreb)
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I just want to say thank you so much for this article. I found it really helpful and I've taken a good few tips on board. Thanks for the help and good luck in your next fanfic endevour!
Comment #3 (Posted by Alex Winters)
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Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Your article pointed out the truest truths, whether I'd seen them previoously or not. Some of it I disagreed with, some of it offended me. Frankly, that's a good thing. I haven't really written fanfiction in a while, too busy with life and other stories which are mine. Which, by the way, are getting a huge revising job after I finish with this review. I really liked the part about subplots, because in one story I'm pretty deep into I have one plot and one plot only. I realized that it needed diversity. So, pretty much what this long and drawn out rant is trying to say is. . . Thank you.
Comment #4 (Posted by Ruth)
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I thought this a wonderful, insightful article, although I don't agree with everything, and you pointed out that I didn't have to. :) But overall I recommend this article highly and am going to put a link to it on my fanfic site, the Burning Pen. Thank you, Missy Merlin. ***
Comment #5 (Posted by Kass)
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This is a very interesting article. Thank you for writing.
Comment #6 (Posted by Ashley)
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I'm really glad I found this article. I had written a piece of fan fiction (and I thought I did a good job :p), but when I re-read it with this article in mind, I realized it could use a little work (understatement :D) Thank you for that!
Comment #7 (Posted by Emmy)
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Amen! You said it all, and I'm about to go right back to my own work-in-progress and revise it with your advice in mind. Thank you!
Comment #8 (Posted by blondieAKArobin)
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This entire set of articles was wonderful - I wish that every fanfic author would read them (especially the one about writing the whole story FIRST, then posting... I thought I was the only one who did that!)
I'm keeping the link to these articles to pass on to all my author friends!
thanks,
Robin
Comment #9 (Posted by KryptoniteWriter)
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So, I won't inflate your ego much by saying that this article was amazing ect. Because you already know that. Actually, I fould some of it boring. But, obviously, the boring information was useful as I read it through and am here, at the end, commenting. I'm book marking these articles after I post this comment. I believe I may even slip in recommendations for some of my fandom writers to come read it. Although some of what you said truely was "a bitter pill to swallow". Harsh reality. *takes a moment* Okay, i'm over that. Onto the candy. I loved this article. I especially like how we are in agreeance as to authors writing the whole story first. I've noticed that with many a fanfiction where the updates are spread apart and the story just doesnt seem to flow... Well anyways, I know your busy, I'll just leave it with an ego inflate - I love your essay. I'll probably go look for more of your work to read. Maybe I'll even find a fanfic or two of yours to read?
Kryptonite
Comment #10 (Posted by Tazzi Catt)
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Great article for the beginner but what about those of us who have been writing fanfic for years, especially for the problem of writers block. That is my worst problem And story endings. I have trouble ending the stories in a way that makes since. I have mostly done westerns and agree on the research and know your subject. I hate writers who get info wrong on horses, old western clothes, and guns. I don't write Star Trek, or Star Gate, both of which I love because I feel I can't do them properly. You can see my stories at www.womanwritersblock.net under the pen name of Stardust. Or my blog at http://tumbleweedcrossing.blogspot.com
Comment #11 (Posted by mimcee)
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I like your article a lot. I had just written a fanfic and I think it's going to be great now that I've read your article. Thank you so much! ^^
Comment #12 (Posted by Nalita)
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Wow. Just wow. You're a star.
Comment #13 (Posted by Zack)
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Very nice, though I would have liked it you'd have gone a bit more in depth into things. Still its a good basic guide which I'm sure will help many people. Good work.
Comment #14 (Posted by Jen)
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No! Why has it ended? Why is there not more? OK, silliness aside, this essay has been a wonderful read with some very useful tips which I plan to write down for possible use at a later date. Thank you very much for writing this - I am sure your eloquence on the subject has helped many authors (myself also now). I kept getting dozens of 'this is great's from my reviewers, while I'm quite sure that my story writing really can't be that good. What I needed was for someone to give me a heads up on what's acceptable and what's not, and I'm very grateful I found your essay. I'm hoping it will help my writing in the future...
Comment #15 (Posted by Melissa)
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Great article, it's very helpful. Thank you!
Comment #16 (Posted by Juli)
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This is amazing. After reading this article, I have realized the things that were wrong with my previous fanfiction, and I am about to go fix those. I think that this will help improve my fanfic writing skills greatly. Thanks for posting.
Comment #17 (Posted by inês)
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Thank you for posting this! As a first-time fanfic writer, this was incredibly helpful! There were some basics I already knew about (grammar, mary-sue's, etc), but reading this really made me realise some things that were wrong with my writing style, and also inspired me to keep going. I was slightly embarrassed by not being able to write action scenes, but you made me realise, if I don't even like them, why even write them in the first place?
Thank you so much, yet again!
Comment #18 (Posted by Anna)
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Thank you for taking the time to write this. I am a fan fic writer, and some of the "don't's" you mention are really hard to avoid for me. I tend to get too involved in small details and send my (potential) readers to sleep with the pointlessness of it all. Me and the delete key. We don't get along:) Will try to make freinds.
Comment #19 (Posted by linn)
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I am thankful I read this story ... I think I have a better handle on writing fanfic now thanks to you! The article is encouraging to
new writers.
Comment #20 (Posted by Alexandra)
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~ English is not my native language ~
Nobody's perfect and nobody can be perfectly right, but it was a really interesting to read. It's already been a couple of years that I write stories and I always like this sort of type to get better and better. You can never have enough of those kind of text.
I'm not a fan of songfic - not at all in fact - but they are some really good. The problem with those, it's that in general it's that people don't search a plot, they just put de lyrics add a couple of words and think that's it's the greatest thing ever. The songfic actually need more work than a normal fic to really be interesting and not use the popular song & really search for good lyrics would be a good things too, anyway...
Nice essay (=
Comment #21 (Posted by Nessa)
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Very nice article!
Comment #22 (Posted by Pink Bismuth)
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This was a very informative and useful article and I'm very glad to have read it. I feel thoroughly chastised for past works and yet, I'm oddly inspired to write more. I have been planning to write a story lately; I believe the things I've learned from this article will be very useful in my endeavors. Thanks for the advice!
Comment #23 (Posted by chrissyissy)
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Thank you for writing this. I found it extremely enlightening; the tips and notes gave me feeling of slight confidence in some areas of my craft while popping the unnecessary parts of my writing ego. The tone was commendable; dry, lightly sarcastic with that feeling of that one person who will never lie to you about your talent ("Actually, no. That story really sucks" comes to mind. Thanks, sister dear). I've dabbled in an array of fanfiction types, and, as such, I now know that I: am good at creating very much flawed but lovable characters, suck at writing songfics, have a hard time leaving it at a oneshot, and am absolutely a review whore. My most serious issue with my writing (and believe me, there are many) would have to be my oh-god-no-inspiration-must-stop-for-story-for-six-months-and-start-another syndrome.
Again, thank you for writing this. If you care to read any of my stories on fanfiction.net, I am under the name chrissyissy. If you don't, I really don't blame you.
Comment #24 (Posted by Rhi)
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This really got me to think more about what I write and how I take people's advice.
Yesterday, somebody messaged me saying that something I had written was good, but the beginning didn't really flow and seemed a little blunt. At first I was a little taken aback but, after reading this, I went through and read it and she was right! So I'm in the process of re-writing it now and I think it'll make it a lot better.
Thanks a bunch - this has really helped me develop as a writer :)
Comment #25 (Posted by DreamPyre)
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I've seen stories where authors put song lyrics or lines of a poem at the beginning and/or end of a story, which can get some of the benefits of songfic (for shorter stories, at least) without as many of the risks. Of course there are disasters of that type, too, but it seems to have a higher success rate than regular songfics (or, the failures are more likely to be regular failures, and less likely to be 'ARGH I will crush you for creating that abomination! As soon as I return from my despair-induced death!'). I'm not sure if you'd count those as songfic or not, but they're at least related.
If you can't find a good beta, another option is to finish whatever you're writing, then put it away (I have to hide it from myself) so you won't look at it for long enough that you forget what it's 'supposed' to say. It works better with shorter stories (and ones you spent less time writing), and isn't quite as good as a beta, but it's better than nothing.