Fanfiction Help

So although the majority of this part of my page is reviews, that wasn't my intention when creating this. I didn't find the reviews on the site very helpful (with the exception of maybe two) and I figured before I start hating on other review pages, I should try it myself and see if I could do better then they did. Long story short, I figured out pretty quickly that I absolutely could. Now that's not saying that I think I'm the almighty Jesus of story reviewing, but in comparison (and from the responses you guys have given me), I think I'm doing alright with it.

But, that wasn't why I created this. I read lots of books in my limited spare time. Some written by the literary greats (Dostoyevsky, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Tolstoy, etc) [no i don't enjoy shakespeare], some written by present day writers (who maybe .000001 will become a literary great), but most of all, stories written by you guys. I read lots of literary help books too. They give me genius 'insight' that is really so painfully obvious that it KILLS me that I didn't realize it before.

And I'm aware, I'm a pretty shit writer. I'm scatter brained and indecisive and inconsistent. I'm absolutely my own biggest critic. But I enjoy it. And I can see it on here, looking back at my first chapter of 'Just Don't Go' (my first ever fic that I deleted because it sucked, but kept saved on my laptop) and comparing it to my recent chapters in TWG and INWILL, I've improved immensely. And every time I write, I can SEE the improvement. It's exciting.

But knowledge is most satisfying when shared, so I'm going to start using this more for what I originally intended to: to help.

ANYWAY! off of the rampage. This chapter is all about the most important part of a good fanfic (slash or het), the main character :)

A Clear Main Character: Yes you can have two main characters, but that makes your story TWICE as complicated. And you better hope those two characters are so unbelievably different that if you wrote a line of dialogue, I could guess who said it.

A clear main character means that before you start writing, you have literally chosen every possible attribute they have, and you don't decide to change it ten chapters in. If Stacy is shy and bashful, she better not be skinny dipping with Harry Styles on their second date. If Stacy is the only girl in a family full of boys, she shouldn't be thrown off at Louis and Niall rough housing on the living room floor.

Write it out. I'll give you a list of 'MC Questions' and copy them into a word document, answering each one. And don't make a Mary Sue (a perfect MC who has no flaws, does no wrong, perfection in it's purest form) it's fucking annoying. And bad things need to happen to them. This does not mean victimizing your MC. Don't do that either. That refers to when bad things happen to them/have happened to them, and it's really sad and whatever, but they have no roll and hold no fault in the out come of their problems. (ie: abusive parents, dead parents, cancer, someone close to them dying, getting raped, etc. YES it's all sad, but it doesn't make your character seem any less likable)

You're not perfect. I'm not perfect. Hell, even Harry Styles isn't perfect. And it me, you, and Harry aren't perfect, then why the hell should she be? DON'T BE AFRAID TO MAKE YOUR CHARACTER LOOK LIKE THE BAD GUY AT SOME POINT! and don't make her have some elusive epiphany where she goes 'Oh my gosh you're right, I'm wrong! Must've been my evil twin!' She should not resolve her internal conflict in two chapters. She should not overcome her self-obsticales after knowing Harry for a week. That fucking RUINS it! My all time favorite fic, My Only Direction, had me hating Soph, the MC, for FIFTEEN CHAPTERS STRAIGHT. I loved her, but I hated her. So don't sugar coat it!

Realism is beauty in literacy. Even your word choices are detectable. If you refer to Stacy cheating on Harry as 'she's upset with him' rather than 'fuck that little prick', I'll sense it. I'll sense that in reality, you DON'T want your readers to be upset with your MC. Don't worry about it! Drag it out! Readers LOVE it, as much as they hate to admit it. Readers are allowed to dislike your main character. Chances are, if your readers are about to break their keyboard commenting on your chapter, you're doing something right. (THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE BOOKS WHERE THE 1D BOY IS ABUSIVE AND THE GIRL WONT LEAVE HIM, THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!) And another point, STACY SHOULD START CHEATING ON HARRY MORE BECAUSE HARRY SEEMS TO CHEAT ON STACY TOO MUCH ANYWAYS. And I don't know why anyone even bothers considering we all know that Stacy forgives Harry and they end up married with babies. (Yes, I'm generalizing)

Realism is obtained by remembering that there are three ways to look at a story, even if it's from your MC's POV:

-the way that the character see's themselves

-the way that you, the author, see the character

-the way that you portray the character, AKA how the READER see's the main character.

Character traits run the story. Reminder: your MC should have negative character traits and your villain should have positive character traits. No one character is better than another. It's all about perspective. Don't make the bitchy girl who gets Harry to cheat on Stacy have ZERO redeeming qualities, it's not realistic.

So listing traits for each character is so beyond necessary. Try not to use annoyingly obvious ones such as 'nice' and 'friendly'. Here are some examples you can use to list:

What are some positive character traits about your MC?

here are some GOOD EXAMPLES! (i stole off of google)

-able

-active

-attentive

-ambitious

-brave

-ethical

-lively

-mature

-motivated

-self confident

-generous

-open-minded

-balanced

-bold

-fair

-honest

-optimistic

-clever

-compassionate

-observant

-spiritual

-strong

-organized

-considerate

-honorable

-positive

-devoted

-diligent

-thoughtful

-direct

-persistent

-dependable

-sympathetic

-selfless

-reflective

-witty

( THERE'S LITERALLY THOUSANDS! Don't choose all of them, or course. But choose a few. A pick interesting ones too.)

What are some negative character traits about your MC?

more good examples from the internet!

- accident prone

-annoying

-anxious

-anti-social

-argumentative

-arrogent

-attention seeker

-awkward

-backstabbing

-blames everyone else

-barks orders

-bossy

-belligerent

-belittling

-brags

-bully

-callous

-catty

- cheap

-cheater

-childish

-clumsy

-conceited

-confrontational

-competitive

-confused

-conniving

-cruel

-cynical

-controlling

-corrupt

-coward

-delusional

-demanding

-destructive

-disrespectful

-distant

-does everything by the book

-does what is convenient

-doesn't listen

-doubtful

-doesn't think things through

-downer

-drags people down

-easily offended

-easily threatened

-embarrassing

-emotionless

- envious

-evasive

-false

-fearful

-fidgety

-feels superior to others

-flippant

-follower

-foolish

-forgetful

-frantic

-fussy

-harasses

-harsh

-hateful

-holier-than-thou

-hostile

-hyper

-ignorant

This is literally 15% of the possible character traits your MC can possess. Use them! If your character seems like a 'character' rather than a person, you're not trying hard enough!

Strongest/weakest character traits:

How much self control and self discipline does your character have?

Fears:

Political leaning:

Collections, talents:

what people like best about them:

what people like LEAST about them:

General:

What is your main characters name?

Birthplace/Where they grew up:

Where does your main character currently live? (in your stories time period, when it begins)

How old is your main character?(at the beginning of the story)

What is your main characters birthday?

Ethnic background:

Current address and phone number:

Education:

Favorite subjects in school:

Job:

Salary:

Travel:

Friends:

Enemies:

Dating/Marriage: (INCLUDE ALL AND ANY HOOKUPS. ie: had sex with four boys, two serious relationships *name who and when*)

Children (wants/does not want/has any/etc):

What people does he/she admire?

Relationship with God:

Overall out look on life (BE SPECIFIC!):

Does this character like himself?

what, if anything, would he/she like to change about his life:

Is he lying to himself about something?

How is he/she viewed by others:

Does your main character have any hobbies?

*IMPORTANT* Who from movies/books/real life is similar to your MC? What makes them alike?

Physical appearance:

What color hair does your MC have?

What color eyes does your MC have?

How tall is your MC?

Physical build:

posture:

nose:

mouth:

skin:

tattoos/piercings/scars:

Voice:

Right/left handed:

handicaps?:

What you notice first:

How would he/she describe himself:

Health/disabilities:

Describe your MC's style: (DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE USE POLYVORE TO SHOW YOUR READERS. YOU ARE A WRITER, NOT A SEVEN YEAR OLD PLAYING DRESS UP ON A MACBOOK)

Name four things (not people) that your MC loves:

Family:

What is your main characters parents names? (please don't make them dead, that's overused and BORING! Parents make a story 100000% better, I promise)

What do your main character parents do for a living?

Does your main character have any siblings?

What is the age difference between the MC and the sibling(s)?

What does the sibling do for a living?

What is the affect the sibling has on your MC?

Interests and favourites:

food/drink:

music:

books:

movies:

sports teams:

sports/recreation:

color:

best way to spend a weekend:

a great gift for this person:

pets:

vehicle:

Typical expressions:

when happy:

when angry:

when sad:

idiosyncrasies:

laughs or jeers at:

ways to cheer this person up:

ways to annoy this person:

hopes and dreams:

what's the worst thing he's ever done to someone and why:

greatest success:

biggest failure:

biggest trauma:

what does she/he care about most in the world:

does he have a secret:

what does/will he like best about the other main character(s):

What does/will he like least about the other main character(s):

if he could do one thing and succeed at it, what would it be?:

Most embarrassing thing that ever happen to him:

He/she is the kind of person who:

Why will the reader sympathize/attract to this person right away:

history:

In all reality, this is a short list. If you don't necessarily care about this, then please feel free to write without it. Some people can! I, cannot. I started TWG and INWILL without this knowledge and GOD I wish I had had it.

If you'd like to answer these and send them back to me, I'm absolutely happy to let you know what I think about your MC. Aka: Are they a realistic person? Did you contradict yourself? Is this a hard character to write for? Advice on writing for this character, etc.

Notes

PS if I take awhile to review your story, please just bug the crap out of me. I forget sometimes, other times I just figure people aren't really worried about it. I know the feeling to be dying for a good review, so if you're super set on me reviewing your story, just comment again and I'll probably bump you up on my list.

elle x