# Tips for writing



## Therahedwig (Feb 22, 2005)

Uhm...I thought it might be nice to do write down some writing tips
not only for fanfiction, but also for original fiction:

*1. Setting*

This is what you begin with, wether you like it or not.

*W*hen using an already existing universe, you are writting a fanfic(unless it's the real world), you won't have to consider to much, since you can find it all in the book/movie/game/whatever. What is adivisble is to join a forum where they discuss about the world.(so for naruto fans, first hang around a month at the theories forum) The people who discuss the possibility of a phenomenom in your canon's world, can provide you with almost limitless information and possebilities... though I can't assure you that you won't be spoiled the rest of the story...

*W*hen creating a new world, you will need to think well about stuff:
What kind of world is it?
Are there any gods?
Are there any religions?
What is so special about this world?
how are it's inhabitans?
And ofcourse, you'll need to think out the balance, since if dragons are imortal and uber powerful? what stops them from destroying the world?
maybe they grow very slow, or they are pacifists...

*2. Characters*

Characters are the most difficult part of writing...

*H*ow to keep a character in character
Well, first of all, you don't give a character some charactaristics and some personal habits and then you let him run of to the unknown...Because if you do this, you character will be a robot.

No you begin giving your characters goals and believes, and dreams and hopes.
From whatever live philosofie you've gave them, you'll have to work out how they will react to things, and what their habit will be.

When writing fanfiction, you might consider to ask others for a psychological view on that character.

To give an example of all the above I will use sasuke.
Since he's the most ooc written character I've seen.

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Sasuke flat discription:
A jerk that doesn't say a thing, get all the girls and is a bastard.
He wants to kill his brother, and would sell his soul to the devil to accomplish this, he doesn't give a damn about naruto and sakura.

Sasuke better discription:
Sasuke has seen an illusion of how his brother, who he admirred, killed his family. His brother told him that he's too weak and Itachi will only care for him when he is strong enough to beat itachi.
He's not exactly waiting for all those girls to fawn over him, and is indeed prepared to sell his soul for power, thus also redemption. But he would never be able to sell his friends for that...
Speaking of which, he tries to deny he likes his teammates, because he's scared that if Itachi would've found out, he would come by to kill them.(which almost happend)
He considers Naruto his best friend, but does likes to pick on him a bit.(Which is very normal teenage behavior) an he does like sakura, and I'm positive his apreciation meter would go up, if she stopped fawning over him...

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*N*ow if you would take the flat discription, you will get a flat sasuke, however if you would take the better discription your sasuke will have some dept.

When creating a character you should not forget about the bad points of that chracter, don't make them to cliche, and don't give them any dissease that should be dangerous enough to put them up in a mental insitute, since otherwise you'll get a mary-sue.

Also, when letting your character think, make their thoughts a bit more various instead of:
"Oh no, I'm in love"
"Oh no, I can't do this"(aka wangst)
"Oh no, I'm an uber outcast"(Nobody ever thinks that there are actually people who don't care what others think about them)

*3. Spelling*

A difficult one, spelling is very important, since if you want to atract a large audiance, you won't be using 1337 language, would you?

*T*he most important thing you need to do is to check the story through WORD's spell check, to make sure the words you've written down, are actual words.

*T*he next thing is to look at the grammar, and the words to look wether you've used the right word. for an example hear and here are confused a lot of times, others are:
Their(car) They're(coming) There(it is)
Where(is it) were(as in: we were walking)

You might also try to read your story alout, to fix some difficulties in a sentence.

*A*nd the last one is to get a beta tester, he or she can see the mistakes better and faster then you can. Since you're blind for your own mistakes.

*a*nother thing you have to worry about is the formating:
if you don't use enough paragrpahs then the story might become unreadeble...

*4. anything else*

*Well*, you should be able to see the difference between a flame and constructive critisisme.

the main thing you should remember is that a flamer doesn't want to help you, a writer of a constructive critisism does.

*A*nother thing is to make your authors note a short as possible, because people hate it to see that the authors note is taking up half a page...
don't make the authors note longer than 2 paragraphs in all, and avoid muse talks...they can be annoying like hell, also try to put the an at the beginning and the end, avoid review replies, and make a good signal to show where the chapter begins and ends.

These were my tips(I'll add some more later)
add some yourself if you like.


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## ErikKoekkoek (Feb 22, 2005)

I agree with the above comics. I usually stand by it, as I'm still improving with every chapter I release.

My tips would be; 

Don't force yourself on a set course. If an idea pops in your head just out of the blue, work it out, see if its worth something. If it's not, then no biggy, maybe you can use it later.

If you want to create an engaging story, take your time. Don't be too hasty.

You should take pride in what you write, and actually put in a bit of effort, it will show. Don't flood readers with crap that you're not really happy about or just that you'll have something out. Testing is all well and good, but if you just release stuff that you wouldn't even want to read, it'll reflect badly on yourself.

Find people like-minded and share ideas. I usually have a ball discussing my ideas with someone else. And usually more ideas spring forth from those conversations as well.

Leave the stuff you wrote for a day (a couple hours if you really are pressed for time) then look at your work again. You'll catch more errors and what not that way than you would if you would just stare at it constantly.

Stay true to characters. If you want to change their personality, make sure you've guided the readers through that change. It should not be out of the blue.

Well, that's it for now. Maybe I'll add something else later.

No wait, one last one, and this is the most important one. *Have FUN!*


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## Sesshoumaru (Feb 23, 2005)

*Here is a good tip for characters:*

Canon characters of a series, no matter how you write them or how hard you try, will _always_ be out of character since they are not following the original plot and/or settinsg set by the original author. But, they will be in character for your piece of fiction. When writing about canon character, take every aspect of their original personality, every little detail, then mold them to your liking in a way that fits your own timeline, your own plot, settings, etc.

Personally, I highly criticise authors that advertise that the character they use are in character or not OOC, which is a bunch of bull.

*If you attempt to do an divergence/alternate universe:*

A "divergence" story is a piece of fiction in which at a certain point in a series timeline, one single moment, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, will drastically effect many events in the future - hence, the Chaos Theory or Butterfly Effect.

Usually when one writes a divergence, the main character is usually the centerpiece of what causes and what results from this single moment in time. The divergence could be cause by anything.

For example: When Naruto is unconscious after summoning Gamabunta, he wakes up.... Konoha is being attacked. This in turn has him disqualified and he never gets to fight Neji and prove that he is not a drop-out. Shikamaru never gets pushed into the arena to fight Temari, hence he is not promoted to Chuunin. Because of the time frame of when Sasuke was suppose to fight Gaara, he is always disqualified. Neji has to fight Gaara and Temari has to fight Shino. When Sasuke shows up, he finds out he is disqualified and is made a laughing stock. The possibility of Konoha falling is higher because Naruto doesn't wake up in time to know what is going on. Sasuke is highly expect to die because of this along with many others, including Neji. Naruto never, figuratively speaking, opened Neji's eyes. Tragically, Rock Lee would of been assassinated in his sleep by Gaara in the hospital because Naruto never went to visit Chouji with Shikamaru.

That's a lot, huh?

A good example of an divergence - I will shamelessly advertise - this story about Uchiha Itachi called *The Lazy Uchiha*


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## Therahedwig (Mar 9, 2005)

more writing tips here:

Link removed

next to that:
When creating an idea, try to discuss with someone about that idea, another person can see better, wether you idea sucks/is cliche.(I for an example use my older sister, who also writes)This way, you can change or drop your idea before you become attached to it.


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## 200 IQ (Mar 9, 2005)

Another writing tip - don't use crack pairings like TemaNaru or InoNaru. More reviews if you use pairings that every body likes.


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## Phosphorus (Mar 9, 2005)

Nice. I didn't read through it all the way, but, my tips are:

1. Pay attention in english class (unless you're in a class like mine >>; We do nothing)
2. Have a proof reader. They help, especially when they're uber smart.

here <-- Nice website.


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## Therahedwig (Mar 11, 2005)

200 IQ said:
			
		

> Another writing tip - don't use crack pairings like TemaNaru or InoNaru. More reviews if you use pairings that every body likes.


dude, these where supossed to be just writing tips...
BTW a writer shouldn't care if anyone wants to review or not, since basicly what ff.net reviewers do is say that it's good...or bad...it shouldn't influence what you write...
A writer that only writes what the people like is just as worse as all those american companies that translate anime and adapt it for kids, or those game companies that take good games(unreal, half-life, the older ffs), and clone them bad(any random shooter or rpg) so it'll might sell...

That's not creative, or selfstanding, so you're actually telling people to go with the mainstream, so brainless fanfiction readers will review their work some more, but they'll never stand out like that, and they will never challange their boundaries...

And you're telling them not to use their creativity, like any other reasonable writer, but to copy good writers...
That's just plain stupid y'now...


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## Fairady (Jul 3, 2005)

Hm, this is a pretty good thread. I've got just a few tips.

Outlines are your friends. I hate having to outline stuff but it really helps when you're writing something. Whenever I get stuck I jot out a new outline on what I've written and what I want to write. It usually helps with the block.

Also if you're absolutely stuck on something and can't write past that point just leave it alone for a few days. Go do something else and don't think about it or skip further ahead and write another scene. Sometimes it'll help.

Betas are necesary to life. It doesn't matter how many times you read through a fic, you will always miss something. If you're beta tells you everything is good and they see no problem with it you need to get a new beta. A good beta will take out a cheese grater and do things to your fic that would make Morono Ibiki flinch. Those betas are always worth their weight in gold.


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## Wrath (Jul 3, 2005)

My tips are these:

If you're not a genius (and you're not) then plan things out and put a lot of effort into it. Winging it is fine sometimes, but you'll always end up with a better piece of work if you try hard.

Believe in yourself. If you know you have a good story then you have a duty to get it out as you feel it should be. Don't let your readers walk all over you.

Remember that readers aren't your fans. They don't owe you anything. Make sure that anyone who reads your work will be able to understand and tolerate it. If this means using spell checkers or proof readers or whatever then use them.

Writing something solely for yourself is masturbation plain and simple. Write what you want to, but always remember that you're writing for an audience.


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## less (Jul 5, 2005)

Wrath said:
			
		

> Writing something solely for yourself is masturbation plain and simple.


It's perfectly normal, it doesn't hurt anyone, but please don't do it with an audience. Great tip.

I read a book by Stephen King called "On Writing". It's a beginners guide to writing, and, ironically, way better than most of his fiction. He has a few really hard-nosed pieces of advice on style that I try to adhere to at all times, and that I think many fanfic writers should take a look at. Two of my favourites include:

1: Kill the adverbs. King is fanatically opposed to the use of adverbs. He argues that in a well told story, how someone does something should be obvious from the context. Not always, but 95% of the time. This is especially true when it comes to verbs that already carries an adverbial indication; _He slammed the door violently_ is, as we say in Norwegian, butter on fat.

2: When writing dialogue, try to mainly stick with "he said/she said", the less you use murmured/shouted/demanded/grumbled/bitched/yelled/cried/ghasped/proclaimed/whispered/etc the more effective these will be when finally used.

And a couple of my own(fanfic-specific):

3: Read your reviews carefully. Everybody reads their reviews, but sometimes it seemes that few put in the effort to actually take what they say to heart. I'm not talking about the "OMFG PLZ MMAKE IT A ITAKAKA fic!!!1!" ones, but the ones that are constructive, and long (the writers of long reviews are the real heroes of fanfic society).

4: Don't spoil the whole thing at the beginning. It happens way to often that I sit down to start on an epic Naruto-fic only to read something like "This is my version of what could have happened after the timeskip. The akatsuki plan on assasinating shizune to get Tsunade to act rash, and when they do, all hell breaks loose. Don't worry it all works out and Naruto finally becomes Hokage in the end. naru/hina, sasu/saku, ino/shika/chouji." 
Why would I want to read a suspense story if I know the end?

5: Describe the caracters hair and eyes BUT ONCE. Everyone knows Naruto is blond, and everyone knows sakura's eyes are of that creepy torquoise colour.


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## Wrath (Jul 6, 2005)

> the writers of long reviews are the real heroes of fanfic society


Amen. Although it makes me feel bad because I rarely leave reviews myself, but when I get a long review I thank god. Reviews that just say "update soon" are okay, and they're gratifying and all but it's just not the same as when someone takes the time to really tell you what they think.

If you ask me, the best reviews are the ones which are complimentary but also point out mistakes or problems they have. There's nothing that helps more than honesty from your readers. If someone tells me what they don't like then I'm going to believe them more when they say what they do like.


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## Sabaku no Ira (Jul 22, 2005)

lessbadnotbetter said:
			
		

> 5: Describe the caracters hair and eyes BUT ONCE. Everyone knows Naruto is blond, and everyone knows sakura's eyes are of that creepy torquoise colour.



Well, actually that depends. It would be a good idea to refer to Naruto as "the blonde" and Sakura as "the girl with torquoise eyes" rather than doing a "Naruto" or "Sakura" all the time or else the fic will get kind of boring. In fact, it is kind of a basic "rule" in writing fiction to diversify the ways something is described/refered to just to make the paragraph look more lively and not tedious to read. Or at least every writer whose works I've read does that.


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## Lackey_H (Jul 22, 2005)

I've found a few tips too~

1 - Rest assured, after a while of near constant writing (2-3 months worth, sometimes longer) you *will* feel that your first stuff is crap. Believe me, you *WILL* feel that way. It's not that your work actually is bad, it's just that by then you tend to feel your writing has improved and after 2-3 months of writing you feel it's improved significantly. To that end you'll compare your original stuff (back when you had little idea what you were doing) to the stuff you're doing now that you have a better understanding. The trick is to ignore this feeling and just keep going~ (Besides, if you're that desperate you can always do some re-writing *AFTER* you've finished the fic.)

2 - Don't do the same old, same old. NaruSasu - fine. Highschool fic - iffy, but okay-ish. NaruSasu fic in a Highschool? DIE! JUST DIE AND GET OFF THE INTERNET! Don't just do the same as someone else 'cuz they got a lot of reviews, the number of reviews has absolutely no indication what-so-ever of how good the fic is. (I suspect half these OMG!!@1!one type reviews that flood some generic-crap-fics come from the same person anyway ) Do something you think is a fun idea, however weird it may be, don't do things because they seem 'popular'. Trust me, if you aren't having fun with it as a writer, then it'll suck - plain and simple as that.

3 - Respect those who have very good fics. XD RESPECT US! Someday we'll be ruling the world after all. But until then, most of the well-known authors  aren't gonna send you running home with your tail between your legs if you hunt us down to ask a question or two. (well... er... we might get somewhat creeped out if you show up on our doorstep however). Man, i remember back when I sent an E-mail to Eimii (who wrote the first ever fic i read, Shattered Hearts on the Road, and then later went and wrote Suiren for the Naruto fandom) By then I was partway into Betrothal and woooOoooo~ you would not believe the boost I got when she said she'd read, and liked it. This was my fanfic GOD telling me she liked my work.
So yeah, talk to people, ask 'em a few pointless questions, slyly present your fic idea, then hope they'll give suggestions to you. It helps sometimes.

And that's it. Mostly babbling, but something should help.


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## Aternox (Jul 30, 2005)

_*Write. A lot. 
Read. A lot.*_

_Write :_ Most of us are not geniuses. In fact, I'm pretty sure no one is a genius (in the fanfiction world). Acquiring a writing style is something that needs time and practice, you won't sprout clever stuff just by snapping your fingers. 

A couples of years ago, when I was lurking in the IY fandom, there was that author, Rozefire, who was really having a roll. Everyone in the fandom knew her name and such. Her stories were nice, well build, humorous, and her characters, even if a bit OOC, were really convincing. A lot of people thought that she was a genius, being only 17 and writing stuff like that.
But I knew her for a while, and I read some of her first fics, that she deleted when she became famous. One of it was a simple copy/paste from the script of the movie 'A life less ordinary', with the IY cast. (She carefully choose quite unknown movies). All her first fics were like that. She took the IY cast, mixed it up with a movie plot, and wrote it down.

It's not a bad thing at all. By doing so, she polished her writing style, and learned some nice techniques. But she was clearly not a genius. She had worked a lot to get to that success. What I mean is: there's no geniuses, only hard work.


_Read :_ And please, not always the same thing. Good authors will influence your writing style. Read different stuff, ponder over it, try to think over the difference with your style and other people's style. 
Don't read only fanfics, it'll corrupt your mind after a while (only reading the same thing, only writing the same thing.) try to read authors who are a bit cynical, parodies and such (Terry Pratchett is a really good start)

When you like a book/fic, ask yourself why you liked it. You liked it because you were surprised by how the story unfolded? Then try to come up with interesting plot-twists too.


Diversity is the key. And well, everything already mentionned in this very good thread.


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## Kunoichi (Aug 22, 2005)

This thread has helped a lot. I've read it and hopefully will abide by the rules. I was personally having a lot of trouble with trying to fit characters in a certain plot-- but once I read the first post and it explained about talking about the Naruto-verse here so your ideas fit seemed very plausible. This is a great thread! ^^

My tip echoes someone else's earlier. It would be to start an idea and not post it up straight away, it'll give your brain some time to get used to the idea. What may sound like a brilliant idea in the beginning could sound rather ridiculous later... like Neji finally discovering his feelings for Tenten one late evening because they are training. The OOCness also comes into place. Actually, before I start a fanfic, I think I'm going to write character bios (given what we have by Kishimoto-San) and try to stick to them.

Thanks for this thread. n_n


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## IQSymphic (Aug 22, 2005)

Nice tips, nice tips...although what are the so called "original pairings"?

Naru/Hina, Shika/Ino, Sasu/Saku, etc. etc.? There overused, boring and quite frankly I think if you make pairings work then imo, they come out really nice. I did a Anko/Itachi pairing on one of my stories (they make a brief cameo but enough to set up a nice background).

Getting a beta reader (different ones) can be a nice balance as they can help critique and give ideas to the story where you never could imagine.

Don't worry about the amount of reviews. I prefer to get ones that are serious then short ones like "Update soon!" or "Nice chapter, hihi ^_^". Although it does seem nice to get a few reviews once in a while...

(Grumble mumble...)

Meh those are just a few things...


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## Sabaku no Ira (Aug 25, 2005)

Aternox said:
			
		

> _Read :_ And please, not always the same thing. Good authors will influence your writing style. Read different stuff, ponder over it, try to think over the difference with your style and other people's style.
> Don't read only fanfics, it'll corrupt your mind after a while (only reading the same thing, only writing the same thing.) try to read authors who are a bit cynical, parodies and such (Terry Pratchett is a really good start)



First you tell people not to read the same thing always, and then you go and tell them to read more parodies and such. Do I sense a contradiction there?

I would say that normally those who want to write well should diversify their reading. However, if they are writing a particular genre (romantics, fantasy, and so forth) during a particular time, it's not a bad idea that for that time read more books of the said genre (read LOTR when writing fantasy, etc) since it keeps your mind geared towards writing that genre and sometimes the books will give you relevant ideas and useful styles (yes, style can be part of a technique, and different style is better for different genre and theme).


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## Wrath (Aug 25, 2005)

> read LOTR when writing fantasy


Only if you want an example of what not to do, yeuch. LotR is a terrible example of writing, and though I respect the amount of work that went into the world building I absolutely detest the writing itself.

The characters are poorly defined, the pacing is horrendous, Tolkein had a tendancy to wax lyrical for pages at a time about minor details such as what a tree looked like... and interrupting the prose every page with a song is just a bad idea.


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## Sabaku no Ira (Aug 26, 2005)

Wrath said:
			
		

> Only if you want an example of what not to do, yeuch. LotR is a terrible example of writing, and though I respect the amount of work that went into the world building I absolutely detest the writing itself.
> 
> The characters are poorly defined, the pacing is horrendous, Tolkein had a tendancy to wax lyrical for pages at a time about minor details such as what a tree looked like... and interrupting the prose every page with a song is just a bad idea.



Well, that was just an example to illustrate. I personally find his work quite nice. The plot was excellent and the descriptions are detailed (I think you do need a bit of detailed description to get the "feel" of a fantasy world). But then Tolkien did have a bit of a problem with his characters...

For best characterization in fantasy genre Ed Greenwood so far has my vote (though his novels has a tendency to... well, have scenes that involve a beautiful female character losing her clothes). Narnia series was good, though a bit too geared towards a younger (very much) generation...


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## FanB0y (Aug 26, 2005)

Here's a simple tip:

Write everything that comes to your mind. Dont think, just write! Everything doesn't have to make sense the first time, it's just a draft after all. After you've finished your draft, then you make sense of out everything you've written.


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## Aternox (Aug 27, 2005)

Sabaku no Ira said:
			
		

> First you tell people not to read the same thing always, and then you go and tell them to read more parodies and such. Do I sense a contradiction there?



Well, I don't think there's a contradiction, if there's one , it's because of my bad Engrish, and I apolozige about it.
What I mean is : by reading parodies, you can witness a really unusual way of writing, and/or understand what's wrong with the more traditional genres. 

I didn't mean "read only parodies". That was just and exemple of diversification.


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## Sabaku no Ira (Aug 28, 2005)

I see.

Another thing: when creating characters, be consistent. If a character is supposed to be a humble character, don't make his/her dream be "I want everyone to know how good I am" or "I want everyone to know me!" because a humble person does not do that. A character with a non-traditional characteristic to his/her class is good (like how Naruto is a noisy/loud ninja when a ninja's supposed to be stealthy), but a character that doesn't act like s/he's described is retarded.

Hence this is why it's a good idea not to describe a character's personality outright at all. Jane Austin is particularly clever at this (she can tell you that a character is arrogant and then make him/her behave as such) but I don't think a lot of us here are that good. Also, there's also the issue of how readers read into a character's action. So instead of going "Such and such is an arrogant man" go " 'I can take on everyone!' he thought to himself."


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## IQSymphic (Sep 11, 2005)

Basically to avoid creating Mary Sues unless you keep them at character and without the inevitable story becoming destroyed or centered around that character?


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## Sabaku no Ira (Sep 18, 2005)

IQSymphic said:
			
		

> Basically to avoid creating Mary Sues unless you keep them at character and without the inevitable story becoming destroyed or centered around that character?



If you can pull that one off, yes.

Actually, the term "Mary Sue" sometimes gets a bit too abused IMO. I mean, I've seen some people who regard every single OC as Mary Sue...


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## TheVileOne (Sep 30, 2005)

Avoiding the stupid and non-sensical yaoi pairings would be the best tip I can think of.

Seriously ladies...it ain't happening.


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## Therahedwig (Oct 1, 2005)

TheVileOne said:
			
		

> Avoiding the stupid and non-sensical yaoi pairings would be the best tip I can think of.
> 
> Seriously ladies...it ain't happening.



And again, that ain't a writing tip...(every fandom has silly pairings, and yaoi parings, it's a part of a fandom these days...)

What would be a writing tip, is saying that you just can't put some characters together within 3 chapters, sometimes you need to take a very long time with some couples, especially when they hate eachother(example: NaruTayu because there's hate from both sides, esspecially from Naruto's side, because Tayuta is one of the nins that took Sasuke away...)

Some people are just more compatible then others...


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## TheVileOne (Oct 1, 2005)

I think its a good tip because we've way too many yaoi pairings  .

Something else I'd like to say, if you are going to have Naruto and Kyuubi be friends...at least build up to it.  Kyuubi can't just suddenly like Naruto, because he doesn't.  He hates Naruto and wants to eat him.  The only reason he helps Naruto is so he won't die.  So to have them suddenly be friends or have Kyuubi really want to help Naruto it would have to be convincing or built up to as such.


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## Aternox (Oct 8, 2005)

TheVileOne said:
			
		

> I think its a good tip because we've way too many yaoi pairings  .
> 
> Something else I'd like to say, if you are going to have Naruto and Kyuubi be friends...at least build up to it.  Kyuubi can't just suddenly like Naruto, because he doesn't.  He hates Naruto and wants to eat him.  The only reason he helps Naruto is so he won't die.  So to have them suddenly be friends or have Kyuubi really want to help Naruto it would have to be convincing or built up to as such.



bump for truth.
Yes, Kyuubi is kind of cool, and having him side and team up with Naruto would be great, and the Naru/kyuu relationship is REALLY interesting, i mean, there's so much to work on, it's a gold mine to every writer. 

BUT.

You can't have a nice Kyuubi with just a snap of your fingers. Yes, there's surely a reason why he attacked the village, and maybe the 4th isn't that clean about it... BUT, you can't have Kyuubi being all nice and comprehensive. Even if he was not that bad to begin with, I think that 16 years sealed in someone's body may somehow alter his mood. 

And he destroyed half of Konoha. 

He is NOT a puppy, nor a nice, friendly teacher/father figure/ demented tutor. (Kishimoto already created a father figure for Naruto, and he named it Jiraiya.


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## Therahedwig (Oct 9, 2005)

Kishimoto made more then one fatherfigure for Naruto...(Iruka, this was stated in canon: "I think being with Iruka is what it feel like to be with a father")

Yeah, I also would like to see a good written kyuubi...
Because I never saw the relation well denveloped, I think Kyuubi, even after becoming semi-friends with Naruto, would still have his demonic characteristics, so to a normal person, he still would be some sort of a bully to Naruto, but still a lot of people write him a lovly-dovly after becoming friends.
It's a DEMON people, a DEMON!


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## TheVileOne (Oct 9, 2005)

Yes.  And not just that a demon that's probably centuries or even millenia years old.  I doubt 16 years in Naruto's body would change him THAT much.  

To me, despite what Naruto said, Iruka seems more like a nice older, big brother to me than a father for Naruto.  Naruto respects and loves him.  With Jiraiya, it feels more like a father/son thing since Naruto obviously has a healthy amount of disrespect for Jiraiya and acts like a rebellious teen around him.


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## shurikenninja (Oct 9, 2005)

good tips but you ruened the naruto part scene about when he says he want s to kill someone thanks Jerk Ya but still good tip(s) thanxs,


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## Therahedwig (Oct 11, 2005)

Okey, I've got another writing tip:

If you're having trouble characterising someone, then try to look for people in your neighbourhood that might be like them, and try to ask yourself: "What would he/she do in such situation?"

Example: I'm a girl of 15 years old, and like a lot of girls, I have trouble writing men in a believeble way.
So when I think up scenes, or conversations with boys, I try to imagen how the boys in my class would've reacted to the situation, so I can try to get a decent view of how the boy/man is supossed to act.
(Ofcourse, technically, this might be a bit hard with slash, since the boys in my class aren't gay... Well, then again, sex is sex...)
But anyway, I would know that most boys wouldn't run around declaring their most intimate feelings, or actually any feelings for anyone at all.

And if they do, then I'm sure it's some übersecret male language, that we women just don't seem to grasp...


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## Zen_Monk (Nov 9, 2005)

Here's something about plot:

If you have some sort of plot, no matter how weird it it or even if it's really unstable in a way that in the middle of writing it you suddenly realize it kind of sounds dumb...

DON'T THINK IT'S DUMB.

Like in theatre, if you're performing a comedy (of in my case, writing a script of comedy) go all out even if nobody's laughing. 

Not to say that you should diverge from the plot story and throw something weird. You can do that if you like it that way. 

Look at A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum...

All Hero wanted was to be married to a pretty girl but can't due to social classification. Then there's a full-blown storm of crazy coincidences that somehow make sense and all because someone tried to do one simple thing.

As long as something is somehow connected, then everything falls into place.

Look at me, I kind of diverged from what I wrote before...

Should I curse or praise myself...?


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## neko-sennin (Nov 23, 2005)

Therahedwig said:
			
		

> When creating an idea, try to discuss with someone about that idea, another person can see better, wether you idea sucks/is cliche.(I for an example use my older sister, who also writes)This way, you can change or drop your idea before you become attached to it.



A great idea. In my case, my best friend and my aunt-- who are both extremely well-read, and not the least bit afraid to tell me straight if something sucks-- usually read and cirtique the second (open-door) draft of my manuscripts. The real secrets here are to find someones who is a) interested in what you write, b) literate enough in such material to judge it accordingly, and c) wants you to succeed badly enough to tell you the truth.



			
				Wrath said:
			
		

> Writing something solely for yourself is masturbation plain and simple. Write what you want to, but always remember that you're writing for an audience.



Nothin' wrong with a little pen-wanking (though I agree about not doing it for an audience), you never know what might come of it. Bad puns aside, some of my personal best writing from just screwing around. But I *did* make sure it was going somewhere before presenting it to anyone besides my betas.



			
				less said:
			
		

> I read a book by Stephen King called "On Writing". He has a few really hard-nosed pieces of advice on style that I try to adhere to at all times, and that I think many fanfic writers should take a look at.



I would also second _On Writing_. This one book was infinitely more useful than all the other books I've ever read on the subject put together. It did nothing short of revolutionize my writing.



			
				Aternox said:
			
		

> _*Write. A lot.
> Read. A lot.*_



The Two Commandments of the writer. Or, as Stephen King so aptly put it: "If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to be a writer." Once upon a time, years worth of _required_ reading nearly killed my joy in doing so, and my writing suffered greatly because of it. Art does not exist in a vacuum.



			
				FanB0y said:
			
		

> Write everything that comes to your mind. Dont think, just write! Everything doesn't have to make sense the first time, it's just a draft after all. After you've finished your draft, then you make sense of out everything you've written.



A good approach. It lets you hang on to that all-important momentum, especially on bigger undertakings. I've been spending the past four years doing just that, starting from scratch and reconstructing a manuscript I started writing when I was in high school and college. But it's been worth every minute I've devoted to it, in terms of taking a good storyline of crappy execution, and making the storytelling, characters, and continuity fit together more naturally.



			
				Sabaku no Ira said:
			
		

> When creating characters, be consistent. If a character is supposed to be a humble character, don't make his/her dream be "I want everyone to know how good I am" or "I want everyone to know me!" because a humble person does not do that. A character with a non-traditional characteristic to his/her class is good (like how Naruto is a noisy/loud ninja when a ninja's supposed to be stealthy), but a character that doesn't act like s/he's described is retarded.
> 
> Hence this is why it's a good idea not to describe a character's personality outright at all. So instead of going "Such and such is an arrogant man" go " 'I can take on everyone!' he thought to himself."



Or, the Cardinal Rule of Storytelling: "Show, don't tell." (Props Stephen King) Physical descriptions work fine, but the more you can reveal about a character by their words and deeds, the less you need to say things like, "So-and-So is an arrogant prick." (for example). And nothing irks off more readers than a charater who behaves a certain way just up and doing something radically different without a significant cause.



			
				Therahedwig said:
			
		

> If you're having trouble characterising someone, then try to look for people in your neighbourhood that might be like them, and try to ask yourself: "What would he/she do in such situation?"
> 
> Example: I'm a girl of 15 years old, and like a lot of girls, I have trouble writing men in a believeble way.



It works. In my early stories, most of my characters were already experienced warriors/explorers/etc, and already knew what they were doing. Later, I started writing a series about younger characters, and the early versions were horribly unrealistic because the characters were more badass than they should have been at that level. A couple years ago, I wrote several short stories about child and high-school-age characters, both for my own amusement, as well as to get the feel of thinking in terms of "What can/'t a kid do in a situation like this?" and when I came back to the above-mentioned series, it gave me clearer sense of how to protray my heroes by _what level they started at_, as well as where they were going.


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## Dejablue (Aug 31, 2006)

These are all good ideas.  Well except for a few that seem to be more opinion than writing tips.

But back on the topic of the elusive Mary Sue.  I know the most common one is the type that is near pefection.  But is there a reverse to this?  Like there are so MANY flaws to a person that they are just as bad as the perfection mary sue?  Theres one thing people hate more than a normal Mary Sue.  Its the super Mary Sue that a canon character falls in love with.

And what is your over all feelings for Self Insertion?  I hear its the scourge of all fanfiction tecniques!

  - An Essay about Mary Sueism and Self Inserts.  It is very interesting.  Try reading it and see what you think.

Oh and have any of you heard about this?: *also, this picture will give it away* Tis a fanfiction *"FILLER Writing Contest".*
Are you pissed off at the crappy no-go plot that nearly every Naruto filler seems to have up until recently? Well now in your own way you can stick it to those imagination depraved writers by writing a script you think is worthy of watching.

So basically. If you hate filler. And you think you could have done a better job with some of those episodes. This is your chance to prove yourself!


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## Therahedwig (Sep 6, 2006)

Dejablue said:
			
		

> These are all good ideas.  Well except for a few that seem to be more opinion than writing tips.
> 
> But back on the topic of the elusive Mary Sue.  I know the most common one is the type that is near pefection.  But is there a reverse to this?  Like there are so MANY flaws to a person that they are just as bad as the perfection mary sue?  Theres one thing people hate more than a normal Mary Sue.  Its the super Mary Sue that a canon character falls in love with.
> 
> ...


Tips is like criticism and techniques, try them all out, and keep what you like 

As for the mary sue, what the essay tells is the general idea for what the mary sue is, as far as I heard...

Another thing I have noticed myself is that if I respect and tread the characters of another series the same way I tread my own characters, it becomes much more easier to imgine what they would do(though I'm not the kind of person that would make giantically drastic changes to her own characters oftenly...)


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## Surarrin (Sep 7, 2006)

Let's see. Some Writing Tips.

1) If you writing a Fan fiction remember that you don't have complete free reign. If, of course you don't care what people think about you, and how you change everything in the story to suit your own needs then be my guest and do so. But, you'll be showing how bad of a writer you are. If you can't give believable reasons to why something is happening, then it shouldn't happen. Just *because * isn't a good reason. This is one of the things that put me off reading Yaoi, most of the time it isn't viable.

2) If you don't feel like writing then don't. You'll write sub-standard works. If you ARE motivated however, try your best to write, actually, do all you can to write, even if it's scribbling down bit's and pieces on a napkin with some lipstick, Haha.

3) Don't do things which have been done before. Unless you have a new take which you have never seen or heard of before, it's a bad idea. Why? Because you'll be tempted to recycle scenes from other stories. 

- This applies to all stories which are redoing the original plot-line. No one wants to read about the Wave Arc, Chuunin Arc, and Sasuke retrieval arc. Honestly, they don't. If they are reading the fan fiction that means they have already read the manga and/or seen the anime, which means they already know what has happened. This causes them to skim; which means they don't actually read most of it.

4) Don't cater to your readers.

5) If you have inspiration for another story then write it down. I myself have a dozen or so stories just waiting to begin.

- Don't start stories at the drop of a pin, you'll lose yourself in them and most likely ruin all the characterisations. An Example...

Naruto is a *bad-ass ninja who can kick ass from one end of the continent to the other. *

Naruto is an *average ninja with some abilities which at times can set him above the rest. *

They don't look anything alike do they? But the mannerisms you give each of them can occasionally leak into each other.

6) Don't dumb the story down.


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## mrpresidenthehe (Sep 9, 2006)

Since someone FINALLY said "Show, don't tell," I'll contribute my other favorite tip. 

A story I recently clicked on had this at the top:

"Spoken words"
_Thoughts _
*Kyuubi speaking*
*Inner Sakura speaking*
*Dark Naruto speaking*

Something along these lines.  Doing this just pisses off the reader.  I recommend only using quotations for speech, italics for thoughts only if the fic involves a LOT of thought.  Kyuubi's words being bolded and italicized I understand, but frown upon.  I don't like it when authors use bold as freely as italics becase bold just sticks out too much.


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## Alia_Atreides (Oct 25, 2006)

Dont do something just because other people do. Stick to your story and your ideas, dont fear it. Too many opinions can ruin your stuff. 

Also, go easy on drama. Drama is cool, emotions are great, but dont go too hard on it. Characters dont need to say everything, and things dont need to be obvious. Readers are not dumb. You dont need to explain every little thing. You must leave space for imagination... 

Do that, and you will be fine.


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## neko-sennin (Oct 25, 2006)

To that, I would add: the best narrative writing often primes the reader with the most basic or specific (if necessary to the scene) details, and let's the reader's imagination do the rest. One of the most interesting points Stephen King made in _On Writing_ was that a table in a room in the writer's mind doesn't necessarily have to look like the table in the room in the reader's mind, as long as the reader sees a table that looks _something_ like table in the room, that is the important part, and anything more than that just bogs the story down in excess detail.



mrpresidenthehe said:


> Since someone FINALLY said "Show, don't tell," I'll contribute my other favorite tip.
> 
> A story I recently clicked on had this at the top:
> 
> ...



I'll second that. The first two are how I express most things, and I would never dumb it down by putting it at the top of the story. Those two modes of expression are a _given_ in most styles of writing. As for the latter ones, I usually only use bold for chapter/title headings, as it makes it easier for the reader to see where one chapter ends and the next begins. Otherwise, I occasionally use ALL CAPS for someone or something that's blaring at excessive volume in a scene, just for example, but largely keep away from bold, etc.


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## seilif (Dec 15, 2006)

Thanks for the tips.  And yes, regarding the japanese-speaking beta, I definitely agree that that would be awesome.

I'm using the link that you provided me, Alia, so I hope I can upload the prologue of the story within the newxt day or two. 

At the moment, I'm off to find a Japanese-fluent person who would like to become my beta.

Thanks Guys.

-seilif


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## Tyrael (Mar 8, 2008)

If you are writing in english why make the jutsus in japanese? As painful as it may seem, write everything in english.


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## Axis48 (May 13, 2008)

> 1. The text that you have entered is too long (60403 characters). Please shorten it to 10000 characters long.



This seems unacceptable, breaking my story into *Seven* posts, it is inefficient and a waste of space, I'll probably link off-site, but right now, makes me a spot mad that I would have to condense, horribly so, otherwise.


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## S.A.S (Jun 2, 2008)

Thank you these are really helpful


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## neko-sennin (Jun 2, 2008)

> The text that you have entered is too long (60403 characters). Please shorten it to 10000 characters long.





Axis48 said:


> This seems unacceptable, breaking my story into *Seven* posts, it is inefficient and a waste of space, I'll probably link off-site, but right now, makes me a spot mad that I would have to condense, horribly so, otherwise.



It's annoying, I know, but was probably a result of long-ass posts (LAP's) spamming other sections here, a measure against posts I've seen elsewhere that are longer than most thread _pages_. I also post some chapters that are longer than the character limit, and all I can recommend is picking a point, a transition within the passage, to do what I think of a virtual "page break" and treat the next post like another "page" in a document. Of all the possible motives to shorten a piece, there's certainly no need to "condense" based solely on an arbitrary message board limit.



Tyrael said:


> If you are writing in english why make the jutsus in japanese? As painful as it may seem, write everything in english.



No offense, my friend, but if there's one thing I've learned from the English dub of Naruto, it's that when you turn jutsu names into English, it just doesn't sound like, you know, _ninjutsu_ anymore.


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## Eki (Aug 5, 2009)

Has anyone said anything about Point of Views?(PoV) I think its kinda important to stick to one PoV of a character in each chapter b/c ive read too many fics were the PoV just randomly switches and then i get confused...


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## terry1324576 (Jun 2, 2010)

Thanks, this helps. Im currently writing mine called the shadow of the day and this helped a lot


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