hey :D i was wondering if you had any suggestions or advice for fic writers when it comes to storytelling and character building? im interested in how you are able to use things we know (like art/music/known facts about frank or gee for example) and incorporate them into the story and somehow make it your own? I feel like you are SO insanely good at this: storytelling and character building!!
im also having trouble with making my fic interesting :( i know i should be writing my frerard fic for my own pleassure but im struggling so bad with getting dialogue to have a purpose and not just bc i want them to talk for the sake of me descriptive writing too much… idk i just feel like with my frerard fic ive been trying to write doesnt feel as worthy to even be published on ao3.
SORRY if this is such an intense question/ramble. pls feel free to not even answer if it is too much!
I really wish I had some real advice, but it always boils down to the same old boring thing - Practice.
I know it's a cliché but it's that way for a reason. I've been writing stories since I was old enough to hold a pen. I've been writing fanfic specifically for over twenty years (starting in notebooks that me and my friends used to trade between classes).
World building and dialogue and all of those things get better and better with each new chapter, each new story. And, of course, we're our own worst critics. I think it's pretty common that, as authors, we don't love our own work. We read it back and see all the mistakes, the rambling, the continuity errors and the same word repeated a million times in one chapter.
My only advice (other than practice) is to try and let go of that anxiety over it being "worthy". Every fic on AO3 that was written by a human is worthy. All art created by people is worthy.
I think there's a growing undercurrent of people who have entered fandom spaces seeing it as content. But it isn't content, it's community. It's a potluck with your friends and neighbours - and some dishes are a bit weird or out there and may not be as popular as someone else's cake, some dishes will need allergy (trigger) warnings, some dishes will be the best damn thing you ever tasted and you'll come back for more and more.
I'm rambling now but the point is - your potluck dish is special because you made it. Your fics are special because you wrote them.
I quite often think my fics aren't interesting. Sometimes I cut whole pages out of my doc (but always paste it somewhere else, it may be useful one day!) because I've lost the thread. If you really think your story is not interesting and the dialogue serves no purpose, then rewind a bit and start again at the last point that excited you.
I also find myself daydreaming a lot, and when I'm doing chores round the house I'll have Frank and Gerard (or Noah or Mikey or whatever characters currently living rent free in my brain) just talking in my head. It's a conscious thing that I'm directing. Sometimes the conversations are meandering and meaningless and go nowhere, but it all helps me think it through and sometimes their chatter falls into something important. That's the lightbulb moment where I realise what they've been trying to say and I can write it into the fic that little bit easier.
I really encourage you to just keep writing 💜 Fanfic should be about fun - you're not being paid to do it, it isn't a job or obligation, it's a hobby. It doesn't need to be perfect. If you're having fun writing it then I promise that will show in your prose and people will have fun reading it 💜
