Markel's Rules · 10:48pm Dec 12th, 2019
So for most of my readers out there, I want you to know that I have read my fair share of fanfictions. Some of them MLP and some of other worlds. And I can honestly tell the difference between a writer who just writes, and a writer who writes and reads too. There's a fine line between them with evidence in their works. So how can you tell? This blog post is to show what you're doing wrong that can affect your growth as a writer. And I'm going to show you how to correct those mistakes.
Rule One. Noob writers usually start out a new chapter with an action the character is doing with no description whatsoever of the scene, such as, "Twilight paced the room with anxiety." Or, "Rainbow Dash quickly rushed down the hall." Guys, it is important to set the scene first before you add any of that. Not only does it confuse the reader about what is even happening, but it also doesn't give even a basic idea of what the scene is going to be like.
As a matter of fact, most readers will probably leave your story after one or two paragraphs of that. Because not only does it leave a void in the reader's mind of location and environment, but it also let's them know that there's going to be more of that.
So instead of writing, "Rainbow Dash quickly rushed down the hall," write something formatted such as, "The sound of Rainbow Dash's rushing hooves bounced off the walls of Canterlot Castle's bright hallways. Her mane was windswept, the cerulean fur on her face was matted with sweat. Her expression of anxiety itself quickly approaching urged any of the ponies working this morning on this very hall yards away to bounce to the side upon recognition. They knew that if they stood in her way, then they would find themselves on the same floor she was trotting on."
Not only do we know that something is happening urgently. But now we know the location(The castle in Canterlot), a bit of emotion that Rainbow Dash is feeling(anxiety), the fact that it's morning, and her desperation. We managed to pile all of that into one paragraph. We didn't need to split it up at all. Now the readers see an image in their minds that coerce them to read even more. If the writers read more, and not just fanfictions, they'll be able to turn their work into a full blown trending story.
Number Two. Consistency. Writing a great story and then not finishing it for years is unacceptable unless you feel your story slowed in traffic, or didn't turn out how you wanted it to, which in turn would coerce you to rethink and rewrite it. I too am guilty of this, but I have learned from my mistakes from other writers. Not only will you lose followers, but you will lose engagement too from potentials. Because now they see a writer who just isn't finishing their favorite story with no excuses. They just drop off the grid.
Now before anyone gets mad at me, I completely understand the fact that some people may have lost the will to write the story and just moved on, or even—hope it never happens again—may have gotten sick and passed away. In which case, we support you and your family. But still, it's better to let people know something, so we aren't disappointed and can show you that we care and know we're not being annoyed. Some of you may not be as affected by it, but there are still others that do care. So let us know, okay? Or else people won't really take you seriously as a writer.
Three. Stop forcing MLP universes and other universes together. Guys, you just can't ship something like Sonic and My Little Pony, it just doesn't work. Or Transformers, or Dragon Ball-Z, or freakin' X-Men, Superman, Ice Age, Pirates of the Carribean, Lord of the Rings, you guys won't believe all the stories I have read on and off Fimfiction.net.
Four? Stop smashing human in Equestria stories. I'm not saying don't write them. I'm saying stop forcing them together by plotting them as, "One night, I went to sleep, the next morning I woke up in Equestria." That doesn't work. As a matter of fact, it's a turn off to serious readers that want an adventure. Not a twist M. Night Shyamalan style. You just took away the adventure by doing something like that. It's like you couldn't be more clever with your work. You just couldn't get more creative. And that the main goal is to just have a human in Equestria. There's clearly no just ending to it.
As a matter of fact, half the time the main character has no influence or motive. Just for some weird, strange, and crazy reason they jump through a glowing blue door or something similar, or get knocked out/killed, wind up in Equestria, don't like it at first, end up liking it, falling in love, someone gets hurt, they help, and when they're offered to return home, they refuse and stay in Equestria with their one true love.
Guys, it's getting old. It's so dead now. Let's not do that. Let's find another motivation instead of romance, dying parents, dying girlfriend, or "I'm a murderer with a bad past searching for redemption." Let's quit while we're ahead. Do something no one has ever done before. Something not so stereotypical. I promise you will get more reads and followers that way because now they know they are going to get something from you they can't seem to find anywhere else: Originality.
Five. Know when to end your freaking story!! Oh my gosh, I have seen stories online longer than the bible! Seriously guys, three acts is enough. Stop adding four, five, how many as you can think of! Not only is it annoying, it also shows you didn't plan to even end the story! You didn't plan a beginning, you didn't plan an ending, you didn't even plan the antagonist. Now you're just writing. You're just going at it with as many random plots as you can think of. And that turns off the readers. It's not a story if there's no end.
So know when to end your story. I know you don't want it to end, I too have felt that way. You don't want to see your favorite OC disappear, I get it. But I'm literally writing my third draft of my actual book because the first one was over one million words long. After writing I sat down, read it, and immediately shook my head. I seriously messed up. I couldn't even read my own book because it was too long. It eventually bored me. At first I was ecstatic, but then I started adding acts and I realized it was screwed. It was over for this draft. I couldn't do it anymore.
Six. Stop with the commas. They are your enemy. Don't force descriptions and sentences together with them, they too are very annoying. Because they become repetitive and instinctive. Stop writing, "Twilight shook her head, the thought of planning anymore friendship dates giving her a headache." Don't do it. It's convenient, but that shows no kind of art form. Now you're trying to rush the plot or chapter and it confuses the reader too. Especially when you do it over and over again. Instead, break it up or just out it together like, "The thought of planning anymore Friendship dates gave Twilight a headache even she didn't know was possible. She took a second to shake her head and attempt ridding an ache." Boom, sounds good right? Simple and easy. And it actually puts an image in your head.
Seven. Never, and I mean never use nouns in favor of the character's name. Stop using things like, "The Country-accented mare." Or, "The Alabaster-Coated mare." The stuttering pony, whatever. Don't do it. Even Knighty—one of the developers of Fimfiction—or another unnamed developer has told us in a blog post that doing so confuses the reader and causes them to leave the story. Which in turn causes your views and engagement rate to drop. Now I know for a fact that you're thinking,"But now my story sounds lame, boring, and saying the name over and over again is sooo annoying." Which leads me to Eight:
Make space between events and become your character. What that means is that you need to tell us about your character's current state. What are they doing, why are they doing it, what are they feeling, what are their wishes? This is the moment where you tell us about your character and become their personality. Every character has a personality that should make them interesting to the reader, and drive the story. I'll give you an example.
Let's use Prince Blueblood. He's one of the main character's in a story along with Twilight. He's dark and sinister, but he's still trying to change into someone better for Twilight. She's a book nerd, smarter than him, above him in hierarchy, and about to become Princess in a few weeks. Blueblood is going to use her coronation as a moment to show he does love her, is trying to change for her, and is willing to do whatever it takes to be with her. And this is his planning session. Your planning session.
It's time for you to become Blueblood. Tell us where he is, why he's there, his thoughts on the situation, his plans, his doubts, his motivations. This is your train, your readers are the passengers, and the train station is the ending of your chapter. Don't make us jump off the train because it's either going too fast, there are wild twists and turns, or because we're completely lost. It's your job as the Conductor to get us where we need to go. Which is intrigue. We know Blueblood has a plan, but we don't know what is. This is where you cut your chapter and make a new one.
I hope these tips help you along your journey to becoming a better writer. This not only helps your fics, but as well as your stories outside of the fanfictions. Good luck!
More characters coming to TD3. More twists and actions. As well as an angry Queen Arcadia.
Welp I bet my stories are either gonna suck or gain little attention (in a good way)
Thanks for the tips though but I was planning on connecting MLP with Them Fightin' Herds but with a changeling trying to get back to his first pony friend Rarity while he's stuck in... Foenum? I think is the country of the game.
5168409
I think that would work because they're closer to MLP than anything else. Apart from EQG.
5168412
The other reason is that he's gonna be like those fighters that copies others attacks and abilities like Mokujin from Tekken or Double from Skull Girls
5168416
I mean... If you were able to switch it up a bit like the way they're brought in, I guess it would be unrecognizable.
5168418
Can you explain. Pike how the character meets each TFH character or so? I got that planned.
5168419
What do you mean?
5168423
I mean are you talking how Rarity meets the character first or how the character meets each of TFH's characters.
5168424
Both I guess. Let's talk about it tomorrow. Tired right now.
5168423
Sigh... OK so here's the gist of it and yeah I know that human in Equestria is overused and that some are good and some are bad but the human is the changeling.
To start it Rarity wished to learn more spells from Twilight but ended up sending her to Earth. Yeah I know there are a bunch of stories of characters going to a place and vice versa. The Protagonist with no haunting past but is happy with life spotted her and they stare at each other at first.
Ya know how people who love creepypastas feel when a cartoonish, huge eyed, unnatural thing staring back at you feel. Only option is... RUN!
Well one thing led to another and things happen and they are together (not romantically).
5168440
Sorry. The message came in late
i just hope peaceful simple happy twilight comes back too
Wow, this might help out a lot. Thanks, Markel!
Wait a minute, I'm a bit confused with rule number 3. So we shouldn't try writing stories with crossovers of other different universes at all
? Or are you just saying that we shouldn't have the MLP characters pairs up with the other characters from things like One Piece and Sonic the Hedgehog etc?
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The latter. Don't pair them up with stories that are too far from ponies, love, and friendship.
5179241
Oh okay, thank you for specifying for me.