RE-FimFiction Tutorials: Beginner Tips · 2:04pm Sep 9th, 2016
This is Shirotora's blog post. I am re-posting it on my account for my own use.
In this tutorial, I'll be giving several bits advice for new authors, focusing on things that will help one improve their writing and little things that don't need an entire entry of their own.
Seek criticism.
The first and most important thing you should do is get what I like to call a 'helpful asshole'.
What is a helpful asshole, and why call it that, you ask? A helpful asshole is someone who will tell you exactly what you've done wrong without sugarcoating it. Now, this doesn't mean someone who will put you down or be a jerk about it, but one that isn't going out of their way to preserve your feelings.
The most important tool for any author to improve their talent is to have a third party point out exactly what you need to improved.
As a bit of related advise, try to take all criticism with humility, even if it's less than constructive. If someone bashes your fic being a dick about it, weed out the bad and look at what they're criticizing.
Now, often times they're just putting you down because they're small people full of self loathing, but sometimes there is something there that you can use.
Don't get mad, use it to improve yourself. It's the best kind of payback.
Don't use 'fan terms'.
Often times, I read stories that refer to the Mane 6 as the Mane 6. This is a no-no. The term 'Mane 6' is a fandom term used to refer to the main characters of MLP:FiM, not what they are known as in the show's world.
When there is a term coined by the fandom, ask yourself if it makes sense for the term to be used in world. Would ponies call Twilight and her friends 'the Mane 6'? Why would they? What makes them main anything?
Now, terms like 'brohoof' do make sense for the show's world, as it's a play on the term 'brofist' and as we've seen, MLP loves their pony puns.
Use Gdocs.
One of the best tools for authors and their editors/proofreaders/assholes is Google Documents. For that one person that doesn't know what Gdocs is, it's a cloud-based document storage and sharing service provided by... take a guess...
That's right, Yahoo!
Seriously, though, it's a great way to work on a chapter with your team, as it allows you and your assistants to work on the document together and see any changes made in real time. It also allows notes to be tacked onto whatever you highlight which is perfect to question, advise, or critique on a specific word, line, or paragraph.
Don't try to rush to the 'good stuff''.
I know, you have this awesome battle in mind with your hero squaring off against a dozen robot alicorns, but before you can get there, you have to introduce your character, have him meet the secondary characters, and establish himself in Ponyville.
If you want people to stick around long enough to get to that battle, you're going to have to put more than 5k words to all that stuff. If you don't care enough about your characters and story to put time into building them, neither will we.
Take your time and make us care. Give us a reason to care when your main character suffers. Give us a reason to cheer when your main character succeeds. Give us a reason to want your world to be saved.
Learn the proper use of perspectives.
Numerous times, I've seen stories about a canon character told in the second person. People do this because they think it helps immersion. The problem with that is that I'm not a purple unicorn mare or a cyan pegasus from Cloudsdale. I'm a human man from the south-western corner of Virginia.
The rule of thumb to follow here; if you replace every first or second person pronoun with their third person counterparts, do so.
Third person is the easiest to start with, as the narration doesn't require the emotion of first person or the ambiguity of second. Third person is the broadest of the perspectives and is also good when you have multiple characters and stories happening at once.
First person is the second easiest, and can actually be easier than third for some people. It gives a more limited, but intimate experience. It's limited to what the narrator experiences, but gives a more intimate view of those experiences.
Second is the most difficult to pull off in text. It should only be used when the reader is meant to be the main character. What makes this hard is that there should be as little detail and hints about the protagonist as possible, as protagonist should be able to fit anyone.
The best examples of a second person narrative would be in video games like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, o World of Warcraft.
Finally, shifting perspectives. While some people will tell you this is an improper way to write, there's no actual rule saying you can't. However, it can be difficult to keep things coherent.
The easiest way to do this (other than not doing it at all) is to avoid a first person/first person perspective. This gets the most confusing as the narrator is simply referred to as 'I' or 'me'. If you want to do a shifting perspective, I recommend sticking with first person/third person.
Understand that people have different tastes.
No matter how good you get, or how perfect your story is, there will always be people that will dislike it. This isn't because you just need to improve – though you always can – but because you can't please everyone.
There will always be people that will say they didn't like what you wrote. Don't let it discourage you.
I hope this helped you start your journey into the world of authordom.
Your friendly neighborhood tiger,
Shirotora
This was really good advice, thanks for sharing.
I wasn't sure if there was a word missing here - should it be 'if you can replace every...'?
4313425 I went to check to see if I got that part wrong but no. That's how it is.