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Beyond the Basics: Fanfiction From Start to Finish

Beyond the Basics: Fanfiction From Start to Finish. Presented by: Ashcat & Gryvon Otakon – July 2010. Introductions. Ashcat – Photoash. Gryvon. What about you?. What fandoms do you write for primarily?. Overview. Hooking your reader right from the start

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Beyond the Basics: Fanfiction From Start to Finish

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  1. Beyond the Basics: Fanfiction From Start to Finish Presented by: Ashcat & Gryvon Otakon – July 2010

  2. Introductions Ashcat – Photoash Gryvon

  3. What about you? • What fandoms do you write for primarily?

  4. Overview • Hooking your reader right from the start • Keeping your story clear and readable throughout • Wrapping it up leaving them wanting more

  5. Beginning Right • Always start in the middle of action • Reader already familiar with characters

  6. Try to avoid: • Character waking up or regaining consciousness • Describing the surroundings • Emotion dump • Backstory

  7. Opening Hooks • Make the reader curious • Make the reader care • Include conflict • Use loaded words (evoke emotion) • Engage the senses

  8. Opening Sentences • Are short and snappy • Immediately set the tone of the story • Quickly raise questions that you want answered • Hit you right between the eyes, often by being surprising or shocking • http://www.fuelyourwriting.com/the-most-important-sentence-how-to-write-a-killer-opening/

  9. What really draws you into a story?

  10. Dialogue Tags • Avoid descriptive verbs and adverbs that restate the emotion already conveyed in dialogue, show don't tell • Said is invisible, reader will overlook it • Avoid having unnecessary action clutter your dialogue • The Name Game

  11. Series of Scenes • Avoid the unnecessary • Every scene should do one of the following: • Advance the plot (or subplot) • Develop a character • Chapters endings • Each scene should have one point of view, no head-swapping

  12. What to AVOID • Excessive exclamation points. (2-3 per 100k) • Words that add nothing to the sentence – just, finally, suddenly

  13. What to AVOID cont. •  Excessive descriptions • Rule of Three • Be specific – car vs Mustang vs jalopy, bird vs raven, pants vs khakis vs Levis

  14. In your fandom what are some common grammatical issues?

  15. Finishing Strong • Resolve the major conflict or question of the story • Leave yourself some options • Readers will draw their own conclusion, and think more on open plots

  16. Avoid the Cliché • It was all a dream • Everyone lives happily ever after • Unrealistic recovery period from mental or physical injury • Sex out of nowhere

  17. Evaluate where you’re ending • Cutting fluff • Avoiding overexplaining • Predictable twists • Don't try to cram in morals or explicitly stating a lesson to be learned

  18. Other ending issues • End with a strong sentence • Make sure all events are logical

  19. Questions?

  20. Final Thought You are a unique person who has a wealth of ideas, viewpoints, and personal experiences to share – it’s fantastic that you want to write and share it with others. Keep writing – it’s the only way to improve!

  21. Thank you &enjoy the con!

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