#fanfic guide

I am JustMyName on A03! (some people have told me they had no idea) I have really come to love writing for Mike and Will these past two years. Hope you find something to enjoy! 🖤 I also enjoy Madwheeler and some other unique ships so if you're up for something different this might be the spot for you!

✨Demons of Change and Wildflower Eyes ▻ rating: E ▻ status: Complete ▻ words: ▻ship: Byler, Troy x Mike, Madwheeler, minor Lumax and Henderhop ▻description: AU. High school hasn't been easy for Will Byers. He’s had to live with the emotional scars of a loveless father and supernatural worlds, as well as the physical ones from the hands of the bullies that make his everyday existence hell. One night, when he's looking for some peace and quiet Will comes upon one of them.

Sparks fly and Mike and Will can’t stay away from each other. Yet, there are things Mike isn’t saying: about his past, about his family, about his peculiar friendship with Troy. Things aren’t always what they appear to be, and loyalties born from violence will be rigorously tested.

Will, Mike, Troy centric. (This fic is very near and dear to my heart. <3)

✨Scum Rises ▻rating: E ▻ status: Ongoing ▻ words: 6,293 ▻ Separated Byler, Mike Wheeler/ OC ▻ description:

DEMONS OF CHANGE & WILDFLOWER EYES: PART II

"I should have just killed him, Will always lamented bitterly with tears in his eyes when he was having one of his dark spells. The guilt slowly crept up between them and they broke up the year after college. It was drunken and volatile and spiteful. And shattered his heart." * * * Just before Mike turns 26, Will kicks him out. With nowhere left to go, Mike must return to Hawkins alone. There he will have to face all the demons of his past, finding a bit of grace along the way.

This story will chronicle the year that Mike and Will breakup, and how Mike finds his way back. Takes place post Demons, pre Epilogue.

✨moonflower ▻ rating: M ▻status: Ongoing ▻words: 30,913 ▻ship: Byler ▻description: Will Byers hasn't been back to the town that haunted him since he ran away to college. But years later, after he is fired from his job and his drinking starts to effect his daily life, he has no other choice but to return home. There he'll face his past full on: his family, old wounds, and a long-buried lie he told his best friend one care-free summer's night in 1987.

✨Touch Me Like You Know Me ▻rating: M ▻status: Complete ▻words: 14,894 ▻ ship: Byler ▻ description: Mike doesn't go home anymore, not unless absolutely necessary. Instead, he stays far away from Hawkins, quietly shutting himself off from the world, and burying the pain of the things he never said to the boy he'd left behind. But when his mother convinces him to return home for his thirty-fifth birthday, Mike is finally forced to confront just how much he'd given up when he runs into Will by accident. Mike-centric. Estranged Byler reconnection fic. Soft and Sweet

✨Certain Slant of Light ▻ rating: M ▻ status: Ongoing ▻words: ▻ship: Byler, Will x OC. description: Will just wants to get through his last year of high school without incident, to feel normal for once in his life, and try to survive the building tension between him and Mike that grows with every word left unsaid. On the first day of school, Will meets someone new who may finally offer him the acceptance he craves, but he’s unsure what to do when it causes his relationship with Mike to hit a breaking point, forcing them both to confront their true feelings. And to make matters worse, Vecna is always there, whispering in his ear, and letting him know his fated role in the inevitable fall of Hawkins. Slow Burn. Will-centric. Mike-centric later chapters.

✨Lay Me Down Slow ▻rating: M ▻status: Complete ▻words: 10,821 ▻ship: Byler ▻description: It's 1998 and Will is anxiously making his way to a bar to meet up with Mike, who he hasn't seen in over a decade. Emotions run high as he shares a drink with him, and when a confrontation turns violent, it leads to truths being told and the two of them finding each other again. Will POV.

✨A Burning Thing ▻rating: M ▻status: Ongoing ▻words: 5,677 ▻ship: Byler ▻description: Will and Mike are childhood best friends. As summer fades, the two join their friend group at a lake house for a birthday celebration. There, Lucas's sister Erica is making a student film. The scene she asks them to act out---a passionate kiss---will alter their relationship forever.

In the aftermath, Will, struggling with caring for his abusive father, has to come to terms with the fact that he is set to leave the country for two years. Meanwhile, Mike has a crisis of sexuality and both men will grapple with their inescapable feelings burning just beneath the surface.

✨Heatwaves ▻ rating: M ▻status: Ongoing ▻ words: 18,567 ▻ship: Byler, Platonic Madwheeler ▻description: It's the summer before the Party are all set to move on to the rest of their lives: college, jobs, leaving Hawkins for good. Will isn't sure if it's the heat or his own self-torture, but one night on Mike's stubborn, idiotic campaign to get El back, Will agrees to pretend to be her so Mike can work on the speech he has planned. When the two of them get carried away, it leads both of them to exciting and terrifying insights into who they are and what it is they truly want.

✨Beautiful Things From Broken Soil ▻rating: T ▻status: Complete ▻words: 2,175 ▻ship: Byler ▻description: Mike and Will get caught in a rainstorm on a lazy summer's day.

✨I Don't Require A Definition ▻rating: M ▻ status: Ongoing ▻ship: Byler, Will Byers/ Original Character ▻words: 2,750 ▻ description: Will reminisces about his past and a friend he met at college as he reconnects with Mike on a camping trip the summer after sophomore year.

✨An Unspeakable (Of The Oscar Wilde Sort) ▻rating: E ▻status: Ongoing ▻words: 7,125 ▻ship: Byler, Mileven ▻description: They sit there for a long second in awkward silence, and Mike bites his bottom lip. He eyes the movie. “So what did you pick?”

Will fidgets with the tape nervously in his hands. His voice catches. “Uhm, yeah—it’s just this movie that’s based off of a book I read last year. I really liked the story.”

Will’s eyes find Mike’s and he blushes. “I don’t know. It’s kind of serious. We don’t have——“

Mike interrupts Will’s shy backpedaling by snatching the VHS out of his hand and turning it over like he is going to find the summary. Instead he just finds a Family Video logo. “What’s it about?”

“Uhm—well it’s about these two guys at Cambridge in the early 1900’s and they’re—-friends.”

Mike blinks. “Friends?”

Will’s eyelids flutter and he presses his lips together. “Yeah—-like—really good friends.”

or, Will brings over a movie to watch with Mike and it leads to certain truths being addressed. Complete with a Mike Wheeler in crisis.

✨Helpless ▻ rating: T ▻status: Complete ▻words: 2,973 ▻ship: Byler ▻description: “Hey,” Mike says, shutting his bedroom door behind him gently and padding over to the bed where Will lays, freshly showered and in his undershirt.

“Hey,” Will murmurs back as he burrows himself further into the bed and pulls the sheets up under his chin, trying to ignore his heart pitter-pattering inside his ribs. He smooths the fabric over his chest nervously.

Mike smiles over at him, something shy and sweet in the way his eyes crinkle. He breathes out and folds his thin arms across his chest, rubbing along his rigid hip with his thumb.

Will tries not to stare where Mike’s worn white tank top he always wears rides up, revealing pale skin and a shock of dark hair lining his belly and disappearing underneath his stupid Star Wars pajama pants.

It’s hilarious, really, Will thinks bitterly. Stuck in a bed with your friend at the threshold of the Apocalypse, and only able to think about what hides underneath his pajamas.

It’s so unfair. It’s fucking torture.

✨You're The Only Shape I'll Pray To ▻rating: E ▻status: Complete ▻words: 3,160 ▻ship: Byler ▻description:

Hands pulling at shirts in a darkened room, a tongue licking along burning skin, moans and pants and belt buckles being unclasped.

Mike presses his knees together so hard his bones grind.

“Tell me," he gasps. "—Confess—to God—-all of your sins.” Priest AU.

✨The Pact ▻ rating: M ▻ status: Ongoing ▻words: 97,440 ▻ship: Madwheeler, Byler, Elumax ▻ description: A pact between Max and Mike gone wrong gets them both unanimously voted out of the Party and they find themselves stuck with each other the summer after Graduation: fighting, commiserating, and begrudgingly discovering they are a lot more alike than they originally thought. .

✨Death Lies in Wait ▻ rating: M ▻ status: Ongoing ▻ words: 13,322▻ ship: Arranged Madwheeler, Byler, Lumax, Mileven, Secret Ship ▻ description: Massachusetts, 1890. Max Mayfield is twenty-six years old and at the hand of her parents, settles for a marriage of convenience to a widowed lighthouse keeper. A stranger she'll be trapped with for the rest of her life on a lonely strip of land surrounded by nothing but endless, lonely sea. But, as she settles into her life, and she and her new husband try to coexist, they get wrapped up in a mysterious presence on the cape. It calls to them. It's lulling and coaxing and sings to them at night. Max discovers the secrets her new husband keeps. Mermaids and ghosts of the past come to haunt them. Madwheeler/Byler//Lumax Gothic AU- Mermaid Will.

✨the winter tree resembles me ▻rating: E ▻status: On Hiatus ▻words: 2,706 ▻ship: Byler ▻description: The Revolutionary War is underway, and the upstanding Byers family, devout Quakers in their divinity, have expressly kept themselves out of the War of Rebellion. But newly rutted Alpha Will Byers has a grave secret he keeps from his parents. He has been recruited by his twin sister into Commander Washington’s clandestine ring of Rebel spies. But when he meets an English officer possessing bewitching brown eyes at the boarding house he’s assigned to, he slowly discovers the stranger has a secret of his own, as well as a tantalizing scent Will can’t resist. Lines will be drawn-loyalties tested and allies betrayed -no one is who they seem.

✨A Derelict Mind ▻rating: M ▻status: Ongoing ▻words: 8,259 ▻ship: Byler ▻description: Will wakes up to find himself chained to a chair in a room he doesn't recognize. There are orderlies and patients and a doctor with blonde hair and a terrifyingly sweet voice. But Will is not in one of his nightmares or one of Vecna's visions. He's a patient in Pennhurst Asylum, and everything he's known to be real: his friends, his family, the Upside Down... has been nothing but a delusion of a very sick patient.

Part of "A Certain Slant of Light" Universe.

✨Kind of Best Friend ▻rating: G ▻status: Complete ▻words: 1,206 ▻ship: Madwheeler (platonic or romantic) ▻description: Mike reads his letter from Max after returning to Hawkins.

✨ Mashed Potatoes ▻rating: G ▻ status: Complete ▻ words: 1,352 ▻ ship: Byler ▻description: "Wait," Mike says, grabbing the carton of milk out of Will's hand. Will blinks, his brows creasing in confusion. "What?" he asks with uncertainty. "We need milk, don't we?"

Mike stares at the carton Will has chosen. It's labeled with red lettering and a stamp of a picturesque farm across the front. Whole milk. Mike shrugs. "I mean----yeah. But-----" he raises an eyebrow. "Whole milk?" Will huffs and rolls his yes. "Yes. Whole milk? What milk did you want?" Mike shifts on his feet and pulls at the waist of his usual black jeans. "Well, I mean----we always drank skim at our house." Now, Will's mouth opens up a little. Offended.

"Skim?!" he asks, completely appalled. "Who actually drinks skim milk? You might as well drink water."

OR, Mike and Will really think the other is wrong in their grocery shopping decisions.

✨I Held On As Tightly As You Held Onto Me ▻ rating: T ▻ status: Complete ▻ words: 7,014 ▻ ship: Byler ▻ description: After years of life getting in the way---be it by distance or choices made--Mike hasn't seen Will in almost a decade. But one cold winter's night, he's back in town and Mike cooks him a meal.

✨When We Wake Up ▻ rating: T ▻ status: Complete ▻ words: 23,428 ▻ ship: Byler ▻description: Will and Mike having to share a room while waiting for the impending apocalypse and the utter torture it is for both of them.

✨Come Away With Me ▻ rating: T ▻status: Complete ▻ words: 18,760 ▻ ship: Byler ▻ description: “Two shots ring out! BAM!-then a pause-BAM! Mike’s head snaps towards the sound, squinting his eyes to orient himself to the darkness. A guttural, pained wail echoes through the trees as if some forsaken wraith howls at him in this lonely forest, it’s voice sounding all too familiar. Then, a loud screeching roar follows close behind it. Another shot! Mike sucks in a wretched, frightened breath, his heart thrashing in his chest so hard that it feels as if it might shatter his ribs. Dread settles sickeningly in his belly. "Will….” OR: The one in which Mike gets to be Will's knight in shining armor. Tending Wounds Fic.

✨ We Are All Fools In Love ▻ rating: T ▻ status: On Hiatus ▻ words: 13,098 ▻ ship: Byler ▻ description: Fifteen years after being forcibly separated as children, William Bennet recognizes a familiar brooding face, plucked from another lifetime across a crowded ballroom. As his and Michael Darcy's paths begin to merge once more, they discover they are now separated by more than only time and distance, but faults which lie within their own hearts. Matters of pride and prejudice. Regency au of our dreams.

Chapter 2: Making a Good Summary

Writing a good summary, especially for AO3, is perhaps the most important aspect for your fic. After all, a good summary means more hits! That being said, you want to keep it short and simple yet accurate to your story.

What are the perks of a short summary?

Simple. People have a short attention span, LOL! Summaries are something to be skimmed through when deciding whether or not to deem a fanfic worth reading. It’s like going to a library. It is more common for someone to look at the blurb on the back over reading the first chapter of every book they come across.

There are many ways to shorten a summary while still making it accurately describe your story!

Here’s the simplest method I have found most effective:

🎀 A snip-it of dialogue within the story, typically the first chapter, as a hook

🎀 A brief sentence explaining such dialogue

🎀 A short explanation of the alternate universe, setting or event, and/or the general theme of your story.

(Summary from my story “My Selfish Wish”)

Why do I suggest writing the first chapter before creating your summary?

While you may have a good idea on what you’re going to write about, it's better you have some of your story written before summarizing it– as this improves accuracy. Another main reason is for the dialogue portion of this technique. After all, the dialogue is a snip-it within your story.

This is also critical for more complex plots that would require longer summaries. Plots can be very complex! After all, some of the best stories are quite complex. Complex plots include: multiple entwined timelines, cross-overs, detailed world-building and/or history of the setting, etc. These complex plots can be incredibly hard to accurately describe in only 100-300 words. I know I sure as hell struggled with it for my fantasy fic.

Even though it’s your goal to keep your summary as short as possible, there are circumstances where having a longer summary is beneficial.

For example: Big Bangs

What is a Big Bang?

I will go more into fandom events in another chapter, but a Big Bang is basically an event where the entire fandom gets together to collaborate. There are typically three roles: Writer, Artist, and Beta Reader.

It starts with the writer. They will write a story and get assigned an artist to draw for their fic. This story is typically a new story that hasn’t been posted yet because the choosing is anon to provide fairness. Writers will provide a 100-300 word summary and nothing more for artists to scroll through and choose.

In this case, a captivating and descriptive summary is better because artists will be reading the summaries more thoroughly before choosing what story they want to dedicate their portion of the event to. It’s not as simple as clicking and reading because all they get is a summary– not a chapter or two to read first.

There are many unfortunate circumstances where an artist is somewhat disappointed when the story they choose isn’t what they thought it’d be upon reading it, since they’re tied to said story. That is why you don’t want your summary to be misleading in the slightest.

Long story short, big bangs is the exception where the more details you have in your summary, the better.

The “or” method

Something I noticed during my time immersed in the world of fanfiction is that the “or” method is a very common method used to attract readers in a simple yet effective way. This method is used by many successful AO3 authors, and it’s especially great to use for one-shots. It’s basically a summary of a summary. Confused? Here is an example:

(Summary from my one-shot “Fashion X Disaster”)

Summaries may seem incredibly easy at first, and at other times, you may feel like you’re banging your head against the wall while confused by how you can’t put your story into condensed words, and that’s okay! Just like every other aspect of writing, or any skill in general, the more you practice, the better you get!

I hope this has helped!

If you have any further questions, feel free to comment! I’ll try to help to the best of my ability <3

Save your fic, skip the indentation.

Indentation may be necessary in a high school essay but on Archive of Our Own, indentation can make the reading experience unpleasant, especially if your paragraphs tend to be shorter. 

When it comes to line alignment, go left. 

While making your text justified may look best at first, it is hard on the eyes to read for longer stretches of time (especially when late at night—which is when most people tend to read fanfic!) So, for the sake of your reader, consider using left alignment.

Use quotation marks, it’s in the name. 

Even though it may be super obvious and easy to some, formatting dialogue into your fic can be tricky; let me save you some time. Indicate what is being spoken by bracketing it with quotation marks (these guys → “”) and refrain from using any other method, especially italics. 

Shut up, I’m thinking (not talking) 

So what do I use italics for? Glad you asked: Italics are typically used to demonstrate a character’s thoughts or emphasize a word or statement. Additionally, you may want to italicize a quote, song lyric, etc. Really, feel free to italicize anything you want, except, of course, dialogue.

Meet your new soulmate, horizontal lines. 

No longer are the days of thirty identical emojis and “POV SWITCH” spelled out in bold in the middle of a fic. If you are cutting to a new scene or switching points of view, just insert a horizontal line and call it a day. 

Quantity ≠ Quality

*Not applicable for fics under 1,500 words*

Having more chapters may seem more appealing on the surface, but having to press the next chapter button every minute can be a major deterrent for readers, especially those who use ao3 on their phone. Thus, if you have a 20k fic ready to go, think about splitting that baby into ten chapters instead of twenty. Remember, ao3 does not have a sort by chapter number option—only word count. 

Yeah, yeah, it’s summary time

Man, summaries can be confusing to navigate no matter if this is your first or fifth fic. Here are a couple things you should not do when writing your summary. 

Writing the word “summary” in the summary

Putting a really long author's note in the summary 

Saying “this is really bad” or “this is my first fic” and the like. (they can go in the end notes if you really want to tell your readers, but also, be confident!)

The same goes for “please give kudos and comment” and “please read” 

Having a “explainer” summary. 

An example of a explainer summary would be saying something like, “this is basically my take on what i think happened after [blank] because [blank] broke my heart and sucked. [blank] essentially is sad when [blank]  breaks up with [blank] so they gets revenge and starts a ~relationship~ with [blank]” 

Having a really long summary. At most a summary should be 8-10 sentences but I would aim for shorter. 

Putting a disclaimer in the summary. The great thing about ao3 is that you do not need to include a disclaimer for reasons that a far too complicated for me to sum up here, but if you would like to read up on it click the link: https://www.transformativeworks.org/faq/

Additionally, below are some examples of good and easy to read summaries. One is an actual summary while the other is a carefully chosen excerpt from the “fic”

O Rich Text! My Rich Text!

The rich text option on ao3 is a life saver and I highly recommend you take advantage of it. Not only is much more user-friendly, but when copying and pasting your fic, the line spacing won’t come out all wonky like it does when you copy and paste into the html box. 

On Tagging

Tagging on ao3 is one of those things that, like summaries, seems daunting at first but is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Now, I feel it would be best for me to explain tagging in another post as there’s a lot to cover and this post is already pretty long, so look out for that in the next couple of days.

And always remember the golden rule of fanfiction...

WTPDI

Write in Third Person, Damn It!

Anon: Stands for anonymous, usually used to publish/comment something embarrassing

AN: Authors note

Crack: A fic that doesn’t take itself seriously; a fic that makes you question if the author was on crack

Canon: The original content of a fandom. (ex. The Harry Potter books + movies, the Supernatural show)

Drabble: A short, 100 word story; an unfinished idea or a prompt

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat: A story involving disturbing or very explicit content. A fic with a piss kink might be tagged this

Fix-It Fic: A fanfiction that resolves conflict or has all characters alive; a fanfiction that “fixes” bad canon

Hurt/Comfort: Exactly what it says on the box. A charter gets hurt in some way, and then another character comforts them

MCD: Stands for major character death

OneShot: A fic with only one chapter

OC: Original character. Beware fics with OC’s as the main character

OOC: Out of character. Usually you see this in AN’s, and the character is almost never OOC when they say it is

Podfic: A fanfiction in audiobook form

Slow burn: A fic that slowly builds up to romance

Slice of Life: A fic about characters living their everyday lives and confronting everyday problems

Okay, I did promise a list of characters and a guide for this AU. So here we go:

CHARACTERS:

Shiro - The Black Paladin and the leader of the Paladins of Voltron, who must find his way back to his home Verse. Somehow, the Black Lion sent him to another Verse instead of a nearby planet, when a memory resurfaced. And there met Pyra and Jiri, the former is his only way to get back to his homeverse. He and Jiri can get along, but he often clashes with Pyra but eventually they get along and can rely on her. Quote: I guess it wouldn’t be too bad to rely on you.

Pyra - A girl who wanders around with her A.I. partner, Jiri. She and Jiri found a unconscious Shiro out in the fields and offers to help him get back to his homeverse. Then he learns about her ability to travel many Verses, and joins her in her travels. She often clashes with Shiro, noticing some of his odd reactions, eventually becoming friends and helping him. Quote: I will not be labeled! Well... except for teacher, master assassin and target, I don’t mind those.

Jiri - Pyra’s A.I. partner and the “daughter” of Pyra’s close friend. Both she and Pyra found the unconscious Black Paladin and tries to hack his mecha arm. She serves as the mediator between Shiro and Pyra whenever they argue, she befriends Shiro and tries to convince him to befriend her friend. She is quite happy to have Shiro as another companion in their travels, until they reach his homeverse. Quote: I’ve hacked into the database~!

GUIDE AND TERM:

Verse - A short term of multiverse used by TRAVELLERs. Each has a Crux or what the Verse is heavily focus on (like the Macross Verse focuses on transforming fighter jets and singing idols, and the Voltron Verse focuses on the 5 machines that can form into one and has the ability to cross or it’s pilots). And in each Verses have universes/zones/dimension/reality/worlds/etc. in it, which is why TRAVELLERs records them in their unique archives.

TRAVELLERs - They are beings who can travel thru many Verses. They can be mythical beasts, aliens or just plain humans. They are immortal but they don't have counterparts or alternate selves, making their existence to be unique.

STIGMATAs - Dangerous beings... if you encounter one and you are not a TRAVELLER or a PROTECTOR... You no longer exist... along with your alternate selves.

The rules of the Verse - While the rules varies, there are a few that are in common. Like, in order to maintain the barriers between one Verse from another, they must take form of the Verse's dominant species to blend in... (Yeah, it's the Kingdom Heart's rule of order.) TRAVELLERs are free to follow or not follow the rules, PROTECTORs must follow it and STIGMATAs... they just don't.

BONUS!

Chapter 1: Outlining

This chapter I’ll be emphasizing the importance of outlining, which must be done before any writing happens. It’s easy to get excited and write the first few chapters— just to get a huge writer's block later down the line (trust me, I’m notorious for it).

When it comes to storyboarding, people generally start with the story climax mountain that was often used in elementary school, and it’s still useful! But down below I took it a few steps forward, and I have a basic template of the outlines I use for my stories.

Link:

Why use Google Docs?

There are many reasons as to why you should use Google Docs to write:

Wattpad is horrible when it comes to saving your stories. Long ago, there was a huge strike with Wattpad in deleting tons of stories, and if one didn’t have the story on another platform to repost, their work was lost forever.

AO3 will delete drafts after 30 days, which isn’t very helpful now is it!

Some people use word documents, but I’ve found that in collaborative works, many tend to lean more towards Google Docs. It saves to a drive and is very easy to collaborate on when it comes to allowing access for comments, suggestions, or edits to protect your work!

Google Docs will make it easy to copy and paste to post on the fic platform of your choice! The biggest pet peeve of mine is when you copy and paste, but it doesn’t accurately paste the italics, so you have to go through all of it and re-italicize each word. Google Docs will keep all of that stuff when you copy it from there and paste into Wattpad or Rich Text in AO3.

(In another chapter, I’ll explain the most efficient ways to post on AO3)

Filling out basic tags, deciding rating and warnings, and creating a summary:

First things first, I actually suggest you wait on writing a summary until after you’ve written your first chapter. In the next chapter, I’ll explain why! I’ll be giving an easy and detailed guide on how to write a good summary to accurately represent your fic and hook readers alike.

So, for now, you can skip the summary section or just put in something simple that you’ll later erase.

As for tags… that depends on where you are posting. I will just go out and say Wattpad is horrible with tags. Half of the time they don’t work, the award system is very off, and the list goes on. But, with Wattpad, simple tags like the fandom you’re in, the ship, and fluff or smut or angst will probably be all you need.

Now, AO3 tags work much better and readers will even go as far to decide if they want to click your fic by looking at them. I’d even say they’re just as important as the summary.

When I’m deciding what tags I want, I actually go under “Post New” in AO3 and just fill out the drop downs and so on with what tags I’m going to use. I have some basic ideas right here:

Getting into the habit of tagging accurately ahead of time will benefit you in the long run when it comes to big bangs or other fandom related events.

Rating: this is also a platform difference. AO3 is much more detailed with rating, and here’s how I personally rate my fics!

AO3 Rating:

General Audience = PG. If there’s a kiss, it better be not deep and just a peck on the lips even. Think about cartoons for kids! There should also be minimal violence.

Teen and Up = you can think of PG-13 for this one. There can be an implied sex-scene at the most, but it must be very implied and vague to not exceed this rating. Violence should not be too descriptive, but it can occur. Cursing is okay.

Mature = this is basically rated R but NOT PORN! Violence can be descriptive, language can be crude, and sex can be technically on there but also more towards the implied sense. Remember, think of the movies! A movie will show a sex scene but it is not porn— do not mention crude words of any parts, finishing, etc! Intimate moments can definitely exist perfectly while still relying on implications!

Explicit = if you’re planning on writing full smut in any time of the fic, this is your rating. I see people rank their fic as mature and then have a full blown sex scene in it, but that’s incorrect. Even if it’s just one chapter, if there’s porn in it, the entire fic should be rated explicit.

Wattpad Rating:

Wattpad ratings are much more vague when considering if it is Mature or is it not mature. However, they are VERY strict with you ranking it as mature when it needs to be. They will go as far as to delete your fic if it’s improperly rated.

They have many guidelines determining this.

Here’s the basics, it’s mature if:

Contains Sex

Contains Self-Harm or Suicide or Eating Disorders (even if implied)

Graphic Violence in any sense whether it’s physical or verbal.

It can be very picky beyond what their guidelines say, so I suggest reading @KilluGonLuciel’s Guide Book on Wattpad!

Okay, now we can get to properly outlining!

Of course the first thing you should do is have a basic idea on what the plot is. You should be able to fill this out without any struggle.

Going into details is where it gets hard, especially for newer authors. These plot points should be as detailed as you can possibly make them, so when it’s time to write, the writing will actually be faster than the plotting! These plot points should have dialogue in them, where they are (somewhat descriptive idea of the setting), and exact scene/events happening. When you go back to write is where you’ll add in more descriptive details and deep internal thoughts.

(Snip it for my story “In the Hands of Fate”

This may not make sense to others, but as long as you understand thoroughly, that’s what matters!

The entire chapter should be plotted before you begin to write, and when it comes to the importance of the first chapter, at least five should be plotted before you begin writing your story.

The first chapter is the most significant chapter, even more so than the last. I’ve noticed slow first chapters on my best stories will have much less audience than an entertaining first chapter with more “mid” others. Your first chapter needs to have the setting, the fixed tone of the story, and an exact idea on where you’re going with it.

Here’s what planning the story truly prevents: getting writer’s block and contradicting yourself to overcome it.

Writer's block is the true killer of stories, and in a future chapter, I will go into details on how to prevent them. They range into small blocks, like what small event or dialogue do I write? To: where the heck am I going with this story? If you’ve reached the latter, then you didn’t plan before you wrote, and could potentially be blocked long enough to drop the fic entirely.

So please please please plan! and do not post your first chapter until you have at least ⅓ of your story completely written!

Additionally, ideas can be very fleeting, and sometimes you need to write it down before it leaves your brain! That’s what this section is for.

(Insert unused quotes and ideas)

This way, that idea doesn’t go away forever and you can put it in the story where you see fit, when the time comes.

Well, I suppose that’s all for my tips on outlining! Everyone has their own method, of course, and I encourage you to do what works best for you! (This is just what works best for me lol)

If you have any questions, leave a comment below and feel free to message me on any of my socials (found on my profile).

Introduction! (Follow and check my page for more!)

Welcome to the WritingPedia! Here I’ll be sharing my tips for fic-writing, including plot planning, grammar assistance, flow, stylistic writing, overcoming writer’s block, fandom specific help, and the list goes on!

All of these lessons are tips I’ve learned gradually over my fandom experience, and as a disclaimer, you may notice not all of my stories adhere to those rules because of it. I hope to share everything I know to prevent you all from also making such mistakes, and I’m hoping it’ll also make writing that much more enjoyable!

I’ve also added little comics so I could improve my drawing skill. I’m using this mini crossover as an example of testing characterization that will be later in the guide.

If any of you have any tips you’d like me to add off the top of your head, feel free to message me on any of my socials (found on my profile)

Haunting Greys: an Arsenic Blues reaction fic where the characters from AB react to chapters of ToW (except for the first few chapters about the debutante) (HIATUS. WAIT FOR FURTHUR ANNOUNCEMENT) On Wattpad

Songbird's Serenade: a fanfiction based on I'm the Queen in This Life. This is an AU where Arabella De Mare, younger sister of Ariadne De Mare (the female lead), miraculously survives the fall and does not meet her demise. (ONGOING. WAIT FOR FURTHUR ANNOUNCEMENT) On Ao3 and Wattpad

https://archiveofourown.org/works/67519071/chapters/174495401 -> Songbird’s Serenade