My Uncle John once wrote a book about writing a good book, I thought I’d take a try on doing something more for basic writers or first timers, I think that’s a great idea! =D
Creating a Good Story:
Ok first off, the most important thing in a fan fic or story is your main character.
It can be anybody you want, it’s entirely up to the creator, however to explain some things that have helped me personally along I’ll explain the classes of characters.
Hero: Ok your main hero can be a lot of things, but the most important thing in the main character has to have the “Drive” to do good; you need a reason behind the heroics.
Let’s use Sonic for example: He found he could use his speed for more then just running, he found thrill in helping people, that’s a “Drive”
Your main hero character will need this drive because when all else fails there needs to be the will to put his/her self on the line, to be completely absorbed in the will of risking it all for the people they’re trying to help.
Another type of hero is the underdog type, the one waiting by the sidelines and has the opportunity to aid, say Tails for example, he’s more that type, he’s completely ready to step in but isn’t always the one completely in focus.
You can also have characters who’s main way of heroism is not in risking his/her life, it’s in making good choices in times of chaos, stepping up when everybody else is in panic.
The hero of the story can have many roles, you need to have a reason behind their heroism though, whether it’s a drive that keeps them going, keeping protection over others, a competitive will to win, a lust for adventure, even fear can be a motive for heroism.
You do need to establish this before hand, what is it your hero wants? What keeps them going?
You might find those who have thought their character’s motives through are generally the ones with the better story or fan fiction.
Villains: Now Villains are trickier:
First off you need to think of what you want your audience to see your villain like.
Some villains are so despicable you want the hero to win over them, BADLY.
These are generally the villains that keep the reader interested in the hero’s story more then the villains story, they’re rooting against them, it makes them unlikable and uninterested in the villain him/her self, but keeps the readers more interested in how your hero manages to defeat such a awful opponent.
Some villains have the audience loving/hating them; the villain has a passion for evildoing so much it compels the audience.
Of course they don’t want to see the villain winning, but at the same time the complete disregard for anybody but the villain’s self is entertaining, the villains with a lust for destruction; the ones with no reason behind their evildoing.
Some villains are the pitying kind, the type with a more to them then how you see them at first.
The villains that were once good but turn bad, this is a more challenging type of villain because you’re going to need to place a back story to how they turned evil, how it is they chose their path.
It CAN’T be something simple; like they just got out of bed and decided to turn evil, circumstances are the main reason the good guy turns bad, and thus you need a compelling circumstance.
This is hard to get across of course, you need to keep the villain interesting, don’t just pull a bunch of one liners and quick moves then they loose, that tends to get old after a while.
The best way is to try to think like the villain, when you establish how your characters think you can better describe them in words.
Anti Hero: Aha, The Anti Heroes, they’re generally the favorites of the story, because they need to have both the elements in the villain and the elements of the hero.
They need the desperation and need to stay away from the dark path and yet the need to stay away from good.
Anti Heroes are the types who can go both ways, so they normally need mixed up motives.
They need a back story that’s the most important thing in an anti hero, because there’s something keeping them off either path.
Although it doesn’t always have to be a circumstance that drives them away from being a hero:
Like regret, from doing something wrong, the anti hero feels he/she doesn’t deserve the right to be a hero, and comes to the conclusion it’s him/her against the world.
Being obligated to something, doing right or wrong never being consistent, because he/she feels they need to be obligated by something, someone, or what they feel is right whether it be right or wrong.
Circumstance’s are easier to write but are generally the death of a loved one or a great tragedy caused in the person’s life.
Or they simply don’t care about anyone or anything.
One less unspecified path is the path of the minion, the ones with no free will over choices; their main need to be described is how they got that way, whether you expand on that is up to you.
The biggest problems in a fan fic or story is having a bland character, if your character is a Shadow the hedgehog rip-off, nobody is going to want to read about them, so keep your character new and fresh, don’t copy an idea, you can make something relate to something you’d seen, but when you begin coping you’ll find you just wrote a newbie version of Sonic Adventure, remember, RELATE not REWRITE.
Reactions:
Ok now that we have the characters down, you’re going to need their personalities worked out.
Over the course of time you’ll see your characters growing in dialog and in the choices they make.
You need to of course know how it is the characters will act around each other, generally the hero is not happy with the villain so make sure; they’re not tipping their hat to them and sharing cake.
When they dislike someone a little they can keep it bottled up or display it subtlety or frankly, make sure you know how each character will react to each of your other characters.
Also you don’t always have to keep villains villains and heroes heroes, circumstances is what your story basically is, thus circumstances can change character’s perspectives, and nearly anything.
The reaction is the key to a good drama or a story in general; it’s the “Reaction” The reader is waiting for.
They want to know whether the character will give up keep going or improvise.
One good example is Shadow’s (Shadow the Hedgehog) reaction:
Maria was shot and killed; his reaction was to want to avenge her.
Now the death of a loved one is a drastic reaction giver, but you don’t want to kill everybody all the time.
However if this should happen that a character’s friend ect. Is harmed or killed, the character can react in many different ways.
They could react in uncontrollable rage:
Example: Aang (Avatar the Last Airbender) being triggered into the avatar state after the death of his people, attacking people on his side and anybody in his path, of course he is stopped in his rage by Katara, but “her reaction” is to get in there and calm him down.
Other’s reactions can change other’s reactions.
You see when a character is in a rage and anger filled situation, logic is taken away, you can have them do the damage so it’s not possible for them to recover, or you could have something or someone interfere with his/her rage, a person or the person’s will power.
Or take away that by letting rage take the character.
Self pity is a strong reaction to loosing someone.
This normally happens to the characters with weak will power, either that or not enough control over their emotions.
They may have developed a strong relationship to the character that shadows everything else, and they never feel closure, ever, unless of course a circumstance changes that.
Acceptance, normally this is gotten from a strong willed character, somebody who is generally somebody who lives by facts, or knows it’s useless to continue with grief.
There are so many options and reactions it’d be impossible to name, but do what your character’s personality suggests to each situation, what you think your character would do for anything and everything that can happen to them.
Love and Romance: Oh man, this is hard.
This is an “optional” way to go in a story, but since love is a strong feeling it’s in nearly every book I’ve ever read, if it’s a huge compelling part of your story, or is on the sideline, it’s up to you.
This is all on the delivery, and the deep feeling between to characters.
(Another Avatar example xD)
Aang fell in love with Katara the second he saw her (Sorry Zutara, it’s true! xD) but he didn’t know how to tell her, he finally did and again the “Reaction” comes into effect, they both end up together in the end of the series.
But that’s not always how love works, it does not have to be felt by each character, if only one is in love it creates a conflict and a different “Reaction”
Whether your characters both admit their feelings right away or they wait, or only one is in love and the other rejects him/her, or they are both hiding secret feelings.
Get creative, but please no bad stuff or stuff beyond PG, it’s not creative, and is simply…creepy.
Another example: Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings) was madly in love with an elf, and she felt the same, but she is immortal and he is mortal, creating a conflict not depending on the other’s feelings, but in her sacrifice to choose to be mortal, they both end up together in the end of the series.
Plots: ok this is the fun part, the main story line.
It’s not just one situation defining a story; it’s dozens of different things that happen.
Don’t revolve your story around once incident and one incident only, then the story’s over, this will not cover your reader’s interest, you need more then one thing to happen in a story.
It’s hard but it’s better when you have a lot going on at different times and a lot at the same time, fill your story up with the ideas you feel can generate a good story.
I can’t help you out on what to do or what’s happening in the story, because that’s your job.
YOU need to know what happens in your story, YOU need to decide how your characters are going to take it and YOU need to write the story.
Drama, Action Adventure, or Comedy it doesn’t matter as long as it’s what you want, the message you want to send your audience.
Whether evil wins or good wins it’s up to you, whether a tornado destroys the hero’s city or the villain is getting closer to his/her goal, whether the hero is running away from his/her problems or facing them, it doesn’t matter as long as the idea is: original, creative, and what you want to reach out to people in writing.
The only thing I can tell you is PLEASE, for the love of all that is Sonic, don’t write a story about a character loosing their memory and trying to get it back, or a jewel theft going after the master emerald, unless it is about ROUGE THE BAT OR SHADOW, make your characters stand out, and don’t get sued by SEGA for stealing ideas lol.
That’s the most important thing I can tell you, if you need ideas you can be similar in your story, but not the same, RESEMBLE NOT REWRITE if it’s a fan fic, and completely original if it’s your book or novel, and just have fun in writing, it’s a strong passion that brings your soul out on paper, enjoy writing and don’t care about other’s opinions, it’s what YOU want in writing that matters, I can only suggest things to help you along.
Best thing to remember, is have fun with it, and let your creative soul out for fresh air.
Have fun!
~Trixie Prower
*applause*
More inexperienced readers need to learn something from this, even if their characters are Sonic-based. It pains me to see something that any story written, that can unlock so much potiential, turn out to be something, boring. Like what you said, Relate, not Rewrite or steal an exact idea from another to make a story "sound good".
Hopefully the new writers will learn some things from here.
Oh, about the Romance rating, when you said nothing beyond PG, I understood that fully. I will, however, have to disagree on your opinion. It is not creepy, unless the writer makes it creepy. There is nothing wrong with a few touches on the body (that is as far it'll go in this forum's case and more of the kissing). Of course, the above is more for the mature readers.
Call me blind. It's just, who'd want to see the same thing happening again, without changing the spice or flavor of the story(s)? I know I wouldn't.
Alas, this is your pinned topic and I shall not soil it with my own opinion. I only wish best of luck to new and experienced writers, I myself included.
| QUOTE |
| but please no bad stuff or stuff beyond PG, it’s not creative, and is simply…creepy. |
That is simply not true. Many people have different opinions on this.
Forgive me for going into depth, but inapropriate subjects such as porn can indeed be creative. How is this? Description; the amount of it. You don't want it sounding too blunt (you want the readers to read around the "context clues."), but not too less detailed, either.
But it's not just description levels. In other words, it can be indeed creative. Anything can- it's how you use it.
Not trying to accuse you, but please. I can't neccessarily stand it too well when people only see one side :\
But overall, pretty good guide. ^^
Again this is something "I" Wrote and it's "My" opinion, it's totally up to the writer what they do with their stories, I just posted suggestions. ^^;
I understand.
However, I just didn't want any misunderstandings here between anyone.
I guess I'm just not used to guides being so biased. X3