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Part 2 – Getting Started: I haz an idea!

You’ve decided you want to write a Fan Fiction. Odds are, you already have an idea for said Fan Fiction, a concept, or a question that you want to answer, and these ideas usually fall under one of three concepts: Missing Moment, Alternate Universe, PWP.

Missing Moment: A Missing Moment is when time lapses, or a point of view is absent, in a specific point of time in the story/film. “What was happening on the Falcon during Han and Leia’s trip to Cloud City?”

Alternate Universe: Classic “What if” scenario. “What if Luke accepted Vader’s offer at Cloud City?” You could also go so far as to do crossovers between two franchises, “Star Wars vs. Star Trek” or in the case of stories like The X-Men, a “No Powers AU”.

PWP: It stands for Porn Without Plot but it doesn’t necessarily have to be an erotic Fan Fiction. These are your basic stories that are all about ships (relationships) and getting two people together or exploring a moment in their life. There is no other point to the story than this.

Yes, these can overlap each other, just to confuse you.

Now, where do you go from here? You start with defining the following:

1. Tone. Are you going to do some funny spin on a normally dark story or do a dark take on a usually light-hearted franchise? Or are you going to stick with the status quo?
2. Genre. Are you sticking to the franchise’s genre or are you going to do a different spin on things? Like a Noir version of Supernatural, or a Sci-Fi version of Harry Potter? Maybe you’re doing a Parody?
3. Characters. Who will be in your story? You can always add/subtract later but you need to know what you’re working with to get started, especially in missing moments and AU’s. Who was present at the time? What characters made it over in the crossover?
4. Location. Where is this taking place? Which universe? For some franchise, like the X-Men, you already have several universes such as Earth 616, Age of Apocalypse, Film-Verse, Evo-Verse, etc.
5. Beginning. If this is a Missing Moment, then when does that moment start? Are you going to do any background? If it’s an AU, where did the AU occur and is that the start of your story? Or did the AU occur much earlier and this is the aftermath?
6. Results. What do you want to get out of this Fan Fic? Is the whole point to get two people together? Maybe you want to explain away Midiclorians? Whatever you goal is, you have a goal, define it and work towards it, everything else will fall into place.

Most of these will fall in line with the franchise, and that’s perfectly acceptable. If you’re doing a Battlestar Galactica Fan Fiction then a sci-fi, dark and gritty, tale in space is your default and what most people will want to see when looking to read BSG Fan Fic. If the whole point is to make something off the wall or a crossover, then decide what you’re going to do.

Importantly, remember that whatever you decide is not set in stone. You are totally allowed to change your mind, add and subtract elements etc. Granted, you may need to go back and edit to make everything fit, but if the only way to reach your goal is to change things, then change them. This simply gives you a place to start.

Now all you have to do is write! Starting the story is usually the hardest part for a lot of people because you just don’t know where to begin. Here are a few basic openers:

1. Info Dump. You start by telling the audience where you are. This could be an established location but maybe it’s new or run down, maybe it’s a dreamscape, perhaps Mal Reynolds has found himself on the deck of the Enterprise. Or instead of where, you could start with what has happened. “Two years ago, Harry Potter defeated He Who Must Not Be Named.” However, do not get carried away. Spending several paragraphs explaining how/why your universe exists can be incredibly boring regardless if it’s a Fan Fic, Pro Fic, Film, etc. You can always explain to the audience later all the little details. In fact, it might make it more interesting. A Painted Veil by Jade_Lotus starts out like any other fancy event but ends the first chapter with the statement that Mara and Luke are divorced leaving the audience going ‘whaaaaa? when did they get married?’
2. Mid Action. This is popular in tv-shows as it’s a great hook. Your lead character, or your guest villain/monster, is in the middle of doing something like breaking into a bank, fighting a ninja, sneaking out of bed, or eating someone’s face off. You can then do a ‘Two Days Earlier’ to explain how they got to that point or you can continue from that point, such as having Sam and Dean arrive to investigate. You can even skip ahead in time, like in my X-Men: Among Thieves, where not only do I skip to a few years later after an action sequence but I switch to a completely new character and introduce him Mid Action in a fight.
3. Cold Open. This is related to the Mid Action open but is a little more select. This is when you start a story seemingly unrelated to the characters. Such as starting a story with a seemingly benign moment of a secretary at her desk typing up a report. Obviously you’ll get back to that later but for the moment the audience is left with a bit of a chin scratch. These are very effective but have to be very contained. Think of the teaser at the beginning of a tv show. They are quick little snippets which are interesting in their own right but ultimately the reader wants to get to the good stuff (i.e. the established characters).
4. Dialogue. Start with a statement, usually something with a little zing. “What do you mean it’s bigger on the inside?” Starting a story with a conversation can get the ball rolling quick and fast without all the need for description or information. Just have two people talk about what’s going on in the moment or at a specific point in the past. You can play with the audience and not specifically say who is talking, then surprise, it’s actually the villain!

There is no wrong way to start a Fan Fic, or any work of fiction, only a poorly written way (but that’s for later). Right now, get your Fic started. Get words onto that piece of paper.

YOU CAN ALWAYS EDIT LATER!

This is very important and we’ll discuss editing at a later point, so don’t sweat it. Get your story down on paper, that is the first and biggest step, just be prepared to edit. Not enough Fan Fictions spend the time to take a second look.

To recap, decide on what kind of story you’re going to write, then write it. Once it’s done you can go through and fix anything that doesn’t work using the rest of the workshop as a guide.

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