“… There might have been a time when Ты actually thought about others, but now it’s just become, ‘Get the villain out of the way and be proclaimed as a hero once more!’ I just don’t want Ты to become something that Ты don’t want to be.” – Lil the Cat from “The Misadventures of a Wandering Soul.”

Do Ты remember the first time Ты ever drew your Фан character? When Ты created him/her, Ты had thought everything out; who they dated, what they wore, and if they had any powers. Believe me when I say that Фан characters are the best characters in the world. Their stories are also the most fascinating things on earth.

Believe it или not, Lil was actually a re-drawing of Rouge the Bat when I invented her. This was way, way long назад when Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was just out and before Blaze или Silver. I was tracing the big-busted gal with wings, when I decided that I wanted a cat. It turned out…well…looking back, I’d say crappy. But, it was the beginning of a character I wanted to have for a lifetime.

Now,when you’re Письмо a Фан fiction, there are a few things Ты NEED to know.
A. Fan Fictions CAN NOT get published for the world to read in print. Due to copyrights, your Фан fictions will never get turned into books. Ты can, however, go to different Фан sites where there is normally an option to post stuff on Форумы или articles.
B. Correct Grammar and Tenses are everything. Ты might have the best story in the world, but if your readers can’t understand it, then that’s useless. (See Step Four: Tenses.)
C. Research, research, research![u] Write what Ты know. If Ты make someone -like Shadow, for instance- do something that they wouldn’t normally do, Ты end up making your Фаны MAD! I learned this lesion the hard way when I was a writer for Fanfiction.net.

Time for the 5 Steps:
Step One: Characters and Settings.
Ты need to know the basics first about writing. When creating characters, make sure they have a purpose and not just so they can make out with Shadow. XP! Фан girls will have their moments, but gf/bf’s of original characters are just plain annoying!
I like Фан fics that have characters that don't take control over the original characters' places. For example: in this one story I had to review, Sonic was stupid and so his "Girlfriend" had to stop Eggman. XP!
Fan characters should ALWAYS support the original characters, but also have their own roles to help inprove the story. Like say, Lil. She's one of the main character, but she doesn't take the place of Sonic. Right now, she's setting him up for a bigger adventure.

[u]Settings.
When Ты have your characters, settings should reflect the Sonic games или Sonic X. DO NOT just make up worlds for the heck of it или bad things happen, like negetive reviews! *hisses*
The most common settings are: Station Square, Mystic Ruins, Космос Colony ARK, Sand Deserts, Eggman's Headquarters and alternate dimensions. Each one is a place from a game and have millions of locations to choose from.
Time Periods create a fuller story. But, they too have limitations. Sally hasn't been around since Sonic's "Genesis Period." Here are the time periods. Remember, each time period grows или disappears with each new Sonic Game.
1. "Genesis Period." This is when Sonic was first introduced. If Ты notice, mentioning names from this time period is very RARE! They don't fit with the rest of the periods. This is a classic time, when the Freedom Fighters existed. BE WARNED! Origin stories explaining Sonic's family is overdone.
2. "Experimenting Period." This branches only 2 years, when Sonic was being shifted over to 3-D from the 2-D world. Ты need to look for resources to find out which games were made during this time.
3. "Adventure Period." Ah! This is the most Популярное time period. Takes place during both Sonic Adventures and Sonic X. This is the classical period when Shadow was introduced.
4. "New Generation Period." This is the time when Sonic Riders, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, and the other games were being made. New technology was being tested. Chaos Emeralds are no longer that needed.
5. "Beyond Period." Every game including Sonic Unleashed will be added to this period. It's time-defying, new graphics and dramas, everything goes period. Don't underestimate anything!
6. "Prequel Period." This is the time that Shadow still lived on ARK with Maria. This is the time Knuckles lived in the Ancient Times with Tikal. Only a few stories exist from this time.
7. "Future Period." I perfer this period over the rest. No one knows what the future will bring. The sky is the limit. Very rare Фан fictions from this time actually see the light.

Step Two: Plot.
One of the most dangerous and hard steps is to figure out how to write your plot. First, does anyone know what plot is? According to flanaganhighschool.com, plot is, "the sequence of events that take place in the story." In other words, the events have to flow to resolve the problem. If the story doesn't have a plot, than it's worthless.
Your plot needs:
1. A big, huge problem или conflict found at the beginning of the story. Sometimes, the problem grows over the course of the story. Often times in Фан fictions, the problem is Eggman himself. Add some other element to make your characters concerned other than, "He's the Bad Guy!"
2. A huge event или various small problems caused by the problem. This takes care of most of your troubles. Like in Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic had to find all the Chaos Emeralds but still had to battle Chaos 0,2,3,4,6, and Perfect Chaos.
3. A Climax, which is the highest point или turning point of the story. The climax is the final battle, the most emotional part of the story. The climax of SA2B was fighting the FinalHazard, just in case Ты want to want to know.
4. Falling action, where the conflict becomes destroyed или beaten. Yeah, they need to be beaten to make a good story. Like, Sonic saving the день would be nice.
5. Resolution, where the conflict is resolved. The resolution of a story may have either happy или sad outcomes. или if Ты want to have a series, don't have a complete outcome.

Step Three: Plan Your Story.
Outlines can be very helpful in this area. They help plan your story. Here is the outline for звезда Wars Episode 4:

Beginning:
1. Death звезда Attacks Leia's ship.
2. Darh Vader Kidnaps Leia; Droids Escape
Tantooine
3. Luke buys droids from Jawas.
4. R2D2 runs away to find Obi-Wan Kenobi
5. Luke finds Obi-Wan and goes to help.
Lalalaa.
6.
7.
8.
9.
End.
10. Obi-Wan & Darth Vader fight, Obi-Wan dies
11. Герои return home, prepare for battle
12. Luke blows up Death звезда and saves day.

As Ты can see, I got impatient. Now, Ты have an idea of a plotline.
Here is an outline for Ты to use. Write "keywords" to fill out basic information.

Beginning
1.
2.
3.
Middle
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
End
11.
12.
13.
14.

Step Four: Tenses
Ты NEED CLEAR TENSES!!!!! "Tense" is the narration and flowing of story. Ты have three tenses. Ты have past, present, and future. The tense is the how the verbs respond.
1. Past. This is where "ed" and "d" and others were usd. Verbs like, "swam," "saw," "said," "sang," "cried," "whispered," and "yelled." Just as long as it described the verbs.
2. Present. The present tense includes the past and future tenses. "S" and "es" and "ing" desribes the verb; what the verb is currently doing[i].
3. Future includes the present. Most of the time, it [i]will tell Ты what will happen, but is harder to read. Plain verbs will be used.

The Далее part of this step is choosing the narrative voice.
1. "First-Person." Wikipedia says that, "First-person narrative is a narrative mode in which a story is narrated by only one character at a time, who explicitly refers to him- или herself using words and phrases involving "I" (referred to as the first-person singular) and/or "we" (the first-person plural). This allows the reader или audience to see the point of view (including opinions, thoughts, and feelings) only of the narrator, and no other characters." Example: I saw the lake farther up the road. It's too far, I thought. I couldn't tell what Bobby was thinking at the time. We ran until the storm caught up with us.
2. 3rd-Person. The third person is the narrative voice which is outside the action. The narrator allows the readers to view the story like they're god. The narrater knows ALL the characters thoughts and actions. For example: Marcia cried loudly. "Why won't they stop shooting?" Marcus thought.
3. 2nd-person. This is the narrative voice used for "Choose Your Own Adventure" Books. The pronoun you is used. Example from Wikipedia: You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here Ты are, and Ты cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy. See what I mean? YOU should not use this tense unless YOU know how to control the others correctly.

Finally, we have
Part Five: Off We Go
No one, not even I, can tell Ты a step-by-step instruction on how to write a story. It takes guts. NEVER STOP WRITING! Only those worthy of creating stories will continue on. I can give Ты advice, since I am in the process of finishing a novel seperate from "The Misadventures of a Wandering Soul."

1.If Ты hit a writer's block, open a new document или grab a fresh piece of paper and begin Письмо whatever comes to your mind first. Ты CANNOT BACKSPACE или FIX SPELLING ERRORS!!!! Ты need to just write. This is the only way to defeat those blank moments when nothing comes.

2. Never let anyone discourage you. If Ты find that Ты NEED to stop because your story isn't flowing write, stop. But don't let anyone say that your stuff is junk. It's not. Not unless Ты say it is.

3. "The only way Ты yourself is if Ты never dream." That's a quote I use a lot. (Look out for it in the upcoming parts "The Misadventures of a Wandering Soul.") It's true, though. I still have a lot еще creativity than some of my friends. Whenever I find a new idea popping in my head, I jot it down before I forget. That's what Ты should do.

That concludes our little lesson. I hope Ты enjoyed it. "May the Force be With You...Always..."