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Top Five Peeves of Fred In Action and How to Avoid Them

1. The "Save Fred" syndrome.

More often than not - in fanfiction that is action and Fred centered - Fred is the one in need of saving. The damsel in distress. YES - Fred isn't physically powerful, but she has the brain the size of an elephant. Not to say I don't love a good story where Fred is in danger and the men in her life rush off to save her. But don't fall into the syndrome of writing it all the time. Why not instead - write Fred getting in trouble and saving herself! Or perhaps, saving someone else? It doesn't have to be physically and you don't have to give her super powers. Fred is like "Mcgyver" (an early nineties hit TV. show, about a man who could be trapped in a bare room with no windows and get out with a paperclip and string). She may not be the Slayer - but she can handle her own.

2. The "Mary Sue" Fred syndrome.

There are also those stories that forget that Fred is human - and makes mistakes. That she isn't ALL knowing. So if you're writing her in action - why not remember that she can't see through walls - and there are a few languages that she just CAN'T read. It's a common error, as Fred has been portrayed sometimes as the Mary or "Willow" sue of Angel the Series. However, lately they've finally toned down on it and pointed out a lot of things that Fred wasn't adept at. Mostly since Wesley left.

3. The "Out of Character" Fred Syndrome.

Some stories I've read make Fred out of character in order to write her into an action story, they use someone else's personality, Cordy or Buffy - and try to make her kick ass. The fact is: Fred isn't Cordy or Buffy. She's Fred. She has her own personality, and it's plenty kick ass on her own. In my opinion, her temper is slow to burn, and hard to cool. There's no need to change her or make her into a super hero, in order for her to save the day, or even if she's only a secondary character... She'd hit someone, but not over every little thing. And I'd see her more as a woman who'd go after someone with a bat. That seemed to be a weapon she enjoyed using on Quasi!Angel in Carpe Noctem.

4. The "New born" Fred Syndrome.

Ever read a story that made Fred seem as stupid as she is smart? Fred is NOT going to fall in line with some evil villains plans and end the world for him. (Of course that's an extreme example, not from any fic that I know of, but I felt it necessary to emphasize the point.) And she *wasn't* born yesterday. Where she might be slightly naive and believe in the good of human nature, I'd feel better terming her as an optimist - a glass half full - type of girl. Plus, she has a past. She's probably been kissed, and hit and all that before. How many of us have NOT been in a school yard fight? Plus she was hundreds of miles away from her family (who live in Texas) go to college in California to become a Physist, she's not a baby and though she may be a bit wacky and needed some help at first... she isn't a child. Just keep that in mind when writing her.

5. The "Fred is always right" Syndrome.

Very similar to the Mary Sue syndrome, the difference, is that his is only in arguments. Fred is not an "I told you so" type of person. Yeah, she may have been right that Angel or whomever shouldn't go jump off a cliff - but she wouldn't jump off that same cliff only to say to their face, "told you, you shouldn't have done that." Again, emphasizing my point there. Fred CAN be wrong, she can yell at a person and regret it later because she shouldn't have. She can fix the wrong toaster - she capable of being the "wrong" one in an argument. If they're not both wrong. Do you get my point? All I'm saying, is don't make Fred out to be some kind of priss. She's got brains, she's got talent, but at the end of the day, she's as lost as the rest of them.

Okay - so that's the top five peeves of my OWN. Feel free to suggest some and write how to avoid them yourself and I'll add yours to the list. If you disagree with something I said, or see some huge glaring error - also feel free to point that out to me. We'll debate over it sometime.

Just keep in mind these things when you're writing Fred, "She's not a child, she's not a super hero, she's not always right, she doesn't always need someone to save her and she's not someone else." Now repeat it to yourself, make it your mantra - and you might realize there peeves are just general boundaries, and there's an exception to every darn one of them. There are some awesome fics out there - that toy with the above peeves and make them seem pretty darn cool. If you can do that - more power to ya. But if you can't and want to... practice. You won't regret it.