Hello everyone, RevenantReaper337 here!

I have been reading fan fiction for several years, but it wasn't until recently that I thought I'd give it a go myself. Previously, I'd written several short stories, but nothing of note worth publishing. I tend to get easily distracted and find it hard to concentrate on a single story chapter at a time, usually resulting in me writing anything from a few words to several pages for a story only to flit to another. Point being, updates might be in a deluge or droplets depending on where I get up to at a given time. Stories I'm currently working on are for Altered Beast, Ratchet & Clank, and Starfox, but will eventually encompass more should my procrastinating creativity allow it.

Any who, please read, review if you wish, and enjoy my stories.

If you need to get in contact, you can reach me via PM or E-mail me at: rr337337@ (Now defunct)

Taking inspiration (read 'shamelessly stealing') from other authors, I thought it might be a good idea to use this space to keep everyone updated on my stories' status, which are listed below.

Time Heals All

Category: Ratchet & Clank

Genres: Adventure & Romance

Status: Complete

Update: N/a

Whole Again

Catagory: Ratchet & Clank

Genres: Adventure & Romance

Status: Active

Update: Bimonthly until further notice

Ellen Pearce - Troubleshooter

Category: Ratchet & Clank

Genres: Adventure & Friendship

Status: On hold

Update: N/a until further notice

More Than Human

Category: Altered Beast

Genres: Sci-fi & Mystery

Status: On hold

Update: N/a until further notice

A War Horse in Equestria

Category: My Little Pony

Genres: Friendship & adventure

Status: On hold

Update: When able

As promised, here is my guide to writing a good fan fiction based off of observation and my own experiences, hope it helps.

1) Cater to your audience without compromising your vision

People may make suggestions through reviews and PM’s about changes to the story or events they would like to see happen; some may be sensible, others potentially ruining for the narrative which should either be politely declined or made in to an omake if at all. The key is to find a good balance between keeping your readership happy while not twisting your story in to an unrecognisable mess of fan service. Ultimately the story is yours, and what you decide to put in to it is entirely up to you.

2) Write what you like reading

Sounds obvious, but if your heart and mind isn’t in it then the quality of your story will plummet dramatically. The same applies to having multiple stories; if you get bored or can’t get the frame of mind for one then try switching to another. A fresh perspective may be what you need to generate more ideas for later use.

3) Set yourself reasonable goals

Trust me, trying to crank out a 5000 word chapter every week from scratch while juggling life’s responsibilities is stupidly hard and something I won’t be repeating anytime soon. When it comes to updating, try to keep a regular slot so that your readers know when to expect the next chapter, but make sure to allocate yourself plenty of time to write and polish it before uploading.

4) Keep your readers updated on events that may affect the story

We’ve all seen it; stories that only have one or two chapters that promise a great story, but haven’t been updated in years with no indication if they ever will. I tend to use my profile to list my stories and their status’ in order to keep people in the loop, but an authors note in the chapter would suffice as well. Point being, if you know in advance that the next update is going to take a while then let your readers know lest you lose them for good.

5) Read, review, realise; the power of hindsight

This ties in with the first point. Sometimes reader comments will give you a flash of inspiration, or make you realise something you somehow forgot that could potentially change the course of the story altogether. Positive criticism can also point out glaring plot holes that you may have otherwise missed and allow you to clarify on things that your readers may not entirely understand for future chapters, or allow you to go back and edit the previous ones.

6) Know your subject; research before hand

Something that should be done before the first word touches the metaphorical paper. Whether it’s niggling issues or major screw ups, the number of stories I’ve part read and discarded due to lack of any understanding of the fandom in question is probably in the triple figures. You don’t have to have seen the anime, read the book, or played the game in order to make a great story for a particular category, just so long as you’ve done sufficient research to gain enough understanding of how the canon story world works before diving in the deep end head first. You don’t need to be an expert by a long shot, but a little research will go a long way to improving the quality of your story.

7) Learn how to pace the story

You probably have a good idea of how long your story is going to be before you start, and should plan out the major story events accordingly; making sure they are neither too bunched up or spread out in order to keep the narrative flowing and the reader interested. It might pay to sit down and work out the main plot points from beginning to end with side notes for minor events that crop up in-between. If too much happens at once it creates confusion and leads to some empty feeling chapters following on from too many revelations in one go. On the flip side, dragging things out for too long makes the story boring as hell and is likely to alienate your readership or lose them altogether. Pace things right and people will keep coming back for more.

8) Check grammar and spelling before posting

I tend to triple filter my chapters before each posting to check for inconsistencies and I still end up getting things wrong. Though the odd hiccup can be ignored in favour of enjoying a good story, there are on occasion some examples that are so bad as to be practically unreadable; a shame considering the amount of effort that went into making what would otherwise be a good story. You should endeavour to at least spell check your work before posting to clean up the worst errors.

9) Sell your story without giving away the plot

A pet hate of mine is summaries that tell you the entire story rather than just a synopsis; why bother to read them when you already know what’s going to happen? A story summary should only give away enough detail to reel in your readers without revealing anymore than necessary. Read the blurb on the back of books or movie covers in order to get a general feel for how this should work in practice.

10) Temper the abilities of original characters or justify their inclusion

Or in other words, the Mary Sue effect and how to avoid it. Overpowered characters can be interesting in the right circumstances if written well, but unless they are faced with an equally arduous challenge then they become boring. Original characters should be balanced to reflect who they are and what they are capable of in the reality of their world; a ten year veteran marine would have extensive weapons and survival training, a teenage girl probably wouldn’t. The key is balancing a small amount of disbelief (this is fan fiction after all) along with a base of reality and making sure that your OC complements rather than outclasses the main characters. Of course this isn’t an exact formula, but should be sufficient for most circumstances.

11) Borrow ideas, don’t steal; giving credit where it’s due

How many times have you looked at a story and thought ‘that’s a great idea, I could use that/make it better’? For me it’s more often than not, and if I’m able to then I credit the relevant sources in the author notes on each chapter where necessary. Using other people’s ideas, concepts, characters, etc is acceptable, but you should either get their permission to include their intellectual property in your own story and/or fully credit any sources used in your story. It’s polite, acknowledges the hard work someone put in to their own creations, and it avoids accusations of plagiarism.

I know it’s not much, but if it assists just one person then at least I can say my rambling is of some use. Hope this helps, everyone.