โจThe WritingPedia โจ (Guide to Writing Fanfiction)
This chapter Iโll be emphasizing the importance of outlining, which must be done before any writing happens. Itโs easy to get excited and write the first few chaptersโ just to get a huge writer's block later down the line (trust me, Iโm notorious for it).
When it comes to storyboarding, people generally start with the story climax mountain that was often used in elementary school, and itโs still useful! But down below I took it a few steps forward, and I have a basic template of the outlines I use for my stories.
Title Timeline Parings: ____ Rating: ___(General Audiences, Teen and Up, Mature, Explicit) Tags: (example): Alternate Universe - High School
There are many reasons as to why you should use Google Docs to write:
Wattpad is horrible when it comes to saving your stories. Long ago, there was a huge strike with Wattpad in deleting tons of stories, and if one didnโt have the story on another platform to repost, their work was lost forever.
AO3 will delete drafts after 30 days, which isnโt very helpful now is it!
Some people use word documents, but Iโve found that in collaborative works, many tend to lean more towards Google Docs. It saves to a drive and is very easy to collaborate on when it comes to allowing access for comments, suggestions, or edits to protect your work!
Google Docs will make it easy to copy and paste to post on the fic platform of your choice! The biggest pet peeve of mine is when you copy and paste, but it doesnโt accurately paste the italics, so you have to go through all of it and re-italicize each word. Google Docs will keep all of that stuff when you copy it from there and paste into Wattpad or Rich Text in AO3.
(In another chapter, Iโll explain the most efficient ways to post on AO3)
Filling out basic tags, deciding rating and warnings, and creating a summary:
First things first, I actually suggest you wait on writing a summary until after youโve written your first chapter. In the next chapter, Iโll explain why! Iโll be giving an easy and detailed guide on how to write a good summary to accurately represent your fic and hook readers alike.
So, for now, you can skip the summary section or just put in something simple that youโll later erase.
As for tagsโฆ that depends on where you are posting. I will just go out and say Wattpad is horrible with tags. Half of the time they donโt work, the award system is very off, and the list goes on. But, with Wattpad, simple tags like the fandom youโre in, the ship, and fluff or smut or angst will probably be all you need.
Now, AO3 tags work much better and readers will even go as far to decide if they want to click your fic by looking at them. Iโd even say theyโre just as important as the summary.
When Iโm deciding what tags I want, I actually go under โPost Newโ in AO3 and just fill out the drop downs and so on with what tags Iโm going to use. I have some basic ideas right here:
Getting into the habit of tagging accurately ahead of time will benefit you in the long run when it comes to big bangs or other fandom related events.
Rating: this is also a platform difference. AO3 is much more detailed with rating, and hereโs how I personally rate my fics!
General Audience = PG. If thereโs a kiss, it better be not deep and just a peck on the lips even. Think about cartoons for kids! There should also be minimal violence.
Teen and Up = you can think of PG-13 for this one. There can be an implied sex-scene at the most, but it must be very implied and vague to not exceed this rating. Violence should not be too descriptive, but it can occur. Cursing is okay.
Mature = this is basically rated R but NOT PORN! Violence can be descriptive, language can be crude, and sex can be technically on there but also more towards the implied sense. Remember, think of the movies! A movie will show a sex scene but it is not pornโ do not mention crude words of any parts, finishing, etc! Intimate moments can definitely exist perfectly while still relying on implications!
Explicit = if youโre planning on writing full smut in any time of the fic, this is your rating. I see people rank their fic as mature and then have a full blown sex scene in it, but thatโs incorrect. Even if itโs just one chapter, if thereโs porn in it, the entire fic should be rated explicit.
Wattpad ratings are much more vague when considering if it is Mature or is it not mature. However, they are VERY strict with you ranking it as mature when it needs to be. They will go as far as to delete your fic if itโs improperly rated.
They have many guidelines determining this.
Hereโs the basics, itโs mature if:
Contains Self-Harm or Suicide or Eating Disorders (even if implied)
Graphic Violence in any sense whether itโs physical or verbal.
It can be very picky beyond what their guidelines say, so I suggest reading @KilluGonLucielโs Guide Book on Wattpad!
Okay, now we can get to properly outlining!
Of course the first thing you should do is have a basic idea on what the plot is. You should be able to fill this out without any struggle.
Going into details is where it gets hard, especially for newer authors. These plot points should be as detailed as you can possibly make them, so when itโs time to write, the writing will actually be faster than the plotting! These plot points should have dialogue in them, where they are (somewhat descriptive idea of the setting), and exact scene/events happening. When you go back to write is where youโll add in more descriptive details and deep internal thoughts.
(Snip it for my story โIn the Hands of Fateโ
This may not make sense to others, but as long as you understand thoroughly, thatโs what matters!
The entire chapter should be plotted before you begin to write, and when it comes to the importance of the first chapter, at least five should be plotted before you begin writing your story.
The first chapter is the most significant chapter, even more so than the last. Iโve noticed slow first chapters on my best stories will have much less audience than an entertaining first chapter with more โmidโ others. Your first chapter needs to have the setting, the fixed tone of the story, and an exact idea on where youโre going with it.
Hereโs what planning the story truly prevents: getting writerโs block and contradicting yourself to overcome it.
Writer's block is the true killer of stories, and in a future chapter, I will go into details on how to prevent them. They range into small blocks, like what small event or dialogue do I write? To: where the heck am I going with this story? If youโve reached the latter, then you didnโt plan before you wrote, and could potentially be blocked long enough to drop the fic entirely.
So please please please plan! and do not post your first chapter until you have at least โ
of your story completely written!
Additionally, ideas can be very fleeting, and sometimes you need to write it down before it leaves your brain! Thatโs what this section is for.
(Insert unused quotes and ideas)
This way, that idea doesnโt go away forever and you can put it in the story where you see fit, when the time comes.
Well, I suppose thatโs all for my tips on outlining! Everyone has their own method, of course, and I encourage you to do what works best for you! (This is just what works best for me lol)
If you have any questions, leave a comment below and feel free to message me on any of my socials (found on my profile).
janainaart
theartofmadeline
snowghoul
germansingergirl
