A Guide to Fanfiction Part 3

And we continue!

Research, An Author's Best Friend

Okay, you've decided you are going to write a fanfic. You sit down and start writing. It's that easy, right? WRONG! Even if you weren't going to write fanfiction and write an original work, you can't just start writing. Every author has to do research of some sort. It's as my writing professor says, "Write what you can get away with. But to get away with it, research it." I used a New England town once in an original story. Had I ever been there? No, but I looked it up. I read all the information I could and studied pictures. Likewise, you don't have to be a medical genius to write a House or ER fic. However, it would be wise to research some diseases and medical practices so that you aren't pulling things out of thin air. It makes you, the author, sound ignorant and stupid and causes your audience to not trust in your abilities. And it's not like it's relatively hard to do research. We live in the internet age. Use Google, use Wikipedia...there is a place for you to find information. And it gives your writing authenticity. For example, there's a fic that's set in 19th Century France. However, the way the author portrays everything reads more like 21st Century America. Her story would've been improved slightly had she: looked up French names, French customs, French laws, etc.

So do the research. Don't just type something up and post it. Especially if your story takes place in a world outside of modern-day America. And also, remember that things are different in Omaha than New York City. And we will point it out.

Showing, Not Telling (AKA Description)

In fanfiction, there are two camps when it comes to description: bare bones and too much. There needs to be a "happy medium." In the bare bones camp, they are guilty of telling things rather than letting the reader "see it" or they tell the reader one thing, but what little they have shows another thing. For example, there is a fic where the author tells her readers that two of the main characters are in love. However, from what we've seen, it is more likely he's infatuated and she's suffering from Stockholm. Syndrome. He's killed one of her brothers, burned her house, killed her sister-in-law as well as the entire village, then kidnapped her at gunpoint--it's definitely Stockholm. I also think in the bare bones camp, they author is so excited to get their OMG! awesome idea out into the world, they don't bother building anything up. The sooner Legolas falls for their Sue, the better. In the other camp, too much description often bogs down the story and bores the reader. You don't have to describe every little thing nor do you have to use very flowery imagery. Sometimes simple is best. Also, description does not have to be wasted on characters or things we will never see again. I don't need to know what the server at the restaurant your characters are eating at looks like down to the shoes on his feet. Likewise, we don't need to know every article of clothing your character wears nor need to know every costume change.

Description should be used to expand the setting, which can be its own character. Honestly, can you imagine Harry Potter without Hogwarts? The school is a character in the books. Description can also be used to expand on characters. We'll use clothing again as a way to do this. Compare these:

A: "She always wore the most expansive clothing and liked fashion a lot."

B: "She wore the classic little black dress, accessorized down to her ridiculously high heels. It looked as if she had just walked off a Paris runway, not disembarked from a New York City cab. Her tastes were best served by Gucci or Versace or some other high-end European fashion house sold on Fifth Avenue. Nothing was a cheap knock-off from some third-rate retail store or, worse, Wal-Mart. She had probably never stepped foot in a Wal-Mart in her entire life; she's probably break out in hives if she did so."

Which paints the better picture in your head? Option B, right? Good description used properly can propel a story from mediocrity to greatness.