Fanfiction Writing: Where to Start?

Art by WindbyFire, commissioned specifically for “the gods are real (and so are we)”

Picture this; November 3rd, 2020. A Tuesday. Also? Election day.

Everyone who was there watching as the results rolled in can probably relate to the anxiety levels experienced that evening. An anxiety that would last for perhaps too long afterwards as people tried to figure out who had won. But that anxiety? It would end up fueling me to write non stop for the next three months. I hadn’t written a fanfiction in almost a decade- and yet there I was, unable to handle what was happening on my television screen, choosing instead to hyper focus on churning out a story that I didn’t even know if anyone would read.

That’s the thing about fanfiction- there’s no guarantee of an audience when you start. Even if you’re established in the community, there’s no promise that your former readers will have interest in your next project, your next “AU”, your next pairing. And unlike published authors, there’s no paycheck to motivate us either. So why write fan fiction? Because it’s fun? For ourselves? Naturally- but it can get frustrating, as frustrating as writing for a job; panicking about the next chapter not being ready to publish yet, agonizing over edits, often times having to do the work of a writer, editor, and publisher all in one. So why, then, do something that may induce that anxiety, that may cause stress or even tears?

Content Creation is a love language. It’s an ode to the things we love, whether that be through cosplay, fan art, or even fan fiction. It’s a way to find people with similar interests. And a mark of a popular fandom is how flooded with content it is. So of course we want to write, even if what we come up with may never be published, even if our words may only be read by a handful of people. It’s a way of expression, a creative outlet, something that humans are hardwired to want to do- create. And how fun it is to write about our favorite characters in new situations.

But then…. where to begin?

We can’t all get hit with sudden hypo-manic episodes due to intense election anxiety and write 60k words in a matter of months. And trust me, it isn’t sustainable- over a year later I’m struggling to finish the last few chapters of the story, to finally mark it “complete”. I haven’t written or finished a fan fiction since I was thirteen, and now it’s so close I can see the finish line and get to work on my next project. So… what then?

Concept

Before even touching a pencil, pen, or keyboard, it’s a good idea to come up with a concept. What fandom do you want to write for? What characters? Do you want to write a shy, coffee shop romance, or an action story packed with tragedy? Is it within the canon universe, or an alternate universe? How does it diverge from the source material? What other characters will appear and how will they affect what happens? It’s a good idea to make sure you have some key personality traits down, whether you keep them in your head or write them out so you can reference them easily. On top of that- are your characters static or dynamic? How do they change and grow (or get worse) throughout your story? These are all important things to consider when coming up with a fanfiction and when writing fiction in general. And some of this leads into our next aspect of writing…

Outline

Let me put this out there; I. Hate. Outlines. I suck at doing them. I suck at writing them. I’m bad at planning- I’d rather go with the flow and figure out the story as I write. But your outline doesn’t need to be a complete, static document. It can be fluid. It can grow with your story. I got halfway through my story, “the gods are real (and so are we)” before I realized that I was forgetting things I had wanted to include and gave myself a bare bones outline to remember them.

Your outline can be like mine- bullet points, each with a single sentence stating what I would like to happen and in what order. It can be keywords. It can be a paragraph of summary. You can add things and cut things as needed. You can start writing and add to the outline as new ideas come to you. And you’d be amazed to see how the story takes shape when you remember what you wanted to do with it in the first place! An outline can also help with the flow and pacing, as well as make your story more cohesive. And if you know what happens in several chapters, you may be able to foreshadow it now.

Writing

You have your concept, you have some semblance of an outline- now comes the part you were itching to get your hands on; writing the actual thing! But beginnings can be tricky. Endings too. Maybe you’re not quite sure how to start; should it come in in the middle of a scene and the action? Or should you set up the world a bit first? Are you writing in first or third person? How personable is the narrator?

The cool thing is, like with film, you don’t HAVE to write in chapter or scene order! If I’m stuck on a chapter or am just not feeling it, I’ll skip ahead to something I’m more excited to write and come back later. Did you come up with a really good line for an argument scene? Write it down, flesh it out, then maybe skip back to set up how the argument started. You are not confined to the sequence of events the way your readers might be. Don’t be afraid to move through your story the way the Tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse 5 move through time; without restriction.

Another way to motivate yourself to write can be goals. You can say “I will write 500 words a day, no matter what”. If you’re aiming for something, you’re more likely to do it. Keep track of how many words you write in a day with a spreadsheet or even a journal. Watch your progress grow. And what you get on the page in the first place doesn’t have to be publishable- or even passable. In fact, don’t worry about it being any good at first- just worry about getting the words down. Which leads us to…

Editing

Editing is the bane of my existence. I hate doing it. I strive for my first draft to be perfect, and because of that I struggle to write sometimes because if it’s NOT perfect, I’ll have to edit it. And like I said- I hate editing.

But no one is perfect, and certainly no piece of writing is. So I have a few recommendations. First, see if you can get a “beta” reader. A beta is someone who acts as a sort of editor- they can read your story, make suggestions, catch mistakes you missed, ask questions and for clarification. I was lucky enough to have two amazing beta readers when I started “the gods are real” and it really helped spur on my motivation. While I despised editing on my own, it was 10x more fun to get notes and make changes based on someone else’s fresh perspective.

And because I had that perspective for so long, I got better at reading my work with a critical eye. Even though I no longer have editors, I do have skills that make editing not quite such a hassle for me anymore. Join writing groups, discords, and seek out people who write too, and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get a beta reader of your own! And if not- don’t stress the editing TOO hard. If you’re proud of the work you’ve done, don’t be afraid to publish it as is.

Motivation

Keeping that motivation going can be a nightmare. So here are a few things you can do;

Sprints: A sprint is easy to do as a warm up or even to keep yourself going. Record how many words you have written. Start a timer for 15 minutes and write as much as you can in that time. When the timer goes off, record your new word count and subtract the original to see how many new words you wrote. Try to beat your own time! There are discord bots for this, and some groups even do sprints together as a competition to motivate each other, so definitely seek those out if this is something that interests you!

Get Readers: We write for ourselves- but gosh is it easier to write when we know someone out there is reading and enjoying it. Now this doesn’t mean “git gud and become a famous fanfic writer”, it means find someone, anyone who you can write for. A friend, a stranger on a forum who expressed interest in your story, a beta reader, a parent, anyone who can give encouragement and let you know someone cares about your work is invaluable.

Set Goals: Like said before, goal setting can be a great tool to write. Whether it’s writing a certain amount of words a day, or having a chapter ready to publish every week, or even just a general “I will write every day”, seeing your goals written down as well as your progress can urge you towards the finish.

Find something that works for you. Find that thing that can motivate you to keep going, and before you know it, the story will be finished!

Publishing

So you’ve written a fanfiction. Now what?

You have a few options for publishing!

My personal recommendation is Archive Of Our Own- You need an invitation to join, so you can either wait a few days to receive one in your email or get one from a friend. No other site can rival AO3 for their tagging system, on top of being able to see how many hits your story has. There’s individual chapter comments, kudos, bookmarking, and more! On top of that, they have a legal team on staff to help protect fanfiction writers; we are creating derivative work, after all, and some authors don’t like that. Don’t worry, most don’t mind it!

Some other options are Fanfiction.net and Wattpad, but neither has been able to live up to AO3 to me so far. Or be like me and post on all three!

Conclusion

Fanfiction writing may seem like a daunting task sometimes. You’re attempting to do what many get paid a living for, and on top of that, you may not see much in return. But be patient, keep at it, and write for yourself. Things like fanfiction, fanart, and cosplay keep the things we love alive long after they may have ended, and the work we do as creators means a lot to fans like us. Thank you for reading, and happy writing!