Scrolling through Games and Silliness, I was stricken at the amount of threads titled along the lines of “________’s NaNoFic”. To the eye of a newcomer or someone deciding to check out G&S for the first time, that thread would seem pretty confusing. So what are NaNoFics anyways, and why are there so many?
(Also yes anyone reading this who’s in my NaNoFic I’m just procrastinating I’ll get the next chapter up soon asdfghjk)
Anyways, NaNoFics are basically interactive fan fictions of other users on the YWP. The author starts a NaNoFic by making a thread for it and asking for characters. If a user is interested, they can fill out a character form and the author will use their character in the story.
Note: NaNoFics can also be spelled Nanofics, NaNofics, or any variation.
DragonWingedBean and several other users have worked together to make 'a fairly comprehensive list of all NaNoFics around', and there is also a FAQ for NaNoFics buried somewhere in G&S.
Are you interested in starting a NaNoFic? Here are some basic steps I found most NaNoFics use.
1. Have ‘NaNoFic’ somewhere in your thread title, so everyone knows what it is. There are some NaNoFics that don’t do this, and that’s completely ok, but I’ve noticed a bunch of NaNoFics that have ‘NaNoFic’ in their title and I think that’s a really good idea.
2. Write a hook or excerpt at the beginning of the thread to get people interested in the story right off the bat. If you just provide the form right away (that we’ll get to), you’ll still get members, but I, personally, would want to know what I’m signing my character up for.
3. Make sure you specify how many people you’re taking and if you have any special requirements. For example, if I were to start another NaNoFic and wanted it to be Lord of the Rings but with other people’s characters, I would only allow as many characters as were in the Fellowship (and side characters, etc., excuse me I haven’t read LOTR in a while), and let everyone know that some of them have to be hobbits.
4. Have a good character form. Don’t make it too complicated or people will be too lazy to fill it out, but something fairly basic like, “Name, Age, Pronouns, Description, Personality,” and etcetera will work great. Make sure to add an ‘other’ option so people can give you information that can’t be covered in the form.
5. Compile all of your character forms into a document somewhere, be it online or not, so that you can easily reference a character without having to scroll through your thread. This is definitely optional, but I find it helps me a lot.
So yeah! Follow those five steps and you’ll be well on your way to starting a NaNoFic of your own. If you can, try to keep a consistent update schedule (Noodle you hypocrite), and plan out a skeleton plot so you aren’t staring at a blank page wondering what the heck you want the characters to do next. Good luck!
Now that brings us to my next thought. Why are there so many NaNoFics on the YWP? Yes, they’re really cool, and a good way to practice world building and plot stuff without having to make your own complicated characters, and a really neat way to interact with all of your friends on the YWP, and overall a really fun challenging project to take on….
Well I think I just answered myself. There are so many directions you can go with a NaNoFic, from reality TV shows to D&D adventures, and it’s really freeing to just be able to write and know that the people reading it are all so supportive and kind. Not only that, but everyone has such unique, interesting characters that it’s a blast to write a NaNoFic and get to use them.
All in all, if you don’t have a NaNoFic and you have the time to, I really suggest making one because they’re just so fun and great for writing practice.
NaNoFics are one of the gems of the YWP for sure!
(Also yes anyone reading this who’s in my NaNoFic I’m just procrastinating I’ll get the next chapter up soon asdfghjk)
Anyways, NaNoFics are basically interactive fan fictions of other users on the YWP. The author starts a NaNoFic by making a thread for it and asking for characters. If a user is interested, they can fill out a character form and the author will use their character in the story.
Note: NaNoFics can also be spelled Nanofics, NaNofics, or any variation.
DragonWingedBean and several other users have worked together to make 'a fairly comprehensive list of all NaNoFics around', and there is also a FAQ for NaNoFics buried somewhere in G&S.
Are you interested in starting a NaNoFic? Here are some basic steps I found most NaNoFics use.
1. Have ‘NaNoFic’ somewhere in your thread title, so everyone knows what it is. There are some NaNoFics that don’t do this, and that’s completely ok, but I’ve noticed a bunch of NaNoFics that have ‘NaNoFic’ in their title and I think that’s a really good idea.
2. Write a hook or excerpt at the beginning of the thread to get people interested in the story right off the bat. If you just provide the form right away (that we’ll get to), you’ll still get members, but I, personally, would want to know what I’m signing my character up for.
3. Make sure you specify how many people you’re taking and if you have any special requirements. For example, if I were to start another NaNoFic and wanted it to be Lord of the Rings but with other people’s characters, I would only allow as many characters as were in the Fellowship (and side characters, etc., excuse me I haven’t read LOTR in a while), and let everyone know that some of them have to be hobbits.
4. Have a good character form. Don’t make it too complicated or people will be too lazy to fill it out, but something fairly basic like, “Name, Age, Pronouns, Description, Personality,” and etcetera will work great. Make sure to add an ‘other’ option so people can give you information that can’t be covered in the form.
5. Compile all of your character forms into a document somewhere, be it online or not, so that you can easily reference a character without having to scroll through your thread. This is definitely optional, but I find it helps me a lot.
So yeah! Follow those five steps and you’ll be well on your way to starting a NaNoFic of your own. If you can, try to keep a consistent update schedule (Noodle you hypocrite), and plan out a skeleton plot so you aren’t staring at a blank page wondering what the heck you want the characters to do next. Good luck!
Now that brings us to my next thought. Why are there so many NaNoFics on the YWP? Yes, they’re really cool, and a good way to practice world building and plot stuff without having to make your own complicated characters, and a really neat way to interact with all of your friends on the YWP, and overall a really fun challenging project to take on….
Well I think I just answered myself. There are so many directions you can go with a NaNoFic, from reality TV shows to D&D adventures, and it’s really freeing to just be able to write and know that the people reading it are all so supportive and kind. Not only that, but everyone has such unique, interesting characters that it’s a blast to write a NaNoFic and get to use them.
All in all, if you don’t have a NaNoFic and you have the time to, I really suggest making one because they’re just so fun and great for writing practice.
NaNoFics are one of the gems of the YWP for sure!
Comments
Post a Comment