Clichés on Parade: How to Avoid Becoming a Rapid Fanfic Zombie
By Ty-Chou aka Ghost of the Dawn
For those who are curious, yes, the term "Rapid Fanfic Zombie" (or RFZ) is coined by yours truly. What is an RFZ, you ask? They're hard to miss. They come in droves, they swarm the fandom, and they don't give a flying flip about what they're writing. They don't care if they're doing something wrong. All they know is that other RFZs are doing it, too. Fanfics are law to them, no matter what has happened in the show or is stated clearly in the character's bio. They may not have even seen the show they're writing about, or very little of it, or it was so long ago they can hardly remember.
RFZ's start by reading fanfics and say "I wanna do one, too." So they take their favorite parts from these fanfics and piece them together to create something almost but not quite unlike everyone else's. More people do the same thing and that's where clichés come from. When these plot and character elements are done so much you can ask any Ronin fan what they see most in fanfics... and they all give the same answer, then you've got your clichés.
So how do you avoid catching the RFZ disease? Well, if you read something in a fanfic, then DON'T FREAKIN' COPY IT! Wake up! Look around! Go take a walk! Don't turn into a zombie! You are your own person, don't let someone think for you! I cannot stress this enough. Originality is the key here, people. If someone else has already written about a certain concept, then DON'T DO IT TOO! Just don't touch it. Write about something else! Please!
Cliché Ronin character traits are the worst. Now we've got Ronin purists running around screaming "Rowen CAN cook!" "Sage is NOT a flirt!" This all started with someone somewhere having an original idea and then suddenly everyone went RFZ and started copying like crazy. Don't get your ideas from fanfics, people. At least, not from fanfics of the same fandom. If you must import a concept or idea from another fic, at least take it from a different genre and then, of course, mix it up real good so it's more your own work than theirs. Ronin fics today are getting so tired because they're so overused.
I'm here to tell you now the best and fastest way to cure yourselves from the horrible RFZ epidemic. First of all, I want you to take EVERYTHING you've learned from fanfics about the Ronin chars and toss it in your mental trash can. Then, I want you to sit down and watch your Ronin Warriors videos. Your take on the Ronins must start anew with episode one. Take notes if you like. Write down what character traits you notice. I myself didn't realize Sage was such a bossy jerk until I sat down and watched the series closely. If you have the OAVs, watch them, too. Check out the official bios while you're at it.
For those unlucky fans who don't have the luxury of owning episodes, see if some saint will copy them for you. I heard we've got bilingual DVDs of the series being released in April. A great opportunity to brush up on old characters and storylines. I think there's some pages out there that even host episode scripts. The important thing is that you're building your own opinion and your own version of them from the OFFICIAL source. So whatever you come up with is uniquely you and, most likely, close to what the characters are.
If you want to go one further, after watching the episodes (NOT reading fanfics!) go write your own personal bio of each character. From what you gathered from the official sources, what do YOU think the personalities of each Ronin are? Mention scenes that back up your ideas. So it's something like "I think Kento acts like this because of what he did/said in this scene." It sounds a lot better than "Hey, I like how they wrote Rowen in this, I'm going to steal their idea and do it, too!" Yes, I know it does sound like a lot of work. But keep this in mind: your fanfic will only be as good as the time and effort you put into it.
While you're at it, try writing a small summary of the relationships between each Ronin/Warlord. What do they think of each other? How close are they? Some are obvious. Such as Sage is definitely closer to Rowen than he is to Kento because you see the two hanging around together throughout the show. But when Sage had to save Kento from the rock and Cale's sword that may have strengthened their friendship a bit.
Go ahead and try it, you may find out it's a lot of fun. And who knows, maybe this brainstorming exercise will give you some good ideas along the way.
Good luck, writers.
Ghost