So when I was first getting setup on the FiM Fiction scene, I thought I was going to be a writer like I've been in the past. To be honest though, I was so lost it was unbelievable. I didn't even know groups existed. So I set off to the one community I was similar with: the sacred lands of Reddit. Tiptoeing my way into the temple of /r/mylittlefanfic, I asked for its sage users. It's been nearly half a year now and even though I never took on my own FiM Fiction stories, I hold their advice near and dear. So without further ado, here's the edited version of the thread. Enjoy!
Text Post: I've been writing my own fictions for nearly two years now with much success but I recently joined the Brony fandom. My passion for writing plus love for ponies have dragged my into the fanfic community so here it goes. Does anyone have advice for new (but experienced) fimfiction writers?
At FIMfiction, it is all about timing and you don't have a lot of control in that area. A great story can be approved at a bad time an get 10 views with no likes. It's a roll of the dice. Most of my stories have been approved within an hour, but I've had to wait many hours before and had a story published in the middle of the night when no one saw it. The more places your story is, the more likely it is to be read, so join a few groups.
Getting an audience is very difficult, no matter what quality your stories are. When people consume media, they generally want something that is a sure bet. No one likes their time to be wasted. So they go with their old stand-bys, rather than giving something new a shot. This isn't everyone, of course, but there is a reason that successful authors stay successful, and it's more than just quality work. It's a much easier choice for the reader.
It's important in MLP fiction to realize that fan interest is driven a lot of times by category. Shipping will net you a lot of interest right off the bat. Sad stories apparently do, too. As a comedy writer, I find it frustrating a lot of times that I would probably triple the views on my stories if I put in a romantic link with Applejack and Twilight, but I'm just not interested in that.
If you wanna check it out, here's my page.
Message me anytime you want if you have questions.
Write what you want, not what you think the readers want to read. Also, don't forget to add your stories to any applicable groups, even if they overlap. The more places people can find your story, the more readers you'll have.
To add to Dianwei's comment, I found groups like Struggling Authors and Authors Helping Authors helpful. Also look for groups like Shipping and Slice of Life that look for stories in their respective category.
Just keep typing away. That's what I did. Groups are good for getting readers. EqD is hard to get onto, but if you can, its great exposure
Don't get discouraged if your story is not as well received as it deserves to be. Just write the kind of story you want to write.
I'd recommend starting with short stories instead of that epic adventure story you want to tell, because it can feel pretty discouraging to write 50,000 words and only have one or two people reading them and telling you they like them.
Here's some great advice on getting your stories as much exposure as possible (by a fanfic writer who is a lot more popular than me):
Then, when you've published your story on the site itself, join a few of the FIMfiction groups and post your story there too. Here's a group I like, where fanfic authors exchange reviews of each other's stories:
Finally, before you start, if you haven't already, it's probably a good idea to get familiar with the cliches and things that annoy FIMfiction readers. (Like stories with winged unicorn OC protagonists. Stuff like that shouldn't matter if the writing is good... but it does.)
Don't stop writing. I just updated my story tonight, and it's last update was the 26th of August. No bueno.
Haha. No bueno at all. I try to update my non-pony fictions every month, but inspiration is so hard to come by sometimes. Link me your story. I'm always in need of a good read. Thanks for the help!
Once a month? That's good. Starting a couple days ago I'm forcing myself to write a little bit, so at least someday I'll have a chapter up. My story is called Modulation, and despite what the first two chapters implies it's not going to be a grimdark fic with... well, with what happens.
From writing my own stories in the past, forcing yourself to write can put you in a pretty frustrating position. If I have writer's block, or lack of inspiration, I like to read a whole bunch to try to get past it. Anyways, I'll make sure to read it. Good luck on writing.
I did actually read his story....
That's a legit concern, but I'm combating that by not always writing new material. I'm going back and rewriting too. A comment I got from my first chapter (that I'm going to get to rewriting after chapter 4 is finally published) was that it felt like I was rushing through scenes. That sucked, since I was extra invested in making sure the first two chapters came out the gate running, but it would be foolhardy to ignore that comment. Good luck to you too, and thanks for the read.
That's all folks! By the way, I did edit out some parts such as repeats and small errors but I did link the Reddit link above so check out the full post if you want. I hope our Reddit friends were of assistance in your future writing endeavors. A huge thanks to those who participated and please don't hesitate to send me the links to your FiM Fiction pages so I can put them in. That was Reddit Replies, have a great week, weekend, month, year and end of the world!
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