Hi! You’re like my biggest inspiration for writing as I’m writing an aleheather fic myself LOL. Anyway, do you have any tips for writing as this is my first time writing a fic ever!
(I've tried responding to this ask THREE TIMES and it keeps getting DELETED!! Anyway, this is one of the most flattering compliments you can recieve as a writer, and I'm so touched that DWOHT has inspired you this way!)
I don't have any revolutionary writing advice, but I tried to think of the advice that has helped me out across my writing journey, or things that I've learned for myself along the way. This is all assuming you already have the concept and main plot figured out (if not then that is a different sort of response!), so starting from there:
— Download Grammarly if you haven't already. It's a free editing tool. It isn't correct one hundred percent of the time, but it does usually catch grammatical mistakes, typos, and even offer suggestions! I don't use a beta on any of my fics, so it's me and Grammarly against the world, and I find it very helpful! I wish it were a tool back when I first started writing fics ten years ago, lol.
— Since this is your first fic ever (!!!) I think the sense of accomplishment is very important. Idk what your idea is but if it can be a one-shot, I would recommend it, simply because that feeling will help push you to complete future fics. You need to know how good that feels, lol. If this idea simply doesn't suit a one-shot, then maybe try one in the near future!
— Multi-chap or not, a fic does not need to be 500k+ words to be good. When I first started writing, I confused the quality of the fic with the length of the fic, and now I think it's almost the opposite. So don't put pressure on yourself to hit a certain word count!
— A continuation of the last point, but don't drag out the story. Know the beginning and know the ending, and figure out how the characters get from one to the other. It doesn't necessarily have to be the quickest route, but don't give the characters fifty roadblocks either. For example, I get annoyed when the couple gets together only to break up five chapters later, only to get back together in the last chapter, for drama? There are certainly fics where a breakup is necessary for character development/plot purposes, but if it isn't necessary, then it just drags.
— Have some sort of outline. Start with the very beginning and the ending, and then flesh out the in between. It doesn't need to be a super detailed outline! Mine aren't. It's every major scene that I know I want to include and then over the course of a few days, I go back and add on to it: lines I really like, new scenes I want to include, small details I want to incorporate, and notes that I don't want to forget. No one is ever going to see the outline, so it can be as messy as you like!
— Okay, as important as the outline is, you can always change it. It's not like you're carving it into stone; if you decide a certain scene does not serve the story anymore, then delete it. If you want a completely different ending, then change it. If you're trying too hard to force something, try coming at it from a different angle. Even halfway through a story, the outline can always change!
— I like to write 2-3 chapters before I ever publish the first one. The main reason is that if I'm going to give up on a fic, it's going to be within those first few chapters. If I can write three chapters before publishing the first one, I'm more likely to push through the writer's block later down the road. It also gives me time to figure out the tone of the story and nail down the characterization; by chapter three I have a better handle on those things, and looking back at chapter one, there might need to be edits made, and obviously, it's best to make any edits before publishing a chapter.
— Don't force things. If you're writing a scene because you feel that you must include it for whatever reason - you don't have to. One of the best pieces of advice I ever read on the internet is that you can gloss over scenes. For example, I did not want to spend time writing Heather's reaction to finding out they would be dancing a cha-cha to 'I Wanna Be Famous' in chapter two, so I didn't! I dedicated exactly one line to what could have easily been a very lengthy scene. If I didn't want to write the entire photoshoot scene in chapter two, I could have just referenced it in passing (during the phone call with Courtney, she asks how the shoot went, and Heather says something like "ugh, awful, don't even ask", and the story keeps rolling).
— Try to be as intentional with scenes as possible. This is something I'm actively working on, but I'm trying to make sure that every scene I include moves the story forward somehow. I don't always succeed at this - sometimes I include a filler scene simply because I'm proud of it or I like the visual it creates - but too much fluff will end up weighing the story down, or bloating that word count.
— If you hit a writer's block, take a break. Go outside and take a walk, do something else creatively fulfilling, cook something. A change in scenery will do wonders! Try again in a day or two, and if it still feels like pulling teeth, then take another break. Clean out your closet. Go shopping. Call a friend and talk. Then try again. If you're still struggling with the scene, then consider coming at it from a different angle or deleting it from the fic entirely.
— One piece of advice that really changed the way I write is this: if it is boring to write, then it will be boring to read. I don't believe this is true every single time, Lord knows I've suffered through scenes that readers loved, but I do generally find it to be true. Remember, fanfiction is an unpaid labor and you're doing it for fun, so don't write a bunch of stuff that you aren't even enjoying! Sometimes it is a necessary evil (every performance scene in DWOHT) but unless it is necessary, cut it. Otherwise, you'll burn out quickly.
— Read everything: newspapers, blogs, books, instructions on shampoo bottles. It's the most basic piece of writing advice, but it really is so helpful. You pick up words you've never heard before, pick up on sentence structuring, find styles of writing that scratch an itch in your brain. Treat your brain like a muscle and exercise it!
— Almost done! You'll never become a better basketball player if you don't practice; same logic here. Just do it! Staring at a blank Google Doc can be intimidating, but it's just one sentence after another, and eventually you'll find your rhythm. When I published my very first fic back in 2013, I truly thought I had a gift. I thought I was doing fanfiction.net a favor by posting there. I revisited that fic a year later and was so embarrassed that I scrubbed it from the internet, lol. But if I hadn't written that fic, and the second fic, and the third fic, and so on, I wouldn't be here now! I'm much more humble these days and certainly do not consider my contributions a gift, but I do have confidence in the quality of my writing, and I genuinely like my personal style! The point is, even your favorite published authors started exactly where you are right now, and if you keep writing, then there's no reason why your skill can't match theirs (or even surpass it - there are fanfic writers out there who put some published authors to shame!).
— Finally, have fun with it! I touched on this earlier, but it's worth repeating: don't take yourself so seriously that writing feels more like a chore than a hobby. Like I said, you're doing this in your spare time for free, so you'd better enjoy it!
I think those are my tips for just starting out! I hope it wasn't too overwhelming and that you find some of it useful! If you have more specific questions or want me to expound on a point, then send in another ask! And PLEASE let me know when you publish your fic!!!! There will never be enough Aleheather fics out there, and I'm very excited to read yours! ❤️
