I don’t mean girlboss queens of criminal empires, or ‘damaged’ girls who are only putting up a tough criminal facade to hide their tragic past, or even terrifying but also sexualised murderers who can kill a man without blinking and look good while doing it.
I mean like… female characters whose primary roles in the main cast are to show up as needed with whatever whacky combination of items the heroes need and some vague excuse about them having “fallen off the back of a lorry”.
Female characters who will shadily say “I know a guy” (in the gender neutral sense) when the protags need someone for a specific task, and then when they meet that guy she immediately almost gets murdered because of some ludicrous crime she committed years ago that she assumed they’d be over now.
Female characters who can’t fight for shit and have no ability to act as a femme fatale, but do have the charisma/persuasion skills to talk their way out of dangerous situations when needed.
Female characters who have never murdered anyone, and would never consider murdering anyone, but still try to present themselves as some kind of master criminal despite having approximately none of the skills to back that up. And where this is played for laughs rather than as some sort of dramatic reveal.
Just… weasels. Urchins. Conwomen. Tricksters.
All those types of character that get to be comedic and loveable but kinda pathetic when played by a man, but suddenly have to be deadly, sexy, tragic and/or girlboss when played by a woman, because female characters always have to have that extra edge of seriousness to make up for the fatal flaw of being female.
You know those things you think you can’t write because they’re an emotion not a plot?
Try oneshots!
Oneshots are great because they can be just a single scene or moment. They allow you to write that one conversation you want to write without needing to create a whole story around it.
You wish you could just write about that character getting a damn hug for once? Do it! Who needs a huge context? Just put it out there!
Oneshots, people! Write them read them. Love them. They’re awesome.
May I also suggest for consideration, the drabble?
100 words. Just enough for that trivial exchange you can’t get out of your head. Or a sucker punch of an emotional moment. All with a handy word limit to give it a ‘writers challenge’ credential.
And if you’re looking to explore a character or a relationship in more than 100 words but still without having to have plot, may I suggest my favorite form, the 10x100?
Ten separate drabbles of 100 words each, all little windows into a life or a pairing or a place or whatever tf you want. I use them to figure out who characters are and how they’ve changed over time. Has the bonus of feeling artistic and moody and meaningful even though you just slapped ten disjointed thoughts together and called it a day.
I’ll also add, since some people may think “But do readers want to read that?”
Yes. I want to read that.
Sometimes I want to read fic but my fave stories haven’t updated recently and I am not mentally ready to commit to a new, long story. Short fics like these are perfect for those moments. They scratch the itch I have for fic without becoming a big time commitment, or the dread that the story I’m loving may never be finished. They’re the perfect, say, lunchbreak read. I love oneshots for this reason. Write them, people will read them.
Also, one of my favorite things about fanfic as a genre?
Emotion is a plot.
I discovered this and haven’t ever looked back.
Fanfic is a character-drivem genre, rather than a traditional plot driven genre. We come for the characters, for thier emotions, for thier interactions with each other. That is the plot.
Don’t sell yourself short, as I used to, by saying you don’t have a plot because all you have are emotions. Emotions can and do spiral into complex stories.
…….take a look at my stupid high word count based solely on comfort the sad boi he is hurt
(Pls note: I fully support all of the above advice. This is just an extra idea that actually got me into writing)
Welcome to a new term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It’s the first of September and the Hogwarts Express is once more heading towards Scotland. Are you ready to jump on board?
Harry Potter lives a simple life. He quit Auror training to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts and he loves it. He loves being an uncle to Rose, Hugo, Victoire, and Teddy. His only complaint—he is the eternal bachelor, unable to find anyone he wants to settle down with. To be honest, he isn’t really looking all that hard.
That is until Draco Malfoy is taken on as Madam Pomfrey’s apprentice bringing with him memories that Harry would rather not think about…like that night Draco Malfoy seduced him on the Quidditch Pitch eighth year and never called.
This autumn, we’ll post one fic per week for seven weeks, each one inspired by one of Hogwarts’ seven core subjects —
Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Potions, History of Magic, Herbology, and Charms. Each story will be a stand-alone work, but together they’ll make up the anthology we call Seven Shades of Magic.
For our second week, we’re treated to a new perspective of our boys’ eighth year at Hogwarts. Will their Animagus studies be able to help them change more than just their physical appearances?
Harry’s back at Hogwarts for an eighth year. N.E.W.T.-level classes, Slytherins, and Animagus studies should be enough to keep him busy, but when did Harry ever do things the easy way? It all started when Harry decided to talk to that random, stone gnome perched in the Transfiguration classroom, and it all went uphill from here.
This autumn, we’ll post one fic per week for seven weeks, each one inspired by one of Hogwarts’ seven core subjects — Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Potions, History of Magic, Herbology, and Charms. Each story will be a stand-alone work, but together they’ll make up the anthology we call Seven Shades of Magic.
► Draco is a healer at St. Mungos hospital. Every once and a while Harry comes in after he’s hurt in battle. Sometimes even Draco worries that he’s asking for death when he once again risks his life in order to save another.
► Harry Potter lives a simple life. He quit Auror training to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts and he loves it. […] That is until Draco Malfoy is taken on as Madam Pomfrey’s apprentice bringing with him memories that Harry would rather not think about…like that night Draco Malfoy seduced him on the Quidditch Pitch eighth year and never called. ★ Seven Shades of Drarry | @sevenshadesofdrarry
► Harry and Draco are several months into their eighth year at Hogwarts. They have been in a relationship for a while now, but no one knows about them and they are happy to keep it that way. ★ HP Fluff Fest 2020 | @hpfluff-fest
Welcome to a new term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It’s the first of September and the Hogwarts Express is once more heading towards Scotland. Are you ready to jump on board?
Harry Potter lives a simple life. He quit Auror training to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts and he loves it. He loves being an uncle to Rose, Hugo, Victoire, and Teddy. His only complaint—he is the eternal bachelor, unable to find anyone he wants to settle down with. To be honest, he isn’t really looking all that hard.
That is until Draco Malfoy is taken on as Madam Pomfrey’s apprentice bringing with him memories that Harry would rather not think about…like that night Draco Malfoy seduced him on the Quidditch Pitch eighth year and never called.
This autumn, we’ll post one fic per week for seven weeks, each one inspired by one of Hogwarts’ seven core subjects —
Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Potions, History of Magic, Herbology, and Charms. Each story will be a stand-alone work, but together they’ll make up the anthology we call Seven Shades of Magic.
