I’ve just noticed that this will be my one-hundredth post on this site. 🙂 I’m amazed I’ve kept it up this long. Normally me and blogs last a week at most. So, in honor of actually making it to 100 posts, I’ve decided to offer a little bit of hard-earned advice to other writers out there, especially other WoW fanfic writers.
So…you’ve decided to sit down and write a story. Congratulations! Here are a few things I’ve learned that have helped me keep my own stories organized, especially when they’re longer than a few pages.
1) Know your characters. Know early on how many major characters you’re going to have and what their personalities will be like. Try to keep this roster reasonable; I’ve found that having more than seven major characters can be tricky.
2) Don’t be afraid to let your characters change a bit and speak to you. Sometimes, you’re going to find yourself in a situation where you want something to happen or one of your characters to do something that goes totally against the grain. Sometimes, you’ll spend days, weeks, even months trying to make it work. And, sometimes, you’ll find that it doesn’t work out at all. In cases like this, you’ll need to decide if the event you want to happen could be done differently. This leads to…
3) Plan your work and work your plan. Have an outline prepared ahead of time or a synopsis of what you want to happen to whom, where, when, and why. However, don’t be afraid to revise this mid-way through writing if you find out that one of your characters isn’t going to play well in a given scenario.
4) Know what you’re writing. And, be prepared to back up your reasoning. This applies especially in fanfics. Know the universe. Know the classes. Know the religious/moral philosophies. Know them well and don’t be afraid to adapt or rebel against them. However, if you go that path, know that other characters in the universe will react to it.
5) Don’t be afraid of controversy. Sometimes controversial characters are called for. Other times, they’re a nice flavoring. Trust me, when every character is the same, things get boring. In Alayne’s Story, I have two characters who are homosexual. I realize that not everyone likes that or even cares but it adds another layer to the characters in general.
6) Write a little every day. Set aside an hour or two to work on your stories every day. If you’re married or living with someone, explain to them that you need to write and that you would appreciate it if they could turn off the TV/listen to music on their headset/not sit next to you/whatever. Also, as a corollary to this, don’t put direct copies of people you know into your story. Yes, you’ll draw from their traits and all but don’t insert them into the story directly. This never pans out well.
7) Take breaks when needed. You’re not a machine. Every day is not going to be filled with inspiration for you. There will be some times when you just can’t write that day. That’s fine. While I just said “write every day” understand that life happens. Sometimes, you can’t write that day. Instead, try to make up for it later if you can.
8 ) Have an end-game in mind, even for open-ended stories. I frequently get asked “will Alayne’s Story ever end?” The answer is “yes.” Eventually, it will end. I don’t know exactly when but eventually it will come to a close. I already have the closing chapters mapped out. However, for each major section (Part I, Part II, Part III) I have a specific closer in mind for that section. Once I reach that point, even if I’ve had a brilliant idea, I put my pencil down.
9) Write first, edit later. For me, writing and editing are two different tasks. Don’t get caught up in the write — edit — rewrite — edit — rewrite loop while you’re still working on the rough draft. Instead, if you’re showing the rough draft to anyone, remind them that it is a rough draft.
10) Find someone who can edit for you. It’s incredibly difficult to proofread your own work. Yes, spellcheck and grammar check can do wonders here but, honestly, you’re still going to miss things. Instead, try to find someone who speaks the same language as you and knows how to edit for spelling and grammar. I’m still hoping that this person will drop into my lap soon for Alayne’s Story. Also, your editor should have boundaries. They’re there to proofread for mistakes (plot holes, misspellings, poor wordings, etc). They are not there to say “it would be cool if this happened…” You’re the writer. They’re the editor. If they have a great idea, sure, they can share it with you. However, they should never change the draft themselves without a sign-off from you.
11) Stick to a schedule. Set a reasonable goal for yourself each week and strive to meet it. Understand if you can’t meet it but don’t let failure become a recurring habit. For example, with Alayne’s Story, I set a goal of 5 pages written per week. That’s what the progress bar on the side of the site means. For The Unexiled, I set a goal of one finished scene per week.
12) Write for yourself. While it’s good to hear nice things about your work, write because it’s something you want to do; not something you want to be known for. If you’re writing strictly to get respect, you may not have the stamina to deal with the inevitable dry periods and writer’s blocks that come up.
And now, with that said, back to work on The Unexiled.
