I am rewriting a fanfic. I have made ones that good a few decent reviews in the past in other forums. But I need some ideas. Particularly in setting. I was thinking Skyrim, since the new game will take place there, but it will also expand into other provinces and such..and a Daedric Realm as well. The story revolves around a Lycanthropic female Imperial Bounty Hunter. I require some tips on begining the fanfic. How should I begin a fanfic? Thanks.

Well, the first order of business would be to work out the setting. Skyrim is a pretty cool setting for werewolves. After all, it was a hoard of werecreatures that wiped out the Snow Elves way back when. The only thing to bear in mind is that the resurgence of activity in this forum section is due to Skyrim being announced. Which means a lot of Skyrim settings. It's a matter of individual choice I suppose. I like the Skyrim setting, but there is a whole range of provinces to choose from. Maybe start in Bruma, then make the transition across the border to Skyrim?

Next, do you wish for your story to begin pre or post transformation? If pre, you could detail your character's infection and gradual transformation into the beast. If post, you could slowly reveal the fact to the reader. For example, explaining straight off the bat that she is a werewolf is slightly stale. Having her hired to track down a beast that had been terrorising a Nord village in the mountains, then having a shock twist that she actually is the monster would be a lot more interesting. Also, would she have control over her alternate form or not? If no, does she know about her change? Does she black out before, and wake up after with no recollection? If she does have control, is she scamming the villagers by pillaging, then faking the beasts death at her hand in order to claim the reward?

Next, would there be an overarching plotline that you would be adhering to, or would it be a matter of ad-hoc writing as the fancy takes you? I would recommend setting out a loose plot in your head for the direction you wish the story to take, and how it's going to get there. Doesn't have to be a rigid and comprehensive plot, but rather a few well spaced mental bullet points that give you a general direction and framework. I've done the same for my Dres story Varis' Venture, with a planned beginning, middle and end (well. 'Ish' on the planned end, that's up in the air). I think it leads to a far more coherent narrative anyway.

One last thing. 1st or 3rd person narrative? Is the story told by the character herself, or a narrator? So, "she opened the chest and searched for her sword", or "I opened the chest and searched for my sword"? It's best to pick one then stick with it, because mixing and matching tends to give off an unprofessional tone. Hope that helps.

It does help alot, thanks!

Bruma seems a good place to start. And as I mentioned, it will spand many locations and provinces.

I didn't know snow elves were wiped out by werecreatures, send link please, I would love to read it. The werewolf thing will be pre-transformation. The character is still diseased, without revealing too much of it, she was born diseased(Canon). The story is a "Hunter becomes the hunted, then becomes the hunter" type of thing.

Wait, do you want me to answer you're questions, or are they for me to think about? Send me a link of your fanfic, I would like to give it a read.

Was more hypothetical questions to give thought to, but feel free to jot them down if you want. I've found that if I write things down I improve on them more. I tend to be a perfectionist about my writing, and edit all my stuff fairly extensively. Once my ideas are down on paper (or on the screen in this case) I'll set to brutalising them, streamlining, refining and improving. Might work the same way for everyone, or I might just be an oddball.

Not entirely sure which book I got the Snow Elves bit from actually... Was one of the books about the origins of the Nords, I believe. Or it might have been from the fan fic forum. Hmm. Everything is blurring. Not good. Had something to do with the Daedra Prince Hircine being annoyed I believe. Anyways, my story is linked in my sig. It's the red text titled "Varis' Venture". I update the white sig after each chapter to provide a short synopsis of the post. I'll probably post another bit tomorrow when I have the time. Glad I could help anyway.

Thanks. I will make sure I write the entire story down before posting it online. It will give me more time to read and re-read it.

And the snow elves is here in the fanfic, I think the "Horror of the North" part mentioned them being wiped out by werecreatures.

As for the Antagonist, should I add one or not? I mean, each story has to have one, right?

Not necessarily. Antagonists are best written (IMO) when they are in a grey area. Some people think he's bad, but others think he has good ideals. Unless they are pure evil genius-type guys, most "antagonists" are antagonists merely by opinion of the reader and the way they are cast by the author.

Generally though one would want an antagonist to get in the way of your protagonist. A story needs a conflict, lest it become stale with nothing to challenge the character(s) to help them grow :shrug:

Also, don't be discouraged if nobody reviews your fic with more then a "Good job. Great writing, keep it up.", because nowadays, proper reviews are hard to come by unfortunately. I would give pieces of my special area to get a decent sized review on my fan fic but I guess people just don't have the time.

If you need idea's for characters, pick people froms history and base the character on them. Like in the Godfather, he was the pope, Alexander Rodigo - something like that.

I started mine with a basic idea of a setting and thought about an ending and kind of worked backwards. I also change and add a lot of things as im writing the chapters. What ever comes to you mind, let it out and keep running with it then go back and revise what you wrote.