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..+~Introduction~+..
So you want to write Sailor Moon fanfiction, ne? Hm, well, it'll take lots of work, and lots of reading on your part. Are you prepared for the workload? You think so? Okay, well, then let's get started.
There are two sections of Sailor Moon Fanfiction:
*The first- Sailor Moon Universe. This means that the storyline is based on the world created by Naoko Takeuchi. Usagi is Sailor Moon, the senshi are her warriors, etc. Now, while these rules can be broken to a certain limit, if you want it to remain in the SM Universe you have to follow the guidelines that Naoko Takeuchi has set up.
*The second- Alternate Universe. What this means is pretty obvious, it is an Alternate Universe. Basically that means you have free reign with anything and everything. A lot of Alternate Universe fanfics have nothing to do with Sailor Moon at all, but the names remain the same. While that is not always the best way to go, it is often the "easiest" and many beginners chose the AU path because it is harder to have an original plotline when using the rules of the Sailor Moon Universe.
So, do you got it? Now, before you start to write, I want you to take a piece of paper and a pen/pencil (you can type it if you must. *rolls eyes* Why would you even ask?) and make an outline of your story. Identify the following in this outline:
~The Setting
~The Main Characters (a brief description of each)
~The Plot
~The Ending
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE AN ENDING BEFORE YOU START WRITING A STORY. I can not stress how important this is. You CAN tweak an ending to fit how your story is as you write, but a basic idea of the outcome is essential to a good story. Why? If you do not have a focus for your story then it will do one of two things. 1: It will drag on and on and on until you have to end it because of the sheer length which leaves the story hollow OR 2: You will never finish. Stories that do not have set endings ahead of time will most often rot away on some fanfiction site half finished or on your hardrive. Not only are you leaving readers hanging, but you're also giving up on something that might have been great. Please, please, PLEASE make sure you have an ending before you begin a story.
Okay, now that that's out of my system, let's start looking at the first thing you wrote down: The Setting.
..+~Setting~+..
The setting of your story is of upmost importance. Do you want it to be in France during the 1400's, modern day Tokyo, the future on a space colony, what? Everything about your story is centered around this setting. The best way to chose the setting would be to match it to your story mood. Is it going to be happy, scary, romantic, dramatic, etc? If your story is going to be sad, you don't want it to take place in some happy-go-lucky place where the birds are always singing and the sun is shining. You CAN do that, but it takes a very experienced author for it to work. I would suggest, sticking to rainy days for beginners. Once you know where you want the story to take place and when (time period), you have to do: RESEARCH!! IF YOU DO NOT RESEARCH, YOUR STORY WILL NOT BE GOOD!!! Why, you say? Well, let's see an example. Let's say that you want your story to take place in historical Charleston, South Carolina, where the Civil War began. Read this sentence and see what you think:
Kelly shivered, her lips turning blue as she trudged through the snow towards home.
Looks innocent enough, ne? Well, I'll tell you for a fact that it NEVER snows in Charleston. (I would know, I live there). But, you don't have to be detailed. Just, look up stuff. Know some famous people from the time period, put some historic places in your setting, and learn what was invented and what wasn't. You're going to sound pretty stupid if you have people walking around in jeans during the 1400's. You want your story to be insightful, even slightly educational, without being boring.
..+~The Main Characters~+..
Ah, this is where the characters come into play. Now, this is the section where you have to be careful, because the characters aren't really yours, they're Naoko Takeuchi's. You have to stick to some sort of personality that's given, but you can exaggerate certain points so that the personality you wants fits with the character. You might even give a reason WHY the character changed. (Ex: She used to be such a happy, carefree child, but ever since her brother died, she's been solemn and moody.)
Make sure that your character actually HAS a personality. You don't want to throw in characters for the hell of it, they should have purposes, goals, ideas. Give them something to say, something to feel, something to accomplish. Your characters should develop and grow as people in a believable manner throughout the story. How has [insert conflict] changed this character? Has it made them better or worse? You want to show this as the story progresses.
..+~Plot~+..
Every story needs a good plot. Without a good plot, then you will not have a good story unless you are either 1) very gifted or 2) very lucky. A well developed plot is essential to a story because it is the story. Characters, setting, etc are all just things that make the plot more interesting and believable. SO, you should first sit down and really think out your plot. If you think about it ahead of time, and plan it, you'll even be able to throw in a few twists and turns. For example, let's take a story I wrote awhile ago called Heaven, Hell, and Somewhere in Between.
The plot of this story was, as follows: Serenity was the perfect person, never having committed a sin in her life. Endymion was a monster, the most evil of all humans. 'The Council' makes a grave mistake and sends Serenity to Hell and Endymion to Heaven. Both are sent to Earth to kill the other.
Now, that's the basic plotline. But, we need more, ne? So, let's make some irony.
Enydmion is an angel sent to Earth to kill a demon Lucifer has sent there. For his cover he shall become Chiba Mamoru, head CEO of CIA, Chiba Indtrusties of Advertizing.
Serenity is a demon sent to Earth to kill an angel. For her cover she shall become Tsukino Usagi, fashion designer and creator of the new hit UT line.
So where's the irony?
Usagi uses Mamoru's company to advertize her new Spring line.
Bingo.
We have our first plot twist. It's easy to add more and more irony in when you know what the basic plot and final outcome is going to be. Keep this in mind the entire time that you are writing.
..+~Ending~+..
One of the most important, if not the most important, part of a story is its ending. You need to have a clear resolution to the story where all the problems are solved and everything ties together. The reader shouldn't be left with any questions; you should have answered them all in your ending. Lots of people make the mistake of thinking that an ending has to be only one chapter, but it can take up as many as you want. So, what really defines when an ending begins? The climax. The climax is the pivotal part of your story, where the action takes its peak. In the story mentioned above, Heaven, Hell, and Somwhere in Between, the climax is when Endymion and Serenity realize that they were sent to kill eachother. (Note: They have already fallen in love).
After your climax, the action should start winding down. All of it should begin tying together and laying out a neat path for the ending you have already planned prior to writing your story.
I will cautiously mention that the ending rule can be completely ignored. Many stories end on 'cliff hangers'. However, I would not recommend this method as it takes a very talented author to pull it off correctly. If used improperly this method can make the story seem rushed and just unfinished. I would suggest using the above advice of a climax and resolution for a traditional ending, though it can be tweaked a bit for creative purposes.
..+~Notes~+..
1. An important part of any story is emotion, but it is very hard to accomplish. Not only must you consider how a person would really react to a particular situation, but you must also realize how this specific character's personality would react to the situation. Keep in mind that the emotion you make a character experience must agree with the character's personality traits. For example:
Usagi was running down the street when she fell, scraped her knee, and then started bawling her eyes out.
For the Usagi that we all know and love, this kind of reaction to scraping her knee is perfectly acceptable. In fact, we've seen her react in this way several times. Now, let's look at incorrect usage:
Usagi saw Naru sitting on a bench alone, crying silently to herself. Shrugging, Usagi walked by, not even stopping to ask the girl what was wrong. 'Hey, it's not my problem.'
Of course, we know that our caring, loyal Usagi would never treat a friend that way. Usagi would be the first one to go up and offer Naru her shoulder to cry on. So this is not how Usagi would react to said situation.
2. Reread. Reread. Reread. Readers hate reading anything that is constantly plagued with grammar and spelling errors. Before submitting any stories, you should do the following:
- Use your spell and grammar check
- Read your story to yourself
- Read the story outloud to yourself (you'll catch more mistakes that way)
- Have a friend/editor read it for you
- Submit story
3. Put more than dialogue in your story. There should be more than just dialogue in a story. I want to know where your character is sitting, what they look like, his/her facial expression, how he/she is standing, how he/she is viewing the people around him/her. You get the idea. I want more than just:
"Did you like the movie?" He said.
"Yeah, it was good." She said.
"I liked it too." He smiled.
"Let's do this again sometime." She giggled.
Puh-leaze, that is b-o-r-i-n-g. While this is true, I don't want the other extreme either. Trust me, I don't need this either:
Usagi opened the door to her house. She had her blonde hair done in a French braid down her back. She was wearing a pink baby-tee with a bunny on it, demin short shorts, and pink sneakers to match. She ran to the arcade and waved at Lita. Lita was wearing...blah, blah, blah.
Instead try giving description while not being repetitive. I really don't need 5 paragraphs describing what everyone is wearing. Sorry. Do something like this:
Usagi stepped out of her house in one of her favorite outfits, a pink, baby tee (with a rabbit on it, of course), demin short shorts, and pink sneakers. She had her hair in French braids and was ready to face the world. 'Eat your heart out, Mamoru.' she giggled to herself before running to the arcade, fully prepared to face the jerk and his pea-green nightmare of a jacket (that jacket should BURN!).
See? You still managed to describe what Usagi was wearing, but you made it a bit more dynamic and interesting to read. Be careful with this.
4. Stay steady until the end. I can't tell you how many times I've read a Sailor Moon fanfic that was dragging on. I mean, you could tell. It wasn't always bad though, because the dragging was interesting and funny. Authors often use humorous scenes, sexual tension, or conflict to slow down the movement of the plot while they try and figure out exactly where their story is going. (You can avoid this problem by making the outline I told you to do in the beginning). This is fine, lots of readers enjoy it, but once authors do find their focus, they tend to rush straight from the fluff into the plot. The result? 10 chapters of fluff and 2 of actual plot. This is NOT a good thing. You need to have a smooth transition from fluff to plot. You can't be holding off for 10 chapters and then have incident after incident. Spread it out. Fluff it up. If you don't, your story will seem rushed. Trust me.
5. Be interested. Sometimes stories take so long to write that the author just becomes disinterested in the plot. If this happens, don't force yourself to continue writing. Put the story aside and wait until you're ready to write some more. Forcing yourself to write something you no longer enjoy will only result in an awful story. Don't do it.
6. Repetition. Thanks for mentioning this, Debra, I hate it too. Lots of authors (young ones especially) love to find what they consider 'big words' and use them serveral times in a paragraph. A lot of people repeat words without even realizing it. For example:
Usagi sat down at a booth with her friends and ate a delicious chocolate sundae. All her friends said that it looked delicious, so they wanted some too.
See how delicious is used twice very close together? Try using a Thesarus to find another word that means the same thing.
Usagi sat down at a booth with her friends and ate a delicious chocolate sundae. Everyone said that it looked yummy, so they wanted some too.
The word doesn't have to be big, just mean the same thing. Use whatever flows. Chances are that if you don't know a word, your audience probably doesn't know it either. Use simple, descriptive words without repeating them over and over again throughout your story.
..+~Farewell~+..
If you keep these points in mind, remember to check spelling and grammar, and use good descriptions, than you'll have a great story for sure! I can't wait to read the outcomes. ^_~
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