I am no great writer of fan fiction. I have done some from time to time, but I prefer to work in worlds of my own imagination. I am also no great player of Destiny 2 (though I once was). But the stars aligned one fateful day when me and a few of my friends decided to write a fan fiction story set in the world of Destiny 2. It took us a few months, but we eventually finished it. It was just about 15,000-2,000 words, the size of a short novella.
To tell the truth, it was really fun. It was also a great writing experience: with more than one mind visualizing the flow of a story, the story ended up being more robust with less work. We would check on it every once in a while and write a few paragraphs. This was even less of a challenge than writing alone, and just as fun.
In addition, sometimes I would start a “nonsense” story, which is a quick amalgamation of random elements and characters. Boromir, Darth Vader, Cloud Strife and Arcanis the Omnipotent decide to set out on a journey to liberate the princess Leia from the grip of the evil Christopher Robin. They wade through Eternia, Kaladesh, Hoth, Rohan, and Cybertron to get to their location while accumulating a sum of Warra nuts to defeat the dragon Smaug with. Then, all my friends will throw in characters that THEY wanted to add.
And just how were we doing all this? Simple. We used our school forums, Google Chats, or whatever media service that held and saved comments. You could use things like Facebook or Twitter. All you need to do is get together with a few of your friends and start writing.
A helpful visual example:
Much like this. You add a comment, advancing the story, then a friend does, then someone else, etc. This goes on until the story is finished. This is fun, but it’s also a good writing exercise. It encourages you to think on your feet and come up with cool (or silly) scenarios based on the context.
You could use this for fan fiction, and you could use it for advancement of your own creations. It’s like a teamwork-based game. You add on the imaginations of your friends, and they add on yours. This can be done with as few as two people or in great numbers like twenty.
In the first moments, it may seem a little chaotic. Everyone will have their own ideas on how to start. To fix this, you can add a caveat at the beginning: “The scene is X and you’re running for your life from Y” or “This story is the X genre and that’s the only rule” or something like that. Then those who you are working with have a space in which to think. Or, you can totally obliterate the boundaries and make it a sandbox-crossover type of adventure. Either way, I highly endorse this kind of writing.
So give it a shot. If you’d like, you could start a blog or nonsense story right here, in the comments of this post. Remember to think on your feet and be creative. Take five different random objects and force them into meaning, and get some of your friends to help.
Good luck, and happy writing!
The Writer's Rack 