10 Tips for Writing Fan Fiction or Granny Weatherwax in 'No Game of Chance'.

Romantic Friday Writers have hosted another great writing prompt. To write up to 1,000 words of fan fiction into a romantic scene. I'm always suggesting writers try genres outside their comfort level. I'm not strong with the romantic scenes (and you'll discover that hasn't changed yet) and I've never written fan-fiction, so I figured the exercise would test me. 

What are the rules of writing fan fiction? Here's a few:

1. Remember the characters have already existed elsewhere. You can put them into a new situation or setting, but you can't change their past (unless you introduce a Doctor and TARDIS, then you probably can).
2. Know the voice of your character. Don't try writing about a famous character you've never read or studied. Learn them. Become an expert. Fans will know if Ron Weasley speaks out of character.
3. Study your setting. Not just the layout, but the feel, the mood of the setting.
4. Try to keep to the writing style. You don't have to exactly keep the genre (although fans will appreciate it if you do) but don't do a serious drama based on characters from a comedy. That's not the type of fiction the fans are after.
5. Add a little something. Despite what I said in number 4, you should add a little touch of your own style to the piece. Otherwise readers may as well just stick with the original text.
6. Share! There will be fans who will get a lot of entertainment from reading their favourite characters.
7. Toughen your skin. Die-hard fans may love your work, but some may hate it because you've dared to toy with their beloved characters. Don't take it personally. It really is them, not you.
8. Cite the original work. Be open and let people know who you stole your characters from. Don't take credit for someone else's work, otherwise it's not fan-fiction, but a sneaky form of plagiarism. Some people like to use a disclaimer (there's some debate over wether this is helpful or not). You can find an example here: http://www.ehow.com/how_8532096_write-disclaimer-fan-fiction.html
9. If it's erotic fan-fiction, warn the reader. And if you're taking characters from a children's novel for erotic fiction, be very very careful. You may spark anger from the original author (or their lawyers). Parody is legal, but it could still be a pain.
10. Have fun! Fan-ficiton is for enjoyment. Don't try to live up to the original author, or prove yourself better, just have some fun while you strengthen your writing skills. I had a real laugh writing my scene between Granny Weatherwax and Death.

If you've still a moment and want a giggle on me, here is my fan-fiction based on characters from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Discworld or any of the characters in this story. They are owned by Terry Pratchett. It's hard to believe any mortal could own Granny Weatherwax, but I believe her and Sir Pratchett have an understanding. This story was written for my own perverse fun and I shall not profit from it in any way (a little like my own writing then).

The prompt was to be a romance scene between famous lovers, but I may have wandered off from that idea, not sooo romantic, but hey, there is the suggestion of almost nudity. Shudder.

If you're one of those poor people who've never read Terry Pratchett, but you're curious, these are the characters I nicked, um borrowed, okay nicked, from Pratchett (click on them to see their Wikipedia page):

Nanny Ogg

Granny Weatherwax

Death

No Game of Chance

'New wrap?' Nanny Ogg ogled the soft black fabric replacing the worn battered coat usually draped about Granny Weatherwax’s shoulders.

'No it ate’nt.'

'Now you mention it, I do remember you wearing it once or twice before.' 

'No you don’t, you remember me wearing it many times before.'

'Uh huh.' Nanny Ogg nodded, but when Granny turned she leaned in with a pair of shears drawn from her knickers (where she keeps everything she needs) and snipped off a price tag dangling down Granny’s bony back. Always better not to argue with Granny, or you’d likely find yourself wanderin' the forest void of memory, or craving shell-fish even though you’re allergic, or… well, it was just best not to.

Granny paused at the door. Just a moment, but long enough to show a mix of smugness, sadness and nostalgia in the crinkling of her eyes. Strange combination, but Granny was the oldest witch to ever live, and she’d plenty of time to master these unusual amalgamations, like her infamous 'mischievous-amusement, gleeful-hunger mingled with disappointing resolve to kill you' gaze.

Then her knobby hand turned the… knob and she was off. At this time of night? Granny claimed to be a traditional witch, but she couldn’t abide late nights. Nanny Ogg peered up at the grandfather clock (who’d once been a young wizard). Its hands inched close to twelve. They wobbled with fear, because although Granny insisted it be set to gong at midnight, it would infuriate her if it woke her. Only wood and mechanics now, still, the clock retained enough memory to fear aggravating the old crone.

'She looks like she’s got a date with destiny,’ Nanny Ogg confided to the trembling clock.

'Oh I wouldn’t call 'im that,' Granny Weatherwax mused as she approached the old barn up the hill from the cottage. There was no point questioning how Granny could hear a mumble from the other side of the property and yet not respond to the calling of her name up close. Sometimes whispers were just louder than everyday talk. Like his whispers. Oh she knew he was coming and she knew what he wanted.

Granny lit every lamp until they flickered brilliantly. Good. Strong lighting was very important for this rendezvous.

She sat at the small fold-up table and smoothed her hand over the iron-hard grey bun. Not a hair out of place (it wouldn’t dare). She pinched her cheeks and the last few surviving capillaries cracked.

I may not 'ave the curves and complexion of a young woman, but I’ve me own allure. She was wrong. There were curves. Just not in the right direction.

She didn’t hear his arrival, but felt it.

'Esmerelda Weatherwax?' A deep voice resonated through Granny’s bones.

She didn’t turn. Wasn’t quite ready to gaze into that face. She knew what she would see, or wouldn’t see.

'Call me Granny, or Esme if you must.'

'Uh, alright, Granny Weatherwax?' but the theatrical air of impending doom was lost on the second attempt.

'You’re late.'

'It’s been a busy night.' His voice echoed everywhere and nowhere.

'Ave a seat.' Granny waved to the chair opposite.

'We should be going—'

'Come on, said yerself you’ve had a busy night, rest a little.’

'I… uh… thank you.' Death smoothed his robes and sat. 'Now Granny, you’ve had a long life, don’t you think it’s time you came along… peacefully?'

'No. I don’t.' She wiggled a gnarly finger at the place where his face should be. 'You’ve been around longer, I reckon you know the world needs people like me. I’ve still got a lot to do.'

Death sighed. 'I don’t make the rules Granny—'

'No but you can bloody well break 'em.'

The elderly were always the hardest, they could be so stubborn. 'I can offer you a challenge, that’s the best I can do.'

'I know.'

'It’s not really a chance, I never lose.'

'I pick the game?'

'Yes.'

'Good.' Granny reached into her carpet bag, pulled out a deck of cards and started shuffling. The cards flipped and arched through the air then were skillfully dispersed.

'Poker Granny?'

'Strip poker.' She winked.

He shuddered.

Just as the sun began to push pink and orange through the sky, Nanny Ogg knocked on Granny’s door. No answer. She went in. Granny wasn’t there. She stepped out again  and peered up and down the lane. Nothing. She turned her gaze up the hill to the old barn. Nothing. Wait. The door was open and there was a flicker of lanterns in the dim morning light.

Nanny Ogg hitched up her skirt and hopped from foot to foot through the long grass in a straight line for the barn. Just as she arrived huffing, a figure emerged. Or didn’t. Or he did emerge, but he wasn’t there. He most definitely wasn’t there and he was grasping his bundled black robes. He looked guiltily at Nanny Ogg, or didn’t, and hurried on his way.

Nanny stepped into the brightly lit barn just in time to see Granny doing up the clasp of her brassiere. 

'Don’t you knock?'

'Um, sorry Granny, it’s only, was that Death leaving just now?

Granny chuckled. 'Yep, don’t think he’ll be back for a while.'

'He come for you?'

'Tried to, but I bested him.'

Nanny Ogg helped Granny into her wrap—it was still brisk out. 'But how? Death can’t be beat at any game.'

Granny wore a smile combining knowing, victory and gas. 'Yep. But he didn’t want to win this one.'

Nanny Ogg saw Granny snatch up the cards and it all came together. 'Ooh, you’re a sinful old hag Granny.'

'I still ate’nt dead.' And Granny winked.

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Hats and their Characters

It's a writing exercise - take me seriously!

Had a great time at Vannguard Writers yesterday. Our group tried out a writing exercise with props. I'm lucky Dad is mad as a hatter and has all the hats to prove it. I gathered a collection of some of his more unique hats, adding them to my trinkets and secret items. No way was my budding author of a father missing out on this, so he came along too.

We had army hats, french hats, cowboy hats, police hats, old lady hats, gangster hats, tram conductor hats, sporting hats and even a Viking helmet. 

I also spread out on the table many little trinkets like trophies, medals, crosses, wands, glass, old keys, children's broken toys, event tickets, foreign money, obscure messages scrawled on notes, carefully recorded scientific formulas, photos and many more everyday and unusual items. Then the writing exercises began:

My dad Smithy, his hat and his trinket... wait... how'd you get a gun in here?

Build a mystery character

Members broke into pairs and chose a hat. They were asked to come up with a character that would wear that hat. Several times I had to remind the participants to stop plotting; this exercise was about character not plot. The groups were asked to choose one item/trinket off the table for their character. It's natural to want to jump ahead and try to come up with a story so you're read to write, which is why I decided to mix it up a bit.

It's now that I tell the writers their character is not going to be the protagonist of their story, but a dead body found by the main character. I ask them to explain the circumstances of the discovery of this body and to try and make the trinket item a clue.

My partners in crime, Robert and Dean, came up with a young man wearing a stylish fedora, but with broad shorts. He was a goofy character last seen alive at a beach party. Nobody there knew him. Our protagonist was walking his spaniel on the beach before work when he stumbles on the body. He finds in the boy's back pocket a key. Our spooked protagonists recognises the boy as one of the teens he was arguing with the night before because their music was too loud on the beach out the front of his home. To make things more difficult for our businessman, he rushes home, calls the police and of course the body is gone when they turn up. He's having a bad enough day, but it gets worse. His teenage daughter did not come home last night and when the police track down the identity of the missing corpse-boy, they inform him the young man is wanted as a suspect in a string of kidnapping murders involving teenage girls. Now our protagonist has a reason to act. He realises he forgot to mention the key and now he has a clue to track down the location of his daughter before it's too late.

We also had some interesting plots about a Chinese peddler killed in the gold rush and an ex-pat living on a Thai plantation killed by a Brazilian spy with his own binocular chord.

Donate a character

The next exercise had us each picking our own hat and a trinket. We had to come up with a profile and background for that character, finishing off with: His/her most treasure possession is... (the trinket item).  I'm a little bit evil, so I mixed it up again and our homework this week is to choose someone else's character to write about. We ended up with a comical homeless woman who makes dolls out of plastic bags, Thor the Skullcrusher Viking, an arrogant French Legionnaire who ogles women, a very touching digger reminiscing about the war, a charming historian with a sense of humour and a phoney Confederate soldier.

Thor's all smiles now, but wait till you see him swing that axe!

It was a fantastic day, I don't think I've ever laughed so much. I have no idea which character I'll write about yet, but I know I'll have a clear picture of them when I do, all thanks to my brilliant friends from Vannguard Writers. Wednesdays with my group have become my favourite days.

Our cast of writers (sadly a couple could not make it)

Do you belong to a writer's group? Are you trying to create one? Just wish someone would invite you to one? I'd love to hear your experiences with writing groups, maybe we can help other writers unsure of where to begin.

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How to Write Better Stories

What really drives your story?

I'm going to share with you a secret that will knock your socks off. This tip will make your plot richer and deeper and... more meaningful. Okay, when I say secret, it may be that I'm the only one that didn't know about it before. But I'm still excited, it's made a world of difference for my writing. Alison Goodman, author of the well known series Eon, revealed this writing technique in her course on narrative structure. Goodman passes on this golden advice from Robert McKee, who outlined the method in his book on writing screenplays, Story. 

The importance of character motivation in fiction is obvious. Characters must want something real bad, this is their goal. Your character might even have more than one goal. They should have an existing goal before we meet them, you know - they want to travel the world but they've been stuck in a small town since they were born, they want to meet their prince charming but only meet pigs in the strip club they work in, or they want to be a rock star but their parents expect them to become a priest. This goal drives a lot of the protagonist's decisions. In Warracknabeal Kids, Harry Conner's existing goal is find his mother, or at least uncover what happened to her. But then something happens...

We have the sneaky old inciting incident. The moment that things change for the protagonist and their everyday life is shaken up in some way. The inciting incident may provide a new goal for your character. My inciting incident involved a fire and the discovery of a body. Now Harry has a whole new mystery to solve. 

I always thought the protagonist's goal drove the narrative. But that's a limited view. There's something missing here. If you want to have a character with realistic depth then they need more than motive. They must posses an underlying need.

This need is something your protagonist won't be aware of. And here's the kicker, it's this need that will drive your story, everything in your novel should in some way address the character's need. 

I was floored by this news. I always thought Harry NEEDED to find out what happened to his mother. She disappeared and left him alone with a father who can't connect with Harry. But when I explored the fact that Harry can't know what he really needs, I realised... Harry NEEDS to connect with his father. These two people need to find a way to be together, because Harry's mum is gone, but his dad is here.

Suddenly my narrative developed a new thread and theme. A stranger comes to town, and he was important to the story before, but now he is important to Harry as well. The charismatic stranger encompasses all the traits Harry wishes for in a father. 

Your character's underlying need should contradict or conflict with their goal or desire. The character who wants to travel the world, might really need to recognise the value in belonging in a small town and the satisfaction of living up to your responsibilities. They might NEED to stay.

When your story reaches its climax, your character should be facing a serious dilemma. It is at this time they need to make a difficult choice. Go for the goal or the need? This dilemma is resolved when your character manages to acknowledge their need and unify the goal and need. That is, either they will find a way to have both, or they will release their grip on one and be satisfied with the other.

Knowing about my character's need to connect with his father has added a theme of fatherhood to my mystery novel. Other characters in the novel either compliment or contradict this theme. The theme touches everyone in this town in some way. 

I've fallen even more in love with my novel and my very flawed characters. So here's what I want you to do right now, start brainstorming your character's need. You might not hit it straight away, keep going, you'll feel it like a punch in the stomach when you get the right one.

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