Re: Advice for fanfic writers: What would YOU say?
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:45 am
Advice for fanfic writers:
1) Only do it if you really want to. If you just can't help it.
2) Have something to say. Explore an interesting theme or themes. Set up an interesting "what if . . .?" This is the wonderful world of STAR TREK!!!
3) Be real. Think about how a certain scene would play out in real life. How would people actually react, not how should they react, not how can we contrive everything to get to the inevitable romantic ending. Don't worry about coming up with something other than what everyone was expecting to hear. In fact, PLEASE PLEASE say something surprising.
4) Get a sympathetic character (TRIP works!) and put him in jepardy, lol . . . And once he is out of one mess, he is into another. Out of the frying pan and into the fire! >:-)
5) Work out your next scenes daydreaming in your spare time. Don't write until you can picture it.
6) If you can picture it, just write what you "see." EASY!
7) I'm a big believer in an outline so you know where you are going and don't leave the readers hanging with no ending.
8 ) The first drafts are almost always terrible. Don't worry. Write it all down and revise, revise, revise. Don't stop until you love it. If something strikes you as a sour note, TAKE IT OUT! Even if it sets up a great joke, TAKE IT OUT. It's like how you carve a statue of a horse: remove everything that doesn't look like a horse. You'll get there.
9) DON'T tell your readers facts that any fan of Enterprise would already know. (Don't tell the reader that Trip and Malcom are good buddies.) In a long mufti-chaptered saga that strays far from established canon, DO remind readers of "the events of last week's episode" and the special innovative features of your Star Trek universe.
1) Only do it if you really want to. If you just can't help it.
2) Have something to say. Explore an interesting theme or themes. Set up an interesting "what if . . .?" This is the wonderful world of STAR TREK!!!
3) Be real. Think about how a certain scene would play out in real life. How would people actually react, not how should they react, not how can we contrive everything to get to the inevitable romantic ending. Don't worry about coming up with something other than what everyone was expecting to hear. In fact, PLEASE PLEASE say something surprising.
4) Get a sympathetic character (TRIP works!) and put him in jepardy, lol . . . And once he is out of one mess, he is into another. Out of the frying pan and into the fire! >:-)
5) Work out your next scenes daydreaming in your spare time. Don't write until you can picture it.
6) If you can picture it, just write what you "see." EASY!
7) I'm a big believer in an outline so you know where you are going and don't leave the readers hanging with no ending.
8 ) The first drafts are almost always terrible. Don't worry. Write it all down and revise, revise, revise. Don't stop until you love it. If something strikes you as a sour note, TAKE IT OUT! Even if it sets up a great joke, TAKE IT OUT. It's like how you carve a statue of a horse: remove everything that doesn't look like a horse. You'll get there.
9) DON'T tell your readers facts that any fan of Enterprise would already know. (Don't tell the reader that Trip and Malcom are good buddies.) In a long mufti-chaptered saga that strays far from established canon, DO remind readers of "the events of last week's episode" and the special innovative features of your Star Trek universe.