How to Make Your Fan Fiction Unique

I’m sure you’ve seen it somewhere recently. I’ve spotted it in the blogs, forums, and had conversations about it with other users. Lately, Mibba users appear to be getting frustrated with the lack of originality in fan fictions. They all seem identical; same characters, same plot, just a different author. Now don’t get me wrong, clichés aren’t necessarily bad, and it doesn’t hurt to use them every so now and then, but the problem is that they are very over-used. People come up with a great new idea, everyone loves it so they write their own version of it, and hence a cliché is born on Mibba. But, you want to stand out on Mibba and have a unique story, you want your fan fiction to be that bright shining blue circle amongst the dull grey ones, so here are some tips and examples to help you achieve that.

Reverse Roles

I’m sure we’ve all seen a story on here where there is a forbidden student/teacher relationship, or a girl gets kidnapped by her favourite band for whatever reason (and the list goes on and on, so I won’t bore you with it). However, by taking the cliché idea that you like and reversing the roles of the characters, you can instantly get a new concept. There aren’t many student/teacher romances where the teacher is the female character. And how many stories have you read where a member of a band gets kidnapped by a female character? How about the celebrity being the new kid at school instead of the original character? Reversing roles early on in the planning of your story can open up a lot of new doors and introduce many unique ideas for you to write about. It’s not necessary for your story to be different to others, but it’s something definitely worth thinking about.

Different Times or Universes

A simple way to set your story apart from all of the rest is to change when or where your story is set. Maybe you like history and there is a certain time period that you are particularly fond of. If you set your story then (whether that be during cavemen times, prince and princess periods, or even in the future), you are certain to attract readers’ interests because they have probably never seen that before. Just make sure that you do some sort of research beforehand so it seems realistic, and you don’t give your cavemen a TV or something. If you want to take a cliché idea, for example surviving a zombie apocalypse with a band, how about you write many years into the future when it’s after the apocalypse when they are trying to rebuild everything? Straight away you have new concepts to work with.

Alternate universes are also fun to play around with. If you have a crazy idea that just doesn’t quite fit in this world, then you can create your own. Anything from flying cars to vampires ruling the world will add a new interesting aspect to your story and make it memorable to your readers. Of course, with these sorts of stories there are no limits; you can let your imagination go crazy as you create the new world. Keep in mind that you don’t have to go to a different universe to get a different environment; your story can simply be moved to a different country. I don’t see any stories set in New Zealand that aren’t my own, and it would truly be a wonderful place to set a story, particularly for fantasy ones (for example, the movie Lord of the Rings was set there). Europe is another great place that is underused, unless the celebrity is from there anyway. Don’t be afraid to send your characters off to Africa, or anywhere that is not America, and have them experience the cultures, food, etc. You’ll have so many distinctive things to write about once you do.

Shake Things Up!

How many fan fictions do you read where there is an original female character in it? Almost all, right? Well, how about not doing that? How about you just stick with the band and their friends? There’s no harm in not introducing characters to a movie or book and just working with what’s there already, even if you are only moving a minor character into a lead role or changing the plot a bit. And if you’re writing a slash, how about having an original female character in that story? That would already make it uncommon. When it comes to characters, think outside the box.

Another great way to shake things up is to search the internet (or just Mibba) for prompts. And no, I don’t mean a lyric from a song by the band you’re writing about (those are used too often too); I mean a proper writing prompt that authors would use for an original fiction. When you’re lacking inspiration or want to do something a bit different, you can usually find some cool prompts to work with. They’re also a fun way to challenge and improve your writing ability. Other ways to do this and make your story stand out from your other ones is to use a point of view that you don’t usually use, which can be first, second or third person. Or maybe you could write your story from the point of view of a different character; for example, instead of writing it from the lovers’ perspectives, tell the story from their best friend’s point of view, or their daughter’s, or someone else that would add that extra special something to your story.

Something you might like to try is writing a different genre. Go and click on the edit button of a story and check out what genres Mibba has for you to classify your story into. Do you primarily write romance stories? Maybe it’s time to change that, or add another type to the list. Have a look at the other categories and see if you could write a story based around that general theme. It would be out of the ordinary if you threw your characters into an intense war, and made them search for love and friendship while fighting for their lives. Or maybe it would be fun to write a crime story (not the typical a band is a gang story). Perhaps you’ll get inspiration to make your celebrity a detective and create a unique story around that simple thought. There are lots of genres, and if you just let your mind wander on those topics, you’re sure to get a cool new idea.

Make it Readable

This one is pretty straightforward. Use proper grammar and spelling, and follow Mibba rules. If you don’t, it will be hard to read, and that’ll mean you won’t get many readers. Another tip is to have a short description that makes your story sound interesting and unique so people click on it. Then, greet them with an easy to read and appropriate layout and a great summary that doesn’t give away too much, but still draws them in. And then begin your story. Just don’t do it with the main character waking up; that’s another cliché that people are sick of! Make your story unique right from the opening sentence!

Still Want to Write a Cliché Story?

That’s fine. Cliché stories are okay, but only under one condition; you must write it well. People seem to not mind them if the writing is great.

Want to Write a Unique Fan Fiction Now?

Yes? Good. Hopefully my few examples have inspired you to strive for something unique in your next fan fiction on Mibba. And you never know, maybe your idea will be so great that it will become the next cliché fan fiction on Mibba!