Tips for fanfiction writers (that means YOU)

[Helbereth]

While I generally agree with you, I don't think "enormous" is a good example, since here, the neutral use is the more common one.

enormous
1. (obsolete) Deviating from the norm; unusual, extraordinary.
2. (obsolete) Exceedingly wicked; atrocious or outrageous.
3. Extremely large; greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc.

The word derives from the latin "ex norma" (outside of the norm) and has no inherent negative connotation.

This reminds me of 'terrible'. If you ask one person, it means 'frightening', 'bad' or something similar. Then someone else would use it to mean 'large', 'extreme', or something along those lines.

That can really change what a sentence means:

"A terrible liar."

If 'terrible' is synonymous with frightful or bad, then this person probably isn't good at lying.
"I'm holding those drugs for a friend! They aren't mine!"

Taken with the other definition, you might conclude they tell extreme lies.
"It's your baby!"

Usually, I try to avoid such contentious words. However, it's context that emphasizes which definition you're using. You can get away with using words that have multiple definitions if they're surrounded by a section that clearly define their intent.

[Oddball]

Then someone else would use it to mean 'large', 'extreme', or something along those lines.

I've never heard anyone use it that way.

[Helbereth]

Then someone else would use it to mean 'large', 'extreme', or something along those lines.

I've never heard anyone use it that way.

1. distressing; severe: a terrible winter.
2. extremely bad; horrible: terrible coffee; a terrible movie.
3. exciting terror, awe, or great fear; dreadful; awful.
4. formidably great: a terrible responsibility.

Both of those are more along the lines of big, large, great, extreme, or unwieldy.

Personally, I don't like using it because it's overused. It's practically a TV news buzzword that gets attached to every story somehow. Essentially, I don't trust it to have any more impact than a word like 'awful', 'tremendous', or 'horrifying', and those words are much more clearly defined.

[Markus Ramikin]

I've seen this in multiple stories, so I thought I'd point it out: there's a temptation to overuse the phrase "can't help but". Especially during sex scenes, for obvious reasons, but also outside them.

I think using two of these in one 2k-words chapter is already pushing it. I've seen two per paragraph, though. There are quite a few different ways to say the same thing, so try to paraphrase, or if you run out of ways to do that (and there are many), consider whether you're writing too much involuntary action.

As for more general advice:

My favourite page of fanfic hints
My favourite punctuation guide

[Shail]

Not so much a "tip" but a preference sort of thing, when writing a story with multiple parts, try to condense the posts when you can. I may be alone in this matter, but from my experience, it's more enjoyable 2-3 long walls of text as opposed to 10 or so little bricks that you have to scroll around for. It also makes you look like a total badass when people read "Part 1/40" and see that Part 1 is a wall of text capable of defending China.

[Oddball]

Not so much a "tip" but a preference sort of thing, when writing a story with multiple parts, try to condense the posts when you can. I may be alone in this matter, but from my experience, it's more enjoyable 2-3 long walls of text as opposed to 10 or so little bricks that you have to scroll around for. It also makes you look like a total badass when people read "Part 1/40" and see that Part 1 is a wall of text capable of defending China.

Wait. You like walls of text?

... I think you're alone in that one.

[BlackWaltzTheThird]

I think he just means that, when writing a long story, people should use long posts instead of having to divvy it up into half a dozen separate posts. In short, a decreased posts-per-chapter ratio. Posts get cut up for a reason, Shail. Long posts like you want can often bork the forum software.

[Shail]

When imagining the ideal post size, I tend to think of the Suzu Pseudo routes chapters. It's long enough that finding the post is rewarding and you can spend a few mins enjoying, but not so long as to keep you from reading it all day. the SP chapters were hovering at 20k+ words per post, which to me is FAR more appealing than 500-1000 words per chapter. Now, if Scissorlips had taken every single chapter and threw it into one post, that would be... messy... but it's immensely more enjoyable than reading tiny 500-1000 word posts over and over. I tend to snack while reading, with a slow auto scroll running, having to stop my face stuffing to go find the next post because the first one took a minute to read is no fun. Likewise I don't want to spend half an hou- ok no that's BS I would love that too <_< I like long stories

[BlackWaltzTheThird]

You don't tend to see 500-1000 word posts on longer stories. When long stories are broken up, it's typically between 4000 and 6000 words per posts, though the safest - and SilentCook-approved - option is to err on the side of less. In the cases of some authors, you can read chapters in a pastebin, which are often many thousands of words long and are suitable for your autoscroll purposes. Of course, this is at the author's discretion. For posts here, however, you'll just have to suck it up. If the posts aren't consecutive, usually this is because they're different chapters or stories, and were written and posted at a completely different time. There's not much more that can be done.

[Shail]

*shrug* it's left to the authors discretion, however my favorite stories tend to have monstrously long chapters, and a lot of chapters ^-^. Doesn't seem to be any more authors writing things on that scale anymore :C the KS craze is dwindling. I shall attempt to fix this at some point <3< gotta get my current fanfic at a respectable "break point" before I go back to my KS fanfic. Working on my story development with my current fanfic to get a bit more experience before I write one for the forums(Fanfic I'm working on now is for personal entertainment, the KS fanfic will hopefully entertain others). That, and I don't want to post a single itty bitty post up and throw tiny updates at it every now and then. I'd like to drop in with a bang, 100k+ words, a wall of text with +6 to fortitude saving throws, aww yeaah. I rarely write but I'm getting that itch to do so after reading so many good fanfics on here.

[Mirage_GSM]

Tip: If you rarely write stories, start small. Don't try to throw out a 100K word epic as a first work. It's going to fail. Badly.

Personally I prefer shorter updates. I often check the forums at times when I don't have enough time to read through a monster post or even a twenty chapter story someone posted all at once...

[YZQ]

It's far more common to start small and end big, rather than start big and getting there. Tolkien said it best, when he described his works on Middle Earth: "The tale grew in the telling."

[Shail]

I would think you'd start off big to throw out the settings, characters, introductions, and etc. Then shrink down substantially as the story came into play.

[Mirage_GSM]

You don't try to make a life-size statue if you've never sculpted before.
You don't run a marathon if you've only ever run sprints.
Writing is the same.
Writing a story with an elaborate setting and multiple complex characters is the marathon of writing.

[Shail]

You don't try to make a life-size statue if you've never sculpted before.
You don't run a marathon if you've only ever run sprints.
Writing is the same.
Writing a story with an elaborate setting and multiple complex characters is the marathon of writing.

That explains why my current fanfic is going so poorly, I have like 10-15 chars atm and it looks like I need another 30-40 and I'm having trouble just managing the few I have already ;-; well boo, going to be a rough write.