Making a fan-fiction based on gameplay.

[Thatguywithaface]

I am attempting to get a fanbase for this idea. I would like to start an online fan-fiction based on my gameplay, as the title states. I just don't want to do this for nothing. So, I was wondering how many people would like to read this, and possibly give a few requests. Such as; what kind of character you would like to see (An Imperial Spy, disguised as a part of the common rabble. An Argonian Assassin sent to put an end to the High King only to find out he wasn't the only one with this task. Etc.) So, if you have any ideas, and would like to send the my way, I am a starting author willing to do this for the Elder Scrolls Fan Community. It will, however, be a while for me to start this due to my current writing project "Enemy lines - Maiden of the Dark" I am working on.

 

[kyleekay]

From my experiences here, the community is ready and willing to read any fanfic that is well thought out and creative. So, if you want to do it- then do it! It won't ever be "for nothing" as long as you enjoy the experience.

As far as what I would personally like to read about, I prefer things that aren't overdone. I say this with tongue in cheek considering my blog is about a Thief Khajiit.

 

[Thatguywithaface]

I would probably read that. My first Skyrim Character was a Khajiit thief. Well, as soon as I finish the Novella I'm writing, I'll be sure to start up something worth the communities interests.

 

[Brynja]

When I read fic I tend to skip over scenes that replay actual quest game play, just because (like most players) I've probably done that quest 2-3 times with different character builds. But, if the quest/game play description is vital to the story, that's different. For instance, the opening sequence is altered somewhat to incorporate a new character, or you go against game canon and change the options/results of a quest. That I'd read.

When I write fic that involves a game NPC (esp the Dragonborn) doing a quest, I generally skip over any details and write a sum-up "results of quest" paragraph. (Unless, like I wrote above, I need to alter certain aspects of the game play).

That's just me personally, though.

 

[imaginepageant]

I'm sure there are those out there, like myself, who would enjoy reading a fanfic based on actual characters that exist and actual events that occur in the game. However, I feel that I should warn you that sticking too close to the gameplay might not be easily embraced.

My own fanfic begins just as the game does, with my main character being carted off to be executed in Helgen. Though I had planned my Dragonborn's story and interactions with other characters to go well off-course of the main and civil war questlines, I wanted the opening scenes in Helgen to follow the gameplay closely, because that is the one part of the entire game that is the same for everyone; it's as close as we can get to canon in a game whose outcome is entirely determined by the person playing it, and I didn't want to mess with that. Unfortunately, this choice was met with some criticism. Readers did not seem to enjoy reading a scene that they had already played through numerous times, and I suppose I can't blame them for that. But I have to wonder how many people stopped reading after or during that first scene, judging the story as too close to the gameplay, instead of giving the rest of it a chance.

I ended up revising my first chapter to remove some of the game dialogue from the Helgen scenes, and to streamline a lot of the action in those scenes as well, since, from a storytelling perspective, they didn't really fit, anyway (e.g. going through four or five battles in the underground tutorial sequence). However, I was determined not to completely compromise what I wanted to do with those first scenes - follow the canon of the game, and start the story where it starts in the game - in order to appease popular demand, and so my first chapter still deals with my main character escaping execution in Helgen and proceeding to Riverwood and Whiterun.

I'm certainly not here to tell you what to write or what not to write, because I believe a writer should write whatever they want to write! But I wanted to share my own experience with writing a fanfic based on gameplay. Hopefully it will help.

 

[White_Memories]

I can't claim to have ever written a Skyrim - or Elder Scrolls - fanfiction as of yet but I fully plan to. However, as a person that loves to read and go through Skyrim fanfiction I can tell you what a fan might enjoy. Notice, not everyone is the same so tailoring a story to one person isn't something I wouldn't really do.

The only really good stories I've read were on fanfiction.net and the vast majority are either in-progress or lacking a lot of rather vital details. There are those that focus on sexual activity and only that but others speed through everything or follow the gameplay word for word. I'm not going to say that you shouldn't include aspects of the game, I actually encourage it, but it becomes irksome to read the same dialogue in a fanfiction as you hear in the game.

As for what I like to read about... there is no limitation. If you can catch my attention and hold it within the first 100 words I'll keep coming back for updates. That's just me. Stereotypes and over-used characters can be revamped to become fresh and exciting by expanding on them, in my experience.

But by far the best stories I've read were those that the author wrote for fun. If you enjoy the plot, are enthusiastic, that shows through and can sometimes give the story a new edge. An important things is to have fun.

 

[ultimatedovahkiin]

If you want to do this, you might want to add a story to it. Like say, you aren't doing a quest so you go into a bandit hideout. Why did you go into the bandit hideout? Do they have vital information that might help you save the world from some impending threat? Did they kidnap someone and now you have to go save them? Are you trying to destroy every bandit and the leader of all of them is in that camp? Just something like that will add to the story because if you do something like say, the character you will be writing about (I don't know his/her name so I'm just gonna say a random word that pops into my head and make it sound Skyrimy) say his name is Borak. So Borak goes into a bandit camp to take their money, then he decides he wants to go into a Burial Crypt for the thrill of adventure. You can do that sure you can, make him go from a bandit camp to a burial crypt. But you have to add a story to it to make the transition. If not, your fanfic will be all over the place. It will just seem like you took random things and threw them together and called it a story. Now, I'm sure you will probably write it well regardless of story or not, but if you have no story then no one will really understand it and they will get confused and not read it. So just think up some threat to Tamriel and then add story elements that will connect the bandit camp and burial crypt. Or give the character a reason other than needing gold or wanting to help someone when he does the quest. Like the man you are helping has a weapon to defeat this threat and he will give it to you for going doing his quest. Just my suggestion.

 

[Chirurgeon]

using mods and the like I have done a fanfic that uses gameplay but is based loosely on the Ranger's Apprentice series. I agree with other posters that say you should alter it so that it has a different twist. For example in my story it begins in the spring before Toryg's death. That way I can invent my own storylines and play them out and write it up Check it out and see if that helps. This is a great topic btw