BETTER FANFICTION: 4 tips to make it feel like CANON | Writing / Wattpad Wednesdays

[@greengrendel]

I still think people misunderstand what makes a Mary Sue bad. It's not that they "have no flaws" but that they become the focus of the attention of all canon characters. Everyone's just catering to the Mary Sue's whims, begging for her attention and approval, ditching other relationships and ties in favor of her.

[@starc3968]

A Mary Sue is a narrative black hole, she warps canon to an unrecognizable level just by existing

[@flowerbloom5782]

The thing is with no flaws is that it can make a story redundant and stagnant. A good all powerful trope used well is mob psycho 100, the mc is all powerful but that comes with its own sets of faults and problems to solve.

[@1ZATO]

​@@flowerbloom5782 Mob Psycho 100 is so good

[@huntercoleman460]

I’ve been writing stories since I was a boy and recently I’ve been writing fanfiction. I actually find it easier to write than an original story. Writing fanfiction and reading compliments from people has actually made me gain confidence in my writing. I hope to one day write and publish an original novel though but so far I’m pretty confident in my writing thanks to fanfiction.

[@caitlinfiffik]

I know exactly what you mean, it really can be such a confidence booster! I'm not sure if I ever would've gotten the courage to take my original works seriously if I hadn't had support from people on my fanfics :')

[@huntercoleman460]

@@caitlinfiffik I know I may not be a great writer but it’s a fun thing to do and I love sharing my stories with other people.

[@s.k.1603]

The confidence boost from fanfic is real! I look back on stuff I wrote years ago and notice an improvement when I look on my newer stuff. I too aspire to publish an original novel one day, or a collection of short stories. My issue though is finding an editor and perhaps an illustrator (is that the title for people who do cover designs?).

[@huntercoleman460]

@@s.k.1603 I don’t how I would feel about my writing if it wasn’t for fanfics,

[@OffscreenkillVA]

Fanfics are both significantly harder and WAY easier to write than OG Stuff, yeah. :D

[@Alleyoop1-7Fanfiction]

Speech patterns are really helpful. In some stories, characters are so different that it’s easy to differentiate their speech patterns, like if the characters are american vs English vs Scottish etc.. But when you write about a friend group, for example, that are going to the same school and are from the same area, so not even regionalisms can make their way into their speech, subtle things they pick up from their parents or their video games or their books of choice-even if not specified in the story-can really elevate a story. I’m going to think about this more.

[@glamourrock3170]

About the last section of the video, while yes I'm sure that's definitely a concern (I haven't written any oc x character stuff tho), I have also seen comments about people who absolutely LOVE the chemistry between a canon character and an oc, so don't be discouraged, there's an audience for everything. I know on ao3 in particular there's sort of a, "don't like don't read" mentality, but of course not everybody follows it. Just know, there will be people that enjoy anything you write.

[@char531]

This is a really good video, I’m working on my first fanfic, kinda angsty And focused on my comfort ship, but thanks to your videos I have started making it and so far it has been well received and I have had so much fun writing it.

[@pacopaige]

Great video! I've always thought about trying fan fiction but I always wanted to go for the route of finishing an unfinished story or one where the movie or show just wasn't that good so if want to try writing my own version. Like I love MTV's Scream, and I wanted to do fan fiction of a season 3 since the original 2 seasons left off on a cliff hanger and got a completely unrelated 3rd season. And then of course things like dino crisis fan fiction or resident evil fan fiction.

[@pacopaige]

@spider-mad I definitely will! Just preoccupied with my main story and others that live in the back of my head for now 😅

[@caitlinfiffik]

omg yesss, fanfiction is a godsend when it comes to unfinished media!!

[@iamyandra]

that's so cool i want to write an outer banks au based on the scream franchise so i get you

[@lilibet23]

As a British fanfic connoisseur who had read way too much Harry Potter fanfic than is good for her, my advice is this: do NOT try to write in an accent you didn’t grow up around or are unfamiliar with. Learn a a bit of slang, sure, and don’t go too overboard with the ‘bloody hells’, but writing out an English accent phonetically is a big no-no.

[@caramel2549]

Thank you for your advice. I really liked how you pointed out that the possible hate and brace writers for possible toxicity. It’s so true that some people are never satisfied and absolute jerks for no reason. Majority of fanfiction writers are beginners doing it for fun and out of their free time. The bullies who bashed your characters were probably immature 12 year olds. Don’t let them bog you down.

[@8877dksljfa]

This made me realize why I hate self inserts. Ive never been a "hater" per say bc I would never comment and just move my ass along, but I think its the mary sue aspect that has always rubbed me wrong

[@BJGvideos]

A self insert doesn't have to be a mary sue

[@racheldistasioliveira3871]

Not every self-insert is a Mary-Sue

[@1ZATO]

Much appreciation, looked down on fanfiction for a while, but after failing to be consistent with all my other writing and getting bored, ive decided to try this, thanks again the 1st tip is very helpful for me

[@rosenightowl7441]

I need friends who actually write fanfics. Someone who i can send my work too and give me honest feedback and ways theyd change somethings 😭😭

[@yoonwehn]

I’d love to be that friend 😭 it sounds so fun

[@mithileshyadav9626]

Girl i want you to read my story and give feed back and I will do same

[@lolaqueene]

I'm writing a fanfic right now. I'd also like some feedback. Hahaha.

[@beebee8950]

I would absolutely love to join this little group

[@roseybluebell820]

I love writing Oc fanfics

[@tanyahuddleston]

One of the things I do is to make sure I'm not alone like if it like a ship between two people that aren't a thing in the show/book but have history I make sure others support this as well😅 when I write

[@LegendOfAssassinX]

My HP fan fiction is VERY stretched out into the world of HP, across the Atlantic to be precise, it’s about an auror investigating disappearance of a thunderbird in American hogwarts Edit: Ilvermorny is mentioned in tweets by J.K Rowling expanding her original idea on hogwarts for curious writers to come and the founding of it was mentioned in fantastic beasts, I haven’t seen it but have stalked wiki after wiki and Miss Rowlings twitter to thread together a cohesive story staying true to what little we know (purposefully set by miss Rowling) to write an interesting and page turning fantasy action novel. Edit 2: The only named character I came across named and important to lore is the founder, Isolt Sayre.

[@astrixsm8411]

Hey what's ur fic? I'd love to give it a read

[@Kiwigaming2061]

gurlll yoour lipstick muahh

[@icedgarlic]

fr it looks so good 😭

[@mstnurjahan1476]

Hi! I am writing a Harry Potter fanfic, it's still a ongoing fanfiction, actually I am a big fan of it! Thanks for your tips, I will keep these in mind ! I can say writing a fanfic is really fun! I agree with you that there shouldn't be too much OOC moments in a fanfic, I've found hp fanfictions that are too OOC kind. And as a reader I don't really like it , when peoole make a bad guy a good guy or opposite.

[@1ZATO]

Quick update after 4 days Even though my story will be set in the far future away from the main story, taking notes about the series has helped me notice things I never did before and as i watch each episode the list I make is bigger and more descriptive than before, thank you so much. I have a long way to go though since I'm only about 5% through the series 😂

[@ladynafiael]

Honestly, I really like these tips a lot. I've written fanfics (mostly kept them to myself or only shared with friends. But I have posted one online as well.) I am also a reader of fanfics. I agree with so many of the points in this video. Especially about the character personality. One thing that absolutely pulls me out of a Fanfic is if the character with an established personality is behaving in a way too far removed from normal. I think it's ok to change some things. However, when they do a complete 180 personality wise for a canon character, im out.

[@melomaniex]

I love you thank you for the video🤍

[@1ZATO]

Update 2, I've made significant progress in just a day, thats mostly due to the last 2 episodes being filler though. I'd say im about 8% of the way there now

[@PhoenixT70]

The only RPF I support (and have written) is in a historical context. If I’m writing a military period piece set in the late Cold War, I can’t very well ignore the existence of George H. W. Bush or General Norman Schwartzkopf (I’ve actually written that, so… yeah). Beyond that, factionalizing the lives of current public figures strikes me as a bridge too far.

[@raphaelrodgers7407]

"I don't support RPF" *Nervously looks at my KZbinr SI fics*

[@sanghitadey8475]

Can we change mbti of the character? Like intp to isfp?

[@Shreyacx1eb]

It would feel unnatural to the original characters it would feel extremely unreal

[@TrentonGaming242]

When you do fanfiction is that copyright thou like can't my books be token down for that?

[@ncdwyer7116]

It’s a legal grey area, but generally nobody is gonna take it down as long as it’s up for free.

[@icedgarlic]

Yeah as long as you aren't profiting off of it you'll be fine

[@TrentonGaming242]

@@ncdwyer7116 ok

[@TrentonGaming242]

@@icedgarlic ok thanks

[@comradepivot4570]

You could just re-write the entire universe and the canon story to suit you. Treat MC like any other character, don't make them stand out too obvious.

[@JesusGonzales-md3ec]

I am making bluey fan fiction because the actors are not shown to the public eye and because I respect there decisions to keep the child actors privet to protect them from harassment I'm not making anything bad about them just silly little stories I am 17

[@BJGvideos]

But the actors aren't the characters so idk what your point is

[@JesusGonzales-md3ec]

@@BJGvideos my point is I can make fanfiction since we don't know their names because technically it's not being creepy because when I'm making it family friendly and number two I don't know any of the voice actors which I think is a good thing I'm glad they believe voice actors kept him a secret from the public

[@BJGvideos]

@@JesusGonzales-md3ec No I mean when you're writing about the series, it's about the characters, not the actors, so knowing who they are or not doesn't matter

[@JesusGonzales-md3ec]

@@BJGvideos I know it's about the characters not the voice actors I'm just trying to say that at least the kids in the show aren't showing to the public I'm making a series about the show yes but I'm not talking about the kids I'm just saying that to clear something up all I'm just saying I'm writing a series that's it

[@BJGvideos]

@@JesusGonzales-md3ec Clear what up? I genuinely don't know what the actors have to do with it.