During many and long years of reading fan fictions, we by now have in mind what is good and what's not in these stories. Here's a compilation of ideas for what it takes for a fan fiction to be good. Sometimes it's not easy to consider all those things when we're writing, but it's not a crime to try. Just keep your mind open for new ideas and let's write a hell of great fictions!

1. Originality. Come up with an interesting and original idea. Even if the topic was already written about, do it your own way and be original in what you write. If you intend on using clichés, make it interesting and not boring. There are some clichés that are always nice to have on fictions, but even though, to read the same thing over and over gets tired. Be careful not to sound boring.

2. Well Written. Understandable English.
» English is English. Do not translate fictions into English, write it in English straight away. However, if you’re translating, pay attention in double to get the sentence right. Many things from other languages just can’t be translated literally into English, so you have to think about a better way to write what you mean. Don’t think about expressions from other languages when you’re writing, they don’t fit in English and it only gets confusing. No one will understand what you wrote, and you won’t want that, would you?
» Punctuation correctly used, such as commas, exclamation marks and dots, or the story starts to annoy the person reading it, the lack of sense it makes is utterly annoying. Pay attention to when a comma is necessary, or a dot, quotation marks and so.
» Words written correctly. ‘Your’ is a possessive verb, so it’s used to say something belongs to someone, such as his, hers, theirs [her book, his car, their house]. ‘You’re’ is the short form of ‘You Are’ [You are pathetic; you’re pathetic]. Pay attention in this matter, coz it’s really sad when you’re reading a fiction and comes across some ‘your nice’. It also counts for the ‘its’ and ‘its’, it’s the same thing the previous example. There’s also ‘There’ and ‘they’re. It’s not because they sound very alike that their meaning is the same, ‘there nice’ is also really annoying to spot when you’re reading. And just any word written wrongly, correct that [threw for through, off for of, to for too, etc]. Re-read your story, find the errors and correct them.
» Past tense, present tense. If you’re telling a story in the past, keep it that way till the end. Sometimes the story starts with “Brian looked through the window and sighed” and later we find a “Where are you”, Brian asks Nicky. It isn’t right to change the time tense in the story, besides making it very confusing. Of course it may change when there’s a flashback, so this ‘rule’ does not apply to this specific case. Just remember to do not change the time tense, ok?
» First Person or Third Person. Pay attention to do not change to third person if you started writing in the first. That’s really annoying, and it turns the story into a mess. It’s little mistakes that sometimes we don’t notice, so that’s why you need to read your fiction after finishing it.

3. Take Time. “Hi, nice to meet you. I love you. Marry me?”, it’s a big no no. Take time to make the things happen, it doesn’t have always to be love at first sight. They can meet, only fancy each other, and with time the love will come. You don’t meet someone one day, tell them you love them and the very next day you’re getting married, do you? Well, it doesn’t happen like that in real life, neither should in fan fictions. Ok, ok. Most part of the fiction you [as in the interactive stories] will end up loving your favourite ‘Lifer and he’ll love you back. Fine, but does it have to happen from day to night? Can't they simply meet, get to know each other and fall in love eventually? And marriage. A happy ending does not mean you and the ‘Lifer getting married in the end. Just as the plot, the ending must be interesting, and getting married isn’t the only way for it to happen.

4. Personal information. If you’re writing a fan fiction that’s going to be interactive, be careful in the details, you don’t have to tell everything about that ‘Lifer. Like, you can avoid writing that Shane loves horses, Kian loves to surf, blah bah blah. If it’s going to be ‘original’, the ‘Lifer being himself, then you’re allowed to put as many details as you want. It’s not nice to read a fiction with Kian, and then suddenly he’s horse-ridding coz he loves it. Damn, Kian is even scared of horses! And to be honest, it’s really hard to imagine Mark surfing… be aware to the information you use.

5. Family and other related people. It may fit on the item above as well, you don’t have to write about the ‘Lifer’s whole family. Nicky being the youngest of 7 kids is just weird. To mention their parents might be ok, if it’s relevant o the story, if it’s not, then no use in mentioning them. The stories are about Westlife, and the four [five] of them should be the only ones written about. And their partners, people seem to only write them as being evil, bitches, whatever. If you don’t like them, then why the hell use them as characters for your story? Make up a name, create a character to be Kian’s girlfriend or Shane’s wife if that’s the case. No one is entirely good, just as no one is fully evil. You’re writing about humans, so make the characters humans, being it ‘Lifers, yourself, their family, whoever. Well, if you’re writing an AU story where Simon is a monster that hunts the poor little boys from Westlife, I guess the evil part might suit then.
Mark is gay. Ok, definitely nothing against that. But in interactive fictions, Mark might not be Mark, so it’s a suggestion to keep the info off in a het fiction. Make up a girlfriend for him if that’s the case. It would sound really weird to read in a fiction “hey Mark, let’s go talk to Kian and his boyfriend” if it’s not a slash story. And just for clarifying, it’s by no means being prejudice.

6. Research. Read other fan fiction, check the way it’s written and see what you like or not, make up an opinion on what you like in fan fictions and use this information in your benefit, to help you write and having people to enjoy it as well. Also, know what you’re talking about, if you want to write about a certain subject, go and do a research about it, or at least make up something convincing with your lack of knowledge about it. Like, if you’re not going to read the entire book of law from England and don’t know what happens for real in a certain situation, make up something that makes sense and fits your story. Ask someone about your idea, they may help you with their opinion.

7. Inspiration. Write your story wanting to do it. If you’re lacking inspiration, go search it in movies, songs, whatever. But do it. Writing just for the sake of it will get a boring and emotionless story, and we don’t want that, do we? Other fictions might get you inspired as well, but do not go writing about the same thing you just read, what’s the point in writing a fiction that’s already written? Get inspiration, but do not plagiarize, it’s utterly annoying.

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