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Fanfic Decay

megaevolvedmushroom

megaevolvedmushroom

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Anyone else ever rereadtheir story from beginning to end, and notice it going downhill for one reason or another?
 
While I've never personally seen it happen to myself (I've never written a fanfic past maybe 5 or 6 chapters as of yet), I've seen it happen to other people. I think it's due to either laziness or the author rushing it, because normally it's the other way around.

But if you haven't been lazy or rushing it, try to go back to the main plot of your story. Are you staying true to what you originally intended? Are you straying down another path? Or maybe you haven't put your characters through character development yet, and there's a scene where your main protags should be mature but they're not?

I couldn't entirely be sure of the reason because I'm no genius, but what seems to be wrong? The conventions, characters, etc?
 
In that case, I would think it has to do with plot? Maybe you're adding unnecessary events, or there's always the possibility that it's getting dragged out. I couldn't be entirely sure.

Try going back to where it seemed to lose its charm and start from there. Maybe you'll see a difference in the writing or plot? Hope this helps!
 
I noticed it as I was writing the first draft for one of my originals. It had barely any steam to begin with, grabbed a little bit early on, chugged along like sludge metal breakdowns for a while, gained a bit more steam, and then wasted it all building up to the climax, where it crashed terribly. I'm trying to avoid it with the second draft, and have been doing a good job building up and maintaining the right level of steam, but I've hit a little block for chapter 13. I'll get past it eventually.
 
I wouldn't know. I rarely get past the "summarizing my ideas" phase. I may get as far as writing the prologue, but that's it. In essence, I feel like my fic decays before it even starts.
 
Pretty much everything I've written so far (most of it unreleased garbage that I intended on making money off of) hasn't gone downhill per se, but started down there and went in a straight line. Usually if I intend to continue working on something and I notice the quality isn't up to my standards, I sit down, look at it and realize it's always been that way.
 
What about the opposite where you start out "okay" and it's all uphill from there? Bit like how Dragon Ball got more serious and intricate with storylines with the King Piccolo arc and onward (a precursor to the idea of the Shonen Story arc). Can't all be doom and gloom.
 
generally i think mine get boring and then go uphill then get boring again

although im more or less noticing that everything just seems to go downhill even if i try so hard to make it interesting
 
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