How to write a half decent Fanfiction

I decided to write this article after I saw a few hundred too many bad fanfiction stories.  I AM NOT a professional writer, but I AM a somewhat accomplished Fanfiction writer, and have taken a creative writing class.  This is NOT intended to flame those "bad" writers.  This is merely a list of suggestions to make you a better fanfiction writer (and it just might help you write a better English paper one day).

1.  STAY ON TOPIC.  Make your fic have one central theme.  If it has multiple themes, bring them together somehow in the end.  Leaving loose ends (as long as they aren't TOO loose) is alright, but don't introduce a character/situation extensively unless it's going to have an impact on the resolution.

2.  DON'T INVENT CHARACTERS THAT COULD/WILL NEVER EXIST IN THE CANNON UNIVERSE.  Introducing new characters is fine.  Your fanfiction is your interpretation.  HOWEVER, it starts to become annoying when characters that seem out of place from the original can make the fic look ugly, especially if they are an "important" character popping out of nowhere (like sibling to a main character that NEVER existed in the original).  Moral here is, if you decide to introduce new characters, keep them in style with the original.  They should be able to fit somewhat seamlessly, and make people be able to say, "Hey, this fits nicely with the original", or at least not, "this doesn't go together at all".  Cannon characters should still be in character when they interact with fan-made characters.

3.  BE WARY OF PLOT HOLES.  Everything should come together in the end (cliffhangers are the exception here).  Unless the story has many plot twists, the reader should be able to anticipate how the story will end by what has been going on, or at least, follow how the story has be going so far with little or no confusion.

4.  DON'T WRITE IN DIALOGUE STYLE .  Dialogue style is when there are NO paragraphs and all content is conversation, and any other plot idea come between and are only a sentence or so long, and look like they took 5 minutes to write.   Unless the fic is short and designed for no real plot, stay away from this style.   Make paragraphs with descriptions in them.  It keeps the reader interested, give the impression that you have a brain, and care about your work.  Plus, it makes it more enjoyable.  Movies and TV shows don't NEED descriptions, since you SEE it on screen as it happens.  But with written work, you don't have that luxury, and therefore need to turn to the words of the English language to "show" to reader what is going on.  Would you like to watch a TV show with no picture?  I bet not.   Dialogue style is much the same way.

On that note, if one particular scene includes heavy dialogue and things in the "background" aren't relevant, dialogue style is fine for the duration of the scene.

5.  WATCH THE TIMELINE.  This includes within the fic, and in the original universe.  Things get confusing when the timeframe for something is clearly defined somewhere, then contradicted elsewhere.  If you alter the timeline of the original universe (which I think is a DUMB move, but that's anotehr issue), make sure the reader is aware of this, and if possible, somehow provide said altered timeline.

6.  MAKE CHAPTERS A DECENT LENGTH.  Breaking up a story into chapters to break down into installments or for cliffhangers is fine.  But when a chapter is very short can be annoying and disappointment.  If chapters are being posted as the fic is being written over time, it's better to make one semi-long chapter posted less often than many many shorter ones posted very near in time.  I'd much rather read a fic with 10 decent length chapters than one with 30 of the same length.

7.  PROOFREAD.  And if possible, have a beta reader do the same.  Since you wrote it, you might not be aware of things that the reader might be confused by, since you have it all in your head.  But readers aren't psychic, so you have to provide all necessary information in your piece.  Having a beta reader look at it will help point out certain things that you as the writer could have missed.