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Have you ever come across a fan fic that you think could have been written better?

As writers, we are always interested in becoming a better storyteller. Do you have any tips for your fellow writers?

What words do you find commonly misspelled? What type of punctuation errors have you found recently? This thread is for anything and everything related to tips for storytelling. What are common mistakes you find in fan fiction? Does the plot not make sense? And if so, what ways do you think fan fic writers can become better at making their plots more believable.

While describing any tips or annoyances that you find with fan fiction, please refrain from mentioning which stories you have noticed with problems. Every author always has room for improvement.





A common annoyance mentioned here is none other than incorrect grammar usage, particularly with 'there', 'their' and they're'. So take this quiz and see how you go!

Blogthings - The It's Its There Their They're Quiz


Quiz Answers

21:21

Oh I read a fan fic once that was written really bad. The storyline was great though but the fan fic wasn't good. I can't remember the name of it but it really could have been written better.

truthordare

I'm not a writer, but I enjoy reading fanfiction and have, of course, read some bad fiction, I can at least try to give some tipps =)

-Changes in character should be traceable and not drastic (although there is a logical explanation).
-Don't stretch certain parts. Filler chapters are no problem, as long as they are well written, not just sth scrambled together in 5 minutes. 4 fillers are OK, depends on how many chapters the actual story has, but other than that, there has to be something happening in the story, don't just beat about the bush.

heartlines

^^ Good points.

I've noticed this because I do it myself sometimes but when people change tenses without any explanation, such as she sat, then she sits, then she'll be sitting, etc., I pick up on it more because I can't stop doing it.

Hopefully by the time I come to publish the chapter, I've managed to weed them out, probably not though

21:21

I make the mistake of writing character OOC, but I always have some explantion. So I don't like when a character is OOC without a explantion.

heartlines

I hope my characters aren't too OOC, I haven't really noticed I like OOC characters in an AU setting but that's probably the only time.

21:21

Yes, but that's the thing my OTH fan fics are in an AU setting, so I can write the character how I want them to be.

heartlines

If you're writing something like BN or NP then I get that the characters are definitely going to be OOC I just don't like it when they attribute characteristics to somebody just because they don't like them, i.e. making them an awful person, etc. That kind of OOC just annoys me

21:21

Oh that annoys me too.

I write two BN fan fics right now, but I have trouble writing the last chapter of 9th crime.

I don't when people update every day, because they are making me feel bad.

heartlines

I'm always stuck on chapers as well, I'm on a temporary hiatus while I try and get back into the SLs of the fics - it's getting hard though. I love BN fiction, there's something about those two that just intrigues me!

21:21

I just keep finding mistakes in the storyline and it makes me so mad.

BN fan fics are the best.

simplyme7196

I agree about the whole OOC thing. That always bugs me when characters are not what you expect them to be.

I also hate pure fluff. But then again, pure angst kills me. I think there has to be a balance between the two. I love me some angst, but a little happy has to be thrown in there.

21:21

I don't like to read cheesy fan fics with a cheesy couple. If someone is writing a fan fic for a cheesy couple write angst to it and lay off the cheese.

simplyme7196

Exactly. Too much cheese is too much

21:21

Way too much. And too much angst isn't good either.