Okay, you've been reading XFFanfic for a while now and one night, not too long ago, you've been wakened from a deep slumber by a deep, ominous voice.
A deep, ominous voice that has bestowed upon you...
The Calling.
Yes, The Calling. Those five little words that will change your life. The Calling that says:
"Hey, I can do that!"
Yes, you've determined that YOU too can write an X-Files fanfic and be an author to rival the best of them. So, the next day you sit down, keening with anticipation before your word processor, ready to bestow upon the world your very own XFFanfic masterpiece.
Good for you! You've taken your first step into a very fulfilling hobby, one that is many hours of work and pain, but it has an untold richness of rewards. But, there are pitfalls and disappointments in the land of fanfic writing, so to help you avoid those, I have created a small outline of help for the novice fanfic writer.
I've been writing fanfic since 1996, and I've learned through hard work and embarrassment, the wrong way and the right way to produce an XFFanfic. So, below are the lessons I've learned from experience, editors, trial, error and lucky breaks, and I hope you'll find them useful.
So, you want to write a fanfic, huh?
Well, here are the basics you'll need.
THE PLOT:
Yes, the plot. Contrary to some opinions, I've discovered that all stories, no matter what their length, must have a plot. No, I'm not talking about some six hundred page Gore Vidal or Sydney Sheldon interlocking, multi-charactered monster. All I'm saying is that every story must have three very basic components: a beginning, a middle and an end.
Otherwise known as the set-up, the action and the resolution, or climax.
The set-up sets the stage for story, the action is what happens to the characters in your story and the climax is the change they've gone through as a result of that action. And the more life-altering the change, the stronger your story is going to be. It can be as simple a new coat and its meaning or it can be as traumatic as a death. But something important must -happen- to your characters, or you will be writing a story without a point.
So, consider carefully all three of these items before writing. Write an outline if it helps you, or a very fast, very rough draft. Don't worry about this draft; no one will ever see it, so it can be as awful as anything. The main thing is to have that plot ready and then you can move on to...
THE CHARACTERS
Since we are writing X-Files fanfiction, we are very fortunate to have our characters handed to us on a silver platter. We see them once a week, we know what they look like, we know what their jobs are, we know much of their history and background, even their little personal habits and quirks. Even better for us, our readers know this information as well.
So, lucky fanfic writers that we are, we can skip a lot of the introduction to our characters and get right to the story itself. But, there is a catch.
Because we are dealing with pre-made creations, and make the assumption that our readers know who we mean when we say "Mulder" and "Scully" we have to do our part to make sure that these two characters actually act and speak as could be reasonably expected of them.
This is called "good characterization" and it is the most important component of your fanfic, and what will make it stand out from the hundreds of fics posted all over the 'net every day.
Now, what is good characterization?
Well, there are terrific debates about this, because everyone naturally has their own mental vision of both Mulder & Scully and their own beliefs about what either one of these characters would do or say when confronted with a certain set of circumstances.
So, how can you be sure your characterization will be the "right" one?
Well, you can't. Because there is no "right" one, for, as said above, everyone's vision of Mulder & Scully is unique. But, there are still "good" and "bad" characterizations in fanfic. So, to make your characterization as true and good as possible, here's a good outline to follow:
1. Be -extremely- careful with dialogue.
Watch tapes of XF and *listen* closely to M&S when they speak. Note speech patterns and quirks. Listen for repetitive phrases and "catchwords" such as Scully's "I'm fine." Note how they always call each other by their last names, very rarely using "Fox" or "Dana". Read your dialogue aloud and see if you can "hear" Mulder & Scully saying what you've written. If you can't, it's time for a re-write.
2. Be very careful describing appearance:
Scully's eyes are blue, her hair is auburn/red. Mulder's eyes are hazel, his hair is brown. While these seem like simple things, if you get them wrong, your fic is doomed. So, be careful to get basics correct, such as height, weight, coloring and style habits. Watch a few episodes again if you have to, or ask around. There will be plenty of people who will be willing to fill you in on these small, but necessary, details.
3. Create REASONABLE reactions from your characters in response to the actions/events you present to them in your story, no matter how "out there" the events are.
This probably the most important part of characterization, because it's where you stamp M&S with your own vision of their characters. But to pull it off, you have to make them behave in a manner that befits their known age, profession and canon history.
That means that Scully, as a trained FBI agent, should be able to reasonably defend herself against attack and as a medical doctor would probably not blanch or get sick at the sight of blood. Mulder, as an FBI agent, a writer, a researcher and an Oxford graduate, probably doesn't spend all his time at home crying and watching porno tapes. Since they are adults in their thirties, it's unlikely that they'll behave like teenagers in regards to sex or romantic love, etc, etc.
In short, no matter what your fic is about, be sure they at least act like what they are. Adults, with hard-won careers. Remember, it's not what happens in your story what makes good characterization, it's how your characters react to what happens that does.
WRITING:
If I had a magic formula for this, I wouldn't share it with you for free, that's for sure.
I can give you some pointers, but I'm afraid this part is all yours. But, hey, that's the joy of the art. While painful, frustrating and difficult, there is a very great pleasure inherent in the art of writing.
But, as a service to the beginner, here is what I've learned about writing. It's incomplete by far and most of it is taken from other writers who shared their secrets with me, but a few things here were learned the hard way, all by my lonesome.
FIRST STEP:
Write a very fast first draft of your story, from beginning to end as quickly as possible without looking back at what you've written until you are done. Don't worry about it, don't fret over it, just write it. Don't quit in the middle, just keep scribbling, every day, day after day, until it's done. Remember, no one will ever see it, no one will ever ridicule it, it can be the worst thing ever written and no one will ever be the wiser. The main thing is getting that story down on paper.
STEP 2: After you are done with your quick and dirty first draft, put it away for a day. Don't look at it, don't think about it, take a deep breath and relax.
STEP 3: Go back to the draft and slowly read what you've written. As you read, start the rewriting. That means adding things you've forgotten, taking out things that don't make sense, changing around things that are in the wrong place, making dialogue more realistic, making sure the stage, the action, and the ending follow each other to a logical and inevitable conclusion. Take your time, be leisurely, you are in no hurry now, because the story is written. So, you have all the time in the world now to shape that story into something wonderful.
A great help in this process is reading the fic aloud to yourself during the first rewrite. While you might find this embarrassing, it's the best advice I've ever received about writing. You will catch things you would never have caught otherwise, especially clumsy dialogue, repetitive phrases and slow passages. So, pick a day when you have the house to yourself and start reading out loud. It works, I swear it.
This is also the point where you use your spell-checker, dictionary and thesaurus for the first time (and not the last time by any means.) Be sure to catch as many typos and grammatical errors as possible, giving the fic a re-read JUST for these errors, ignoring content. Don't worry, you won't get them all this time, heck, like me, you might never get them all, but this is a good time to start the clean-up. And if you don't have a spell-checker on your word processor, all I can say is:
Get a new word processor. Seriously.
STEP 4: Now, after you've finished the first rewrite of your masterpiece, take your fic and...put it away again, this time for at least a couple of days. Put it completely out of your mind, have a beer, relax. After the few days are over, you are -then- ready for:
THE EDITING:
Ah, yes. The rewrites of all rewrites.
The dreaded, enlightening, painful part of writing. This is where you really whip that story into shape and turn it into the best piece you have to offer the reading public.
And the best way to do this is to get an editor.
What is an editor? That's a person who will read your story with a pair of fresh eyes (yours being red and nearly worn out from your rewriting), and give you an honest appraisal of what works and what doesn't work in your story. A good editor will be patient, gentle and supremely optimistic that you have a brilliant story to offer, but that it just needs some tweaking here and there to really make it fly and they are more than willing to guide your tweaks.
Who is this editor? It can be anyone, really. A good friend who loves to read, another fanfic writer who volunteers to help you, your mom on a break from vacuuming. Anyone who can read and is willing to be gentle and honest with you is a good editor.
Now, your job, after you've found this editor, is to be a big, brave writer, and not let your sensitivity get in the way of making your story the best it can be. That means trusting that your editor isn't just being a spiteful, nasty, mean-hearted, rotten, low-down, lying, dirt-sucking, scumbag who gets their sick, twisted pleasure from taking YOUR baby, ripping its head off and handing the pieces back to you with a fork and knife stuck in it.
That means not crying hysterically when they tell you that the BEST paragraph in the story, your FAVORITE paragraph in the story, not only doesn't belong in the story, but actually doesn't make any sense at all. That means not sending your editor computer virus after they calmly explain to you that Pendrell probably wouldn't be in menage a trios with a pack of beagles and your fic needs a major a re-evaluation.
It means LISTENING to their advice in regards to grammar and spelling, and making sure you make those corrections before you post.
In short, it means sacrificing a little ego for the sake of your story.
It's not easy, it's difficult as hell (I myself, resisted doing it for years), but I promise, and swear and PROMISE, it really, really works and when the initial agony has passed, you won't regret it one bit. Not only that, but, unlike writing itself, editing becomes easier over time and you will develop a thicker skin as you go along. Promise.
And now, after you've written, rewritten, edited... it is time for:
THE FINAL EDIT
Auuuggghhhh, you scream! I'm sick of editing, I'm sick of re-writing, I'm sick of YOU, CiCi!
Well, yes, I'm sure you are, but this edit is EASY, I swear! All you have to do, is read that story, one more time, spell and grammar check it just -one- more time, and then, guess what?
YOU ARE DONE!
Congratulations, you've created your first XFFanfic and are ready to post it! And you know what? I'm sure that if you've followed all the steps above, it will be a TERRIFIC piece that will get you all the feedback and love you can chomp up with a spoon.
And I look forward to reading it!
SOME GOOD LINKS FOR REFERENCE & RESEARCH:
XF FanFic Links--Related Sites
NEXT TIME:
"SHARING YOUR MASTERPIECE WITH THE WORLD"