A Conversation With My Muse - 5. Writing and Rants

Sighing, he sat up in his bed and growled lowly as the thoughts kept running around his mind. He had read a few fanfictions earlier that day and things about them had driven him up a wall. Sunny knew that the writers who had written them were good, having worked with them before, but the ones that he had read had sucked so hard that he had to write something.

So he did. Getting up, he turned on his computer and settled before it, connecting to the net for some inspiration on how to write his rant and how to lay it out.

Kill Bill Volume 2 played in the background as he started to type.

This, this right here actually came from a rant, so don’t mind if it actually sounds like said rant.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably here for a variety of reasons. You could be here just because you want to see what this particular Conversations is all about. Or you could be here to see what I have to say about this. Or…you could just be here to kill a few minutes before you slink off for the day to do whatever it is you’re doing. Or, you could be a new writer, cruising around for tips.

Well, let me show you what 17 years of constant learning and growing, which is still going on, has taught me.

First of all, let me lay out what the three forms of writing you’re bound to run across are. I’m not talking genres. That’s a whole other talk people. The three things that I’m talking about are Fanfiction, Fanfiction Derivatives and Originals. Let me tell you a little about each on.

Fanfiction are works of fiction that are part of a world that someone else has created. Such worlds are TV shows, movies, books, and anime/mangas that run about. Those are originals, anything written by others is fanfiction.

Fanfiction Derivatives are works of fanfiction that have something that I’m not to fond of for various reasons, mostly because of the amount of Mary Sues/Gary Stus out there. We’ll get into what those are later, but essentially, Original Characters that are the main characters or are connected to the main characters in a fanfiction make a fanfiction derivative.

Originals are just that. Stories that are created from the ground up by you. By no one but you. They are probably the hardest pieces of work to ever create because you have to start with nothing instead of with a world already created. I personally enjoy writing originals for the simple fact that I can do whatever I damn well please in my world.

Now, we understand what those three are right? Yes? Good. Let’s go over things.

Let’s run over fanfiction real fast. What is your chosen fandom? What? Don’t really have one? Alright, how about this.

What show/movie/book/series/anime/manga do you know so well that you can tell a person the run down on it and still leave them interested in it because you don’t give away anything important? Not only that, but what fandom do you know that you know the characters well enough to keep in character? Got your fandom?

Good. That’s the start of it. Next, you have to figure out a plot. Okay, now here’s where things get tricky when it comes to tell you guys about this, so this part covers both Fanfiction and Originals.

Plot is essential. It is the backbone and the meat of your story. Without a good plot, the writing sucks something big. So, what is a real plot? Well, according to virtualLit Fiction, it is:

Plot refers to the series of events that give a story its meaning and effect. In most stories, these events arise out of conflict experienced by the main character.

Okay, so plot is the bone and meat of the story, again. If you don’t have a good plot, the rest is just pretty words with not substance. Most readers now days, outside of the occasional PWP, otherwise known as Porn Without Plot, want plot. So, figure out what you want to write. But for all that is holy, stay away from clichés unless you have the knowledge to put a new twist on them.

A note: Person A meets Person B and they fall in love is not a plot. It’s a cop out and an insult to your readers. Add details.

Person A meets Person B, both find themselves drawn but unable to do much more then look. They worked for different people, people that hated each other, or so they said. Torn between their loyalty to their bosses and their rising lust for the other, A and B must make a choice. Is possible love worth all the heart ache? Are they strong enough too stand up to those who say no?

Plot. Romance plot, but plot.

Now, all there is to this is to actually write the thing right?

Wrong!

Now, next up is setting. Again, this covers both fanfiction and originals so I’m doing a broad sweep of this.

Setting is very important. With Fanfiction, you have it all set up for you, all you have to do is figure out where exactly you’re planning on sticking your boys and girls within the story. Personally, I have 3 main areas that I describe to a T and the rest are usually passing settings, but they’re all researched on how they look. With originals, I suggest you take some time and figure out your world you’re writing in. Research, again, is key here.

If you’re writing a story in Chicago, you must know the sights, the layout of the city, everything like that. It’s well worth it when your readers can read a story and imagine what they’re reading and not have to look up something.

Also, knowing your setting means that you’re able to accurately write the story, making it more believable for whatever world you’re writing in, either yours or someone elses. If you’re writing in a manga fandom, use the manga scenes. They will help quite a bit.

Okay, so we’ve covered story types, plot and settings. Let’s move onto characters.

When writing in a fanfiction, try to keep the characters the way they’re created. I can’t tell you how hard this can be if you don’t know shit about the characters you’re writing about. If you don’t know, do some research. Find out when they appear and then watch/read that spot. Seriously, it’s not that hard. Wikipedia has a lot of information on all sorts of things.

There is such a thing as Google search, Yahoo search and Bing search. I use them, often. They are my whipping posts for research.

As for originals, this is where the terms Mary Sue and Gary Stu come in.

A Mary Sue is a girl who is perfect. A Gary Stu is a guy who is perfect. They usually have good looks, have everyone after them and has the main characters, if they themselves aren’t the main characters, attention and lust. They are all that and a bag of chips while still somehow, through it all, humble and sweet. Ugh. It disgusts me.

To clarify, Urban Dictionary describes a Mary Sue as:

Used to negatively describe a female character, usually in a fanfiction (but sometimes in a Tv show or movie,) that can be just be very annoying because they are too perfect or there aren't any/many weaknesses in their personality. If they are a side character, they can sometimes take the spotlight. If they are a main character, it can make an uninteresting story. Sometimes turn into a joke.

Well, there you go! Remember, a Gary Stu, also known as a Marty Stu, is just the male version of a Mary Sue. Can anyone say ‘Edward Cullen’ and ‘Bella Swan’? If you don’t like me insulting them, you can bite me. I’ve been reading since before I could walk. I eat books for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You? A Twilight fan person? You don’t scare me. Your obsession with Twilight scares me, you don’t. So cry.

Though…they can happen in originals to as proven by Twilight. They do happen, not as often but they do happen. Every character needs to be humanized in some way. They’re not perfect, no human (or creature depending on what you’re writing) is. So why should your character be perfect?

Now, we’ve covered nearly everything. Writing comes next pretty much.

You have the world you’re writing in, you have the characters, you know what you’re writing, and you know the plot line you’re going to do! You even have a neat little outline that will help you figure out what goes into each chapter as you write.

But how do you start the writing process? Well, how about you turn off the net, or go somewhere where you can’t get onto the net, such as a park, turn off the TV and listen to some music and free write. Just let the words come out. If you have to, pick a scene and start writing that. You can edit later on after you’re done.

Now, I would go into the details, but I already have other Conversations waiting to be written about writing and the such. Just know that I suggest you learn good grammar, punctuation and spelling. They are the top three things a good beta/editor will beat you over the head for.

Seriously, don’t mix your punctuation, don’t over use the exclamation point, don’t mix your words and don’t write in chunks of paragraph. It annoys people to see this page of solid paragraph. Though, that’s part of formatting.

Heck, as you can see from above, a properly placed italicized word helps get your point across, so I do suggest you learn the code for what ever site you’re posting on. Again, Google, Bing or Yahoo it. It’s called HTML codes and they’re easily found. Trust me on this, I was once someone who had to learn all about this myself.

It takes time and a lot of patience and possibly someone willing to beat you upside the head when you’re straying from the path. People, fellow writers, new and old, you all have the abilities to write something great!

If you just stay away from the fucking CLICHES! And the over used characters. Please.

Sighing happily, Sunny sat back with a smug smirk on his face and slowly stretched his arms above his head. Looking to the clock, he muttered about stupid rants and formatting bullshit before starting to post the newest Conversations.

He wondered if he was tearing some poor writers world into little pieces by telling them that they couldn’t write this or that. Pausing, he smirked and shrugged.

They would learn. After all, if he could learn, so could they.