Hello, and welcome to…

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How NOT to Write the Worst Fanfiction Ever!

(applause)

In this guide, I will show you the basics and backbones to a good Warriors fanfiction! In each chapter, I will show some horrible stories (written by me) and explain how to do better! In addition, I will list what you need to do to write a good fanfiction. There will be many different lessons/themes for the chapters. Here are the things that will be covered:

Genres

Plot

Building Clans

Building Characters

Characters You Need!

Subplots/Sub-genres

Title/Summary

Important Info.

First Chapter and Prologue

Middle Chapters and Twists

Conclusion/Epilogue

…And more! You can suggest the themes or lessons you would like me to write.

Today's chapter will be about Genres! I hope you enjoy!

Warning: if you have one of these fanfictions I mention up, then please; don't take down your story just because I said they could be bad! Some people, like me, actually enjoy these stories!

I think ever story is beautiful and unique, so please, just because I described your story up there does not mean it is bad, or the worst fanfiction ever. This guide is too help people get better, including me!

The first thing you need to do when writing a fanfic is coming up with a genre! Think about what you want to write about, and what you want to tell in the story. Will it be a dramatic romance? A heroic adventure? A life-story? A spine-tingling mystery?

Romance:

So, you want to write a romance? These stories have fights for the she-cat, loving sacrifices, and-most importantly-DEATH!

Or, maybe, you can jump off that bandwagon and come up with a better idea!

Get away from those cliché love triangles and try something different. A web is a more realistic choice to write about: people can have more than one crush, and not everybody is in love with one person. Keep in mind: if your main character has too many romantic interests, they could quickly become a dreaded Mary-Sue!

Yes, all romance needs a bit of drama; it makes the story unrealistic if everything is happy for the couple! However, if there is too much drama, the story can become impractical! The reader will shout at their screen, "Why are they still together!?" Be sure to include "fluff" These are parts of the story that's happy for the couple, and that will bring a smile to the reader's face.

Now it will be story time!

Story 1 Basis:

This story is a romance fanfiction. The Glitterstar has two toms fighting over her. One of them is from another clan and-

Stop! Please, stop. It sounds like an unappealing fanfiction. What did I say about love triangles?! And-although I didn't mention it before- inter-clan love can be cheesy and horrible if it is not correctly. I advise you to, at most, have 1 pair of code-breaking lovers. True, they are added into the Warriors books, but as more of a twist, or surprise. So please, keep it that way.

Story 2 Basis:

Another romance fanfic. Here, the Sparrowfeather has a crush on her best friend's brother, Thistlefur, who secretly likes her sister, Quialwing! When she finds out, she decides to stop perusing him and move on. Now, however, she watches Quailwing and him fall in love, and it sickens her. Sparrowfeather knows she can't live like this any longer: so she resorts to breaking the Warrior Code.

She resorts to murder…

…I am speechless. How in the world did I come up with THAT in a minute…? My mind must be a dark place…

Anyways, I have never seen a fanfic like that before; hence why I am so proud of myself. This synopsis would intrigue the reader, not scare them away. And, this is defiantly not a Mary-Sue (as long as she doesn't visit the Dark Forest and become a different kind of 'Sue, but that is for the Mary-Sue chapter).

So, overall, we learned:

Steer clear of love triangles

Try "love webs"

Fluff + nothing else= Boring Fanfiction

Drama + nothing else=Readers Smacking Their Head on Their Computers

Fluff + Drama = Good Fanfiction!

That wraps it up for romance! Please make your way to the next part of this chapter…

Adventure:

Ah… yes. The most common genre in the history of the universe (more or less). These fanfictions include a strong, daring- and overall perfect- heroine, a powerful villain, and a quest to save the entire clan!

Just, please, don't.

I've seen too many fanfictions crash and burn because Somethingstar was destined to save the clans! And then nobody reviewed.

I, myself, have written a boat load of these! (cough, cough) Whitepaw and Frostpaw. (clears throat). I will be writing about how to fix or avoid these types of stories in later chapters, but just hang onto your seats for now.

Moving on! Now I will actually talk about adventure stories!

First off: writing about how the Dark Forest rises up again and the main character must save the clan is cliché, and you want your story to stand out. Second, I advise you to be very careful about prophecies. I'll talk about these more in later chapters. My advice for you now is to avoid putting the character's prefix in the prophecy, revealing who it's about to everybody!

Now, all adventure stories don't have to be about how a group of cats leave the clan to save them, but it can be usable. Adventures can happen within the clans. For example, if a group or powerful individual joins the territory near the clans, it can be considered an adventure! The entire Warriors series were adventure, but they don't leave the clans for a lot of the books.

Most life stories, to me, are considered "adventure". This is because life is an adventure! So, a life story would be under this category. A warning for life stories is to have it be realistic. Your character does not need to save the clans, become leader, or be in a prophecy to be entertaining or considered an adventure!

Story Time (again)!

Story 1 Basis:

Cherrystar receives a prophecy from StarClan that tells her that her daughter, Rowankit, will save the clans! The Dark Forests is rising up again, and only Rowanstar holds the power to save them all! (she can't be hurt in battle)

Well than… First off, Rowankit can just be a warrior in this story: she doesn't need to be leader at all. Also, StarClan sent Cherrystar a prophecy that would come true after her daughter grows up and she dies?! Why in the world would StarClan do that?! In addition, the Hunters already wrote about that power! (I won't say who as some people haven't gotten that far in the series yet).

Story 2 Basis:

Harerunner is warned by a rogue that a deadly pack of dogs are going to settle by the clans. Harerunner knows that the dogs must be stopped before they reach the clans. However, he realized that if he were to tell his clan mates, no one would believe him. Harerunner must join the strange group of rogues if the dogs are to be stopped. Without his family, friends, or StarClan on his side, Harerunner must do the impossible…

Whoa! I would actually love to write or read this story! Let's see; this story excludes a prophecy, or the approval of StarClan. From up front, we can tell Harerunner is NOT a Gary-Stu, as not everybody is on his side! Also, it never mentions if he "has the power to save the clans", but some of that is implied, so don't worry if your story has that!

Well, that's it for adventure! Here's a quick summary of what I wrote:

Try to avoid having the Dark Forest rise again

Your main character doesn't have to be leader

An adventure can be inside or away from the clans

Life stories are usually considered adventure

That's all the genres I could think to write about-for now. This is already over 1,000 words, which is more than I expected. The next chapter will be about good plots (which I kind of did today)! If you have any suggestions for future chapters, please tell me! Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review (it would make my day!).

QOTD: What is your favorite genre to write and why?

Thank you so much again for reading my story! I hope you have a fantastic day!