Anatomy of a Fanfic

Meta
Title:	Anatomy of a Fanfic
Creator:	Helena Handbasket
Date(s):	June 28, 2001
Medium:	online
Fandom:
Topic:	fanfiction
External Links:	the site: Anatomy of a Fanfic, Archived version, link to the post: Anatomy of a Fanfic by Helena Handbasket, Archived version
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Anatomy of a Fanfic is an essay by Helena Handbasket.

Its focus is writing a good fanfic. The author walks the would-be writer through a number of story scenarios and techniques using an existing story (not identified) and writing it as a Hercules: The Legendary Journeys fanfic.

Excerpts

Let me give you the low down. For a long time now I have been wanting to take a piece of fan fiction - an actual story written by an actual author - and do a detailed sentence-by-sentence analysis of everything it did wrong. At long last, my dream has come true. My motivation in this undertaking is not simply the universal mean-spiritedness that drives critics to practice their dark arts, but rather a genuine interest to educate. We all have our idiosyncratic faults and foibles but they are often difficult to spot from within the warm cocoon of our subjective sensibilities. However, by fine-tuning our awareness to the errors committed, often egregiously, by another author we become more acutely cognizant of our own penchant for fiction faux pas. As such, I hope that this analysis will prove useful to writers and beta readers of all levels. Already, the mere process of penning this article has taught me a great deal about spotting the recurrent flaws that my own writing has the propensity to exhibit. (For example, becoming obsessed with using the phrase, "propensity to exhibit" when "the recurrent flaws in my own writing" gets the point across with a great deal less awkwardness)

The story reproduced here was not written by me. It was written by someone else whom I have not credited because I do not wish to single anyone out. It was also not originally a Hercules story - it comes from a different fandom entirely. However, the characterization is so painfully lacking that a simple find and replace of the major characters and locations converts it quite convincingly from a poorly written other-fandom story to a poorly written Hercules story. My principal motivation for using a story from an outside fandom is that it would probably be better for the author if she did not see this analysis. In the interest of education I have been brutally frank. Had I been brought in as a beta reader on this story my response would have been significantly more diplomatic.