This is pretty much a jumble of my thoughts, opinions, and recommendations on storytelling, the format, the structure, use of literary devices and so forth. I figured I'd toss this up as a writing resource. I blame boredom at work and that preference thread in ranma forum since that's kinda what started me on this.
A warning, I reiterate that this is a jumble of my thoughts, written pretty much as a stream of thought, so it might jump randomly from point to point. Tone of writing also changes at random.
***
The script format used to be pretty popular back in the 90's for fanfic writing. It specifically is designed to read like a pitch for a comic book or movie, where the artist/director taking care of the visual aspect of the story.
In the case of a fanfic, they provide minimal visual cues, sometimes within the dialogue, sometimes outside of it, but for the most part, it's minimal so as not to break pacing on the dialogue except in a scene change. Here, the reader takes the role of the artist/director and is assumed to use those cues to paint the scene in their own head.
For people weak with descriptions but very capable at writing dialogue, this style of writing can be a godsend.
Unfortunately, this format is also pretty unpopular these days, and with good reason. The scrypt format of writing is essentially an incomplete process. People -want- their descriptions.
While strong dialogue can save weak descriptions in a script format, the fact is that it's intentionally weakening itself by lacking that visual component and requiring the reader to fill in the gap. There's a reason the script style is used as the -backbone- to comics/movies, and not the -meat-.
However it -is- the backbone to narrative. Some writers simply write out a stream of thought down, writing down narrative as it comes to them, and jumping around on whims of their muse. It can make things hard to follow at times though, because it tends to be a chaotic representation of the author's ideas.
Thus, some writers may benefit more from writing a script to start structuring a story/chapter, and then filling in events and dialogue and slowly cramming the meat, the narrative, around that skeletal structure. Even if it's something as simple as a checklist of things you want to include in a chapter, it can help you to flesh scenes out.
Point of fact, if I'm writing something I specifically want to be short, a spamfic or omake, for example, I will simply write down my stream of thought. In this case, structure isn't quite as important, so much as getting those thoughts down on paper (or notepad, etc, as the case might be).
When I'm writing something I wish to take my time with, I specifically start with a checklist, listing things I wish to do, things I want characters to say, and then I start to think about the structure of the story. How do I want to present this story?
Once I have my skeleton, I start to think about structure. What good are a bunch of bones without structure? They're just...a bunch of bones. Nothing more, nothing less. Add structure, and you start to get a mental picture of what it's supposed to be. Of course, you do need to make sure it makes sense. It'd look mighty strange to structure your human skeleton with the head coming out of its ass!
Simplest structure format is Aristotle's. It basically just says there is a start, a middle, and an end. It doesn't require much thought, admittedly, and there might be a little of everything in each part, or almost nothing at all. Really, all stories fit this model, so it's essentially a starting point for structure.
What is the beginning of your story, what is the end, and how do you get from the beginning to the end? Sounds simple, but it can be complex in itself.
Writing out a timeline, and organizing your script in a chronological fashion, can be your initial structure. Or you can categorize components of the story based on what they do for the story and then organize them according to Freytag's pyramid. It's the structure of greek and shakespearean plays, and still used, so it can't be bad, can it?
The structure is supposed to set up how everything is connected to something else, but it doesn't mean that starts from the a specific point, either. You can start at the feet and build up, or start at the head and build down. You could even start with the ribs, build the chest, and then branch out. Whatever. The finished product just has to make sense.
Literary devices are tools you can use to frame your skeleton, as well as start to add meat to it. There's really too many to name, so I'll just mention some of my favorites, least favorite, and some common ones. I'm just gonna list 'em and give thoughts on them.
Gratuitous Foreign Language: Yamete! *cough* I mean... "Stop!"
First, a lot of people won't know certain foreign words. You're not writing for that foreign audience, you're writing for an audience that knows English (or whatever language you're writing in primarily). Since we write anime fanfiction, in this case foreign language is generally Japanese. We see it as honorifics "-kun", "-chan", "-sama", etc. Some people also use "-oneechan".
The excuse, generally, is that these honorifics don't translate well into english. To some degree, this is correct. While I think it's better to use description to explain the respect, lack of, or relationship between two characters than resorting to honorifics, I'm very likely to not mind it for the most part.
On the other hand, this is only if the author knows what the -FUCK- he is using. Does the author know what the words he's using mean or represent? At all? I cannot count the number of times I've seen some refer to his big brother, younger sister, mother, or so forth as "-oneesan". You call your big brother "big sister"? Really? What the hell? I will fully lambast (or defenestrate, depending on my whim) an author who does this.
I'm also bothered when I see someone say -sensei, -hakase, -hime, instead of doctor/teacher, professor, or princess. C'mon, these -do- translate easily. Likewise, words like baka, kawaii, etc, can easily be translated. Use your own goddamn language, it won't kill you to do so.
In general practice, I think it's best to keep it to a small set of "-chan", "-kun", "-san", and "-sama" and names. If you can use your normal language though, try to avoid use of gratuitous foreign language.
There are some generally acceptable exceptions though.
With special techniques, generally it's acceptable due to recognition and consistency. Recognition works generally because it's fanfiction, thus the source material is theoretically known. However, remember to be consistent. If you plan to introduce new techniques, keep it all in same language as what you've used in the past, and don't mix two languages unless the source material does so as well (example, Sailor Mercury's "Shabon Spray" having a japanese and english word). Don't have characters shout "Bakusai Tenketsu!" or "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and suddenly go "Bakusai Tenketsu revised: Explosion Wave!" or "Sandstorm no Jutsu!". Put a translation for the attack in parenthesis, if you want.
Also acceptable is when you have a character speaking to a foreigner, though only under the assumption that (a) the foreigner isn't your main character/point of view, or (B) the two characters cannot understand each other. If your main character is japanese and he's speaking to an american whom he doesn't understand, use description to explain that he doesn't understand. Don't suddenly make your japanese character switch to japanese. We're reading the story from his point of view, so we should understand him. The foreigner is the one who shouldn't be understood, and if the foreigner speaks in the language of the story, don't make him speak some other language either. In the case you do use a foreign language in this situation, keep in mind, is a translation necessary? If it's not, but you still want to translate it, toss it into author notes. If it's necessary, then the more important question is...do you need to write it in a foreign language? Just because a character doesn't understand, doesn't mean the reader shouldn't either.
Characterization Tags: Slytherin!Harry, Uber!Ranma, Evil!Manipulative!Naruto. Okay, is there a problem with using a fucking space or comma instead of an exclamation mark? I mean, for god's sake...a space doesn't even use more space than an exclamation mark. Lose it, people.
I can forgive the X tag for relationships though. In this case, it -is- admittedly shorter to say "Naruto x Sakura" than "Naruto and Sakura romance".
However, Some take this a step farther and use the portmanteu ship method "NaruSaku" or worse, stick to initials "NxS". Both of which can get really messy and hard to figure out though. With initials, there's invariably other characters with same initials and even if there's not, sometimes you might still have to put some thought into it, and with the portmanteau...well, some of those are just nasty and nonsensical, not to mention hard to figure out if you've never seen it before.
Some of the portmanteaus, I don't mind. In general, they grate on me though.
Author Surrogate: Typically most well known as the self-insert, an author surrogate doesn't actually have to be the author or original character. It merely has to be the voice/opinion of the author as spoken/thought by a character in the story. Perfect Lionheart's Naruto complaining about his teammates would be an author surrogate, for example. Skysaber's Gilderoy would be an SI author surrogate. Both of these are examples of author surrogates very, horribly, painfully done. Don't do this. It's generally a sign that your author surrogate is a mary sue more than anything.
Still, stories can and do center around the self-insert being a plot device. The key here is that if you're going to do this, don't treat it as a self-indulgement exercise. Keep thoughts on other characters relevant without flanderizing them, maintain suspension of disbelief in regards to what you can and will do, and don't consistently overshadow the characters who belong to the world you're being a fan of. Note that key here is the consistently. You -are- allowed to be awesome now and then, just keep yourself as fallible as everyone else and give others time to shine too.
Author Notes: When you don't want to use an author surrogate, but also believe that including an explanation in regards to something will break narrative flow/pacing. Well, generally that's what it -should- be used for. Some people use it for any sort of idiocy and insert them all over the place, in fact actually -breaking- narrative flow. Which author notes are supposed to prevent. Go figure.
There are only two situations where author notes should be placed within a story, despite the flow break. One is when you're translating something in another language, usually shown immediately after the foreign language in between parenthesis. The second is if the story you're writing is an MST or parody. In which case, author notes aren't actually breaking flow, but they're contributing.
Overall, though, author notes should be kept to one of two spots, the start of the fic, or the end of the fic, preferably the end. Note also, that author notes should not be substantial in size and should not contain information which will cause a reader to be lost if they skip. It is either a short collection of your thoughts regarding your brainchild, and/or a brief clarification on something within the story.
Cold Opening: In tv/movies, a cold opening is a teaser/plot hook. It's used to grab a reader's attention before the title sequence, commercial and start of story so people don't change the channel. In fanfiction, it serves the same purpose. You put a tease of some fashion that either foreshadows what's going to happen, starts the story in medias res before using a flashback, or explains what the plot of the story is about without being a summary/description for the story.
Flashback/Flashforward: These are very useful literary devices. It's sad that they're so often abused. As a writer, you should -never- have to rely on an announcement that a flashback is coming. The reader should very well be able to tell that a new scene is taking at a different time point in the story, and figure out when the scene is taking place (if this is your goal anyhow) based on your description and dialogue.
As a writer, you should also never cascade flashbacks/flashforwards, or in other words, don't have a flashback within a flashback. Flashbacks -always- break a scene or signify a new scene. If you have continous breaks, the story becomes disjointed.
In medias res: A structure literary device. Whereas Ab Ovo involves telling a story chronologically, in medias res (or "into the middle of things") involves telling a story by starting in the middle of the story's events, and using flashbacks or dialogue to explain who the main players are, the plot device, and what's been going on.
Cliffhanger: I'm a big fan of these, but I'm gonna say, if you're a slow writer, don't use them all the time. People don't just read your story, and they'll eventually start to lose effect over time as people forget details. Updates that rely on the cliffhanger to set up the plot hook/cold opening for a new chapter may very well fail due to memory, unless you recap all relevant details.
Deus Ex Machina: If you're gonna use one, lampshade it or try to write it in so it's not so obviously one. That's all I'm gonna say on the subject.
Foreshadow/Red Herring: A red herring is when you make the reader think something, but you're actually tricking them. Combining foreshadowing and red herrings makes for excellent thought bites for readers, who think they know what's coming, but aren't actually certain if they're correct or not. A good red herring can keeps readers hanging for more. Oddly enough, despite their negative attention, cliches can make rather good red herrings. Perhaps because everyone expects them?
Suspension of Disbelief: It's important, especially when involving deus ex machina or author surrogates. Because you're using an established setting and characters, there's usually a degree of suspension already existing to pre-established abilities and non-realistic situations. When trying something implausible, either explain it within the mechanics of the setting or lampshade it.
Lampshade Hanging: When something you know is going to break suspension of disbelief, you actually draw -more- attention to it. If characters are as puzzled by it as you are, and they go along with it, you as a reader will generally go along with it as well. Jedi mind powers, activate!
Lampshade hanging also works well as metahumor, sometimes used to poke fun at cliches or fannon. The characters won't think too much about it, but the reader will get the hidden joke. If the story isn't humor or parody though, you generally want to try not to abuse lampshading.
Cliche: A concept or action that becomes widely used by many authors. These can be fun to poke fun at (example, new girl shows up at the Tendos, everyone groans about it being a new fiancee...although this itself has become a cliche itself...heh) or to use as something familiar to readers to set-up a story's plot device (example, Naruto being abused/attacked by villagers). Because it's widely established, you generally don't have to worry too much about suspension of disbelief. That's already taken care of for you. Danger in a cliche is it becomming fanon (accepted as part of the source material), especially when it involves the flanderization of a character.
Flanderization: When a character is reduced to certain stereotypes or certain characteristics are enhanced. Example, psychobitch Akane who destroys kitchens and creates mutagenic monstrosities.
**********
Personal process for creating a story:
- What is my underlying concept?
- What are some things I want to do with this concept? (This includes pairings if any)
- What are some non-related things I can add to it without detracting from this main story? (sub-plots and potentially omakes)
- Write some rough dialogue/scenes I want to have.
- Plot out chronological events that must happen to get from point A to point B. Make points A and B be as broad as possible
- Decide which of these events serves as plot hooks. These will generally be used as cold openings
- Figure out what events I want to capture in a chapter, including at least one plot hook.
- From these events, figure out from who's perspective I want to tell the story and who my main characters are.
- Write down descriptions of each of my main characters, their personalities, and how they primarily interact to each other at various points in the story. Flesh them out so I can write dialogue through some degree of immersion.
- Write out my initial scene, the cold opening. It will always be an in medias res scene or foreshadow.
- Once the first scene is done, expand on thoughts of what I want to have in the chapter, and make a checklist.
- Break up checklist into scenes, and roughly detail what will happen in the chapter.
- Start writing dialogue and use a bit more description until a scene looks like a script.
- Start fleshing script out.
- Repeat for all scenes, jumping between scenes whenever stream of consciousness gives me a new idea or a scene no longer sounds correct or seem to flow well from one to the next.
- Look over dialogue again, then descriptions. Revise until satisfied that the main point of the chapter is captured.
- Find a pre-reader, have them give a cursory glance to the chapter and bounce ideas over what I want to do and what I wanted done in the chapter.
- Rewrite/Fleshout chapter further as necessary, and continue to bounce ideas until satisfied with chapter as a whole.
- Do detailed spell/grammar check.
- Let pre-reader do his own detailed spell/grammar check.
- Release chapter to people I care to let see (usually a small group of friends, though I might post stuff to forums or ff.net as well)
A warning, I reiterate that this is a jumble of my thoughts, written pretty much as a stream of thought, so it might jump randomly from point to point. Tone of writing also changes at random.
***
The script format used to be pretty popular back in the 90's for fanfic writing. It specifically is designed to read like a pitch for a comic book or movie, where the artist/director taking care of the visual aspect of the story.
In the case of a fanfic, they provide minimal visual cues, sometimes within the dialogue, sometimes outside of it, but for the most part, it's minimal so as not to break pacing on the dialogue except in a scene change. Here, the reader takes the role of the artist/director and is assumed to use those cues to paint the scene in their own head.
For people weak with descriptions but very capable at writing dialogue, this style of writing can be a godsend.
Unfortunately, this format is also pretty unpopular these days, and with good reason. The scrypt format of writing is essentially an incomplete process. People -want- their descriptions.
While strong dialogue can save weak descriptions in a script format, the fact is that it's intentionally weakening itself by lacking that visual component and requiring the reader to fill in the gap. There's a reason the script style is used as the -backbone- to comics/movies, and not the -meat-.
However it -is- the backbone to narrative. Some writers simply write out a stream of thought down, writing down narrative as it comes to them, and jumping around on whims of their muse. It can make things hard to follow at times though, because it tends to be a chaotic representation of the author's ideas.
Thus, some writers may benefit more from writing a script to start structuring a story/chapter, and then filling in events and dialogue and slowly cramming the meat, the narrative, around that skeletal structure. Even if it's something as simple as a checklist of things you want to include in a chapter, it can help you to flesh scenes out.
Point of fact, if I'm writing something I specifically want to be short, a spamfic or omake, for example, I will simply write down my stream of thought. In this case, structure isn't quite as important, so much as getting those thoughts down on paper (or notepad, etc, as the case might be).
When I'm writing something I wish to take my time with, I specifically start with a checklist, listing things I wish to do, things I want characters to say, and then I start to think about the structure of the story. How do I want to present this story?
Once I have my skeleton, I start to think about structure. What good are a bunch of bones without structure? They're just...a bunch of bones. Nothing more, nothing less. Add structure, and you start to get a mental picture of what it's supposed to be. Of course, you do need to make sure it makes sense. It'd look mighty strange to structure your human skeleton with the head coming out of its ass!
Simplest structure format is Aristotle's. It basically just says there is a start, a middle, and an end. It doesn't require much thought, admittedly, and there might be a little of everything in each part, or almost nothing at all. Really, all stories fit this model, so it's essentially a starting point for structure.
What is the beginning of your story, what is the end, and how do you get from the beginning to the end? Sounds simple, but it can be complex in itself.
Writing out a timeline, and organizing your script in a chronological fashion, can be your initial structure. Or you can categorize components of the story based on what they do for the story and then organize them according to Freytag's pyramid. It's the structure of greek and shakespearean plays, and still used, so it can't be bad, can it?
The structure is supposed to set up how everything is connected to something else, but it doesn't mean that starts from the a specific point, either. You can start at the feet and build up, or start at the head and build down. You could even start with the ribs, build the chest, and then branch out. Whatever. The finished product just has to make sense.
Literary devices are tools you can use to frame your skeleton, as well as start to add meat to it. There's really too many to name, so I'll just mention some of my favorites, least favorite, and some common ones. I'm just gonna list 'em and give thoughts on them.
Gratuitous Foreign Language: Yamete! *cough* I mean... "Stop!"
First, a lot of people won't know certain foreign words. You're not writing for that foreign audience, you're writing for an audience that knows English (or whatever language you're writing in primarily). Since we write anime fanfiction, in this case foreign language is generally Japanese. We see it as honorifics "-kun", "-chan", "-sama", etc. Some people also use "-oneechan".
The excuse, generally, is that these honorifics don't translate well into english. To some degree, this is correct. While I think it's better to use description to explain the respect, lack of, or relationship between two characters than resorting to honorifics, I'm very likely to not mind it for the most part.
On the other hand, this is only if the author knows what the -FUCK- he is using. Does the author know what the words he's using mean or represent? At all? I cannot count the number of times I've seen some refer to his big brother, younger sister, mother, or so forth as "-oneesan". You call your big brother "big sister"? Really? What the hell? I will fully lambast (or defenestrate, depending on my whim) an author who does this.
I'm also bothered when I see someone say -sensei, -hakase, -hime, instead of doctor/teacher, professor, or princess. C'mon, these -do- translate easily. Likewise, words like baka, kawaii, etc, can easily be translated. Use your own goddamn language, it won't kill you to do so.
In general practice, I think it's best to keep it to a small set of "-chan", "-kun", "-san", and "-sama" and names. If you can use your normal language though, try to avoid use of gratuitous foreign language.
There are some generally acceptable exceptions though.
With special techniques, generally it's acceptable due to recognition and consistency. Recognition works generally because it's fanfiction, thus the source material is theoretically known. However, remember to be consistent. If you plan to introduce new techniques, keep it all in same language as what you've used in the past, and don't mix two languages unless the source material does so as well (example, Sailor Mercury's "Shabon Spray" having a japanese and english word). Don't have characters shout "Bakusai Tenketsu!" or "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and suddenly go "Bakusai Tenketsu revised: Explosion Wave!" or "Sandstorm no Jutsu!". Put a translation for the attack in parenthesis, if you want.
Also acceptable is when you have a character speaking to a foreigner, though only under the assumption that (a) the foreigner isn't your main character/point of view, or (B) the two characters cannot understand each other. If your main character is japanese and he's speaking to an american whom he doesn't understand, use description to explain that he doesn't understand. Don't suddenly make your japanese character switch to japanese. We're reading the story from his point of view, so we should understand him. The foreigner is the one who shouldn't be understood, and if the foreigner speaks in the language of the story, don't make him speak some other language either. In the case you do use a foreign language in this situation, keep in mind, is a translation necessary? If it's not, but you still want to translate it, toss it into author notes. If it's necessary, then the more important question is...do you need to write it in a foreign language? Just because a character doesn't understand, doesn't mean the reader shouldn't either.
Characterization Tags: Slytherin!Harry, Uber!Ranma, Evil!Manipulative!Naruto. Okay, is there a problem with using a fucking space or comma instead of an exclamation mark? I mean, for god's sake...a space doesn't even use more space than an exclamation mark. Lose it, people.
I can forgive the X tag for relationships though. In this case, it -is- admittedly shorter to say "Naruto x Sakura" than "Naruto and Sakura romance".
However, Some take this a step farther and use the portmanteu ship method "NaruSaku" or worse, stick to initials "NxS". Both of which can get really messy and hard to figure out though. With initials, there's invariably other characters with same initials and even if there's not, sometimes you might still have to put some thought into it, and with the portmanteau...well, some of those are just nasty and nonsensical, not to mention hard to figure out if you've never seen it before.
Some of the portmanteaus, I don't mind. In general, they grate on me though.
Author Surrogate: Typically most well known as the self-insert, an author surrogate doesn't actually have to be the author or original character. It merely has to be the voice/opinion of the author as spoken/thought by a character in the story. Perfect Lionheart's Naruto complaining about his teammates would be an author surrogate, for example. Skysaber's Gilderoy would be an SI author surrogate. Both of these are examples of author surrogates very, horribly, painfully done. Don't do this. It's generally a sign that your author surrogate is a mary sue more than anything.
Still, stories can and do center around the self-insert being a plot device. The key here is that if you're going to do this, don't treat it as a self-indulgement exercise. Keep thoughts on other characters relevant without flanderizing them, maintain suspension of disbelief in regards to what you can and will do, and don't consistently overshadow the characters who belong to the world you're being a fan of. Note that key here is the consistently. You -are- allowed to be awesome now and then, just keep yourself as fallible as everyone else and give others time to shine too.
Author Notes: When you don't want to use an author surrogate, but also believe that including an explanation in regards to something will break narrative flow/pacing. Well, generally that's what it -should- be used for. Some people use it for any sort of idiocy and insert them all over the place, in fact actually -breaking- narrative flow. Which author notes are supposed to prevent. Go figure.
There are only two situations where author notes should be placed within a story, despite the flow break. One is when you're translating something in another language, usually shown immediately after the foreign language in between parenthesis. The second is if the story you're writing is an MST or parody. In which case, author notes aren't actually breaking flow, but they're contributing.
Overall, though, author notes should be kept to one of two spots, the start of the fic, or the end of the fic, preferably the end. Note also, that author notes should not be substantial in size and should not contain information which will cause a reader to be lost if they skip. It is either a short collection of your thoughts regarding your brainchild, and/or a brief clarification on something within the story.
Cold Opening: In tv/movies, a cold opening is a teaser/plot hook. It's used to grab a reader's attention before the title sequence, commercial and start of story so people don't change the channel. In fanfiction, it serves the same purpose. You put a tease of some fashion that either foreshadows what's going to happen, starts the story in medias res before using a flashback, or explains what the plot of the story is about without being a summary/description for the story.
Flashback/Flashforward: These are very useful literary devices. It's sad that they're so often abused. As a writer, you should -never- have to rely on an announcement that a flashback is coming. The reader should very well be able to tell that a new scene is taking at a different time point in the story, and figure out when the scene is taking place (if this is your goal anyhow) based on your description and dialogue.
As a writer, you should also never cascade flashbacks/flashforwards, or in other words, don't have a flashback within a flashback. Flashbacks -always- break a scene or signify a new scene. If you have continous breaks, the story becomes disjointed.
In medias res: A structure literary device. Whereas Ab Ovo involves telling a story chronologically, in medias res (or "into the middle of things") involves telling a story by starting in the middle of the story's events, and using flashbacks or dialogue to explain who the main players are, the plot device, and what's been going on.
Cliffhanger: I'm a big fan of these, but I'm gonna say, if you're a slow writer, don't use them all the time. People don't just read your story, and they'll eventually start to lose effect over time as people forget details. Updates that rely on the cliffhanger to set up the plot hook/cold opening for a new chapter may very well fail due to memory, unless you recap all relevant details.
Deus Ex Machina: If you're gonna use one, lampshade it or try to write it in so it's not so obviously one. That's all I'm gonna say on the subject.
Foreshadow/Red Herring: A red herring is when you make the reader think something, but you're actually tricking them. Combining foreshadowing and red herrings makes for excellent thought bites for readers, who think they know what's coming, but aren't actually certain if they're correct or not. A good red herring can keeps readers hanging for more. Oddly enough, despite their negative attention, cliches can make rather good red herrings. Perhaps because everyone expects them?
Suspension of Disbelief: It's important, especially when involving deus ex machina or author surrogates. Because you're using an established setting and characters, there's usually a degree of suspension already existing to pre-established abilities and non-realistic situations. When trying something implausible, either explain it within the mechanics of the setting or lampshade it.
Lampshade Hanging: When something you know is going to break suspension of disbelief, you actually draw -more- attention to it. If characters are as puzzled by it as you are, and they go along with it, you as a reader will generally go along with it as well. Jedi mind powers, activate!
Lampshade hanging also works well as metahumor, sometimes used to poke fun at cliches or fannon. The characters won't think too much about it, but the reader will get the hidden joke. If the story isn't humor or parody though, you generally want to try not to abuse lampshading.
Cliche: A concept or action that becomes widely used by many authors. These can be fun to poke fun at (example, new girl shows up at the Tendos, everyone groans about it being a new fiancee...although this itself has become a cliche itself...heh) or to use as something familiar to readers to set-up a story's plot device (example, Naruto being abused/attacked by villagers). Because it's widely established, you generally don't have to worry too much about suspension of disbelief. That's already taken care of for you. Danger in a cliche is it becomming fanon (accepted as part of the source material), especially when it involves the flanderization of a character.
Flanderization: When a character is reduced to certain stereotypes or certain characteristics are enhanced. Example, psychobitch Akane who destroys kitchens and creates mutagenic monstrosities.
**********
Personal process for creating a story:
- What is my underlying concept?
- What are some things I want to do with this concept? (This includes pairings if any)
- What are some non-related things I can add to it without detracting from this main story? (sub-plots and potentially omakes)
- Write some rough dialogue/scenes I want to have.
- Plot out chronological events that must happen to get from point A to point B. Make points A and B be as broad as possible
- Decide which of these events serves as plot hooks. These will generally be used as cold openings
- Figure out what events I want to capture in a chapter, including at least one plot hook.
- From these events, figure out from who's perspective I want to tell the story and who my main characters are.
- Write down descriptions of each of my main characters, their personalities, and how they primarily interact to each other at various points in the story. Flesh them out so I can write dialogue through some degree of immersion.
- Write out my initial scene, the cold opening. It will always be an in medias res scene or foreshadow.
- Once the first scene is done, expand on thoughts of what I want to have in the chapter, and make a checklist.
- Break up checklist into scenes, and roughly detail what will happen in the chapter.
- Start writing dialogue and use a bit more description until a scene looks like a script.
- Start fleshing script out.
- Repeat for all scenes, jumping between scenes whenever stream of consciousness gives me a new idea or a scene no longer sounds correct or seem to flow well from one to the next.
- Look over dialogue again, then descriptions. Revise until satisfied that the main point of the chapter is captured.
- Find a pre-reader, have them give a cursory glance to the chapter and bounce ideas over what I want to do and what I wanted done in the chapter.
- Rewrite/Fleshout chapter further as necessary, and continue to bounce ideas until satisfied with chapter as a whole.
- Do detailed spell/grammar check.
- Let pre-reader do his own detailed spell/grammar check.
- Release chapter to people I care to let see (usually a small group of friends, though I might post stuff to forums or ff.net as well)