*NEW* FANFICTION TIPS AND TRICKS | How To Write Good Fanfiction 2024!

4 years ago, I made a video that started all of this, giving my two cents on writing fanfiction and some practical tips and tricks. Over time, I've grown dissatisfied with that video, and wanted to remake it - to use my new expertise to show how to write fanfiction better than I did before.
As I am about to finish my Creative Writing BA, and my channel has been awaiting my return, I figured it was time for both.

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Gaming Channel: @AshBreeX2

---CREDITS---

Talk Sprites by indipindy16

► Music by: LEMMiNO:
LEMMiNO - Firecracker
CC BY-SA 4.0

OUTLINE:

00:00 Start
01:14 Grammar and Spelling
02:27 Canon Characters vs OCs
03:55 Descriptions
07:11 I Was Wrong Back Then
08:20 Dialogue
09:17 Outro

[subspacebubble]

was just getting into writing and was trying to find good videos like this and found ur old one and then found ur new one LOL

[arqueeevist]

ahh i was tearing down at my fic wondering why it felt so odd, when you said "same voice syndrome" and boom. thats it! going to check the relevant canon part to get their voices right again, thank you so much :D

[CoraMaria]

Nice video! While I agree that canon provides enough context that providing descriptions for settings and characters from canon isn't always necessary, I like to do it anyway because it can allow you to:

- Point out the kinds of details that wouldn't be visible or noticeable in canon (especially if it's animated). You can mention things like the dirt up someone's nails, or how the shelves of their home never have a single speck of dust.
- Describe sensations that the source material medium can't or doesn't convey. If there's a character who's always cooking, what does it smell like? What does it taste like?
- Change canon details in the name of adapting to prose form. As an example, I write for a video game fandom, and thus the environments are designed around certain game mechanics, but this means they aren't the most realistic. By describing a canon setting, mentioning the details that don't change can also contextualise the ones that do, thus grounding the reader.
- Characterise the POV character (or narrator/narrative itself). I'm a firm believer that HOW you describe is just as important as WHAT you describe. Sure, we may have seen what this setting or character looks like in canon, but have we seen them through this character's eyes? What do they notice about the setting? What do they like or dislike?
- Make your fic approachable to fandom-blind readers, or readers who might have lost some familiarity with the source material (especially if it's old, hard to access/reference, or is so expansive that no one can be expected to remember everything). Some of my loveliest readers are fandom-blind and it makes me feel like I have a well-rounded skillset since I don't always have to rely on canon to fill in the gaps.

Since plenty of readers do get bored with fics that describe what they already know, I do think it helps immensely if you have one or two reasons to describe something other than "Here's a reminder of what this thing looks like!"

I'm definitely looking forward to your 'Ecomonise Your Story' video! I lean more towards being an overwriter than an underwriter, so I cut a fair amount, but one struggle I have with an AU fanfiction that is still grounded in the canon world is I have all these characters, setting, and worldbuilding details that serve the original story but not mine. I handwave, change, and remove what I can, but sometimes it takes more work or it's harder to justify. If I don't provide an explanation in my story or the A/Ns, readers will also wonder "What happened to this thing?" and think its missing nature may be some kind of Chekhov's gun when I'm actually Marie Kondo'ing canon's Chekhov's guns from MY plot lol!

[CoraMaria]

3:16 Omg I see my videos in the recommendations on the side!

[TheIzaya]

LITERALLY JUST WHAT I NEEDED!!!! I've started getting back into writing fanfic and it's been really hard to find good advise for fanfic!! <3 thank you for making this!!

[FruitSalad]

Thanks for the epic advice! I'm still blown away by how intricate of an art form writing is. Also, I love that exercise for metaphors!

[milkflavored]

Do you have any resources for more information on same voice syndrome? That section was kind of short and reading aloud didn’t help, because both characters are sarcastic 😅

[ninesroom]

i literally just got back into writing and watched your old video a few days ago!! i’m so excited to watch this, the update is very much appreciated 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[personthatisveryhuman.]

and I'm getting back into writing fanfiction so this is so relevant for me 😍😍😍🫶🫶