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An important fanfiction rule?
Hate the WRITING, don't hate the CHARACTER.
When you hate a character on a show, nine times out of ten, you're hating how the character is WRITTEN, and there IS a difference, and a very IMPORTANT one for fanfiction writing. And in fact for adaptations in general.
You see, hating how a character is WRITTEN means you acknowledge their depiction is fluid. It can be changed. By hating the CHARACTER, you are hating them on principle. They become static and it becomes hard not to...punish them so to speak.
See Scrappy Do's depictions in the movies, TV series, and comics since his run as a main character ended for a good example.
There's pitfalls even when writing a character you LIKE (for example, making them TOO fortunate), there's a LOT more when writing a character you HATE.
Now, if you hate how the character is WRITTEN rather than the character themselves, well then that opens up possibilities, as YOU'RE writing now. You can now address that. You can address your problems and other's with the writing.
Think a character is too useless? Well maybe dile up their competence. You think a character is too unlikeable? Well let's add in a few new character traits that expand on their existing ones to fix that. As the new writer, you can change things.
An example from my own work is my fanfic
Now, there ARE limits to that: if you change a character so much that they aren't even recognizable as the character, it's better to just make up your own character at that point. Good rule of thumb is to take the good aspects of the character and their base personality and build FROM that, while correcting things that made them 'bad' to begin with.
Common victims of this rule not being followed include:
Ember or Cynder in Spyro fics depending on which side the writer is on of the shipping war.
Scrappy Do
The entirety of MLP G3.
Wesley Crusher from Star Trek
Hate the WRITING, don't hate the CHARACTER.
When you hate a character on a show, nine times out of ten, you're hating how the character is WRITTEN, and there IS a difference, and a very IMPORTANT one for fanfiction writing. And in fact for adaptations in general.
You see, hating how a character is WRITTEN means you acknowledge their depiction is fluid. It can be changed. By hating the CHARACTER, you are hating them on principle. They become static and it becomes hard not to...punish them so to speak.
See Scrappy Do's depictions in the movies, TV series, and comics since his run as a main character ended for a good example.
There's pitfalls even when writing a character you LIKE (for example, making them TOO fortunate), there's a LOT more when writing a character you HATE.
Now, if you hate how the character is WRITTEN rather than the character themselves, well then that opens up possibilities, as YOU'RE writing now. You can now address that. You can address your problems and other's with the writing.
Think a character is too useless? Well maybe dile up their competence. You think a character is too unlikeable? Well let's add in a few new character traits that expand on their existing ones to fix that. As the new writer, you can change things.
An example from my own work is my fanfic
Commission: Light Born From RegretLight Born From Regret. Those who follow me know I HATE Siege of the Crystal Empire, and loathed Hope's depiction therein. Namely, I felt with how she was written, she showed no empathy or compassion for the damage she was causing, was willing to doom two countries for the sake of her boyfriend, and in general was very unsympathetic. So instead of depicting her that way, I depicted her here as having a delayed reaction so to speak. She DOES feel guilt, it's just hitting her after the fact now that she's had time to stop and think about the damage she caused. She's genuinely remorseful for her actions, and didn't need chewed out over it to understand that.
Commission: Light Born From Regret
By Kendell 2
Commissioned by HolyCross9
''SPOILERS FOR SIEGE OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!''
“Just a little farther!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah!”
Radiant Hope clung to the rope she was hanging from as the now purified King Sombra lowered her a little lower, low enough for the small piece of crystal on a ledge below to enter the range of her telekinesis. “Got it!”
The mare then gasped as a massive red, eel-like head emerged from a hole in the rock and turned around to look at her, mouth larger than herself lined with hundreds of sharp teeth. Before the massive Quarray Eel could snap its jaws shut on her, Sombra pulled with all his might (both physical and magical), moving her just out of reach of it and causing it to slam into the side of the wall. She focused and disappeared in a bright flash of light, reappearing next to Sombra.
The two fled back away from Ghastly Gorge to a safe distance before Sombra nuzzled Hop
Now, there ARE limits to that: if you change a character so much that they aren't even recognizable as the character, it's better to just make up your own character at that point. Good rule of thumb is to take the good aspects of the character and their base personality and build FROM that, while correcting things that made them 'bad' to begin with.
Common victims of this rule not being followed include:
Ember or Cynder in Spyro fics depending on which side the writer is on of the shipping war.
Scrappy Do
The entirety of MLP G3.
Wesley Crusher from Star Trek
© 2017 - 2024 Kendell2
Comments68
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Ok, faving this journal just because it fits with what I have been doing for the past two years with Fall of Starfleet. Hell, the big theme is that there are no bad characters or ideas...just bad writers unable to bring out those ideas to their fullest.