Having written 27 fanfics deriving from the Sailor Moon universe, I figured I should put some thoughts down on fanfiction writing.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're reaching for that mouse as though it were a huge pile of money, thinking "Oh my GOD, he's gonna speak! Nooooo!", but before you click away, if you have any intent on writing fanfics on any subject now, in the near future, or even in the far future, read a little of this tutorial / editorial. You may learn something. Or you may have a laugh. Either way, read on....

Chapter 1 - Getting Started

So, you've decided to write fanfiction. Good! You are about to join an elite group. Actually, you're about to join a group numbering in the thousands. (Just check out http://www.fanfiction.net/ and have a look at the directories of the authors...) Actually, it doesn't take much to write a fanfic. A title, a few lines, and your name somewhere on the file and BAM, you've written a fanfic that will take the Sailor Moon community and slam its head into the wall.

It's a bit more complicated than that. I know. I did it. My first Sailor Moon fic was more than a few lines long...it was in fact, four pages. However, to this day, my attitude toward SX1, which was called "Manhattan Project", was that I was writing to prove that I could write fiction work about the Sailor Moon series. And like a lot of the new things you get into, even things that endure for a good long while, SX1 was quite rough around the edges. Who were these people? What are they doing on the moon? What is the Timegate?

Those questions are answered a bit later in the series, so things are a bit rough in SX1. By SX4, I had things pretty much established and had a solid base from which to expand my own version of the Sailor Moon universe. The point here is to explain that unless you are the original author of the series, you will probably not be putting out any canon-like material on your first try. Then again, most readers are not looking for canon-like material...they just are looking to be entertained.

So, once you've lowered your sights to a realistic level, the next question is: What do you write about?

In my case, once I got past the "Gee, let's write a fanfic for the Hell of doing it" phase, I decided that there was a terrible amount of time that is not discussed at all in the Sailor Moon anime. They talk about an ecological disaster, but they don't give details. They talk about a war with a dark force, but there are few details. The future is full of stuff, but it is nebulous, fuzzy. So, at some point, I decided that the Sailor X series should answer those questions, or at least attempt to. What started as just an attempt to write fanfiction about the Sailor Moon series has since turned into the goal of a reader being able to read SX1 to SX-whatever and come away from it thinking: "The anime doesn't say this happened this way, but it *could* have happened this way..."

So, I wrote about the lack of details in Sailor Moon. What you write about depends a lot on several factors. The most important factor is: what do you know about the series? You might respond, "Well, I know about the characters and they're fighting the Negaverse", and that might be good for a few fics, and if that's what you're after, then go for it.

Sometimes however, that's not enough. In order to tell the DEEP stories, you have to have a DEEP understanding of the series. You turn into an amateur psychologist and start analyzing the characters. You mull each word of anything a character says that might shed some light on some facet of the storyline, the way they think, or why they act the way they do. The characters, their lives, the storyline almost become as real to you as your own life.

Once that happens, you can began to weave the epic tales.

However, SX1 was useful in other ways that can be useful to the beginning fic writer. The biggest gift it gives to you is advice, and here it is...

Everyone starts out as a newbie. Everyone. Even the elites in the fanfic universe at one point sat down and opened up MS Word and for the first time EVER, started thinking about Sailor Moon or whatever anime they were writing about in new ways that piqued their imagination. With that in mind, don't be afraid that your work won't stack up. Don't be intimidated. Just write.

That being said, let me point out that inspiration is not required at the beginning of a fanfic series, but it is required at some point if you want to write a series that sustains itself.

My other advice at this point would be to use the spell-checker that comes with your word processor, and use it often. If you don't have software that has a spell-checker, get one. This is absolutely essential, because people tend to get turned off by a fic that is replete with mis-spellings.

Get an editor, if possible. An editor is a second brain, a new perspective, that picks up errors you might miss, and makes suggestions on how to improve your fic. While we are on this subject, let me tell you the method of editing that works best for me. My current editor, Thomas Schell, as well as any of my past editors, are given broad editorial powers. If they think something could be worded better, they note that. Jamie Lewis even went so far as to re-write entire sections of the fics, and even started doing character development to a character she felt I was neglecting. This is a GOOD thing. When your editor presents you with a list of corrections and ideas, go with them, unless the changes directly conflicts with whatever point it is that you are trying to put across.

The last point of advice I have for now is, have fun with your writing. If you are not having fun, it will show in your writing. This also applies to writer's block or writing burnout, both of which have afflicted me over the last two years. When either of those things happen, STOP WRITING! Step back, take a break, and wait until the situation resolves itself.

In the case of writer's block, thinking about the situation while taking a hot bath sometimes can help. Also, talking to other fans about the situation can help. Once you shake something loose, go at it again. One of the things I have found most helpful in cases of writer's block is to write an outline of where you want the plot to go. Usually I do this if I notice before starting to write a fic that I might have problems with the plot.

In the case of burnout, the only thing you can do is wait, and hope it goes away. In my case, from SX1 to SX20, I basically put out at least one fic a month, sometimes more than that. SX14 - SX20 were one long series of inter-connected stories that I jumped right into. Then I started not wanting to write. Then I started not wanting to watch the anime. Before I knew it, I was thoroughly burned out on the series. The problem was that I was in the middle of a fic, which was in the middle of a six-part series. So I finished the fic, and some of the work there is some of the worst in the series. After that, I took a break...three months to be exact, where I didn't even look at the fics. Then when the S season made it to TV, I watched, and I was reinspired to write. Since then, SX21 - SX27 have been written, and I believe the quality of the writing is vastly improved.

You yourself are the best judge of things. Know when to write, know when not to. Know when to seek advice, and know when to take it. Believe in yourself, even if you are a novice, and if you are a novice, admit that to yourself and don't be afraid to ask for help. Most importantly, have fun.

Artemis

(comments welcome - please email me at [email protected] and I will post your comments here as well.)