If this is the wrong place I'm sorry. I'm sorta interested in writing something, just to have it checked off. I'm sorta in a snare at the moment though.
When choosing a genre(Marvel Universe, DC Universe etc) do you go by what it going on now? Do you pick a writer and continue off their style? Do you pick a general theme like "The Original X-men," while sort of ignoring the campy dialogue of the time? How do you choose from which world in the genre to use? Or do you make your own with your ideas of Superman/Batman/Thor populating them(An Earth "53" if you will)
When creating your own character(s), how do you justify their inclusion? Are they part of storyline? What do you do with them when you're done? How do you limit not favoriting that character(which from what I've read happens a lot in fan fiction)? How do you include multiple characters? Are they all then integral to the story? How do you explain the "Why" of them being there?
How much of what you write do you actually share?
When hitting a writer's block do you go back to the source material or do you go to some other genre for a distraction?
General Fan fiction questions(not an actual fan fiction)
This is the right place to me. A very supportive community resides in this very forum!
Writing fanfiction is daunting--most of the writing in my fanfic I based on the JMS and Olivier Coipel run of Thor and the Siege tie-in. But go with the one you love the most. Writers, worlds, characters, pick your favorites. You could make one up, but remember that these are not your characters and that you have to give credit to those that they belong to . DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER.
You have your own writing style, and sometimes you have to use that campy dialogue, but if you do it right, it won't seem so campy. If you want to emulate a particular writer, then read up on their style, notice the words they use and when they do. And sometimes, you just have to man up and camp-it out, if that's what suits that characters and the story.
It's very hard to give a character their own place in a set storyline, so give them something to do that involves the plot. Say, for example, that "Bob" is a character that wants to be in the Secret Invasion. Give him some epic Skrull general to fight, maybe someone that showed up in the storyline briefly or was shown in a panel. Make him an active part of the behind-the-scenes effort of fighting the Skrulls, but interact with the main characters.
This solves 2 problems--justifying the character's place, and giving them a purpose.
When you're learning to write, you learn not to insert a character without purpose. Bob's purpose was to fight the skrull general and save some humanz. Good for him. But what about Emma Frost? Why was she important in the story? She gave him the gun or taught him to use his epic psychic powers? But what about Rick? He played the friend and foil to this character, gave him solid advice that comes in handy later, or maybe he was just the emotional rock and competition.
When you get to a block, get a cup of coffee and do some research, or maybe walk away for a while altogether. G for a walk, vacuum your house, kiss a goldfish, do whatever you do that will get you away from a bright, glaring computer screen. I take my sister for a walk or clean the house. My mom really likes it when I have writer's block ;D Just get away, then come back.
Something that I've found helps some people is a writing routine. Get up an hour early with a cup of coffee or tea and sit down and write. Use a word processing program to write, it's the best thing ever for fanfiction.
As for how much you post, how much editing and everything, it's up to you.
Hope that helps!
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