Fanfic tips

[DarKush]

Not just what you want to hear...

Beta readers are useless unless you take their comments seriously. Speaking of which, the number 1 thing my beta readers pointed out to me was:

THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE
Meaning that the writer knows what things are, how they work, who people are, etc. You can't assume your readers know all this stuff, or that they'll pick up on subtle cues you write into your story.

Occasionally, my readers have been amused that I bothered to describe what a bat'leth looks like, what a mek'leth is, how a dk'tagh works. I did that because some of my readers have a vague idea of what a klingon is, but no clue what those weapons are or how they work.

Also, I invent lots of devices and found I had to explain those as well. For instance, the Cardassian band rifle, which works a lot like a Tommy gun. Even though I described it in use, I found I really needed to introduce it as a "repeating projectile weapon, not unlike a machine gun." (Why would cardassians have something like that? Because it works inside an energy dampening field, when phasers don't...)

This brings to mind a potential pitfall in my own writing. I don't think I spend much time describing well-known species like Vulcans because I'm taking it on faith that readers of Trek fanfic know what Vulcans and other well-known species look like. I perhaps spend even less time describing well-known starship classes.

 

[DonIago]

Not just what you want to hear...

Beta readers are useless unless you take their comments seriously. Speaking of which, the number 1 thing my beta readers pointed out to me was:

THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE
Meaning that the writer knows what things are, how they work, who people are, etc. You can't assume your readers know all this stuff, or that they'll pick up on subtle cues you write into your story.

Occasionally, my readers have been amused that I bothered to describe what a bat'leth looks like, what a mek'leth is, how a dk'tagh works. I did that because some of my readers have a vague idea of what a klingon is, but no clue what those weapons are or how they work.

Also, I invent lots of devices and found I had to explain those as well. For instance, the Cardassian band rifle, which works a lot like a Tommy gun. Even though I described it in use, I found I really needed to introduce it as a "repeating projectile weapon, not unlike a machine gun." (Why would cardassians have something like that? Because it works inside an energy dampening field, when phasers don't...)

There's a lot of variations upon this theme...
Giving a character knowledge (it seems likely) they shouldn't have.
When narrating (part of) a story primarily from one character's perspective, 'crossing the line' and suddenly relating something from another character's perspective.
Introducing blatant 'modernisms' into your text, depending on the type of story you're telling.

 

[Firebird]

Speaking as someone with editing experience, I was tempted to say, "if you can't find an editor for your work, at least find a beta reader to review it before you post it," but then I found myself wondering whether people who post fanfic essentially consider the people in this forum to be their beta readers?

Either way, if you want the most polished work you can get before you post it, at least get one or more beta readers, and ideally get an editor who will tell you the things you need to hear.

I've always been curious about getting a beta reader for my series, but it's just not worked out. In my case, I go through multiple drafts and edits to tighten things up as much as possible before publishing. The screenplay format also forces me to keep things tight and to the point, which I find incredibly helpful.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I've written a couple of alternate reality fanfics I envisioned as comics after reading the IDW strips. I put them in the present tense without getting into characters' heads unless they're recording a log.

I also wrote two TOS episode stories and a TAS episode story. The former had a chapter a scene.

 

[DonIago]

I've always been curious about getting a beta reader for my series, but it's just not worked out. In my case, I go through multiple drafts and edits to tighten things up as much as possible before publishing. The screenplay format also forces me to keep things tight and to the point, which I find incredibly helpful.

The problem is that no amount of self-editing can compare to what you might learn from a good beta reader or editor. We're all blind to the best strengths and weaknesses of our own work.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Let the hate flow through you: If there's a story or series that you didn't like, you could use that dislike as fuel to write the story the way you envision it, which of course is the "right way".

Need characters? If you are struggling making characters, there's a galaxy of already existing canon and non-canon characters that were underused or one-offs. You could take them to build a story around or use them as inspiration for an original character. Of course, there's also nothing wrong with using the established big names too, it's all about writing what you want.

This was essentially the reasoning behind my Section 31 fanfiction. The movie wasn't great but the concept had potential. Or in other words, "shit makes great fertilizer". I thought I could express my frustration with the final product by doing it myself and saying the things with my own fiction that the movie failed to address. With the exception of Georgiou, the characters are blank slates and the era is largely untouched. Barram Station is conveniently located near Cardassian space, which provides lots of narrative potential as they are the new rising power in that era.

Speaking as someone with editing experience, I was tempted to say, "if you can't find an editor for your work, at least find a beta reader to review it before you post it," but then I found myself wondering whether people who post fanfic essentially consider the people in this forum to be their beta readers?

Either way, if you want the most polished work you can get before you post it, at least get one or more beta readers, and ideally get an editor who will tell you the things you need to hear.

*raises hand*
Yeah, I actually did shoot off my first draft of that story to a few friends on email, who both agreed to read it and get back to me when they had time. While they did both get back to me eventually, it was not something that they were able to get to right away, which I understood. I was anxious to get going with it and I knew it was missing something, so I posted it here not hiding the fact that it was a first draft. And it was thanks to the feedback that I got here that I was able to strengthen the story to my own satisfaction, so that worked out.

As for the word count, my story hit 4000 words, which I was afraid would be considered too short!

 

[DonIago]

*raises hand*
Yeah, I actually did shoot off my first draft of that story to a few friends on email, who both agreed to read it and get back to me when they had time. While they did both get back to me eventually, it was not something that they were able to get to right away, which I understood. I was anxious to get going with it and I knew it was missing something, so I posted it here not hiding the fact that it was a first draft. And it was thanks to the feedback that I got here that I was able to strengthen the story to my own satisfaction, so that worked out.

As for the word count, my story hit 4000 words, which I was afraid would be considered too short!

Hey, your readers knew what they were getting into and what you were hoping for.

The potential problem with beta readers is that unless you're paying them, you can hope for the best but they haven't exactly committed to anything...and even then, beta reader feedback may amount to, "I liked it!"

I'm currently editing book four of a six book series for an author-friend of mine. The shortest book has been 190K words, and that's on top of my day job, so my deadlines are measured in months. 4K words I could do in an evening if it didn't require a ton of work.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Study the language used. There are often turns of phrase used that are typical of/more common at the time.

When I wrote "The Best Robe", for instance, I had McCoy compare Albix's worn clothing to "Adam's coat of skins", as it's described in the King James Version of the Bible. I also had Grace Berlin refer to Kevin Riley wearing a basket like an Easter bonnet.

In "Image of the Invisible", Uhura describes Zachary Moss as a "real absent-minded professor type".

I've also noticed while editing Memory Alpha that there are some terms/objects/phrases that have their Trek original use in VOY and occur more than once in that show.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Study the language used. There are often turns of phrase used that are typical of/more common at the time.

This is where J.R.R. Tolkien started. In fact, nearly the entire suite of stories about Middle Earth, including The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings were, in his description, largely commentary on the nature of various Elvish languages along with Westron, the language of Numenor.

 

[DarKush]

When it comes to language and Trek fan fic, I've often taken words or phrases from Trek lit, episode transcripts, and also from Memory Alpha and Beta to give my stories a Trek feel. For example, I use refresher or 'fresher instead of bathroom.

 

[BrotherBenny]

I've written some here and there, but the one thing that kept tripping me up were ideas I never finished as has been mentioned above. Or I had planned a series but wrote one story (too many to name here).

What I'm doing this time is writing a whole bunch before I even consider posting them here. I just finished writing (by hand) the second one and I'm outlining the third. I also love creating new races. The two I just finished have never before seen races, both in Starfleet and those the crew visits. I do it just to see if I can because my original stuff is crime (unpublished), not sci-fi.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

I come up with episodes for my series usually while I'm on my bicycle. (Most of the time it's the tricycle these days...)

I try to stay about 10 episodes ahead of my posting. I'm currently posting Episode 12 of Star Beagle Adventures here. I'm currently finishing Episode 20.

I use two tricks to jump-start my writing. With the Star Trek Hunter series, I brainstormed the names of several episodes with no idea what they would be about. So I had episodes with names like "Prisoner in the Ice Castle" and "The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling" and "A Stitch In Time" sitting out there for months with no clue what those stories would be about.

For Star Beagle Adventures, I've been using lyrics from songs by the prog-rock giant, Yes, as writing prompts. So I name the episode after the song, type out the lyrics and divide them into 10 - 20 scenes. Each scene is inspired by the portion of lyrics at the beginning of that scene. Example:

"A seasoned witch can call you from the depths of your disgrace, and rearrange your liver to the solid mental place..."
So I had Captain Rhonda Carter, at that moment crazed because she had just lost her hearing, start trying to heal herself by casting spells... And then one of them works...