The Art of Fanfiction and What it Entails

The Art of Fanfiction: What It Entails

Hello! Welcome to another community week! I am Bobbi or as some of you know me, CosplayDreams16 and I am going to talk about a topic dearest to me which is the art of fanfiction and what it entails with it. I am a writer so I have been writing fanfictions for at least seven years now and even though I know much about it, I am still learning just like all of you  

For this article here are the topics that we will be talking about:

• What is Fanfiction?
• Getting Started
• Base of a Fanfiction
• Rules of Fanfiction 
• Success!

 What is Fanfiction?

Fanfiction is when you take a setting, character or group of characters from another property and you use them to write your own stories based on your ideas. Some people suggest that fanfiction is a gateway into your wildest imaginations. In other words: You let your creative juices flow!

Fanfictions come in many genres - horror, suspense, mystery, romance - just like "original" fiction does. The only difference is that fanfiction uses characters or settings created by other people to tell your story. It still takes creativity and originality to make it all come together, and this article is going to outline some of the basics!

Getting Started  

Now that you know what a fanfiction is, I bet you are wondering the simplest thing: How do I get started? Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

• What universe (books, comics, etc.) do I want to use?
• What characters will be in my story?
• When will it take place?
• How is the plot line going to fit in with the story?
• Where will it be?
• Why are they going to be in this scene?

Fanfiction is all about making sure you have everything ready before you begin you tasks at all. As a general rule, the best thing to do is write notes on what you are want before you get started. If you do not answer the questions above, then you are going to blind yourself in the story and the story will not make it past the few chapters.

Also, you need to decide what group of people you are making this for. Will it be for everyone or for the adults out there? Here are the typical ratings for fanfictions:

• K – Everyone
• K+ - Not suitable for younger kids
• T – Teenagers – no one younger than 12
• M – Mature – No one under 18 years old
• MA – the most extreme

Usually MA is not used unless there are things in the fanfiction that you judge are so extreme that this category MUST be used.

 Base of Fanfiction

So now you have the items that you need to get started on your fanfiction but there is another thing to take into consideration: What will the fanfiction look like?

Like any other story a fanfiction has a beginning, middle, and end.  Also, you want to make sure that you are getting to the readers. Remember: The readers of a fanfiction are your audience. If they like it then they will pass your name around.

What I like to think of is the “base” or structure of a fanfiction. That will usually consist of:

• Introduction (introducing characters and the problem at hand)
• First chapters (going through what is going to happen and what the characters will do about it)
• Middle Chapters (Romance fling or any interests that the reader might be catching onto)
• End Chapters (Fixing the problem and showing where the characters go)
• Epilogue (What the characters are up to after this fanfiction)

Or if this is too confusing for you, think of a club sandwich with: 

• Introduction (bottom bread)
• First Chapters (Ham and Turkey)
• Middle Chapters (Cheese)
• End Chapters (Bacon, condiments)
• Epilogue (top bread)

Also, a good rule of thumb is making your fanfiction at least 10 chapters in order to grab attention and the chapters usually should be anywhere between 5-10 pages (Microsoft Word is your friend here!).  You want to keep the audience but at the same time you don’t want to bore them or even make them consider your fanfiction a piece that does not need to be displayed.

SUCCESS!

Congratulations! You have just succeeded in learning how to write a fanfiction. Now you are ready to tackle it head on!

Thank you for reading my article and if you have any questions, feel free to send me a note or comment on this journal. I will be happy to help.