Becky Barnicoat 

Fan fiction: how to write it

Start with One Direction and see where they take you – your daydreams could snare you a book deal
  
  

One Direction
Begin with a subject adored by teenage girls: One Direction are particularly fertile ground. Photograph: Allstar/Sony Pictures /Sportsphoto Ltd Photograph: Allstar/Sony Pictures /Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

What is it?

Fanfic works on the logic that you shouldn’t keep your celebrity fantasies to yourself. So rather than just daydreaming about Harry Styles turning up in your office as an intern and cornering you by the printer one night, you would expand that premise into several thousand words released in brief, juicy chapters online, to the delight of other fans.

What should I write about?

One Direction, Justin Bieber, Twilight, Harry Potter ... your fanfic masterpiece can be inspired by anything – as long as that thing has a large and devout following of teenage girls. Most stories feature a straight-laced girl next door, whose run-in with a roguish star leads to sex, kidnapping and/or cancer. One Direction are a huge source of inspiration and have a website – onedirectionfanfiction – devoted to stories about everything from Harry getting together with Liam, to a world where Niall is lactose-intolerant.

Do I need to hone my craft first?

Absolutely not. The wonderful thing about fanfic is that people just go for it – firing off chapters at school, at work, on the loo, often written on an iPhone and published for a potential audience of millions, spelling mistakes and all. This is the democratic modern publishing industry where readers decide what they like, and snooty editors with their red pens are the stuff of a really boring fanfic set in the olden days.

Where do I publish my story?

EL James originally posted a little Twilight fanfic called Master of the Universe to the site fanfiction.net. It was later published as 50 Shades of Grey. Anna Todd, the 25-year-old Texan author of the 1D-inspired story After, clocked up more than 800m reads on the site wattpad.com. You can publish to Wattpad directly from your mobile, keeping your hungry readers nourished with regular updates on the exact nature of the relationship between Ron Weasley and Professor McGonagall.

What should I call myself?

Todd calls herself imaginator1D. James published under the pseudonym Snowqueens Icedragon. Your teenage email address is probably a good starting point. Otherwise, combine the name of your first hamster with the surname of your favourite member of One Direction.

Who reads this stuff?

Your readers – and your readers are everything. They can make or break your story, giving you millions of hits and adoring feedback ... or ignoring it and reading something else. In the world of fanfic, authors and readers are hands-on. Readers suggest where your story should go and writers respond to tweets and positive comments with a fluent grasp of emoticon. Todd says she tries to spend at least two hours a day interacting with fans on Twitter, so prepare to put the time in.

What about the money?

The holy grail of the fanfic world is the major publishing deal. Todd was offered a six-figure, three-book deal for After, and James has earned $95m from Fifty Shades. But don’t put a deposit down on that infinity pool just yet. There are 40m stories on Wattpad alone, and many millions more sitting quietly on the internet, lonely, sad and unread. Put your heart into a fanfic if you want to, and hope against hope for the big time – but accept that the most you might earn are a few smiley faces and a weird look when your colleagues find out what you’re writing.

 

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