hey, so I haven’t had the gall to ask but do you have any fanfiction tips? like how to get people to beta, or just things you like to incorporate into your fics? like general tips because I’m out here struggling lol
Hello my love!!
Fic writing is a very personal process (for me at least). I used to be a creative writing major but before I could get into any prose classes, I switched over to TESOL. (there is still room in grad school though!)
For me, writing a story is a long haul process. I like to start with the biggest most exciting scenes of an AU (MOE is still using some of these scenes). I never start at the begining because it can be daunting and hard to connect to what I want to happen. So, I write all my fun scenes to get them out of my system (when I started MOE, I wrote 14K in 2 days) and then I look at them and start thinking about how to connect them. Point B, working backwards to A.
The BIGGEST tool for writing a plot, is to yap about it. I am not joking. Any friend, I have had many not in the fandom, to listen to you talk about the story. The friends that follow along and help you headcanon are the best ones. I don't think MOE would be as deep and flushed out character wise if not for June (the all knowing beta). She bounced ideas back to me and played with dialog and is overall the reason Margin of Error is still even updating. It certainly helps that she's also an author, because she understands the struggle.
There are friends you can mak on tumblr too! I have made a few mutals by networking my fic on here, and they all help me with hard character questions. Kit (Hi kit, love you kit) the phenominal WixWrites on AO3, has let me yap non-stop about chapter five and Tango's morals as a character. without her, Tango would be making some pretty out of pocket choices I'm sure.
For Betas, find some people you trust and ask them to read your work! I beta for some friends, some friends beta for me. My Betas (the hellions they are) are my friends that I met through minecraft (lethal company orginally actually, but thats a whole story). Good friends won't judge your writing, and if you ask them to look for specific things (and you should be if you're asking someone to edit for you) then it should be easy for everyone!
I ask my betas to look for specific grammar mistakes I'm prone to making, cohesion, character vibes ect. I have a list at the top of our doc and I encourage them to correct me where ever (I do this because I have confidence in my writing, and know what comments to ignore and what to keep. when letting others edit your work don't just accept all the comments. It's your work and you have control over what you do and don't change)
When it comes to adding things into a fic, say a fandom reference, its kind of up to you. sometimes its fun to toss things like that in, sometimes you don't even need/want them. For heavier themes, my advice is to look at the overall story and decide if it fits.
Margin of Error deals with themes on greif, drepression, and some fucked up family dynamics. I have the choice to add more themes or to let the plot breath. There was a point where I was considering bringing sickness back into plot, but decided it was heavy enough killing off Jimmy's mom. You kind of pick and choose your straws, and discussing with a friend will also help you gauge if something is too much. in the end, it's you're story. Write it for you and no one else. If you like something, then like it with your whole heart, don't let people on the internet take it away.
I'm very proud of your AU's you've been posting about. I think you'll make a great author. Try not to over think it, just write. Write it bad, write it scared, at least you're writing. plus, the joy of editing is that if you dont like the fist draft, its a draft you can change it.
much love! good luck!! xoxox sauce