So, you wanna write your own TWD story, huh?
I understand that in terms of fan-fiction, there are endless possibilities for what you can put in (For example: Clementine being in The Last of Us, Bioshock, or even Pokemon). If you want to write stories like that, then there is no reason why you shouldn't. Maybe you can make Clementine a pokemon trainer and turn it into a great story. I don't see this working, but for all I know it could be great.
However, if you really want to write your own story that takes place in The Walking Dead (comic, show or game) but you don't know how to make it good, you've come to the right place. Keep in mind that I'm not a teacher nor am I a professional writer. I'm just a college student in my second year of Film and TV, and I thought it'd be nice to share my writing knowledge to people who really want to learn how to make good stories. A lot of you seem like good people with great potential.
One of my professors once told me that the definition of a good story is something that you remember when you wake up.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ALWAYS have Conflict:
A story were nothing goes wrong and everything is fine is NOT a good story.
In order to make a story work, you need to have a good setup and build your story by having your characters trying to reach a certain goal. In Season One, Lee's goal was to stay alive and keep Clementine safe. Clementine's goal was to reunite with her parents. The reason the story in the walking dead works so well is because there's always constant danger going on, and it just make Lee and Clementine's goals all the more important.
Remember to keep the pacing of your story consistent. Not too slow or too fast. Don't make a chapter that adds nothing to the story.
Describe what's going on. To make your readers imagine where the characters are and what they're going through, try to describe what's around them. Even something is simple as, "A cool, cloudy day with the rustling sound of leaves filling the silence" can add so much to the atmosphere of your story. In a way, it's like a SHOW DON'T TELL writing tool.
Characters development:
To get your audience attached to a character, you have to make that character relatable. Remember, the general audience doesn't care about some guy who used to be a fisherman before shit hit the fan. They care about how HE can relate to them. The way to make a good character is this:
Character Traits
Physical Trait
Sociological Trait
Psychological Trait
Let's use Clementine (Season One) as an example:
- 8-9 years old, small
- African-American, from the suburbs of Atlanta
- Smart, funny, naive, stubborn
Instantly, you have a first impression of this character just from examining her traits. It's nice to know who the characters were before, but if those characters are put into a much bigger story that overshadows their history, then it's important not to build up too much on who they were before, otherwise your story will lose focus.
What really defines a character is not JUST who they were, but what they choose to do in stressful situations and why they do it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Of course, there are things you SHOULDN'T do when writing a story:
---Cliches---
Please don't use them. I've noticed a lot of fan fics based on the show have a popular character in some sappy love story. And when I say
a lot, I mean WAY TOO FUCKING MUCH. Unless you can do a new take on a love story, I highly suggest avoid using this already overused story.
I've also noticed some stories on the forum with a strong focus having to do with a tough PERSON A protecting a weaker PERSON B. It's a good idea, but it's already been done in not just The Walking Dead (The Last Of Us, Bioshock Infinite, Resident Evil 4, Man On Fire, etc). With an apocalyptic setting, there are so many possibilities for good stories. Try and come up with a different idea instead.
---Bad Writing---
If you don't know how to write properly, than maybe writing fan fics isn't a good idea.
I usually don't mind if I find one or two spelling errors in a long story. But if you really, really want people to take your stories seriously, then take your spelling and grammar seriously too. Nothing kills a good and engaging story for me than bad spelling and grammar.
"oh shut up gram nazi! it's just the internet spelling dont matter"
This excuse does not fly with me in the least bit, especially if this is coming from someone who wants write stories. You take English at school for a reason.
Also, be sure that you don't bunch up your paragraphs into a big mess of words. No one wants to read a story or an article that has a single paragraph with over 100 lines. Break it up to make it look more organized and clean.
Well, hopefully you've learned what you can from this thread. To all potential writers out there, good luck and have fun writing!
However, if you really want to write your own story that takes place in The Walking Dead (comic, show or game) but you don't know how to make it good, you've come to the right place. Keep in mind that I'm not a teacher nor am I a professional writer. I'm just a college student in my second year of Film and TV, and I thought it'd be nice to share my writing knowledge to people who really want to learn how to make good stories. A lot of you seem like good people with great potential.
One of my professors once told me that the definition of a good story is something that you remember when you wake up.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ALWAYS have Conflict:
A story were nothing goes wrong and everything is fine is NOT a good story.
In order to make a story work, you need to have a good setup and build your story by having your characters trying to reach a certain goal. In Season One, Lee's goal was to stay alive and keep Clementine safe. Clementine's goal was to reunite with her parents. The reason the story in the walking dead works so well is because there's always constant danger going on, and it just make Lee and Clementine's goals all the more important.
Remember to keep the pacing of your story consistent. Not too slow or too fast. Don't make a chapter that adds nothing to the story.
Describe what's going on. To make your readers imagine where the characters are and what they're going through, try to describe what's around them. Even something is simple as, "A cool, cloudy day with the rustling sound of leaves filling the silence" can add so much to the atmosphere of your story. In a way, it's like a SHOW DON'T TELL writing tool.
Characters development:
To get your audience attached to a character, you have to make that character relatable. Remember, the general audience doesn't care about some guy who used to be a fisherman before shit hit the fan. They care about how HE can relate to them. The way to make a good character is this:
Character Traits
Physical Trait
Sociological Trait
Psychological Trait
Let's use Clementine (Season One) as an example:
- 8-9 years old, small
- African-American, from the suburbs of Atlanta
- Smart, funny, naive, stubborn
Instantly, you have a first impression of this character just from examining her traits. It's nice to know who the characters were before, but if those characters are put into a much bigger story that overshadows their history, then it's important not to build up too much on who they were before, otherwise your story will lose focus.
What really defines a character is not JUST who they were, but what they choose to do in stressful situations and why they do it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Of course, there are things you SHOULDN'T do when writing a story:
---Cliches---
Please don't use them. I've noticed a lot of fan fics based on the show have a popular character in some sappy love story. And when I say
a lot, I mean WAY TOO FUCKING MUCH. Unless you can do a new take on a love story, I highly suggest avoid using this already overused story.
I've also noticed some stories on the forum with a strong focus having to do with a tough PERSON A protecting a weaker PERSON B. It's a good idea, but it's already been done in not just The Walking Dead (The Last Of Us, Bioshock Infinite, Resident Evil 4, Man On Fire, etc). With an apocalyptic setting, there are so many possibilities for good stories. Try and come up with a different idea instead.
---Bad Writing---
If you don't know how to write properly, than maybe writing fan fics isn't a good idea.
I usually don't mind if I find one or two spelling errors in a long story. But if you really, really want people to take your stories seriously, then take your spelling and grammar seriously too. Nothing kills a good and engaging story for me than bad spelling and grammar.
"oh shut up gram nazi! it's just the internet spelling dont matter"
This excuse does not fly with me in the least bit, especially if this is coming from someone who wants write stories. You take English at school for a reason.
Also, be sure that you don't bunch up your paragraphs into a big mess of words. No one wants to read a story or an article that has a single paragraph with over 100 lines. Break it up to make it look more organized and clean.
Well, hopefully you've learned what you can from this thread. To all potential writers out there, good luck and have fun writing!
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Comments
Being the only one on the thread who wrote a crossover of games TLOU for example which was referenced twice here there is a big difference between mixing Pokemon and mixing TLOU. TLOU shares common traits with TWD both set in ZA with the plot focused on father figure and daughter in constant fight to survive with relationship developing as story advances only relying on each other.
Perfect games to mix as share common identities and main plot focus in the same type of world
Big difference from Clem being a Pokemon master lol
I don't think stories should have restrictions or rules to follow just a chance to get creative and let your imagination run wild creating situations you always wanted to see etc
---Bad Writing---
Writers of all kinds are welcome at my thread it's more about the bravery to write just little fun getting creative so telling people not to write because of grammar not right to me you could really restrict the potential of future great writers just because of little grammar issue how do you learn to improve if your not given the chance.
Saying all this I respect you as writer and you make great points
www.walkingdeadfanfiction.com/Story/31442/The-Walking-Dead-365-Days/
Telltale should learn from this
Anyways, great post. Saved it in case i ever plan to write something
Make a plan, and work out story details in advance in an outline. It will be easier to spot plot holes, inconsistencies, and generally weaker parts, easier than when you're actually writing the story. One outline sentence to one story page maybe. Can help keeping the writing to a schedule, knowing that you intend to produce narrative from so many outline points per week or what have you, if scheduling is a big deal for your story.
http(:)//quoteinvestigator(.)com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/
(remove the parentheses, in case the link gets blocked?)
"If I had more time I would have written a shorter letter."
I've always heard this quote about concise editing attributed to Mark Twain, but whoever said it (or multiple authors saying versions of it--there seem to be several), there's not much to add to that quote's message. Keep it to the point.
Like you said in your post, spelling and grammar are important. The car may look sweet and slick right off the lot, it may have all the new features, but if I hear a strange rumbling under the hood, I'd think twice about purchasing it. Metaphors break down of course, but I know I've stopped reading certain fanfics whose narratives I've enjoyed, because I saw too many spelling or grammar errors. It jolted me out of the story.
This is really story dependent, but parallel narratives are a great tool for pacing and controlling reader expectations. And it's an OLD tool. Seriously, it's in the Bible. Look up Judah and Tamar's story in Genesis if you want an example (meaning look that up, as well as the story surrounding it).
Nice to see an intelligent thread like this. I'm sure I could add more, but it's rather late and I'm drawing a blank.