I think we all see a lot of junk out there, that shames the craft. So I've set up a handy guide for burgeoning FFers!
1) Adjectives are your best friend. Everything is better with description. Cram it in and really paint that picture! Story pacing is secondary to knowing what everything looks like!
2) When introducing the main protagonist (assuming it's an OC), bring the story to a halt and proceed to describe them in depth, focusing on build, hair colour, and eye colour. It's just not efficient to try and organically fold appearance references into the story when you can outright tell them!
3) Treat everything like anime, regardless of the franchise you're writing about. Give your protagonist crazy hair colours. Every OC you introduce should have a pseudo-Japanese sounding name!
4) Make the characters swear, even if it's a franchise character not known for such things. Out of character? Look, that doesn't matter. Everyone knows that swearing and grit is the most mature route. In the long run, you're making the franchise better.
(Choose one of the following two)
5) Up the scale. Does your franchise deal with protecting a city? Stopping a solitary murderer? Fuck that shit. Grander is better. Have Sherlock Holmes defend the earth from transdimensional beings. Have the UNSC fight a Gravemind the size of a galaxy. Have Team Dai-Gurren... uh...
On that one, nevermind.
6) Slice of life! There's nothing better than seeing your favorite characters in day to day situations. How else will they be so relatable? Send the crew of Serenity to the mall, or Final Fantasy's Titus to Community College or something.
7) Possibly the crown jewel of these tips, romance. Nothing gives characters depth like getting it on. If anyone complains at the strangeness of your pairings, how these characters have nothing that brings them together, ignore them. The philistines just can't handle the controversial edge to your material.
8) Your OC needs to shine out like a bright light. These talentless authors and writers are creating characters that sometimes seem too inept to deal with the challenges they face. It's ridiculous. It's bad writing, really. It's your responsibility to create an OC to wipe those problems away. Cure the sick, fell the villains. Combine with the above tip, your character should be a damn sex magnet, reeling in every character on the board. Or else they're just an awkward, boring little shit. To make him/her stand out, as well as the anime features, and excessive description, they need an exotic name. The more total syllables, the better. Middle names and split last names are highly recommended here.
9) Is your original character female? Then they need a love interest (harking back to #7. I told you it was vital!) specifically, one they can bully around and argue with and always be right. No matter what. Or there's the other route you can take and have her be loyal no matter what happens. Others might see this guy as a horrible excuse for a human being, but she knows the truth! Even better if she takes a central character as a love interest, as stated in number 8. This is one of the best opportunities you'll have to retcon the character and make them a hundred times better.
Now I've shown you the ropes, go and get writing![footnote]For the love of God, don't actually. This is a joke![/footnote]
1) Adjectives are your best friend. Everything is better with description. Cram it in and really paint that picture! Story pacing is secondary to knowing what everything looks like!
2) When introducing the main protagonist (assuming it's an OC), bring the story to a halt and proceed to describe them in depth, focusing on build, hair colour, and eye colour. It's just not efficient to try and organically fold appearance references into the story when you can outright tell them!
3) Treat everything like anime, regardless of the franchise you're writing about. Give your protagonist crazy hair colours. Every OC you introduce should have a pseudo-Japanese sounding name!
4) Make the characters swear, even if it's a franchise character not known for such things. Out of character? Look, that doesn't matter. Everyone knows that swearing and grit is the most mature route. In the long run, you're making the franchise better.
(Choose one of the following two)
5) Up the scale. Does your franchise deal with protecting a city? Stopping a solitary murderer? Fuck that shit. Grander is better. Have Sherlock Holmes defend the earth from transdimensional beings. Have the UNSC fight a Gravemind the size of a galaxy. Have Team Dai-Gurren... uh...
On that one, nevermind.
6) Slice of life! There's nothing better than seeing your favorite characters in day to day situations. How else will they be so relatable? Send the crew of Serenity to the mall, or Final Fantasy's Titus to Community College or something.
7) Possibly the crown jewel of these tips, romance. Nothing gives characters depth like getting it on. If anyone complains at the strangeness of your pairings, how these characters have nothing that brings them together, ignore them. The philistines just can't handle the controversial edge to your material.
8) Your OC needs to shine out like a bright light. These talentless authors and writers are creating characters that sometimes seem too inept to deal with the challenges they face. It's ridiculous. It's bad writing, really. It's your responsibility to create an OC to wipe those problems away. Cure the sick, fell the villains. Combine with the above tip, your character should be a damn sex magnet, reeling in every character on the board. Or else they're just an awkward, boring little shit. To make him/her stand out, as well as the anime features, and excessive description, they need an exotic name. The more total syllables, the better. Middle names and split last names are highly recommended here.
9) Is your original character female? Then they need a love interest (harking back to #7. I told you it was vital!) specifically, one they can bully around and argue with and always be right. No matter what. Or there's the other route you can take and have her be loyal no matter what happens. Others might see this guy as a horrible excuse for a human being, but she knows the truth! Even better if she takes a central character as a love interest, as stated in number 8. This is one of the best opportunities you'll have to retcon the character and make them a hundred times better.
Now I've shown you the ropes, go and get writing![footnote]For the love of God, don't actually. This is a joke![/footnote]
