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xg101y
|
writing_train
| 0.89 |
Published genre fiction authors: how different is your work from its first draft? I'm close to finishing my first first draft ever (yay!) but I can already see the places where it needs to be fleshed out, character perspectives need to be added, and all kinds of things. I am making myself a laundry list of issues to tackle in my 2nd draft, and it has me a little worried. Am I way off base, or is this really what they mean when they say "your first draft will be bad?"
|
ioq7c2q
|
iotisf8
| 1,663,368,607 | 1,663,435,433 | 0 | 1 |
Honestly, I send my first draft directly to copy editors and they just catch perspective fuck up stuff and language.
|
Congrats! And you’re on a fine path. Less than zero issues with seeing a lot that needs changing in your first draft. That’s the purpose of those drafts! Keep at it, amigo.
| 0 | 66,826 | 1,000 | ||
xg101y
|
writing_train
| 0.89 |
Published genre fiction authors: how different is your work from its first draft? I'm close to finishing my first first draft ever (yay!) but I can already see the places where it needs to be fleshed out, character perspectives need to be added, and all kinds of things. I am making myself a laundry list of issues to tackle in my 2nd draft, and it has me a little worried. Am I way off base, or is this really what they mean when they say "your first draft will be bad?"
|
iou0j16
|
ioq7c2q
| 1,663,442,848 | 1,663,368,607 | 1 | 0 |
That's great - congrats! Every writer is different - so some of the advice that has been posted is definitely for you, and some is definitely not. No way of knowing which is which, of course! Personally, I have "new thing ADD" so my challenge in completing a book is getting a first draft out without getting distracted and wandering off. So I tend to rush my first drafts. Then go in for a heavy re-write. Then get beta readers in, compile the feedback, and go in for another heavy rewrite. Personally I wouldn't go through more than three or four rounds of rewrites (and maybe another three or four passes through for those pesky little grammar errors/typos) - in my experience, you will NEVER be fully satisfied, but if you have a quality manuscript and you want it to be read by others (up to you of course), you will need to let your imperfect baby fly free at some point. Best advice I can offer you is to have a gameplan when you go in for that rewrite. How do you feel about the current draft? Is it wordy and too long? Is it too rushed in places? Are you adding content to help the story flow? Are there scenes that have no purpose that need to be cut or reshaped? Know what you need before you start that process (might need to just read through with your hands off the keyboard to answer these questions). Good luck!
|
Honestly, I send my first draft directly to copy editors and they just catch perspective fuck up stuff and language.
| 1 | 74,241 | 1,000 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwf7wno
|
gwfbu9q
| 1,619,788,921 | 1,619,790,845 | 4 | 7 |
Unless someone specifically says they don't work with minors, you don't even have to state your age in a query. An agent would never know your age. The reason you don't see a lot of young teen authors is that they simply don't have the skillset to beat out seasoned professionals.for agents, not because of.their age. If you're as good as someone who has been writing 30 years, then all the more power to you. (That said, are you writing middle grade? Anything else, 40,000 would likely knock you out of the running as too short more than if they found out your age somehow)
|
If you haven't even finished the first draft and are only at 40k words, you have a lot of work ahead of you before you should think of querying.
| 0 | 1,924 | 1.75 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwfbu9q
|
gwf35pt
| 1,619,790,845 | 1,619,786,373 | 7 | 1 |
If you haven't even finished the first draft and are only at 40k words, you have a lot of work ahead of you before you should think of querying.
|
You should definatly use an adult intermediary as you cannot sign for yourself, but they won't reject your work entierly on the basis of age. An adult can sign for you.
| 1 | 4,472 | 7 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwfdw0s
|
gwf7wno
| 1,619,791,787 | 1,619,788,921 | 6 | 4 |
Legally, they can't offer you a contract due to your age. Yes, you don't have to say how old you are when querying, but if it should by some chance come to the point of being offered representation, then you'd have to disclose that you are under age. To be honest, a first book isn't likely to be picked up anyway. You'd almost assuredly have to write several before getting any interest, which will take years. This is a good time to be learning and practicing your craft, and learning a job skill that will support you as you continue to work at becoming a selling writer. It's still very difficult to support oneself solely by writing.
|
Unless someone specifically says they don't work with minors, you don't even have to state your age in a query. An agent would never know your age. The reason you don't see a lot of young teen authors is that they simply don't have the skillset to beat out seasoned professionals.for agents, not because of.their age. If you're as good as someone who has been writing 30 years, then all the more power to you. (That said, are you writing middle grade? Anything else, 40,000 would likely knock you out of the running as too short more than if they found out your age somehow)
| 1 | 2,866 | 1.5 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwf35pt
|
gwfdw0s
| 1,619,786,373 | 1,619,791,787 | 1 | 6 |
You should definatly use an adult intermediary as you cannot sign for yourself, but they won't reject your work entierly on the basis of age. An adult can sign for you.
|
Legally, they can't offer you a contract due to your age. Yes, you don't have to say how old you are when querying, but if it should by some chance come to the point of being offered representation, then you'd have to disclose that you are under age. To be honest, a first book isn't likely to be picked up anyway. You'd almost assuredly have to write several before getting any interest, which will take years. This is a good time to be learning and practicing your craft, and learning a job skill that will support you as you continue to work at becoming a selling writer. It's still very difficult to support oneself solely by writing.
| 0 | 5,414 | 6 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwf7wno
|
gwf35pt
| 1,619,788,921 | 1,619,786,373 | 4 | 1 |
Unless someone specifically says they don't work with minors, you don't even have to state your age in a query. An agent would never know your age. The reason you don't see a lot of young teen authors is that they simply don't have the skillset to beat out seasoned professionals.for agents, not because of.their age. If you're as good as someone who has been writing 30 years, then all the more power to you. (That said, are you writing middle grade? Anything else, 40,000 would likely knock you out of the running as too short more than if they found out your age somehow)
|
You should definatly use an adult intermediary as you cannot sign for yourself, but they won't reject your work entierly on the basis of age. An adult can sign for you.
| 1 | 2,548 | 4 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwh2upe
|
gwg7r06
| 1,619,818,962 | 1,619,804,612 | 3 | 2 |
Everybody was a minor, at some point. I think your question is about someone who *is* a minor. 40k is too short for a debut novel. First draft is too early to be querying agents.
|
Don't say your age in the initial letter (unless there's something that would mean to had to), then if they ask for more they might also want to know a bit about you. If you're lucky you'll manuscript will be do good it'll shock them. Good luck!
| 1 | 14,350 | 1.5 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwf35pt
|
gwh2upe
| 1,619,786,373 | 1,619,818,962 | 1 | 3 |
You should definatly use an adult intermediary as you cannot sign for yourself, but they won't reject your work entierly on the basis of age. An adult can sign for you.
|
Everybody was a minor, at some point. I think your question is about someone who *is* a minor. 40k is too short for a debut novel. First draft is too early to be querying agents.
| 0 | 32,589 | 3 | ||
n1smrf
|
writing_train
| 0.75 |
Would an agent/ publishing house accept somebody who was a minor? Hi, I'm 14 and close to finishing my draft of my novel, which is approximately 40,000 words long and I was wondering if agents/ publishing houses really would accept somebody underage, as I cannot sign contracts and instead would need somebody (a parent) to do it for me. I was wondering if this would offput agents or publishing houses from working with me?
|
gwg7r06
|
gwf35pt
| 1,619,804,612 | 1,619,786,373 | 2 | 1 |
Don't say your age in the initial letter (unless there's something that would mean to had to), then if they ask for more they might also want to know a bit about you. If you're lucky you'll manuscript will be do good it'll shock them. Good luck!
|
You should definatly use an adult intermediary as you cannot sign for yourself, but they won't reject your work entierly on the basis of age. An adult can sign for you.
| 1 | 18,239 | 2 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr1j5ns
|
hr1mu9t
| 1,641,190,711 | 1,641,193,065 | 7 | 15 |
I usually recommend Critique Circle. It has a decent amount of members from a variety of different genres. I really appreciate that people critique each other's work. Most people on there are more worried about self-improvement than creating a painfully cringey romance.
|
You can try Royalroad. Some of my favorite story came from there. (and I never like romance focused story)
| 0 | 2,354 | 2.142857 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr1jh8i
|
hr1mu9t
| 1,641,190,907 | 1,641,193,065 | 5 | 15 |
Booksie
|
You can try Royalroad. Some of my favorite story came from there. (and I never like romance focused story)
| 0 | 2,158 | 3 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr1ugtr
|
hr1j5ns
| 1,641,198,591 | 1,641,190,711 | 15 | 7 |
If you're interested in fanfiction then AO3 is the only site you'll ever need. It has the best filtering system I've seen and completely ruined me for other sites. It also has a great many really long, really good stories.
|
I usually recommend Critique Circle. It has a decent amount of members from a variety of different genres. I really appreciate that people critique each other's work. Most people on there are more worried about self-improvement than creating a painfully cringey romance.
| 1 | 7,880 | 2.142857 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr1ugtr
|
hr1jh8i
| 1,641,198,591 | 1,641,190,907 | 15 | 5 |
If you're interested in fanfiction then AO3 is the only site you'll ever need. It has the best filtering system I've seen and completely ruined me for other sites. It also has a great many really long, really good stories.
|
Booksie
| 1 | 7,684 | 3 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr1ugtr
|
hr1otdh
| 1,641,198,591 | 1,641,194,420 | 15 | 3 |
If you're interested in fanfiction then AO3 is the only site you'll ever need. It has the best filtering system I've seen and completely ruined me for other sites. It also has a great many really long, really good stories.
|
AO3! i swear people write better fanfics than published authors... the filtering system IS AMAZING THERE or is it just normal? I don't know but it's still good!!! what is it with the wattpad slander... actually I can't speak for the original fiction there, and the tagging/filtering system is trash as compared to AO3. As I mostly read fanfiction, I'll just drop some good authors before your perception of wattpad further deteriorates. don't take this as an offensive thing. authors i recommend are PRODYURI, trashjar, epochbts, ihugskoo, chocolateandkookies, nicotinecompany, hepburnettes sorry but I cannot stand the wattpad slander
| 1 | 4,171 | 5 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr341f2
|
hr1jh8i
| 1,641,226,068 | 1,641,190,907 | 6 | 5 |
I really like Scribophile. I think the free content is great for articles, poetry, short stories. But if you wanted to get a full novel critiqued paying for their full version might be better. Though, they do have beta reads that might not use karma (their exchange for crit currency) and might be doable under the free version. Worth checking out. Edited to add* And they have groups and I’m sure several are edgy teen girl stories. 😁
|
Booksie
| 1 | 35,161 | 1.2 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr2h41z
|
hr341f2
| 1,641,215,245 | 1,641,226,068 | 5 | 6 |
Tapas.io is pretty good imo, it has a myriad of Webcomics and Webnovels. Webnovel.com is great too
|
I really like Scribophile. I think the free content is great for articles, poetry, short stories. But if you wanted to get a full novel critiqued paying for their full version might be better. Though, they do have beta reads that might not use karma (their exchange for crit currency) and might be doable under the free version. Worth checking out. Edited to add* And they have groups and I’m sure several are edgy teen girl stories. 😁
| 0 | 10,823 | 1.2 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr1otdh
|
hr2h41z
| 1,641,194,420 | 1,641,215,245 | 3 | 5 |
AO3! i swear people write better fanfics than published authors... the filtering system IS AMAZING THERE or is it just normal? I don't know but it's still good!!! what is it with the wattpad slander... actually I can't speak for the original fiction there, and the tagging/filtering system is trash as compared to AO3. As I mostly read fanfiction, I'll just drop some good authors before your perception of wattpad further deteriorates. don't take this as an offensive thing. authors i recommend are PRODYURI, trashjar, epochbts, ihugskoo, chocolateandkookies, nicotinecompany, hepburnettes sorry but I cannot stand the wattpad slander
|
Tapas.io is pretty good imo, it has a myriad of Webcomics and Webnovels. Webnovel.com is great too
| 0 | 20,825 | 1.666667 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr341f2
|
hr1otdh
| 1,641,226,068 | 1,641,194,420 | 6 | 3 |
I really like Scribophile. I think the free content is great for articles, poetry, short stories. But if you wanted to get a full novel critiqued paying for their full version might be better. Though, they do have beta reads that might not use karma (their exchange for crit currency) and might be doable under the free version. Worth checking out. Edited to add* And they have groups and I’m sure several are edgy teen girl stories. 😁
|
AO3! i swear people write better fanfics than published authors... the filtering system IS AMAZING THERE or is it just normal? I don't know but it's still good!!! what is it with the wattpad slander... actually I can't speak for the original fiction there, and the tagging/filtering system is trash as compared to AO3. As I mostly read fanfiction, I'll just drop some good authors before your perception of wattpad further deteriorates. don't take this as an offensive thing. authors i recommend are PRODYURI, trashjar, epochbts, ihugskoo, chocolateandkookies, nicotinecompany, hepburnettes sorry but I cannot stand the wattpad slander
| 1 | 31,648 | 2 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr2l1am
|
hr341f2
| 1,641,217,433 | 1,641,226,068 | 2 | 6 |
Personally I prefer RoyalRoad, creating and reading stories is quick and easy and there are plenty of stories on there.
|
I really like Scribophile. I think the free content is great for articles, poetry, short stories. But if you wanted to get a full novel critiqued paying for their full version might be better. Though, they do have beta reads that might not use karma (their exchange for crit currency) and might be doable under the free version. Worth checking out. Edited to add* And they have groups and I’m sure several are edgy teen girl stories. 😁
| 0 | 8,635 | 3 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr3d82k
|
hr1otdh
| 1,641,229,623 | 1,641,194,420 | 4 | 3 |
Im thinking of publishing my short story on Medium as I am very familiar with that site. Ik its more of a non fiction site but there are good amount of fictional work there as well. Also I feel its like really popular and the reach would be greater. You can try if u like.
|
AO3! i swear people write better fanfics than published authors... the filtering system IS AMAZING THERE or is it just normal? I don't know but it's still good!!! what is it with the wattpad slander... actually I can't speak for the original fiction there, and the tagging/filtering system is trash as compared to AO3. As I mostly read fanfiction, I'll just drop some good authors before your perception of wattpad further deteriorates. don't take this as an offensive thing. authors i recommend are PRODYURI, trashjar, epochbts, ihugskoo, chocolateandkookies, nicotinecompany, hepburnettes sorry but I cannot stand the wattpad slander
| 1 | 35,203 | 1.333333 | ||
ruuul3
|
writing_train
| 0.77 |
What is the most popular fiction writing site? Preferably a website that is not wattpad where most stories are edgy teen girl romantic stories. I'm looking for a site with more varied stories. Preferably a tag system can also help.
|
hr2l1am
|
hr3d82k
| 1,641,217,433 | 1,641,229,623 | 2 | 4 |
Personally I prefer RoyalRoad, creating and reading stories is quick and easy and there are plenty of stories on there.
|
Im thinking of publishing my short story on Medium as I am very familiar with that site. Ik its more of a non fiction site but there are good amount of fictional work there as well. Also I feel its like really popular and the reach would be greater. You can try if u like.
| 0 | 12,190 | 2 | ||
szje9p
|
writing_train
| 0.82 |
To gauge whether your fiction writing is good and achieving its goals, what binary questions would you ask your beta readers? I will be setting up a a form for my beta readers to fill out for each chapter of my novel. I will ask a series of binary questions (yes / no answers only) and then ask them to comment for any answers that are a 'no'. Some questions I'm thinking of asking: 1. Does this chapter have you curious to read the next one? 2. Is the language clear? 3. Do understand what's happening? 4. Is the language engaging? 5. Does the pace feel good? 6. Do you care about the characters? What other binary questions would you add to this list?
|
hy3vjxs
|
hy3ynjw
| 1,645,628,989 | 1,645,630,266 | 4 | 9 |
Did you have fun reading it? Would you have finished it if you'd encountered it as a random reader?
|
I'd second what u/Genuineroosterteeth said. My first concern is always, *do you care about the characters?* (which is a binary question), and/or *are you curious about the characters and their world*? The character question could be followed up with a more open ended question like, "if so, which characters do you care about, and which one(s) do you *not* care about?" I feel like if the writing is unclear (or probably, just bad) that will come up no matter what. I feel like those are the hardest things to do as a storyteller, and it's something a simple line-edit won't be able to fix. Additionally, questions like: *Are there parts that bored you, or that you wished would have been over more quickly?* *Are there parts that you wish would have been longer, or more fleshed out?* *Are there questions that were/are left unanswered that you'd have liked the answer to?* These questions are more subjective, and easier to answer freely. That's what Beta reading is all about. How they *feel* about the manuscript. Plus, it's all info that I really want to know as the writer. I definitely want to know if and where my story lags. Or what parts of the world building the reader finds most interesting, Many of these questions also answer the questions you're asking. Parts of the story lagging, or feeling to fast is a pacing issue, but I feel that these questions will give more useful answers. You can actually assess a scene or chapter and fix it rather than get a general yes/no to a pacing issue, and have to readthrough the manuscript again to try and find it. As the author, I'm going to have the hardest time finding a pacing issue of any other reader.
| 0 | 1,277 | 2.25 | ||
szje9p
|
writing_train
| 0.82 |
To gauge whether your fiction writing is good and achieving its goals, what binary questions would you ask your beta readers? I will be setting up a a form for my beta readers to fill out for each chapter of my novel. I will ask a series of binary questions (yes / no answers only) and then ask them to comment for any answers that are a 'no'. Some questions I'm thinking of asking: 1. Does this chapter have you curious to read the next one? 2. Is the language clear? 3. Do understand what's happening? 4. Is the language engaging? 5. Does the pace feel good? 6. Do you care about the characters? What other binary questions would you add to this list?
|
hy3u9d0
|
hy3ynjw
| 1,645,628,440 | 1,645,630,266 | 2 | 9 |
https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/oycvlb/if_nothing_else_ask_your_beta_readers_these_4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf This might be also useful. You could frame your questions using these points.
|
I'd second what u/Genuineroosterteeth said. My first concern is always, *do you care about the characters?* (which is a binary question), and/or *are you curious about the characters and their world*? The character question could be followed up with a more open ended question like, "if so, which characters do you care about, and which one(s) do you *not* care about?" I feel like if the writing is unclear (or probably, just bad) that will come up no matter what. I feel like those are the hardest things to do as a storyteller, and it's something a simple line-edit won't be able to fix. Additionally, questions like: *Are there parts that bored you, or that you wished would have been over more quickly?* *Are there parts that you wish would have been longer, or more fleshed out?* *Are there questions that were/are left unanswered that you'd have liked the answer to?* These questions are more subjective, and easier to answer freely. That's what Beta reading is all about. How they *feel* about the manuscript. Plus, it's all info that I really want to know as the writer. I definitely want to know if and where my story lags. Or what parts of the world building the reader finds most interesting, Many of these questions also answer the questions you're asking. Parts of the story lagging, or feeling to fast is a pacing issue, but I feel that these questions will give more useful answers. You can actually assess a scene or chapter and fix it rather than get a general yes/no to a pacing issue, and have to readthrough the manuscript again to try and find it. As the author, I'm going to have the hardest time finding a pacing issue of any other reader.
| 0 | 1,826 | 4.5 | ||
szje9p
|
writing_train
| 0.82 |
To gauge whether your fiction writing is good and achieving its goals, what binary questions would you ask your beta readers? I will be setting up a a form for my beta readers to fill out for each chapter of my novel. I will ask a series of binary questions (yes / no answers only) and then ask them to comment for any answers that are a 'no'. Some questions I'm thinking of asking: 1. Does this chapter have you curious to read the next one? 2. Is the language clear? 3. Do understand what's happening? 4. Is the language engaging? 5. Does the pace feel good? 6. Do you care about the characters? What other binary questions would you add to this list?
|
hy3vjxs
|
hy3u9d0
| 1,645,628,989 | 1,645,628,440 | 4 | 2 |
Did you have fun reading it? Would you have finished it if you'd encountered it as a random reader?
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/oycvlb/if_nothing_else_ask_your_beta_readers_these_4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf This might be also useful. You could frame your questions using these points.
| 1 | 549 | 2 | ||
szje9p
|
writing_train
| 0.82 |
To gauge whether your fiction writing is good and achieving its goals, what binary questions would you ask your beta readers? I will be setting up a a form for my beta readers to fill out for each chapter of my novel. I will ask a series of binary questions (yes / no answers only) and then ask them to comment for any answers that are a 'no'. Some questions I'm thinking of asking: 1. Does this chapter have you curious to read the next one? 2. Is the language clear? 3. Do understand what's happening? 4. Is the language engaging? 5. Does the pace feel good? 6. Do you care about the characters? What other binary questions would you add to this list?
|
hy4lgnw
|
hy3u9d0
| 1,645,639,089 | 1,645,628,440 | 3 | 2 |
This is a simple question, albeit not a binary one: "Where did you want to stop reading" optional, "Why?"
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/oycvlb/if_nothing_else_ask_your_beta_readers_these_4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf This might be also useful. You could frame your questions using these points.
| 1 | 10,649 | 1.5 | ||
szje9p
|
writing_train
| 0.82 |
To gauge whether your fiction writing is good and achieving its goals, what binary questions would you ask your beta readers? I will be setting up a a form for my beta readers to fill out for each chapter of my novel. I will ask a series of binary questions (yes / no answers only) and then ask them to comment for any answers that are a 'no'. Some questions I'm thinking of asking: 1. Does this chapter have you curious to read the next one? 2. Is the language clear? 3. Do understand what's happening? 4. Is the language engaging? 5. Does the pace feel good? 6. Do you care about the characters? What other binary questions would you add to this list?
|
hy3u9d0
|
hy5etlp
| 1,645,628,440 | 1,645,650,202 | 2 | 3 |
https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/oycvlb/if_nothing_else_ask_your_beta_readers_these_4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf This might be also useful. You could frame your questions using these points.
|
It’s not binary, but I’d ask at what point the story drew them in and where their immersion was broken.
| 0 | 21,762 | 1.5 | ||
szje9p
|
writing_train
| 0.82 |
To gauge whether your fiction writing is good and achieving its goals, what binary questions would you ask your beta readers? I will be setting up a a form for my beta readers to fill out for each chapter of my novel. I will ask a series of binary questions (yes / no answers only) and then ask them to comment for any answers that are a 'no'. Some questions I'm thinking of asking: 1. Does this chapter have you curious to read the next one? 2. Is the language clear? 3. Do understand what's happening? 4. Is the language engaging? 5. Does the pace feel good? 6. Do you care about the characters? What other binary questions would you add to this list?
|
hy79dfj
|
hy3u9d0
| 1,645,679,022 | 1,645,628,440 | 3 | 2 |
Reading is such a such a subjective experience. I’ve facilitated or participated in so many workshops as both student and teacher and I can tell you that binary questions might point you in some kind of direction…but they won’t actually be useful and will be borderline wasting your beta reader’s time. Each reader is likely to struggle in differing parts for a multitude of reasons unique to them. Let their comments in response to open questions guide you to the places where you have consistent issues. I can promise you, too, that the more readers have to say about characters or plot or description, the stronger your writing is likely to be overall, anyway. When a manuscript is a disaster, people largely check out, give shit feedback that barely scratches the surface of whatever you intended to communicate and they move on. Extrapolate that thinking to any chapter you wish to focus your open-ended questions to, and the result is the same. If the chapter doesn’t work or is written poorly, consistently, the feedback will actually be shallow and shitty. if the chapter is written well, they’ll dive deeper and get specific about those critical details because they’re invested in the writing. Take my word for it, friend. I’ve seen this a lot.
|
https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/oycvlb/if_nothing_else_ask_your_beta_readers_these_4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf This might be also useful. You could frame your questions using these points.
| 1 | 50,582 | 1.5 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i522v9h
|
i53fnss
| 1,650,181,092 | 1,650,211,364 | 2 | 9 |
Medium is a pretty good site to post short stories and articles on.
|
These are the four ways I post online: Medium.com - mostly personal narratives and editorials. I do post fiction here, but it doesn't get as many views. Vocal.media - I post more fiction here, less editorials/narratives Simily.co - Best one for fiction. It's still a relatively new site, but it pays better than medium and vocal. Substack - best newsletter builder, I use this for my readers and my podcast. One of the things I like best is that it creates a mini website of older posts for new readers. Oh, and if you have finished work, you could always serialize it on Kindle Vella if you're not ready to publish in full book form. There are places like wattpad and fanstory, but I didn't find them as suitable for my genre (paranormal thrillers) If you have any questions, let me know. Hope this helps.
| 0 | 30,272 | 4.5 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i529wle
|
i53fnss
| 1,650,187,043 | 1,650,211,364 | 1 | 9 |
The only creative writing I read comes via one substack subscription, I mean besides novels. Your question makes me want to change that.
|
These are the four ways I post online: Medium.com - mostly personal narratives and editorials. I do post fiction here, but it doesn't get as many views. Vocal.media - I post more fiction here, less editorials/narratives Simily.co - Best one for fiction. It's still a relatively new site, but it pays better than medium and vocal. Substack - best newsletter builder, I use this for my readers and my podcast. One of the things I like best is that it creates a mini website of older posts for new readers. Oh, and if you have finished work, you could always serialize it on Kindle Vella if you're not ready to publish in full book form. There are places like wattpad and fanstory, but I didn't find them as suitable for my genre (paranormal thrillers) If you have any questions, let me know. Hope this helps.
| 0 | 24,321 | 9 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i53fnss
|
i52e7uh
| 1,650,211,364 | 1,650,190,744 | 9 | 1 |
These are the four ways I post online: Medium.com - mostly personal narratives and editorials. I do post fiction here, but it doesn't get as many views. Vocal.media - I post more fiction here, less editorials/narratives Simily.co - Best one for fiction. It's still a relatively new site, but it pays better than medium and vocal. Substack - best newsletter builder, I use this for my readers and my podcast. One of the things I like best is that it creates a mini website of older posts for new readers. Oh, and if you have finished work, you could always serialize it on Kindle Vella if you're not ready to publish in full book form. There are places like wattpad and fanstory, but I didn't find them as suitable for my genre (paranormal thrillers) If you have any questions, let me know. Hope this helps.
|
Did you write a long serial? What genre?
| 1 | 20,620 | 9 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i53fnss
|
i532i5z
| 1,650,211,364 | 1,650,205,657 | 9 | 1 |
These are the four ways I post online: Medium.com - mostly personal narratives and editorials. I do post fiction here, but it doesn't get as many views. Vocal.media - I post more fiction here, less editorials/narratives Simily.co - Best one for fiction. It's still a relatively new site, but it pays better than medium and vocal. Substack - best newsletter builder, I use this for my readers and my podcast. One of the things I like best is that it creates a mini website of older posts for new readers. Oh, and if you have finished work, you could always serialize it on Kindle Vella if you're not ready to publish in full book form. There are places like wattpad and fanstory, but I didn't find them as suitable for my genre (paranormal thrillers) If you have any questions, let me know. Hope this helps.
|
First thing coming to my mind would be Archive of our Own. I mean...it's mostly a fanfiction site, but you can post original work there too
| 1 | 5,707 | 9 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i6uptxe
|
i529wle
| 1,651,366,024 | 1,650,187,043 | 2 | 1 |
The ones I use are Wattpad, Quotev and Amazon. Wattpad and Quotev are similar, and have mainly a teen audience. I use those sites to post my first draft, which I get some feedback on. If you're going to join Wattpad, then you should join a book club to get readers. I publish on Amazon once the book is finished, and earn some money.
|
The only creative writing I read comes via one substack subscription, I mean besides novels. Your question makes me want to change that.
| 1 | 1,178,981 | 2 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i6uptxe
|
i52e7uh
| 1,651,366,024 | 1,650,190,744 | 2 | 1 |
The ones I use are Wattpad, Quotev and Amazon. Wattpad and Quotev are similar, and have mainly a teen audience. I use those sites to post my first draft, which I get some feedback on. If you're going to join Wattpad, then you should join a book club to get readers. I publish on Amazon once the book is finished, and earn some money.
|
Did you write a long serial? What genre?
| 1 | 1,175,280 | 2 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i532i5z
|
i6uptxe
| 1,650,205,657 | 1,651,366,024 | 1 | 2 |
First thing coming to my mind would be Archive of our Own. I mean...it's mostly a fanfiction site, but you can post original work there too
|
The ones I use are Wattpad, Quotev and Amazon. Wattpad and Quotev are similar, and have mainly a teen audience. I use those sites to post my first draft, which I get some feedback on. If you're going to join Wattpad, then you should join a book club to get readers. I publish on Amazon once the book is finished, and earn some money.
| 0 | 1,160,367 | 2 | ||
u5i09i
|
writing_train
| 0.92 |
What's a good site to post writing online? I've been writing for a few years and I realized, I actually don't have a portfolio since none of my stuff is online. So what's a good site for this? Is there like a writing equivalent of deviant art or something where I can get started on establishing myself as a writer over the interwebs?
|
i6uptxe
|
i54lbmk
| 1,651,366,024 | 1,650,228,934 | 2 | 1 |
The ones I use are Wattpad, Quotev and Amazon. Wattpad and Quotev are similar, and have mainly a teen audience. I use those sites to post my first draft, which I get some feedback on. If you're going to join Wattpad, then you should join a book club to get readers. I publish on Amazon once the book is finished, and earn some money.
|
Wattpad is nice
| 1 | 1,137,090 | 2 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpswxh
|
ezpu8op
| 1,568,047,783 | 1,568,048,668 | 39 | 221 |
If you are new to writing original characters, I strongly recommend focusing your characters based on a clear character action. A lot of times, people profile their character, but they focus on the wrong things: physical descriptions, likes and dislikes, mannerisms, etc. These things are good for characters and they help readers visualize the characters, but nothing is better to define your characters than character actions. These character actions are actions that show the audience the character's interior psychological state. I have a video about this if you're interested.
|
It is a common problem, not gonna lie. Transitioning from writing fanfiction to writing original works is tiring and frustrating at the beginning, specially when it comes to characters. But something you have to remember is that, while reading fanfiction, your audience already knows your character, while in original works, they expect the author to introduce these new people and the world around them. This is the reason famous fanfiction works get bad criticism if they are published as an original piece: People who belong to that fandom and know these characters don't expect to be introduced to them, while people getting into the story might find the characters flat and hollow because they don't know them and didn't grow with them like the fandom did. You might feel your characters are not "fleshed out enough" because you are just meeting them instead of working with already established personalities. I'd recommend you to get your character's MBTI personality types. Since I started writing original works, it's been so easy to just assign a personality that fits them and work around that, it feels a lot like fanfiction tbh, and it's a good starting point for the transition.
| 0 | 885 | 5.666667 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpsztw
|
ezpu8op
| 1,568,047,837 | 1,568,048,668 | 12 | 221 |
Based on how you're phrasing the problem, implying that you could do it in fanfiction but not with OCs... you don't know your OCs very well. Whatever you've been writing fanfiction for, the characters' personalities are distinct and clear and obvious; you know how their character informs and encourages the story. How are your OCs doing the same? There are probably people you've worked or gone to school with who, despite not knowing them very well, you know is most likely to show up late, or have kitschy jewelry on, or have strong and unexpected opinions on everything. To get started, you need enough of a sense of character to generalize like this. You'll get to know them better as you get deeper into the draft, and your following drafts will help you refine your understanding, but to begin with, know who strolls in fifteen minutes late with Starbucks from who will give them the most shit for it.
|
It is a common problem, not gonna lie. Transitioning from writing fanfiction to writing original works is tiring and frustrating at the beginning, specially when it comes to characters. But something you have to remember is that, while reading fanfiction, your audience already knows your character, while in original works, they expect the author to introduce these new people and the world around them. This is the reason famous fanfiction works get bad criticism if they are published as an original piece: People who belong to that fandom and know these characters don't expect to be introduced to them, while people getting into the story might find the characters flat and hollow because they don't know them and didn't grow with them like the fandom did. You might feel your characters are not "fleshed out enough" because you are just meeting them instead of working with already established personalities. I'd recommend you to get your character's MBTI personality types. Since I started writing original works, it's been so easy to just assign a personality that fits them and work around that, it feels a lot like fanfiction tbh, and it's a good starting point for the transition.
| 0 | 831 | 18.416667 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezps4wv
|
ezpu8op
| 1,568,047,260 | 1,568,048,668 | 10 | 221 |
The only advice I could give is to people watch. Observe the people around you. What makes them tick, their insecurities and their strengths. Their weird habits and their way of dealing with problems. Steal from the world to build your characters.
|
It is a common problem, not gonna lie. Transitioning from writing fanfiction to writing original works is tiring and frustrating at the beginning, specially when it comes to characters. But something you have to remember is that, while reading fanfiction, your audience already knows your character, while in original works, they expect the author to introduce these new people and the world around them. This is the reason famous fanfiction works get bad criticism if they are published as an original piece: People who belong to that fandom and know these characters don't expect to be introduced to them, while people getting into the story might find the characters flat and hollow because they don't know them and didn't grow with them like the fandom did. You might feel your characters are not "fleshed out enough" because you are just meeting them instead of working with already established personalities. I'd recommend you to get your character's MBTI personality types. Since I started writing original works, it's been so easy to just assign a personality that fits them and work around that, it feels a lot like fanfiction tbh, and it's a good starting point for the transition.
| 0 | 1,408 | 22.1 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpu8op
|
ezps6z6
| 1,568,048,668 | 1,568,047,298 | 221 | 5 |
It is a common problem, not gonna lie. Transitioning from writing fanfiction to writing original works is tiring and frustrating at the beginning, specially when it comes to characters. But something you have to remember is that, while reading fanfiction, your audience already knows your character, while in original works, they expect the author to introduce these new people and the world around them. This is the reason famous fanfiction works get bad criticism if they are published as an original piece: People who belong to that fandom and know these characters don't expect to be introduced to them, while people getting into the story might find the characters flat and hollow because they don't know them and didn't grow with them like the fandom did. You might feel your characters are not "fleshed out enough" because you are just meeting them instead of working with already established personalities. I'd recommend you to get your character's MBTI personality types. Since I started writing original works, it's been so easy to just assign a personality that fits them and work around that, it feels a lot like fanfiction tbh, and it's a good starting point for the transition.
|
Your statements are a little confusing. "Not writing enough to flesh out my characters"? Could you elaborate on that? Generally, the make up for a distinct character in my mind are his goals/voice/ethics.
| 1 | 1,370 | 44.2 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpxipp
|
ezpswxh
| 1,568,050,806 | 1,568,047,783 | 55 | 39 |
Since you're used to writing already established characters. Do the same for your own characters, write a short fanfiction about your original characters to see if you really know them well enough. Put them in various situations and have them react and take action based on their personality. These short works may only be for your eyes only, but they'll serve as a good reference for you to fall back on. What I usually do if I wanted to find out more about my characters is that I'll write them interacting with another of my characters. This way, I let their personalities drive the direction of the exchange. Characters have different philosophies, motivations and sense of morality. By essentially having two characters interact, I am knowing more about their life and how they got to this very moment. Sometimes, I might even discover new things about my characters in the process. Hope this helps :) Cheers
|
If you are new to writing original characters, I strongly recommend focusing your characters based on a clear character action. A lot of times, people profile their character, but they focus on the wrong things: physical descriptions, likes and dislikes, mannerisms, etc. These things are good for characters and they help readers visualize the characters, but nothing is better to define your characters than character actions. These character actions are actions that show the audience the character's interior psychological state. I have a video about this if you're interested.
| 1 | 3,023 | 1.410256 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpsztw
|
ezpxipp
| 1,568,047,837 | 1,568,050,806 | 12 | 55 |
Based on how you're phrasing the problem, implying that you could do it in fanfiction but not with OCs... you don't know your OCs very well. Whatever you've been writing fanfiction for, the characters' personalities are distinct and clear and obvious; you know how their character informs and encourages the story. How are your OCs doing the same? There are probably people you've worked or gone to school with who, despite not knowing them very well, you know is most likely to show up late, or have kitschy jewelry on, or have strong and unexpected opinions on everything. To get started, you need enough of a sense of character to generalize like this. You'll get to know them better as you get deeper into the draft, and your following drafts will help you refine your understanding, but to begin with, know who strolls in fifteen minutes late with Starbucks from who will give them the most shit for it.
|
Since you're used to writing already established characters. Do the same for your own characters, write a short fanfiction about your original characters to see if you really know them well enough. Put them in various situations and have them react and take action based on their personality. These short works may only be for your eyes only, but they'll serve as a good reference for you to fall back on. What I usually do if I wanted to find out more about my characters is that I'll write them interacting with another of my characters. This way, I let their personalities drive the direction of the exchange. Characters have different philosophies, motivations and sense of morality. By essentially having two characters interact, I am knowing more about their life and how they got to this very moment. Sometimes, I might even discover new things about my characters in the process. Hope this helps :) Cheers
| 0 | 2,969 | 4.583333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezps4wv
|
ezpxipp
| 1,568,047,260 | 1,568,050,806 | 10 | 55 |
The only advice I could give is to people watch. Observe the people around you. What makes them tick, their insecurities and their strengths. Their weird habits and their way of dealing with problems. Steal from the world to build your characters.
|
Since you're used to writing already established characters. Do the same for your own characters, write a short fanfiction about your original characters to see if you really know them well enough. Put them in various situations and have them react and take action based on their personality. These short works may only be for your eyes only, but they'll serve as a good reference for you to fall back on. What I usually do if I wanted to find out more about my characters is that I'll write them interacting with another of my characters. This way, I let their personalities drive the direction of the exchange. Characters have different philosophies, motivations and sense of morality. By essentially having two characters interact, I am knowing more about their life and how they got to this very moment. Sometimes, I might even discover new things about my characters in the process. Hope this helps :) Cheers
| 0 | 3,546 | 5.5 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezps6z6
|
ezpxipp
| 1,568,047,298 | 1,568,050,806 | 5 | 55 |
Your statements are a little confusing. "Not writing enough to flesh out my characters"? Could you elaborate on that? Generally, the make up for a distinct character in my mind are his goals/voice/ethics.
|
Since you're used to writing already established characters. Do the same for your own characters, write a short fanfiction about your original characters to see if you really know them well enough. Put them in various situations and have them react and take action based on their personality. These short works may only be for your eyes only, but they'll serve as a good reference for you to fall back on. What I usually do if I wanted to find out more about my characters is that I'll write them interacting with another of my characters. This way, I let their personalities drive the direction of the exchange. Characters have different philosophies, motivations and sense of morality. By essentially having two characters interact, I am knowing more about their life and how they got to this very moment. Sometimes, I might even discover new things about my characters in the process. Hope this helps :) Cheers
| 0 | 3,508 | 11 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpwx3v
|
ezpxipp
| 1,568,050,450 | 1,568,050,806 | 4 | 55 |
You might just have to write the story and figure out your characters as you go. That's what I've always done (I started in fan fiction too, way back in the day).
|
Since you're used to writing already established characters. Do the same for your own characters, write a short fanfiction about your original characters to see if you really know them well enough. Put them in various situations and have them react and take action based on their personality. These short works may only be for your eyes only, but they'll serve as a good reference for you to fall back on. What I usually do if I wanted to find out more about my characters is that I'll write them interacting with another of my characters. This way, I let their personalities drive the direction of the exchange. Characters have different philosophies, motivations and sense of morality. By essentially having two characters interact, I am knowing more about their life and how they got to this very moment. Sometimes, I might even discover new things about my characters in the process. Hope this helps :) Cheers
| 0 | 356 | 13.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezps4wv
|
ezpswxh
| 1,568,047,260 | 1,568,047,783 | 10 | 39 |
The only advice I could give is to people watch. Observe the people around you. What makes them tick, their insecurities and their strengths. Their weird habits and their way of dealing with problems. Steal from the world to build your characters.
|
If you are new to writing original characters, I strongly recommend focusing your characters based on a clear character action. A lot of times, people profile their character, but they focus on the wrong things: physical descriptions, likes and dislikes, mannerisms, etc. These things are good for characters and they help readers visualize the characters, but nothing is better to define your characters than character actions. These character actions are actions that show the audience the character's interior psychological state. I have a video about this if you're interested.
| 0 | 523 | 3.9 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpswxh
|
ezps6z6
| 1,568,047,783 | 1,568,047,298 | 39 | 5 |
If you are new to writing original characters, I strongly recommend focusing your characters based on a clear character action. A lot of times, people profile their character, but they focus on the wrong things: physical descriptions, likes and dislikes, mannerisms, etc. These things are good for characters and they help readers visualize the characters, but nothing is better to define your characters than character actions. These character actions are actions that show the audience the character's interior psychological state. I have a video about this if you're interested.
|
Your statements are a little confusing. "Not writing enough to flesh out my characters"? Could you elaborate on that? Generally, the make up for a distinct character in my mind are his goals/voice/ethics.
| 1 | 485 | 7.8 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezps4wv
|
ezpsztw
| 1,568,047,260 | 1,568,047,837 | 10 | 12 |
The only advice I could give is to people watch. Observe the people around you. What makes them tick, their insecurities and their strengths. Their weird habits and their way of dealing with problems. Steal from the world to build your characters.
|
Based on how you're phrasing the problem, implying that you could do it in fanfiction but not with OCs... you don't know your OCs very well. Whatever you've been writing fanfiction for, the characters' personalities are distinct and clear and obvious; you know how their character informs and encourages the story. How are your OCs doing the same? There are probably people you've worked or gone to school with who, despite not knowing them very well, you know is most likely to show up late, or have kitschy jewelry on, or have strong and unexpected opinions on everything. To get started, you need enough of a sense of character to generalize like this. You'll get to know them better as you get deeper into the draft, and your following drafts will help you refine your understanding, but to begin with, know who strolls in fifteen minutes late with Starbucks from who will give them the most shit for it.
| 0 | 577 | 1.2 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezps6z6
|
ezpsztw
| 1,568,047,298 | 1,568,047,837 | 5 | 12 |
Your statements are a little confusing. "Not writing enough to flesh out my characters"? Could you elaborate on that? Generally, the make up for a distinct character in my mind are his goals/voice/ethics.
|
Based on how you're phrasing the problem, implying that you could do it in fanfiction but not with OCs... you don't know your OCs very well. Whatever you've been writing fanfiction for, the characters' personalities are distinct and clear and obvious; you know how their character informs and encourages the story. How are your OCs doing the same? There are probably people you've worked or gone to school with who, despite not knowing them very well, you know is most likely to show up late, or have kitschy jewelry on, or have strong and unexpected opinions on everything. To get started, you need enough of a sense of character to generalize like this. You'll get to know them better as you get deeper into the draft, and your following drafts will help you refine your understanding, but to begin with, know who strolls in fifteen minutes late with Starbucks from who will give them the most shit for it.
| 0 | 539 | 2.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq6vki
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,055,530 | 1,568,061,154 | 6 | 7 |
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 5,624 | 1.166667 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq6vki
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,055,530 | 1,568,064,131 | 6 | 7 |
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 8,601 | 1.166667 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq6vki
|
ezps6z6
| 1,568,055,530 | 1,568,047,298 | 6 | 5 |
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
|
Your statements are a little confusing. "Not writing enough to flesh out my characters"? Could you elaborate on that? Generally, the make up for a distinct character in my mind are his goals/voice/ethics.
| 1 | 8,232 | 1.2 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq1cir
|
ezq6vki
| 1,568,053,242 | 1,568,055,530 | 5 | 6 |
In your fictions, do you take your characters through the stations of canon? Surely they act at least a little differently than the original? If so, it would seem to me that you already know how to present a character's traits, you just may be lacking the means to reveal them. So! You need to come up with places or conversations in your novel that can reveal something about their character. It may help you to treat your character as being based on the stereotype of whoever they are (15yo American girl, 30yo Egyptian man working as a taxi driver) and use that as your canon character.
|
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
| 0 | 2,288 | 1.2 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq6vki
|
ezpwx3v
| 1,568,055,530 | 1,568,050,450 | 6 | 4 |
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
|
You might just have to write the story and figure out your characters as you go. That's what I've always done (I started in fan fiction too, way back in the day).
| 1 | 5,080 | 1.5 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq6vki
|
ezq3fv7
| 1,568,055,530 | 1,568,054,282 | 6 | 3 |
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
|
I think it's possible to use your love of fanfiction to help you create an original story. Hell that lady from 50 shades did it and made millions. I don't read Harry Potter Fanfiction, but I know it's a popular one, so I'm just going to use this as an example of the fanfiction that you may enjoy writing. These are different ways you can create an original story by using fanfiction: - Use the Harry Potter characters but put them into a different genre. Maybe they're regular humans with no powers. Maybe they're trying to solve a mystery. Etc. You'd also have to go in and change the characters slightly. Change the names, the looks, and try to put a little twist on the personality. - If you really want to keep it the same genre because you love magical fantasies you can do that, you'll just have to create you're own world to put them in. So think about a magic system, what doesn't work about Harry Potter's magic system that you can do better? Maybe they don't go to a school, maybe they're adults, or maybe they live only in a fantasy world and there is no muggle world. Maybe they do go to school but their school is designed completely different. And of course change the characters some again. So basically you can use the fanfiction universe you love as a building block to create something original. You can just ask yourself a lot of What if questions. What if Harry Potter took place in a world that was more like Tolkien's? What if instead of different houses at one huge wizarding school there were lots of smaller schools that specialized in a particular type of magic. You do have to ask those what if questions for both the world building/magic aspect of the story and the character/plot aspect of the story. Such as also asking What if Harry was adopted by Sirius Black and had to live off the grid? You can also do a Harry Potter meets Hunger Games and that can come up with some pretty different stuff.
| 1 | 1,248 | 2 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq6vki
|
ezq55f0
| 1,568,055,530 | 1,568,054,912 | 6 | 4 |
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
|
I would have the complete opposite problem, having never written fanfiction. If I don't have control/command of my characters' traits, I don't know how I'd write them. An easy way to do it would be to take a character you know how to write and 'fanfiction' them into a new character. What if Han Solo lived in a desert all his life, never knew anything about space, and had a lizard buddy (instead of Chewy) that he thinks talks to him, but actually doesn't? What if we mashed together Frodo and Ron Weasley? Do whatever works for you. I've never been able to get any work done with personality tests, so I start with Goals. What is this character's goal? What are they comfortable with? Where do they come from, what do they like doing, what is their worldview, what kind of people do they like and why? Personality assigns itself: If your character isn't comfortable in crowds, they are either an introvert or an extrovert with a quirk/past trauma. Figure out which. Good luck! Hang in there and you'll be able to do it.
| 1 | 618 | 1.5 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq6vki
|
ezq0isr
| 1,568,055,530 | 1,568,052,700 | 6 | 3 |
It sounds like the problem might be two-fold. First, there’s the question of whether you are thinking up “fleshed-out” characters in the first place. My guess is no, but not so much because of the fan fiction, more because I think this is challenging for ANYONE who is learning to create characters. This means, for example, a character having a goal... AND a clear reason they are pursuing that goal... and possibly a deeper reason for that reason. He wants a Ferrari—goal. (This one’s easy). Why? Because he feels he needs to signal his status. WHY? Because he has always felt like the goal-posts on success are moving, and a Ferrari is “objectively awesome”. Or whatever. I’m new at this, so more experienced writers might have refinements, but I think new writers (myself included) often miss those second and third levels. If you don’t have those layers, you don’t really know how your character is going to react. If he doesn’t trust the goal posts, then getting a promotion at work might not be something he feels ready to celebrate. But if he wants a Ferrari because his dad said he’d never had one, the promotion might feel like one more true indication of success—take that, Dad! You can’t know how he’s going to react until you get to those levels. Second, there’s the question of whether this is showing up on the page. Maybe you DO have fully fleshed out characters in your head, but it’s not on the page. This could be a fan fic problem. My suggestion would be to just overdo it for a while. Make it so clear you’re beating the reader over the head with character context. Then dial it back and see if you can find a happy medium. Hope that helps. Happy writing!
|
Well having original characters is a good start at least. I mean you're not coming to the table with nothing. Really writing is writing the story you want to read with the people you want to read about. So what do you want to read about? What do you like? Start there and don't be afraid to be influenced by other media. It's not copying, nothing's original anyhow.
| 1 | 2,830 | 2 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqmaf9
|
ezps6z6
| 1,568,061,154 | 1,568,047,298 | 7 | 5 |
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
|
Your statements are a little confusing. "Not writing enough to flesh out my characters"? Could you elaborate on that? Generally, the make up for a distinct character in my mind are his goals/voice/ethics.
| 1 | 13,856 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqmaf9
|
ezq1cir
| 1,568,061,154 | 1,568,053,242 | 7 | 5 |
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
|
In your fictions, do you take your characters through the stations of canon? Surely they act at least a little differently than the original? If so, it would seem to me that you already know how to present a character's traits, you just may be lacking the means to reveal them. So! You need to come up with places or conversations in your novel that can reveal something about their character. It may help you to treat your character as being based on the stereotype of whoever they are (15yo American girl, 30yo Egyptian man working as a taxi driver) and use that as your canon character.
| 1 | 7,912 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqb4f1
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,057,002 | 1,568,061,154 | 4 | 7 |
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 4,152 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqmaf9
|
ezqetc2
| 1,568,061,154 | 1,568,058,309 | 7 | 5 |
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
|
Its obvious your issue here is you never wrote backstory before. My big tips are this: know your character fully, and use dialogue for development. I usually know the entire life of a character before I commit them to the page and I Express the important parts of that life through their interactions with others. Never just dump exposition on the reader for your sake. Remember show don't tell. A character's trauma should be seen through reactions, their personality should bubble up and show through, their subconscious will color their words. When you write dialogue it helps to think as the character and write in the moment, try monologuing as the characters to get used to their voice, their attitude, and their subconscious. Then when you write you should be feeling their emotions, if they would have a freudian slip or a drastic voice, Express that. I hope these tips help.
| 1 | 2,845 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqf4k7
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,058,421 | 1,568,061,154 | 5 | 7 |
This might not be the best advice, but I think a lot of people do this. I usually base my original characters on people who I know and then expand on them from there. At least in terms of the bones. By the time you get them into context and have them interacting with your world and the other characters, they will develop to the point where they'd become unrecognizable from your original basis. That way, you can kind of think of it as if you are introducing someone you know to your audience.
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 2,733 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqfg4f
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,058,536 | 1,568,061,154 | 5 | 7 |
Some people might consider this cheesy, but if you're *really* into writing established characters, perhaps you could transition by writing original characters that are hybrids of established characters. Go with whatever you find creatively stimulating -- a mashup of two completely different people or an amalgam of two characters already established in similar roles. You'll be producing something original, but you'll still have your feet planted in a derivative process. If a little of that doesn't get you going full-on original in short order, then escalate with melanges of more than two characters or more ambitious attempts to make a mashup coherent.
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 2,618 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpwx3v
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,050,450 | 1,568,061,154 | 4 | 7 |
You might just have to write the story and figure out your characters as you go. That's what I've always done (I started in fan fiction too, way back in the day).
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 10,704 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqmaf9
|
ezq3fv7
| 1,568,061,154 | 1,568,054,282 | 7 | 3 |
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
|
I think it's possible to use your love of fanfiction to help you create an original story. Hell that lady from 50 shades did it and made millions. I don't read Harry Potter Fanfiction, but I know it's a popular one, so I'm just going to use this as an example of the fanfiction that you may enjoy writing. These are different ways you can create an original story by using fanfiction: - Use the Harry Potter characters but put them into a different genre. Maybe they're regular humans with no powers. Maybe they're trying to solve a mystery. Etc. You'd also have to go in and change the characters slightly. Change the names, the looks, and try to put a little twist on the personality. - If you really want to keep it the same genre because you love magical fantasies you can do that, you'll just have to create you're own world to put them in. So think about a magic system, what doesn't work about Harry Potter's magic system that you can do better? Maybe they don't go to a school, maybe they're adults, or maybe they live only in a fantasy world and there is no muggle world. Maybe they do go to school but their school is designed completely different. And of course change the characters some again. So basically you can use the fanfiction universe you love as a building block to create something original. You can just ask yourself a lot of What if questions. What if Harry Potter took place in a world that was more like Tolkien's? What if instead of different houses at one huge wizarding school there were lots of smaller schools that specialized in a particular type of magic. You do have to ask those what if questions for both the world building/magic aspect of the story and the character/plot aspect of the story. Such as also asking What if Harry was adopted by Sirius Black and had to live off the grid? You can also do a Harry Potter meets Hunger Games and that can come up with some pretty different stuff.
| 1 | 6,872 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq55f0
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,054,912 | 1,568,061,154 | 4 | 7 |
I would have the complete opposite problem, having never written fanfiction. If I don't have control/command of my characters' traits, I don't know how I'd write them. An easy way to do it would be to take a character you know how to write and 'fanfiction' them into a new character. What if Han Solo lived in a desert all his life, never knew anything about space, and had a lizard buddy (instead of Chewy) that he thinks talks to him, but actually doesn't? What if we mashed together Frodo and Ron Weasley? Do whatever works for you. I've never been able to get any work done with personality tests, so I start with Goals. What is this character's goal? What are they comfortable with? Where do they come from, what do they like doing, what is their worldview, what kind of people do they like and why? Personality assigns itself: If your character isn't comfortable in crowds, they are either an introvert or an extrovert with a quirk/past trauma. Figure out which. Good luck! Hang in there and you'll be able to do it.
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 6,242 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqmaf9
|
ezqi8km
| 1,568,061,154 | 1,568,059,604 | 7 | 4 |
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
|
Maybe try a slower transition. I find it easier to focus on character development first, then world development, then plot. Of course all those things influence each other, but I find each can be roughed out some what independently before being blended together. To work on characters from fan fiction try to focus on an oc in a fanfic. Write an oc who is basically an NPC the main characters interact with, but rather then following the main characters, follow the oc off on their adventures. Slowly work on learning about the oc until the fanfic revolves entirely around characters you created. Once you get to know a character, try taking them out of the fanfic world. What would they do during your day to day? I have a long commute and often like to imagine what conversations I would have with my characters if they popped into my car. To work on world, it might be helpful to pop your favorite established character into a world you're working on creating. For example, when I was into fanfic, I was into Harry Potter and Avatar. I would ask myself questions like: What would Aang do if he suddenly had to use the magic system in my world? What loopholes would Hermione find? Which political groups would Sokka gravitate towards? Create people for these characters to interact with. What are those people's day jobs? What would be happening here if the character wasn't here? Having people walk around in your world will help you flesh it out and make it feel real. Once you have a character you've fleshed out and a world, put the character in the world and see what they do. Try to figure out what plot naturally falls out of the interaction. What aspects of your world are going to bother your character? What are they going to do to fix it? What do they love in your world? What lengths are they willing to go to protect it? I tend to work an idea over and over. I play the 'what if' game a lot. What if this character had gone down that road instead of this one? What if they'd talked to that person instead? What if they hadn't gone home at the end? I'll often write a few hundred to a few thousand word scenes of these what if scenarios without worrying about consistency between the scenes or even within one scene. The point is to feel out the characters, world, and plot to see what works. Once I have a collection of scenes I like to go back and read them and see if they spark joy. The ones that do spark joy, I try to figure out what I like about them. With those scenes I can work out a plot that feels natural.
| 1 | 1,550 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqm43j
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,061,083 | 1,568,061,154 | 5 | 7 |
When I first started writing, I used to model my characters after already famous or established characters or even celebrities. Less so their life stories and more so just their quirks or personality. I was just writing for fun at that point and not about to get published, so it was good practice. As the story went on, I sort of just lost myself in those characters and they evolved to more of my own creations. And now, I don’t find it hard at all to write completely original characters from my imagination. I even sort of forgot I used to do that until I read this post haha.
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 71 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqmaf9
|
ezq0isr
| 1,568,061,154 | 1,568,052,700 | 7 | 3 |
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
|
Well having original characters is a good start at least. I mean you're not coming to the table with nothing. Really writing is writing the story you want to read with the people you want to read about. So what do you want to read about? What do you like? Start there and don't be afraid to be influenced by other media. It's not copying, nothing's original anyhow.
| 1 | 8,454 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqix4j
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,059,853 | 1,568,061,154 | 3 | 7 |
Who are those characters whose stories were never able to be told?
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 1,301 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezql62n
|
ezqmaf9
| 1,568,060,721 | 1,568,061,154 | 3 | 7 |
I don’t know if some people do this, but when I have a character, I like to have a certain actor in mind and that seems to help me visualize them. But maybe also spend some time figuring out a backstory. I think there is a writing exercise where you basically play therapist with your character, that could help
|
Hope this helps but in my case I found that I don't don't know my original characters until I write about them. It's weird but they start like becoming a reality and you start to know them while writing and putting them in situations. They star to showing themselves to you. Let put it this way. You actually don't know anybody that well, not even yourself. So what we do in our daily basis is telling stories about what your family or friends or person you know did and not how and why they are the way they are. You don't know that. You only know what they did and why. But thru those actions you start to having an idea on how they are and why they are that way. My point is, don't focus to much on how they are but what they do and from there, you will start Knowing them. For example, you wrote a character that is a murderer, you describe what the character does and from there you could know that it is a bad person for no appretiation for human life and it has a horrible childhood but he loves dogs because when he was a kid a dog saves him from his crazy father and...you keep going.
| 0 | 433 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezquk0z
|
ezps6z6
| 1,568,064,131 | 1,568,047,298 | 7 | 5 |
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
|
Your statements are a little confusing. "Not writing enough to flesh out my characters"? Could you elaborate on that? Generally, the make up for a distinct character in my mind are his goals/voice/ethics.
| 1 | 16,833 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq1cir
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,053,242 | 1,568,064,131 | 5 | 7 |
In your fictions, do you take your characters through the stations of canon? Surely they act at least a little differently than the original? If so, it would seem to me that you already know how to present a character's traits, you just may be lacking the means to reveal them. So! You need to come up with places or conversations in your novel that can reveal something about their character. It may help you to treat your character as being based on the stereotype of whoever they are (15yo American girl, 30yo Egyptian man working as a taxi driver) and use that as your canon character.
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 10,889 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezquk0z
|
ezqb4f1
| 1,568,064,131 | 1,568,057,002 | 7 | 4 |
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
|
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
| 1 | 7,129 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqetc2
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,058,309 | 1,568,064,131 | 5 | 7 |
Its obvious your issue here is you never wrote backstory before. My big tips are this: know your character fully, and use dialogue for development. I usually know the entire life of a character before I commit them to the page and I Express the important parts of that life through their interactions with others. Never just dump exposition on the reader for your sake. Remember show don't tell. A character's trauma should be seen through reactions, their personality should bubble up and show through, their subconscious will color their words. When you write dialogue it helps to think as the character and write in the moment, try monologuing as the characters to get used to their voice, their attitude, and their subconscious. Then when you write you should be feeling their emotions, if they would have a freudian slip or a drastic voice, Express that. I hope these tips help.
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 5,822 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezquk0z
|
ezqf4k7
| 1,568,064,131 | 1,568,058,421 | 7 | 5 |
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
|
This might not be the best advice, but I think a lot of people do this. I usually base my original characters on people who I know and then expand on them from there. At least in terms of the bones. By the time you get them into context and have them interacting with your world and the other characters, they will develop to the point where they'd become unrecognizable from your original basis. That way, you can kind of think of it as if you are introducing someone you know to your audience.
| 1 | 5,710 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezquk0z
|
ezqfg4f
| 1,568,064,131 | 1,568,058,536 | 7 | 5 |
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
|
Some people might consider this cheesy, but if you're *really* into writing established characters, perhaps you could transition by writing original characters that are hybrids of established characters. Go with whatever you find creatively stimulating -- a mashup of two completely different people or an amalgam of two characters already established in similar roles. You'll be producing something original, but you'll still have your feet planted in a derivative process. If a little of that doesn't get you going full-on original in short order, then escalate with melanges of more than two characters or more ambitious attempts to make a mashup coherent.
| 1 | 5,595 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpwx3v
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,050,450 | 1,568,064,131 | 4 | 7 |
You might just have to write the story and figure out your characters as you go. That's what I've always done (I started in fan fiction too, way back in the day).
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 13,681 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq3fv7
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,054,282 | 1,568,064,131 | 3 | 7 |
I think it's possible to use your love of fanfiction to help you create an original story. Hell that lady from 50 shades did it and made millions. I don't read Harry Potter Fanfiction, but I know it's a popular one, so I'm just going to use this as an example of the fanfiction that you may enjoy writing. These are different ways you can create an original story by using fanfiction: - Use the Harry Potter characters but put them into a different genre. Maybe they're regular humans with no powers. Maybe they're trying to solve a mystery. Etc. You'd also have to go in and change the characters slightly. Change the names, the looks, and try to put a little twist on the personality. - If you really want to keep it the same genre because you love magical fantasies you can do that, you'll just have to create you're own world to put them in. So think about a magic system, what doesn't work about Harry Potter's magic system that you can do better? Maybe they don't go to a school, maybe they're adults, or maybe they live only in a fantasy world and there is no muggle world. Maybe they do go to school but their school is designed completely different. And of course change the characters some again. So basically you can use the fanfiction universe you love as a building block to create something original. You can just ask yourself a lot of What if questions. What if Harry Potter took place in a world that was more like Tolkien's? What if instead of different houses at one huge wizarding school there were lots of smaller schools that specialized in a particular type of magic. You do have to ask those what if questions for both the world building/magic aspect of the story and the character/plot aspect of the story. Such as also asking What if Harry was adopted by Sirius Black and had to live off the grid? You can also do a Harry Potter meets Hunger Games and that can come up with some pretty different stuff.
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 9,849 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq55f0
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,054,912 | 1,568,064,131 | 4 | 7 |
I would have the complete opposite problem, having never written fanfiction. If I don't have control/command of my characters' traits, I don't know how I'd write them. An easy way to do it would be to take a character you know how to write and 'fanfiction' them into a new character. What if Han Solo lived in a desert all his life, never knew anything about space, and had a lizard buddy (instead of Chewy) that he thinks talks to him, but actually doesn't? What if we mashed together Frodo and Ron Weasley? Do whatever works for you. I've never been able to get any work done with personality tests, so I start with Goals. What is this character's goal? What are they comfortable with? Where do they come from, what do they like doing, what is their worldview, what kind of people do they like and why? Personality assigns itself: If your character isn't comfortable in crowds, they are either an introvert or an extrovert with a quirk/past trauma. Figure out which. Good luck! Hang in there and you'll be able to do it.
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 9,219 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezquk0z
|
ezqi8km
| 1,568,064,131 | 1,568,059,604 | 7 | 4 |
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
|
Maybe try a slower transition. I find it easier to focus on character development first, then world development, then plot. Of course all those things influence each other, but I find each can be roughed out some what independently before being blended together. To work on characters from fan fiction try to focus on an oc in a fanfic. Write an oc who is basically an NPC the main characters interact with, but rather then following the main characters, follow the oc off on their adventures. Slowly work on learning about the oc until the fanfic revolves entirely around characters you created. Once you get to know a character, try taking them out of the fanfic world. What would they do during your day to day? I have a long commute and often like to imagine what conversations I would have with my characters if they popped into my car. To work on world, it might be helpful to pop your favorite established character into a world you're working on creating. For example, when I was into fanfic, I was into Harry Potter and Avatar. I would ask myself questions like: What would Aang do if he suddenly had to use the magic system in my world? What loopholes would Hermione find? Which political groups would Sokka gravitate towards? Create people for these characters to interact with. What are those people's day jobs? What would be happening here if the character wasn't here? Having people walk around in your world will help you flesh it out and make it feel real. Once you have a character you've fleshed out and a world, put the character in the world and see what they do. Try to figure out what plot naturally falls out of the interaction. What aspects of your world are going to bother your character? What are they going to do to fix it? What do they love in your world? What lengths are they willing to go to protect it? I tend to work an idea over and over. I play the 'what if' game a lot. What if this character had gone down that road instead of this one? What if they'd talked to that person instead? What if they hadn't gone home at the end? I'll often write a few hundred to a few thousand word scenes of these what if scenarios without worrying about consistency between the scenes or even within one scene. The point is to feel out the characters, world, and plot to see what works. Once I have a collection of scenes I like to go back and read them and see if they spark joy. The ones that do spark joy, I try to figure out what I like about them. With those scenes I can work out a plot that feels natural.
| 1 | 4,527 | 1.75 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqm43j
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,061,083 | 1,568,064,131 | 5 | 7 |
When I first started writing, I used to model my characters after already famous or established characters or even celebrities. Less so their life stories and more so just their quirks or personality. I was just writing for fun at that point and not about to get published, so it was good practice. As the story went on, I sort of just lost myself in those characters and they evolved to more of my own creations. And now, I don’t find it hard at all to write completely original characters from my imagination. I even sort of forgot I used to do that until I read this post haha.
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 3,048 | 1.4 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq0isr
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,052,700 | 1,568,064,131 | 3 | 7 |
Well having original characters is a good start at least. I mean you're not coming to the table with nothing. Really writing is writing the story you want to read with the people you want to read about. So what do you want to read about? What do you like? Start there and don't be afraid to be influenced by other media. It's not copying, nothing's original anyhow.
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 11,431 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqix4j
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,059,853 | 1,568,064,131 | 3 | 7 |
Who are those characters whose stories were never able to be told?
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 4,278 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezql62n
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,060,721 | 1,568,064,131 | 3 | 7 |
I don’t know if some people do this, but when I have a character, I like to have a certain actor in mind and that seems to help me visualize them. But maybe also spend some time figuring out a backstory. I think there is a writing exercise where you basically play therapist with your character, that could help
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 3,410 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqmhel
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,061,230 | 1,568,064,131 | 3 | 7 |
Usually, your initial characters aren't supposed to be built up too much. You build your characters through their interactions with the environment and other characters, and their growth. So maybe try not to obsess with their set up during the initial appearances and just let them act freely and go from there? Sorry, don't know if this is useful at all.
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 2,901 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqozso
|
ezquk0z
| 1,568,062,154 | 1,568,064,131 | 3 | 7 |
I’d suggest writing short original stories for practice! I found that helped me a lot with my longer work later. A lot of folk jump into the full length but you’d probably find that you can more easily focus on your characters if you do some shorter stories. Good luck!
|
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
| 0 | 1,977 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezquk0z
|
ezqrrxj
| 1,568,064,131 | 1,568,063,168 | 7 | 3 |
As a former fanfiction writer, I have no qualms about making an original character based heavily off of a character that exists. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker are practically interchangeable at a certain point.
|
No character is fleshed out enough when you start writing. You learn what they're like by writing your story, and a big part of the reason we revise is to go back and make the characters seem more like themselves once we're deep into the story and have a handle on it. Also, fanfic can still be good preparation for creating characters, because you're using to keeping characters consistent. If you're doing a Harry Potter fanfic, you can't have Snape cracking jokes and tapdancing, he has to feel like Snape. So now you have to make sure your characters stay in character, except you get to decide what that character is. And if you're looking for a cheat? I just heard this great thing about Scooby-Doo. The creator of the original series was a fan of an old radio show called *I Like A Mystery*, so he just took that series' story template, and plugged in the characters from *The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis*. Fred = Dobie, Daphne = Thalia, Velma = Zelda (they barely even changed the name), Shaggy = Maynard G. Krebs, and then they added a dog. But the writers already had a basic handle on the characters, *because they were already characters.* So if you're at a total loss, plug in characters you know. Ron and Snape are mismatched buddy cops, Harry's their mercurial boss, and Hermione's the killer. Then change their names. Then write a story around them. By the time you're done, you'll have tweaked the characters enough that they're your own and the reader has no idea they weren't original creations.
| 1 | 963 | 2.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq1cir
|
ezpwx3v
| 1,568,053,242 | 1,568,050,450 | 5 | 4 |
In your fictions, do you take your characters through the stations of canon? Surely they act at least a little differently than the original? If so, it would seem to me that you already know how to present a character's traits, you just may be lacking the means to reveal them. So! You need to come up with places or conversations in your novel that can reveal something about their character. It may help you to treat your character as being based on the stereotype of whoever they are (15yo American girl, 30yo Egyptian man working as a taxi driver) and use that as your canon character.
|
You might just have to write the story and figure out your characters as you go. That's what I've always done (I started in fan fiction too, way back in the day).
| 1 | 2,792 | 1.25 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezq1cir
|
ezq0isr
| 1,568,053,242 | 1,568,052,700 | 5 | 3 |
In your fictions, do you take your characters through the stations of canon? Surely they act at least a little differently than the original? If so, it would seem to me that you already know how to present a character's traits, you just may be lacking the means to reveal them. So! You need to come up with places or conversations in your novel that can reveal something about their character. It may help you to treat your character as being based on the stereotype of whoever they are (15yo American girl, 30yo Egyptian man working as a taxi driver) and use that as your canon character.
|
Well having original characters is a good start at least. I mean you're not coming to the table with nothing. Really writing is writing the story you want to read with the people you want to read about. So what do you want to read about? What do you like? Start there and don't be afraid to be influenced by other media. It's not copying, nothing's original anyhow.
| 1 | 542 | 1.666667 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqetc2
|
ezqb4f1
| 1,568,058,309 | 1,568,057,002 | 5 | 4 |
Its obvious your issue here is you never wrote backstory before. My big tips are this: know your character fully, and use dialogue for development. I usually know the entire life of a character before I commit them to the page and I Express the important parts of that life through their interactions with others. Never just dump exposition on the reader for your sake. Remember show don't tell. A character's trauma should be seen through reactions, their personality should bubble up and show through, their subconscious will color their words. When you write dialogue it helps to think as the character and write in the moment, try monologuing as the characters to get used to their voice, their attitude, and their subconscious. Then when you write you should be feeling their emotions, if they would have a freudian slip or a drastic voice, Express that. I hope these tips help.
|
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
| 1 | 1,307 | 1.25 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqb4f1
|
ezqf4k7
| 1,568,057,002 | 1,568,058,421 | 4 | 5 |
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
|
This might not be the best advice, but I think a lot of people do this. I usually base my original characters on people who I know and then expand on them from there. At least in terms of the bones. By the time you get them into context and have them interacting with your world and the other characters, they will develop to the point where they'd become unrecognizable from your original basis. That way, you can kind of think of it as if you are introducing someone you know to your audience.
| 0 | 1,419 | 1.25 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqfg4f
|
ezqb4f1
| 1,568,058,536 | 1,568,057,002 | 5 | 4 |
Some people might consider this cheesy, but if you're *really* into writing established characters, perhaps you could transition by writing original characters that are hybrids of established characters. Go with whatever you find creatively stimulating -- a mashup of two completely different people or an amalgam of two characters already established in similar roles. You'll be producing something original, but you'll still have your feet planted in a derivative process. If a little of that doesn't get you going full-on original in short order, then escalate with melanges of more than two characters or more ambitious attempts to make a mashup coherent.
|
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
| 1 | 1,534 | 1.25 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqb4f1
|
ezq3fv7
| 1,568,057,002 | 1,568,054,282 | 4 | 3 |
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
|
I think it's possible to use your love of fanfiction to help you create an original story. Hell that lady from 50 shades did it and made millions. I don't read Harry Potter Fanfiction, but I know it's a popular one, so I'm just going to use this as an example of the fanfiction that you may enjoy writing. These are different ways you can create an original story by using fanfiction: - Use the Harry Potter characters but put them into a different genre. Maybe they're regular humans with no powers. Maybe they're trying to solve a mystery. Etc. You'd also have to go in and change the characters slightly. Change the names, the looks, and try to put a little twist on the personality. - If you really want to keep it the same genre because you love magical fantasies you can do that, you'll just have to create you're own world to put them in. So think about a magic system, what doesn't work about Harry Potter's magic system that you can do better? Maybe they don't go to a school, maybe they're adults, or maybe they live only in a fantasy world and there is no muggle world. Maybe they do go to school but their school is designed completely different. And of course change the characters some again. So basically you can use the fanfiction universe you love as a building block to create something original. You can just ask yourself a lot of What if questions. What if Harry Potter took place in a world that was more like Tolkien's? What if instead of different houses at one huge wizarding school there were lots of smaller schools that specialized in a particular type of magic. You do have to ask those what if questions for both the world building/magic aspect of the story and the character/plot aspect of the story. Such as also asking What if Harry was adopted by Sirius Black and had to live off the grid? You can also do a Harry Potter meets Hunger Games and that can come up with some pretty different stuff.
| 1 | 2,720 | 1.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqm43j
|
ezqb4f1
| 1,568,061,083 | 1,568,057,002 | 5 | 4 |
When I first started writing, I used to model my characters after already famous or established characters or even celebrities. Less so their life stories and more so just their quirks or personality. I was just writing for fun at that point and not about to get published, so it was good practice. As the story went on, I sort of just lost myself in those characters and they evolved to more of my own creations. And now, I don’t find it hard at all to write completely original characters from my imagination. I even sort of forgot I used to do that until I read this post haha.
|
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
| 1 | 4,081 | 1.25 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqb4f1
|
ezq0isr
| 1,568,057,002 | 1,568,052,700 | 4 | 3 |
Don't forget that before commercial fiction, there were millennia of mythological characters, heroes, saints, kings & queens, knights – storytelling has always involved canonical characters. Dig deeper into what an "original" character really is, and what kind of story you want to tell.
|
Well having original characters is a good start at least. I mean you're not coming to the table with nothing. Really writing is writing the story you want to read with the people you want to read about. So what do you want to read about? What do you like? Start there and don't be afraid to be influenced by other media. It's not copying, nothing's original anyhow.
| 1 | 4,302 | 1.333333 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezpwx3v
|
ezqetc2
| 1,568,050,450 | 1,568,058,309 | 4 | 5 |
You might just have to write the story and figure out your characters as you go. That's what I've always done (I started in fan fiction too, way back in the day).
|
Its obvious your issue here is you never wrote backstory before. My big tips are this: know your character fully, and use dialogue for development. I usually know the entire life of a character before I commit them to the page and I Express the important parts of that life through their interactions with others. Never just dump exposition on the reader for your sake. Remember show don't tell. A character's trauma should be seen through reactions, their personality should bubble up and show through, their subconscious will color their words. When you write dialogue it helps to think as the character and write in the moment, try monologuing as the characters to get used to their voice, their attitude, and their subconscious. Then when you write you should be feeling their emotions, if they would have a freudian slip or a drastic voice, Express that. I hope these tips help.
| 0 | 7,859 | 1.25 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqetc2
|
ezq3fv7
| 1,568,058,309 | 1,568,054,282 | 5 | 3 |
Its obvious your issue here is you never wrote backstory before. My big tips are this: know your character fully, and use dialogue for development. I usually know the entire life of a character before I commit them to the page and I Express the important parts of that life through their interactions with others. Never just dump exposition on the reader for your sake. Remember show don't tell. A character's trauma should be seen through reactions, their personality should bubble up and show through, their subconscious will color their words. When you write dialogue it helps to think as the character and write in the moment, try monologuing as the characters to get used to their voice, their attitude, and their subconscious. Then when you write you should be feeling their emotions, if they would have a freudian slip or a drastic voice, Express that. I hope these tips help.
|
I think it's possible to use your love of fanfiction to help you create an original story. Hell that lady from 50 shades did it and made millions. I don't read Harry Potter Fanfiction, but I know it's a popular one, so I'm just going to use this as an example of the fanfiction that you may enjoy writing. These are different ways you can create an original story by using fanfiction: - Use the Harry Potter characters but put them into a different genre. Maybe they're regular humans with no powers. Maybe they're trying to solve a mystery. Etc. You'd also have to go in and change the characters slightly. Change the names, the looks, and try to put a little twist on the personality. - If you really want to keep it the same genre because you love magical fantasies you can do that, you'll just have to create you're own world to put them in. So think about a magic system, what doesn't work about Harry Potter's magic system that you can do better? Maybe they don't go to a school, maybe they're adults, or maybe they live only in a fantasy world and there is no muggle world. Maybe they do go to school but their school is designed completely different. And of course change the characters some again. So basically you can use the fanfiction universe you love as a building block to create something original. You can just ask yourself a lot of What if questions. What if Harry Potter took place in a world that was more like Tolkien's? What if instead of different houses at one huge wizarding school there were lots of smaller schools that specialized in a particular type of magic. You do have to ask those what if questions for both the world building/magic aspect of the story and the character/plot aspect of the story. Such as also asking What if Harry was adopted by Sirius Black and had to live off the grid? You can also do a Harry Potter meets Hunger Games and that can come up with some pretty different stuff.
| 1 | 4,027 | 1.666667 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqetc2
|
ezq55f0
| 1,568,058,309 | 1,568,054,912 | 5 | 4 |
Its obvious your issue here is you never wrote backstory before. My big tips are this: know your character fully, and use dialogue for development. I usually know the entire life of a character before I commit them to the page and I Express the important parts of that life through their interactions with others. Never just dump exposition on the reader for your sake. Remember show don't tell. A character's trauma should be seen through reactions, their personality should bubble up and show through, their subconscious will color their words. When you write dialogue it helps to think as the character and write in the moment, try monologuing as the characters to get used to their voice, their attitude, and their subconscious. Then when you write you should be feeling their emotions, if they would have a freudian slip or a drastic voice, Express that. I hope these tips help.
|
I would have the complete opposite problem, having never written fanfiction. If I don't have control/command of my characters' traits, I don't know how I'd write them. An easy way to do it would be to take a character you know how to write and 'fanfiction' them into a new character. What if Han Solo lived in a desert all his life, never knew anything about space, and had a lizard buddy (instead of Chewy) that he thinks talks to him, but actually doesn't? What if we mashed together Frodo and Ron Weasley? Do whatever works for you. I've never been able to get any work done with personality tests, so I start with Goals. What is this character's goal? What are they comfortable with? Where do they come from, what do they like doing, what is their worldview, what kind of people do they like and why? Personality assigns itself: If your character isn't comfortable in crowds, they are either an introvert or an extrovert with a quirk/past trauma. Figure out which. Good luck! Hang in there and you'll be able to do it.
| 1 | 3,397 | 1.25 | ||
d1ta5k
|
writing_train
| 0.96 |
I’m used to writing FanFiction that I’m not sure how to write with my original characters. I’ve been writing fanfiction for over a good 8 years and I guess I’m sort of stuck with writing already established characters that I find it hard to write original ones for my own novel. I have done the story outline, and also drawn up a profile template for my main characters, but for some reason, I would feel like I’m not writing enough to flesh out my characters. I know I should at least finish my story before I start complaining about it, but it’s exactly this thinking that made me stop and try to edit the previous few chapters and I just couldn’t continue. I’m not sure if this is a problem, or am I just over thinking, but I’ll appreciate anyone who can share with me about their thoughts on this.
|
ezqetc2
|
ezq0isr
| 1,568,058,309 | 1,568,052,700 | 5 | 3 |
Its obvious your issue here is you never wrote backstory before. My big tips are this: know your character fully, and use dialogue for development. I usually know the entire life of a character before I commit them to the page and I Express the important parts of that life through their interactions with others. Never just dump exposition on the reader for your sake. Remember show don't tell. A character's trauma should be seen through reactions, their personality should bubble up and show through, their subconscious will color their words. When you write dialogue it helps to think as the character and write in the moment, try monologuing as the characters to get used to their voice, their attitude, and their subconscious. Then when you write you should be feeling their emotions, if they would have a freudian slip or a drastic voice, Express that. I hope these tips help.
|
Well having original characters is a good start at least. I mean you're not coming to the table with nothing. Really writing is writing the story you want to read with the people you want to read about. So what do you want to read about? What do you like? Start there and don't be afraid to be influenced by other media. It's not copying, nothing's original anyhow.
| 1 | 5,609 | 1.666667 |
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