How to Write a Good Fanfic

1.1.1 - Show, Don't Tell

I decided to jump right into this essay rather than providing a story to catch the readers interest because "show, don't tell" is a major issue in fanfic writing that I've found writers want an answer to what it means. One reason comes from the fact those who critique will use the words "show, don't tell" within the review, but not go into detail. This comes from the fact "show, don't tell" isn't a subject which can easily be explained in a short review. The best option tends to be for the writer to look up essays on the subject.

However, I do have an example of where not showing, and telling becomes problematic, but also how it really helps. However, to explain, I need to give information on a fandom without hopefully giving away any spoilers. Actually, the only spoiler is actually considered not to be a spoiler anymore, which is the second of the changes made to the series I will be noting.

One of the fandoms I write and read for is the Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom. The fandom itself isn't new, but is actually over thirty years old. LD is simply the newest incarnation of the franchise, one that sought to take what worked for GoLions – the Anime that was brought over here and turned into Voltron, and what worked for Voltron, and combine them into something new, and improved. Here are some of the things the series changed.

First, in the original series Allura was sixteen, the pilots were in their early to mid-twenties, and Pidge was twelve. In the news series, the paladins (pilots) are not adults, the exception being Shiro. I'd say all of the paladins are in their teens though, but some fans believe Shiro to be twenty-five because of a video a fan took at the comic-con between first and second season to be confirmation despite the fact the staff never said yes, and they refuse to believe someone as young as eighteen to nineteen would be allowed to pilot for a mission as important as the Kerberos mission. Those more familiar with the sci-fi genre know this is actually possible. Allura's age is unknown, though Alteans in the new version may age differently as indicated by some of the things Coran says.

Why? Having a bunch of adults flying around with an unsupervised preteen in this day and age has some really negative connotations that I will not go into detail on. Also, putting the characters into their teenage years makes them more relatable to the target audience, but also allows for the staff to take the characters through potential character growth. Add to this, one of the canon pairings for GoLions and Voltron was between Keith and Allura, thus having other negative connotations. In 9.1.1 – No Facts, No OTP I talk about how not all canon pairings are fact based, at least for Voltron. (There is after all, more material.) For GoLions the pairing is more subtext, and far less context. There is however a major plot which revolves around this pairing in Voltron, and the creators of Voltron – who felt the series could be understood without understanding Japanese felt the relationship was there in GoLions.

Second, in the original series Pidge is male, but in the new series Pidge is changed to female.

Why? The creators don't have to actually kill off Shiro to get a female pilot like they did in the original, or in the case of Voltron injure Sven so that he ends up not being a part of the team for awhile. However, a few fans also kept mistaking Pidge for a girl in the original series. Around the time the series originally came out, one rarely saw a female tech-geek genius, because that was a "guy" thing. Personality wise, the character also really works better as a girl, particularly since females are more petite than their male counterparts, allowing them to infiltrate places their male companions can not. Thus she needs to not be a twelve-year-old preteen to get into small spaces like in the original series.

Third, in the original series Alteans were human, or more human like. Specifically, in Voltron they were human, in GoLions they were aliens who looked like aliens.