Hi everyone!

So this is a guidline for writers which I compliated from what I have learned at a creative writing workshop. So basically I have fixed and rearranged the tips I've learned to suit for a fan fiction writer, but I suppose you can also apply them in fiction writing in general, whatever which goes. They're not based on my own knowledge or understanding. They're what I've learned from professionals and I thought sharing them with you, most of whom are planning to not only limit their writing to AFF and fan fiction writing.

An introduction about the workshop I participated in; english literature is a popular form of art in Sri Lanka, believe it or not, and there are two most reputable english literary awards given as of now in Sri Lanka; the Gratien award, which I have participated in for two consecutive years (and obviously never had a place but participation matters yea?) is for unpublished novelists and then there's the Fairways award for published work; possibly the most monumental award in Sri Lankan english literature. This, I don't think I will ever have a chance to take part in. (Heh) Anyway, the fairways, months before the awards ceremony, held a creative witing workshop for young and budding authors, probbably with the purpose of encouraging people to publish so that there would be published work to give awards to. It went on for two days, covering various topics pertaining to creative writing. So I put together the most important points which is more or less a set of guidlines for a good piece of writing, or a fan fiction, in this case.

Just so you know, though, every writer is unique to their own, and every piece they right is magnifeicent regardless of the fact that they fall under a specific set of guidlines. None of us here (I suppose) are not professional writers, and we're here mostly for self indulgence. But in case (as myself) if you are planning to go further in fiction writing, I hope thses guidlines would be of help.

To start with, the first and most important piece of advice we were given and constantly emphasized was; bear in mind,

1) Read, read, read and READ!
This, I suppose is the start and end of anyone's writing career. Be it fan fiction, fiction, journal writing, poetry writing, articles, thesis, basically any kind of writing requires a tremenduous amount of reading. It goes without saying, doesn't it? What I figured, however, as a fan fiction and also fiction writer, it helps a lot if you read the genre you suppose your writing belongs to. This is highly subjective, I suppose. While lots of us enjoy any kind of writing, there are some of us who find pleasure in a specific mode and genre. So it helps if you read the kind of stories that you think you're mostly familiar with. In my case, however, i try to read just about anything that I find the sheer pleasure of reading in. As an avid reader, I believe there's nothing you can't do if you were a reader. Writing is just a part of it. If you enjoy reading fan fiction, then be it. There are so many of them with so much of literary value, so many well written pieces that constantly amaze me. Below i have compiled a few recommendations. Bear in mind that they too, are subjective and based on the genre that I write, which is, well, romance and women's fiction. But it doesn't always have to be the genre you write. It just has to fit your taste. (They also include the fan fictions I loved, and I have linked them as well. Please don't be upset if yours weren't there. These are just extremely very well written and only for educational purposes. I myself feel I am so many levels below these incredible writers. I read them and learn from them.)

Novels
1) Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the shore, Norwegian Woods (There's more but these are my absolute favorites)
2) Jojo Moyes - One plus one(My current favorite), The girl you left behind.
3) Cecelia Ahern - Thank you for the memories, If you could see me now, How to fall in love (read this so many times), Time of my life, okay well basically anything by this author because I don't think I can choose.
4) This is going to sound strange for you literature people but, Sophie Kinsella - I've got your number (Absolute favorite, I love, love, love it! I have already read it eight times, not kidding, i swear), Undomestic Goddess, Remember me?, Can you keep a secret, (I loved the shopoholic series but the protagonist just drives me mad)
5) Nick Hornby - High fidelity, About a boy (These will help if you are writing in the male's POV)
6) The Bridget jones series by Helen Fielding if you are into writing feminist stuff and strong female protagonists)

Fan fiction (Linked)
1) Just read ALL of her stories, you will never be disappointed, trust me (WooGyu. but read even if you feel uncomfortable. Her stories are my guilty pleasure)
2) Again WooGyu but this person writes beautifully
3) Again Woogyu, to the hell with it, I love beautiful writing
4) A rare Woohyun centric gem which killed me. Basically, read everything she's written.
5) This is a good friend of mine who helped me through a rough patch with her beautiful words. Everyone loves her but anyway, here.
6) Found this somewhere, such a perfect read.
7) Hands down the most realistic piece ever written on Leukamia.

Like said, don't be upset if you're not here, love, like said, we're all great writers but still with a lot to learn.

Moving on,

2) Write write and write.
Yet again, another obvious advice which most of us don't seem to follow (I myself included) Practice makes it perfect. I know, sometimes you look at what you've written so far and it looks like utter disappointment, you just want to destroy it, but don't stop there. Read about where all the greatest writers have started. I highly recommend you to read the 2017 Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro's interview (Sorry that I couldn't find the link) read about how he divides his time to write (the crash, he calls it) and though its impossible for us to seperate one whole week for the sole purpose of writing, at least a few hours a day would help. no matter what, just DONT GIVE UP!

In case of writer's block, well, we weren't given advide on this at the workshop because apparently professional writers don't face this much (I know, I still don't understand) but in my personal opinion, it happens when you push yourself into writing. Especially when you feel that you haven't written for a long time and you're worried you'd end up forgetting what to write, things like that. Believe, me, that mental pressure you give yourself is never going to help. I haven't mastered the art of getting out of writer's block myself, sadly, and i always get depressed and overly emotional when that happens, but hey, don't do what I do. Just relax, take a rest, have a good nap, read a book, listen to music, have a walk, travel if possible, talk with family, friends or even pets and focus on doing something completely unrelated to writing. Your skills don't just fade away just like that. They're still there. Your vreative brain too, needs a rest.

3) Chronogically build your story.
I didnt understad much of it because it included a whole lot of literary terms, if any one of you possess a good literature knowledge, please do help me. Anyway, under this topic, we were taught something called the 'Eight point story arc' You can google and look it up, I guess. If anything, it's the chronological built of a story, which are as follows.
1. Stasis - The basis where the everyday life is set. Ex; Harry Potter, the parentless kid, abused and living under cruel Dursleys.
2. Trigger - Something beyond the protagonists control is sparked in the story. Ex; HP 1, Harry entering Hogwarts (I think this is applicable? Correct me if i'm wrong)
3. The quest - The result (pleasant or unpleasant) of the trigger Ex; Harry, the boy who lived, is fighting against the dark lord and stuff)
4. Surprise - The obstacles and complications the protagonist is faced during the story, which basically takes up the middle part of the story Ex: Harry having to fight Professor Quirrel (Voldi on his head) for the philosopher's stone, having to kill the basilisk, meating Sirius, having to participate the triwizard tournament, Cedric's death, etc, etc.
5. Critical choice - This is where the proganost is supposed to make a big and important decision. So basically this is where the character is at most duress and reveals the true nature of itself Ex; Harry leaving Ron and Hermione behind to go the rest of the journey to find the philosopher's stone shows his bravey, and then when in the third one they make the decision to travel back in time.
6. The - The result of the critical choice that the protagonist made, also the highest peek, the most tense bit of the story Ex; Harry's battle with Prof Quirrel after he refused to hand over the stone. (I think its accurate idk help me)
7. The reversal - the result of the critical choice and the . At this point, something about the protagonist must change, in his character. Ex; Harry, the scared and abused little boy who nobody really knew is now a hero after defeating the dark lord.
8. The resolution - Where the story is completed with a new, fresh return to the stasis; a changed character, stronger, wiser and enlightened. And also we all love a good ending right? Give an ending which would make the character as well as the reader feel complete.

That was about the chronological order and sorry that this is so long. (Listen to some music and come back, i guess)

4) The character building
There were some tips about character building but the panelist just played some video and I barely paid attention so I'm sorry that this is mostly based on my experience. You can just skip this, but still remember that they did say how imperative character building is in your story.
So basically, my simplest advice for you is to not build an absolutely perfect character. Especially the male character; this is a mistake I myself have done earlier and try to avoid doing in my current stories. A perfect character does not exist, anywhere in this face of earth. Not even your most loved idol is not perfect, and in fan fictions, giving your fav idol a perfect character will only build a false impression that this idol is perfect in rea life and everyone goes bat crazy the moment he does a slightest mistake; stop! A story should be about flawes individual. People who struggle, people who are unhappy, people who do mistakes left and right and are completely messed up. Let your character be in jail, or be stupd, or a complete . Make him do completely stupid things, totally forget things, put him in a mess and through the story, you rescue him and try to make a better version of him. Your male character doesn't have to me the most good looking, humble and polite kid who the entire wolrd loves or the cliche meanie that the girl fall in love with anyway Make him as realistic as possible. Make him hateful and vulnerable. Show the reader how he breaks down his walls and become so much better. That's where  the story lies.

5) Pay attention to time, places, seasonal changes, ages.
This is applicable mostly for fan fiction and sorry this is not a tip from the workshop because obviously we were taught to write a story based in my own country which I'm familiar with and they gave no advice for FF writing.(Tip for non fan fictions; write about something that YOU  are familiar with. Set the story in your country, talk about things that you have faced, talk about places that you have been to, talk about chaacters that you have met. But obviously you can't use this advice for fan fictions) This is something that I myself forget even though i try to pare careful attention to every tiny little detail. This matters especially when you write a story in real life universe. (You can change things in fantasy I guess, but making it sound realistic is important) Think about the things that could happen in a days span and don't try to include so much into that time because, realistically, you sleep for twelve hours generally and the rest happens in the other twelve hours. There's only so many things people could do in 12 hours. Think about things that happen only at night, only in the afternoon, the evening, likewise. Pay attention to things like the time one gets off work, how long it takes to travel from one place to the next, likewise.

Think about the place. This is very important because most of you (including myself) don't know how its like in Korea. Honestly, I have never been there so I'm always worried when I write about roads and buildings and such, because if you say something completely ridiculous, it would look, well, ridiculous in your story. If you write about a train station, look up wat they look like; the real ones might seem completely diferent from what you imagine. If you write about someone's house, pay attentio to detail; what kind of houses people generally have in korea, what the house will speak about the character in question, likewise. Seasonal changes are important. This is a mistake I always do. Please look up when winter, autumn, summer, spring happen in South Korea. It didn't occur to me that it's completely different from Europe, and Eunrope is the only place I've experienced seasonal changes; as it turns out, it doesn't snow as much as it does in december like it happens in Europe, and May is pretty much the spring. September is not autumn, where it was autumn in Paris when I was there. Also, pay attention to what happens in these seasons. I have once written that it was a miracle to rain in the autumn and now I feel like because, apparently, during autumn, it rains basically every single day.

Ages. The next bit most vulnerable for mistakes. in South Korea, they count ages in, what, Moon years? (Correct me if i'm wrong) and in ?Moon years? their ages are a year ahead from ours, right? The mistake happens when we write about kids, mostly. Because a two year old is still a baby, while two year olds, here, are basically toddlers. Then the actual two year olds, in their sense, are three, and their two year olds aren't as matured as ours. So you get the gist right? You can't write about a two year old who climbs mountains and is a child prodigy in mathematics (Is it possible though?) And also, marrying age. I have done this mistake so many times. You can't be a CEO of a huge company and be married at the age of 20, especially if you are a man, especially if you already hold a masters in Business management; that's downright impossible. Its okay for your character to be aged more than the actual person. It sounds way better than a twenty year old guy who has climbed up all the difficult hurdles in life in a matter of few years. Its important, if your character plays a matured role, for him to have gained enough life experience. If possible, make the female character older too, if he makes somewhat intellectual decisions because realistically, 18 year olds don't make smart decisions. There may be CEOs aged twenty and married; but I hardly doubt they have already completed college and are suitable for a high-end job as such. Correct me if I'm wrong, but making the character believable is important. Also don't make two month old babies remember their passed mother on a three year old to repeat proust by heart unless he/she is a child prodigy. Making your characters realistic and believable is very important.

6) Do your research
The next most important step in any kind of story writing. In fan fiction writing, remember that you're writing about a completely unfamiliar place. You don't know these people or places, what they look like, sound like, taste like, any of it. So it's imprtant, rather than imagining how they might be, to do your reseacrh and determine their truest nature. If your protagonist is travlling across the country, look up the roads and places and how long it will take for them to travel. If your protagonist is taking the bus, look up bus terminals, how it all works. If you're writing about a sickness, look up the symtoms and treatements and basically how someone with that particular sickness look like, sound like, what they eat and drink and how they dress. Despite the most obvious details, pay attention to the minor, or you won't be doing your story justice.

7) draw out a draft for the story.
This is something that I regret not doing this whole time. This is what which makes my stories a jumbly mess, because as the story progresses, you would forget a lot of things. The younger brother you write about will sudeenly become an older brother, three months would have suddenly passed in the story and where the hell did that character come from? Draw out a plan, starting from the simplest detail as the outlook of the place the story is based. One of the activities we did at the workshop was imagining the place where the story will take place. Be it a house, a town, a city, a castle, draw it out on a paper. Then make a sequential progression to your story; where the story starts, where the characters meet, likewise. Use the Eight point story arc. They say it really helps. Look up how much of work went into building the Harry Potter universe. You'd be amazed. Honestly I was, and I regretted never doing that. They called it the timeline. Write down everything that happens-pointwise-in a particular period of ime. Build the timeline o your entire story, otherwise the story would just drag. You can use an old notebook, together with some sticky notes. I'm definitely doing that from the next story to avoid embarassing misshaps.

8) Don't explain too much, don't use too many adjectives, (I'm questioning this point but) don't explain emotions (Why not though?) and don't go into graphical explanations.
This point is directly taken from the workshop but I will not comment much on it because I still have not gotten around not writing feelings, not explaining too much and not using adjectives. I still do all these three but you can teach me how you can avoid doing these. However, what they said is to use the physical appearance, outlook of the protagonist, the way they act, talk, dress, to explain their emotions. Teach me how you do that if any of you know. I'm blank.
But I do have things to say about graphical explanations, especially when its about fan fictions. Make sure you don't explain scenes too much unless its absolutely necessary. I personally feel that when you go into too much detail and when you inevitably have to use certain words, especially writing scenes for romance novels with slow building of character and drama and such, it just takes the beauty away. I'm not saying that is bad, but in romance novels, where you have a nice background story built up, the detailed scene is not necessery. You can just imply it happened and that's it. Move onto the bit where they say sweet nothings in the afterglow, its more beautiful.

9) When you're writing a long novel, make sure you include a background story, based on which the romance builds up. Just the romance would make it all fast paced and you'd run out of things to write.
Make your story and characters interesting and as relatable as possible. A female protagonist who's so clumsy at everything and meets a perfect stranger at work, maybe? So here basically the romance builds up with everything that happens at their workplace. Something like that. ANd don't jump into kisses or or anything. Keep a sequential progress and momentum.

10) Don't hold back, and just write!
If you want to write a fan fiction which would make an impact, not be merely a story with your bias falling in love and doing things and the end, think deep and also off the surface. Think of things that hasn't been written before. Think of things that we all can absolutely relate to, and just write! Don't hold back, don't set limit to your thinking capacity. Build a story all new, make a universe which the readers can submerge in and feel every little emotion. Make it important, and make it matter. Most importantly, do it, not for the others but for yourself.

Fan fiction writers, as I feel, do the most difficult part in the kpop culture, maybe after all the fansite masters (Kudos to you) and its a job which should be given credit for. When you're having a hard time, when your bias has disappeared off the radar (*Cough* Woohyun *Cough*), when your group is in trouble, and when you're just feeling lonely or out of place, Fan fictions make you feel things you can't possibly explain. They make you happy. I know they do make me happy. It's like, one of the many things that Kpop, or any fandom can't exist without. If you're proudly a part of it, just make it enjoyable for yourself. If you feel you're not good enough; no, you're doing great, sweetie; you just have so much left to learn. If you feel you don't have enough readers, this is fan fiction and while some fandoms are large, they have a large community to read these stories. Some ships are popular than the others, some prefer OC stories over ships. It comes down to choice, in the ehd. So if your story isn't all that popular, that doesn't make you less talented. You're a great writer in your own way, and this is not an obligation. This is something you love doing, so enjoy it to the fullest.

Good luck for everyone and very happy writing!

[Credit to all the fan fictions I have mentioned]