I’m Not A Writer But I Play One On The Net.
Writing better fan fiction.
by
Berkeley Hunt
You don’t want to be a writer, all you want is more Trek. Specifically Trek that features Chekov in a heroic role,
one in which: A--He doesn’t come across as infantile and B--He doesn’t rape anyone. Until someone tunnels into
Paramount’s secret vault—the one guarded by statues of the Sumerian God of Syndication—to discover 78 more
episodes of TOS, it looks as if you’ll have to write it yourself.
Since Laos Egri, Robert McKee and other authors of creative writing how-tos take awhile to get to the point, here are
a few of the most important things you need to know to create effective fan fiction.
Before You Begin, Know How Your Story Will End. Abrupt, clichéd and just plain lame endings result when
you put Chekov in jeopardy without deciding how he’ll get himself out of it. You’ll almost certainly have to come up
with two, three or many more endings until you decide on one that works. This is one of the main reasons for
outlining before you sit down at the keyboard. Uh, you do outline, don’t you?
Write From Only One Character’s Point Of View—The hero, Chekov’s. Knowing when to change POV is
an art form in and of itself and if you’re not a professional writer, you probably can’t do it effectively. The
temptation to go on little side-trips within multiple characters’ heads may prove irresistible and may lead to long, talky
scenes and a meandering plotline, one that strays far from the story’s original point.
Even more importantly, using our little Russian friend’s point of view will force you to focus on only those events at
which he is present. Which in turn will force you to pick, choose and prioritize events—one of those things that
beginners have the most difficulty with.
Puh-LEASE Make Your Hero Proactive. Hurt him, by all means; hurt him good. I myself love to see our
Pavel suffer; bring on the whips, chains and crippling angst! As long as he’s able to fight back and forge ahead,
whatever his injuries.
Stories in which he is blinded, paralyzed, amnesic or comatose are stories that tend to stop dead, never again
recovering their momentum. If the ensign can’t function he can’t fulfill the protagonist’s role, that of making the
decisions and taking the action needed to resolve the plot. Another gentle reminder: A little sexual abuse goes a long
way. If one rape is good, three are not necessarily better.
Don’t Change The Character So Completely That He’s Unrecognizable—even if Roddenberry and
Company sometimes did so. That the Great Bird allowed him to be turned into a rapist in Day Of The Dove doesn’t
make it a good dramatic choice.
Make Sure It’s The Hero Who Resolves The Story. Note that when I spoke of putting Chekov in jeopardy, I
also spoke of deciding how he will get himself out of it. Oh, he can have help. One of the qualities of an effective
hero is that he is both likeable and admirable. So if Kirk, Spock or McCoy like and value their colleague enough to
try and rescue him, it’s further proof of his heroic status.
But his adversary or adversarial force cannot just up and quit being a threat and the Angel Gabriel cannot appear,
flaming sword in hand, to save the day. Nor can Chekov go to the shower in his quarters, open it and find his dead
captain inside, signaling the reader that It Was All A Dream.
That’s not to say that Kirk can’t shower in Chekov’s quarters. Although that’s another type of story altogether.
Berkeley Hunt is a story analyst based in North Hollywood, California. She has taken apart numerous drafts of
Ocean’s 11, The Last Samurai and The Reaping, coming soon from Silver Pictures/Warner Brothers. She
welcomes questions.