Plot.

Okay, I'm not going to start spewing insanity tangents about plots I've read that made my brain burst into flames. I'm just going to help you struggling authors out there. I've been in that position before; where you don't know what you can do for an original plot. Honestly, a good author steals ideas. I'm not kidding. Look around you. There's no such thing as an original idea. But you can try to not make it so obvious.

For one thing, I see people making plots like "A new team of girls appears! Oh noes, the BB team is in for a ride!" It's cute the first couple of times, then you get bored. All the stories are the same; new girls are paired with all the members, they battle, clash, blah blah blah. It gets irritating. We need fresh ideas!

It can be simple things, like maybe a Beyblade Scout appears and scouts Tyson or Kai or someone for a fancy international team that will go to some high-class final….the Olympics of Beyblading. It's much more of a big deal than any championship because only one person represents their country. Maybe they fall for each other while she scouts her guy…or something. I just threw that plot out there off the top of my head, haha. My point is it's easy to think of something new. Hell, take an idea from a movie or book you've read and tweak it. Don't copy it completely – I've seen that happen before. Please don't put my through that misery again.

Plot is easy once you get a general idea of what the story is going to be about.

PS – I have sooo many original Beyblade Fanfiction Plot ideas, but I have no time to write a long-term story. If you want a plot idea, PM me and I'll give you one! :]

Characters.

Be prepared for an assload list of dos and don'ts.

For one thing, I'm sick of these Japanese names. I mean, I like the language and culture and all, and I know Beyblade is pretty much in Japan, but come on guys. Get creative! Make your characters American or Romanian or Polish! (I have a Polish character and HE'S AWESOME SO PSHAW. :C) Ahem, right. My point is, get creative. Just because the setting it Japan (well, not always, it depends on the plot and such) it doesn't mean your character has to be Japanese. And please, no Japanese-Americans. I mean, it's your choice, if you want go ahead. But personally, it's overdone.

And now….MARY-SUES! Oh, mary-sues. They're so hard to avoid. I've done it before, trust me. I've accidentally let my character become a mary-sue. Don't be so down if you end up making your character like a mary-sue…it's normal, it doesn't make you a bad writer. They're hard to avoid. When you write you tend to inject a little of yourself into the characters…sometimes, you want them to be better than you are. But you have to be careful when creating your character. Point out their good points (appearance and personality-wise) and bad point…flaws are beautiful! Make them have bad skin, or acne, or a big nose, or a bit chubby…who cares! Chubby doesn't make them ugly, it makes them cute and healthy. XD

Oh and pasts. Many people like making angsty pasts for their characters. But honestly? No. Make it more realistic people…! I don't like the whole 'abused' and 'broken' angstiness of OCs. I mean come on. Oh, also, avoid making the OC already friends/know of a canon character. It bothers me…besides, the readers won't understand it…what is their relationship? What's it like, how did they meet, how did they get that close/end up hating each other…? And don't explain this through flashbacks. They're messy and annoying…like fillers for fanfiction. Let us SEE their relationship and how it builds, don't TELL us about it.

Dialogue.

Don't over-describe things. We want dialogue! Dialogue makes the story more interesting, as well as the characters. We get to see personality and relationship through dialogue, and that's what we want to see. Be careful though; try to make the dialogue sound like a real conversation. Also, be careful not to confuse people. Sometimes dialogue sounds better (and makes more sense) in your head than it does out loud. My Suggestion: read your story out loud after it's done. Judge it then.

Romance.

Most fanfictions are romantic ones. Be careful…people tend to make canon characters OOC (hehe, I'm guilty of doing that too. Just look at 'Discover Me'. I slaughtered Arthur and Merlin. XD hahaha) and push them into breaking free of their true personality to make them hook up with your OC faster. DON'T DO THAT. We like seeing their relationship grow and change through experience. It makes the readers more attached to the character's and their relationship when they see it build and change. Also, keep in mind that usually when two people confess their feelings to each other, they don't instantly start making out then hit the bed. It's a slow process people. Unless your OC is easy, avoid that.

But I think that's totally okay when it's yaoi. XDDDDDDDDDDD

BECAUSE I LOVE BOY ON BOY SMUT OK? GOSH STFU.

Length.

Don't worry about length. Just type.

I hate when people make the chapters, or story, too long just because they think they have to. I also hate when the stories are too short. My advice: just sit down and type. Don't think.

Bitbeasts.

This is just an issue of getting creative. Example; "Go, Gerad the Giraffe bitbeast thingy!" Erhm, okay, so maybe not in those exact words…point is, choose an animal that you wouldn't expect to be turned into a bitbeast. Have fun with the name and attacks. Avoid using a bitbeast already used, or making it the male/female version of a canon bitbeast. EX; "My bitbeast is a wolf. Like Tala's…only she's black." (Ohsnap, did that sound racist? Wtf….) BUT….you get my point.

OC.

Generally, OCs are disliked. Be careful on how you portray them and inject them into the story. Make sure they're likeable and don't disrupt the canon character's and their relationships too much. Make it as realistic as you possibly can…people are more prone to like your OC that way.

Foreign Languages.

If you don't know the language, don't use it. Google Translator and other translators aren't 100 percent accurate, so don't use them. If you're wrong, someone could call you out on it. Besides, no one likes when people just translate dialogue and put it in, then explain what the character had said in English. It gets annoying. My Advice: put something like; [ "I don't like him," Amea said in Russian, shooting Kai a paranoid frown. "He pick-pocketed me at the festival." ] See how I put the dialogue in italics, and said 'said in Russian'? You can even do something like… [ "He pick-pocketed me too," Kai answered in his Russian tongue. "Get over it," he added in English. ] But using 'Russian' twice sounds strange, so the better choice would be: ["He pick-pocketed me too," Kai replied. "Get over it." ] Since Amea spoke in Russian using italics, the readers will recognize the italics=Russian.

* Well, good luck writing! If you guys have any fanfics you want me to review, let me know, I'd love to! And if you want some plot ideas, I have millions of neglected, unwritten plots for fanfiction! XD Just PM me if you want a plot, or need any help thinking of one or tweaking a plot or character. Thanks.

PS: I'm not trying to insult anyone through this Guide. This was written to help authors who are struggling in some way. You're free to disagree with my points, but please don't flame me about it, saying you 'don't need my dumb advice'. If you don't need it, don't read it then.

Inspired By: Yurri Saniov