If this is the wrong section then I would ask a moderator to please move it to the right one. Before coming to this site and self-publishing my first book, I spent seven years writing and posting fanfiction stories on fanfiction.net. Since many people have a bad impression of the fanfiction community, and of fanfiction in general, I thought I would share some of the valuable lessons it taught me.
Writing is a skill like any other, you only improve through practice. As of right now I have seventy seven stories posted, totaling over two point eight million words. Rereading my older stories I can see how I have improved over time. I have learned to battle my mortal enemy, the comma. I have developed characterization and learned how to pace myself and use foreshadowing. I have fought the tendency to use, ‘said’ with every single line of dialogue. I have tried to resist my urges to overpower my characters and resist my tendency to Gary Stu my main protagonist. Still working on that one.
Writing so many stories has given me the chance to see what works and what doesn’t. It has taught me some basic lessons about storytelling and let me slowly improve. I know there is still lots of room for improvement, but just writing as much as I have has let me develop my own individual voice and style.
It turns out I really can write. For a very long time I thought I could write. I filled up notebooks with various stories. I poured all my creative energy and passion into those stories and I can remember always thinking they were great.
As anyone who has ever watched American Idol knows though, people are capable of a hell of a lot of self-delusion. I didn’t show my stories to my friends of family for fear of having someone tell me they were all crap and boring. That was more than my fragile ego could stand. So my notebooks stayed hidden and I cherished my secret hope that I could actually write, while dreading the possibility that I was just fooling myself.
I originally discovered Fanfiction.net when I fell in love with Naruto. I’d read all the manga and watched all the anime and still wanted more. As I searched online for more Naruto stories I was eventually directed there and discovered thousands of new stories.
Most of them were dreadful, many being no more than a couple chapters and completely uninspired. A handful though were worth reading. It soon occurred to me that this was a forum where I could let people read my stories while remaining safely anonymous. Seeing just how low the bar was set I figured I might as well try.
Since then I have gotten millions of hits to my stories and thousands of reviews. And while I have gotten more than my share of hate and flames, I have had people tell me they loved my stories and were waiting for an update. My words have made people laugh, cry, and get angry. Complete strangers have felt due to the words I’ve written. Even now that amazes me.
For someone who was always filled with self-doubt it is hard to explain what it meant when I posted a chapter to one of my stories and had fifty to a hundred reviews within a few hours. The first time one of my stories got a thousand reviews, two thousand reviews, a hundred thousand hits, five hundred thousand hits, a million I would feel just a little more confident and think, ‘yeah, maybe I really do have a little talent for this.’
More than anything else, that self-confidence was the most valuable part of writing fanfiction.
Constructive criticism and other points of view can actually be good things. When I first began posting my stories online they were exceedingly personal to me. Any review that even hinted there was anything wrong with them seemed like a personal attack. Eventually I figured out that just because someone didn’t like my story didn’t mean that they were the devil incarnate or my personal enemy
As an author you have complete understanding of the story and the characters. When they say or do something you know the exact meaning of it as well as the motivation behind it. By contrast, the readers only know what you have actually written, and what seems obvious to you may not be so to them. Reading negative reviews that actually explain what the person didn’t like can be a great tool in fixing problems you didn’t even realize were there.
Also, the reader may have a completely different perspective on something that you, as the author, haven’t even considered. You are not required to follow anyone’s suggestions or agree with them, but if you keep an open mind you might actually find a new and better path to take.
Not everyone loves you, deal with it. I draw a very sharp and clear distinction between constructive criticism, negative reviews, and flames.
Someone who dislikes the story for specific reasons and takes the time to tell you those reasons is providing you constructive criticism.
Someone who just states they disliked your update is giving you a negative review. I don’t pretend to enjoy them, I don’t think anyone does, but everyone is allowed to have their opinion.
Then there are the idiots and trolls out there who feel the need to actually insult the writer and make things personal. These people are trolls or flamers or just plain idiots. My stories are personal to me and every single time I posted a chapter on line it represented my time and effort. Having someone call me an idiot or tell me I should die because they don’t like what I wrote. So you didn’t like my story? Then by all means feel free to insult me. Tell me I am a moron or that I should never write again or that I should not have been born.
On line there is a huge sense of freedom that comes from anonymity. Until I self-published my novel I was always LOTLOF to all but a very select handful. I would not have had the courage to write my stories and put them on display without the use of my pen name.
Unfortunately this same freedom allows people to be rude and insulting in ways they would never dare in person. I admit, I had a lot of trouble dealing with these. When someone insults YOU, not your story but you as a person, it is very hard to ignore that. The impulse is always to defend yourself and fire back.
The only response is to ignore them. I won’t reply to them or even mention them. I won’t even delete their messages. I have never deleted a single review. Having people hate you doesn’t mean what you’ve written was wrong or even of poor quality. All it means is that someone didn’t like it and is too ignorant to actually respond with any sort of civility.
From my terminology you can probably tell that I really do despise these people. I may not respond to them anymore, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t loathe them. I am a very open minded person and try to treat everyone with respect, even those whose beliefs are contrary to my own. In return I ask others to show me this same respect and tolerance. If you are going to insult someone you have never even met then you deserve only my contempt.
Write for yourself and not for others. I love getting positive reviews and being told I am a genius and that people love what I’ve written. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t enjoy that? However I have always said that I write for myself and that if others like it that is a bonus.
When I sit down at my keyboard and start tapping something out I never ask myself, ‘will people like this’? I ask myself, ‘what will make the story better’? I write stories that I enjoy. I never wonder about what the reaction will be and I certainly would never let that change the plot.
On fanfiction.net I am infamous for my cliffhangers, plot twists, and character deaths. I take a perverse pride in knowing that my readers never know how it will end or if their favorite character will make it through. People have given me tons of grief for deliberately ending a chapter on a cliff hanger. They will often be surprised when I send the plot careening in a completely unexpected direction. And many of them can’t believe the body count among the main characters. (No one is safe. I have written Naruto stories where I killed Naruto. Some times in chapter one.)
I have noticed that while most fans claim they want originality, in fanfiction at least, they often seem scared of it. No one minds minor alterations, but if you go merrily off the edge of the map some people are almost offended.
Yet for me that was always the fun of writing fanfiction. Taking familiar characters and settings and then having brand new adventures with them! I loved the fact that when people read my stories they honestly didn’t know what was coming next. I love originality and just letting my imagination run wild. I gave the characters freedom of choice and let them do as they pleased. I also made them pay the consequences for it.
Too many writers feel bound to meet the expectations of the readers. The hero should never lose, the main couple should get together, and everyone we like has to live and be happy at the end.
Bleh!
Good people die in real life so they can also die in my stories. The good guys do lose some times and people don’t always end up together. Going against expectations makes things more interesting. Reading a good story should be like going on an adventure. Not everything will go the way you expect, and there may be bad moments. The end may even be tragic.
But was it an interesting ride?
The way I write is by trying to bring the characters to life within my mind and letting them behave as if they were real people in a real world. I then try to make their actions as realistic as possible. I believe strongly that actions have consequences, and that ultimately you will reap whatever you sow. People can make mistakes and bad choices, when they do they should not be shielded from the results.
The kind of story I hate most is a ‘Deus Ex Machina’. Where no matter how badly the characters have screwed up they will get a happy ending even if it takes divine intervention. If the characters deserve to fail I let them fail. Not only does it make the story more interesting, it make their successes all the more enjoyable.
I write the stories that I enjoy and hope others will too.
XXX
Writing is a skill like any other, you only improve through practice. As of right now I have seventy seven stories posted, totaling over two point eight million words. Rereading my older stories I can see how I have improved over time. I have learned to battle my mortal enemy, the comma. I have developed characterization and learned how to pace myself and use foreshadowing. I have fought the tendency to use, ‘said’ with every single line of dialogue. I have tried to resist my urges to overpower my characters and resist my tendency to Gary Stu my main protagonist. Still working on that one.
Writing so many stories has given me the chance to see what works and what doesn’t. It has taught me some basic lessons about storytelling and let me slowly improve. I know there is still lots of room for improvement, but just writing as much as I have has let me develop my own individual voice and style.
XXX
It turns out I really can write. For a very long time I thought I could write. I filled up notebooks with various stories. I poured all my creative energy and passion into those stories and I can remember always thinking they were great.
As anyone who has ever watched American Idol knows though, people are capable of a hell of a lot of self-delusion. I didn’t show my stories to my friends of family for fear of having someone tell me they were all crap and boring. That was more than my fragile ego could stand. So my notebooks stayed hidden and I cherished my secret hope that I could actually write, while dreading the possibility that I was just fooling myself.
I originally discovered Fanfiction.net when I fell in love with Naruto. I’d read all the manga and watched all the anime and still wanted more. As I searched online for more Naruto stories I was eventually directed there and discovered thousands of new stories.
Most of them were dreadful, many being no more than a couple chapters and completely uninspired. A handful though were worth reading. It soon occurred to me that this was a forum where I could let people read my stories while remaining safely anonymous. Seeing just how low the bar was set I figured I might as well try.
Since then I have gotten millions of hits to my stories and thousands of reviews. And while I have gotten more than my share of hate and flames, I have had people tell me they loved my stories and were waiting for an update. My words have made people laugh, cry, and get angry. Complete strangers have felt due to the words I’ve written. Even now that amazes me.
For someone who was always filled with self-doubt it is hard to explain what it meant when I posted a chapter to one of my stories and had fifty to a hundred reviews within a few hours. The first time one of my stories got a thousand reviews, two thousand reviews, a hundred thousand hits, five hundred thousand hits, a million I would feel just a little more confident and think, ‘yeah, maybe I really do have a little talent for this.’
More than anything else, that self-confidence was the most valuable part of writing fanfiction.
XXX
Constructive criticism and other points of view can actually be good things. When I first began posting my stories online they were exceedingly personal to me. Any review that even hinted there was anything wrong with them seemed like a personal attack. Eventually I figured out that just because someone didn’t like my story didn’t mean that they were the devil incarnate or my personal enemy
As an author you have complete understanding of the story and the characters. When they say or do something you know the exact meaning of it as well as the motivation behind it. By contrast, the readers only know what you have actually written, and what seems obvious to you may not be so to them. Reading negative reviews that actually explain what the person didn’t like can be a great tool in fixing problems you didn’t even realize were there.
Also, the reader may have a completely different perspective on something that you, as the author, haven’t even considered. You are not required to follow anyone’s suggestions or agree with them, but if you keep an open mind you might actually find a new and better path to take.
XXX
Not everyone loves you, deal with it. I draw a very sharp and clear distinction between constructive criticism, negative reviews, and flames.
Someone who dislikes the story for specific reasons and takes the time to tell you those reasons is providing you constructive criticism.
Someone who just states they disliked your update is giving you a negative review. I don’t pretend to enjoy them, I don’t think anyone does, but everyone is allowed to have their opinion.
Then there are the idiots and trolls out there who feel the need to actually insult the writer and make things personal. These people are trolls or flamers or just plain idiots. My stories are personal to me and every single time I posted a chapter on line it represented my time and effort. Having someone call me an idiot or tell me I should die because they don’t like what I wrote. So you didn’t like my story? Then by all means feel free to insult me. Tell me I am a moron or that I should never write again or that I should not have been born.
On line there is a huge sense of freedom that comes from anonymity. Until I self-published my novel I was always LOTLOF to all but a very select handful. I would not have had the courage to write my stories and put them on display without the use of my pen name.
Unfortunately this same freedom allows people to be rude and insulting in ways they would never dare in person. I admit, I had a lot of trouble dealing with these. When someone insults YOU, not your story but you as a person, it is very hard to ignore that. The impulse is always to defend yourself and fire back.
The only response is to ignore them. I won’t reply to them or even mention them. I won’t even delete their messages. I have never deleted a single review. Having people hate you doesn’t mean what you’ve written was wrong or even of poor quality. All it means is that someone didn’t like it and is too ignorant to actually respond with any sort of civility.
From my terminology you can probably tell that I really do despise these people. I may not respond to them anymore, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t loathe them. I am a very open minded person and try to treat everyone with respect, even those whose beliefs are contrary to my own. In return I ask others to show me this same respect and tolerance. If you are going to insult someone you have never even met then you deserve only my contempt.
XXX
Write for yourself and not for others. I love getting positive reviews and being told I am a genius and that people love what I’ve written. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t enjoy that? However I have always said that I write for myself and that if others like it that is a bonus.
When I sit down at my keyboard and start tapping something out I never ask myself, ‘will people like this’? I ask myself, ‘what will make the story better’? I write stories that I enjoy. I never wonder about what the reaction will be and I certainly would never let that change the plot.
On fanfiction.net I am infamous for my cliffhangers, plot twists, and character deaths. I take a perverse pride in knowing that my readers never know how it will end or if their favorite character will make it through. People have given me tons of grief for deliberately ending a chapter on a cliff hanger. They will often be surprised when I send the plot careening in a completely unexpected direction. And many of them can’t believe the body count among the main characters. (No one is safe. I have written Naruto stories where I killed Naruto. Some times in chapter one.)
I have noticed that while most fans claim they want originality, in fanfiction at least, they often seem scared of it. No one minds minor alterations, but if you go merrily off the edge of the map some people are almost offended.
Yet for me that was always the fun of writing fanfiction. Taking familiar characters and settings and then having brand new adventures with them! I loved the fact that when people read my stories they honestly didn’t know what was coming next. I love originality and just letting my imagination run wild. I gave the characters freedom of choice and let them do as they pleased. I also made them pay the consequences for it.
Too many writers feel bound to meet the expectations of the readers. The hero should never lose, the main couple should get together, and everyone we like has to live and be happy at the end.
Bleh!
Good people die in real life so they can also die in my stories. The good guys do lose some times and people don’t always end up together. Going against expectations makes things more interesting. Reading a good story should be like going on an adventure. Not everything will go the way you expect, and there may be bad moments. The end may even be tragic.
But was it an interesting ride?
The way I write is by trying to bring the characters to life within my mind and letting them behave as if they were real people in a real world. I then try to make their actions as realistic as possible. I believe strongly that actions have consequences, and that ultimately you will reap whatever you sow. People can make mistakes and bad choices, when they do they should not be shielded from the results.
The kind of story I hate most is a ‘Deus Ex Machina’. Where no matter how badly the characters have screwed up they will get a happy ending even if it takes divine intervention. If the characters deserve to fail I let them fail. Not only does it make the story more interesting, it make their successes all the more enjoyable.
I write the stories that I enjoy and hope others will too.
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