So you want to write fanfictions on the internets
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| Title: | So you want to write fanfictions on the internets |
| Creator: | CC (traveller) |
| Date(s): | December 11, 2009 |
| Medium: | LiveJournal post |
| Fandom: | Panfandom |
| Topic: | Fanfiction |
| External Links: | online here; archive link for page 1 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
So you want to write fanfictions on the internets is a 2009 essay by CC (traveller).
"A loosely organized and certainly incomplete manifesto for you, Dear Writer, containing advice, suggestions, tips, positive affirmations, and a great many four letter words."
The post has 287 comments.
The Essay's Main Points
Each one of these points is expanded, see the original essay.
- You're writing for an enormous built-in audience.
- You're not as bad as you think you are.
- You're not as good as you think you are.
- Fanfiction is predicated on the collective knowledge and experience of the fandom.
- Nobody cares how much trivia you know.
- Too much Real in your RPF is creepy.
- Not all canon is sacred.
- Stay relevant - too many details kill momentum.
- Just fucking Google it.
- That (racial, ethnic, religious, sexual) culture that is not your own is not 'exotic.'
- Internet and/or fandom catchphrases and memes have no place in fanfic, unless you're writing something very meta or very crack.
- Don't use epithets.
- "Said" and "says" are not dirty words.
- Your readers are adults, treat them that way.
- Grammar is necessary in narrative, but not in dialogue.
- Your beta should be willing to do the job right.
- Your beta should be fluent in the language in which you are writing.
- It's not an original idea.
- Even the crackiest premise can sell if you say it like you mean it.
- It's okay to experiment with style.
- If people love your fic, the same applies.
- For every comment that you get, remember that there are ten other lazy fucks who read it, liked it, and didn't say so.
- The makers of rec lists are not arbiters of quality.
- Criticism hurts.
- Don't put yourself down in your author's note.
- Keep your header information to the minimum necessary.
- A note about posting: Post consistently to one comm in your fandom.
- Own your mistakes as well as your successes.
- Read moar.
- If people hurt you – and they will – don't give up.
- There'll be another story. The sun will rise tomorrow. Keep writing.
Some Comments at the Post
[trinity clare]:
MOTHERFUCKING WORD. Sorry I don't have anything more constructive to add than that
[jamesinboots]:
If I were a writer, this list would totally be my guideline of choice. *thumbs up!*
[wildmachinery]:
i don't want to be a lazy fuck, so i'm just comment-dropping to say i read this and i want to hug it and buy it a drink.
[tabaqui]:
*pet pet pet pet pet*