I don’t consider myself the authority of fanfic writing. This is all just my opinion, a long opinion but an opinion none the less. I’ve noticed a lot of common errors made in Code Lyoko fanfics so I’ve written this guide to share with you my philosophy on writing a good story. You can take this info or leave it, I just want to get this thing out to the masses. While writing this, I’ll be making references to my fic, not because I think it’s the best, but because I think it does a good job with following these guidelines.

Rule #1: Keep your writing easy on the eyes.

I have seen too many fics where the author just posts everything in one giant paragraph. That will simply not do. Please, put a space in between your quotations and separate your paragraphs when you’re making a scene change. There are countless times where I just gave up and stopped reading a fic, not because the story was bad, but because I just got fed up with the spacing.

Rule #2: Artistic licence can only go so far.

Yeah I understand that this is your story that you are writing but these are not your characters. Readers expect the existing cast to act a certain way and for certain events to unfold. Of course you can change these things I certainly did. For one, I made Jim and Sissi a little nicer and had Jeremie learn martial arts. Little changes like that to the universe are understandable but when you break the story to your liking then you’re crossing the line. When I say this, I’m not talking about fics where the characters intentionally act outside of their normal pattern of behavior. (Fics that involve Yumi dating Theo or Ulrich dating Sissi) Those changes are ok as long as Ulrich still acts like Ulrich and Sissi acts like Sissi.

Rule #3: EVERYONE is human

Well ok, not EVERYONE is human if you count XANA and Aelita (Thank you Dr. Thinker for pointing that out) but that's not the point. Look, there is a common misconception in the Code Lyoko community that Sissi, Jim, Herb and Nicholas are pretty much good for nothing, evil individuals and are always bashed on in fics. No one is all good nor is all evil and the only reason why these characters act that way is because of the circumstances in their life drive them to do so. Sissi is capable of doing good, she helped mend Ulrich’s arm in "The Trap" while Jim’s scene with the nail gun has propelled him to legendary status. If you’re going to write an antagonist character, you have to do it two ways. If they’re supposed to be a sympathetic villain then you have to show that they still have a heart or if you want to write the "totally evil" character, then you better put down WHY he’s doing this sort of thing. Sissi is so mean to Yumi because she’s jealous of the fact that Yumi has the opportunity to seize true love. Herb is so hostile towards Jeremie is because his achievements are always being overshadowed by him and constantly looking for his moment of glory. When I wrote my series, I lightened up on the evil stuff with Sissi and gave by giving her moments when she acts like a human like when she defended Nicholas’s drumming abilities in front of the likes of Dirk and Clayton.

On the flip side, the Lyoko team is also full of faults that should also be expressed in your writing. Ulrich has a hard time opening up and will rather suffer in his own personal hell rather then to get his friends involved in his personal life. Yumi constantly gets jealous whenever she see’s Ulrich talking to Sissi and lets her emotions cloud her better judgement. Odd doesn’t take situations as seriously as he should and his carelessness usually lands him in the hot water and Jeremie will never admit that he’s wrong until it’s too late. There are no angles in this world as there are no demons. When writing your characters, keep in mind that they’re just human,

Rule #4: Pace yourself and your scenes

As author of your own story, you don’t need to rush to your key scenes. There are two many fics out there that in the first three sentences, they already have Ulrich and Yumi kissing. Take the time to set up your scenes and your characters for this. When I wrote the Retelling series, it took Jin a total of four episodes just to set foot in Lyoko and an ENTIRE episode just to find out about all its secrets. You don’t need to wait as long but you do need to set up all the elements which brings me to my biggest rule...

Rule #5: Everything happens for a reason

This is my big rule in writing. If you just follow this then you will always write good fics. Event X was triggered by incident Y and will result in action Z being taken. When stuff happens out of the clear blue yonder, I call that bad story telling. Stuff does not just magically happen there’s a reason for everything. Even when a character acts differently from the series, as long as you give them a reason to, it's alright. On a normal day, Odd would never challenge Jin to a fight outside of Lyoko but he did because he wanted to help defend his friends from Dirk and Clayton. One of the things that really piss me off with some fics is that the author has a story and just throws in random Code Lyoko characters to do stuff without any rhyme or reason why. There are fics out there that have Odd teaming up with Sissi and her gang to hurt his friends and the author never says why he’s doing this. I mean come on! Odd, hurting his friends and teaming up with Sissi. If you’re going to be pulling a story element like that then you better have a damn good reason to do so. If not, I’m walking away.

Ok now we’re gonna cover everyone’s favorite topic, ACCs (Author Created Characters)

Rule #6: Don’t let your ACCs steal the spotlight.

The inherent advantage of fanficion is that the reader has a good idea of what the majority of the cast look, sound and act like. With that said, when a someone reads a piece of Code Lyoko fanficion, they want to see more situations that involve Yumi, Ulrich, Jeremie, Aelita and Odd. They don’t read it because of your character. I know it’s hard NOT to focus on your ACC since you know him/her the most. However by having an ACC steal the spotlight, you’re really going to tick off your readers. The reason why Jin is so well liked in the Code Lyoko fanfic community is because I did not shove his character down the people’s throats. I just had him do his job and act like how he should act and let the readers accept him for who he is. The same with Dirk and Clayton. They are not in every scene and sometimes, they’re only in an episode for one scene. Now that Jin, Dirk and Clayton have been accepted by the readers, I can do a little more stuff with their characters since they are now "part of the gang" but at the same time, most of my attention is put on the existing characters of my series not my own ACCs.

Rule #7: There is such thing as too many ACCs.

You have to understand, the reader has to use their imagination, not their memory to visualize your ACC. I’ve read fics where the entire casts is made up of ACCs and that is just ACC overkill for me.

Rule #8: Justify your character’s position in the Lyoko universe

An ACC should add onto the experience of your story, If I was sloppy, Jin could have easily been a Japanese version of Odd that was somehow related to Yumi. If you’re ACC does not add anything to the Code Lyoko universe then why write them at all? An ACC can either make or break your fic so you gotta be extra careful when dealing with them. Some authors do not take the time to develop their ACCs and just throw them into the story and hope that they will do fine. However, if you do not craft your personality, you’ll just be writing yet another blank face in the crowd. When I say take time to develop your ACC, I don’t just mean thinking of their name, gender and Lyoko character. I made sure that Jin’s personality was really distinct from any other character ever made as he brings his own unique perspective to the story. Dirk and Clayton also help add to the experience as they help beef up the action and character development with all the fights they start outside of Lyoko.

Rule #9: Make your ACCs human too

Everyone hates an all perfect character. When you make your ACC, make sure you give them faults as well. Audience members can relate to a character’s faults more than their strenghts because it makes them seem more real and that they can exist in the real world. Jin is a seriously flawed character and is FAR from perfect. He’s clumsy, a little childish, over emotional, impulsive and reckless. Even in Lyoko, Jin is no superstar. He can never get his landings right and is always landing on his face and let’s not forget how worked up he gets whenever he sees a Mega Tank nearby.

Rule #10: Give the Lyoko team a reason to trust your ACC

This rule only applies if your character is going to be joining the resistance against XANA. Now imagine that you were a member of the Lyoko team (any member it doesn’t matter). Ok you’re fighting in a virtual world and you have to keep your actions a secret. Honestly, do you WANT another person in on your group? No you don’t. I really hate it when there’s a new student on campus and all of a sudden, Odd and the others are telling them everything about XANA. That will not do. In my series, the group was a little uneasy about letting Jin join them and he was Yumi’s brother for crying out loud. I made Jin prove his worth to his friends through his acts of courage when XANA sent Milly’s teddy bear to attack the prom. You have to think logically when you’re going to introduce a new member to the team and make sure that you show the reader that your characters are "up to snuff".

Rule #11: Think of ACC roles outside of the box

There are a whole bunch and it just really ticks me off to see that a number of authors fall into these pitfalls. ACCs are usually.

A: New students that become new party members on the Lyoko team

B. Love interest that wish to either hook up or break up existing Code Lyoko couples

C. Instruments of XANA

Usually ACCs are introduced to the story right away by introducing themselves to the class.

Ok I know I’m guilty of the first pitfall, but I did my best to make my character’s entrance as different as possible. If you recall, Jin did not emerge into the series until some progress was made in the fic and he just showed up and chewed Sissi’s head off thus triggering the events that lead to his introduction with Yumi’s friends. Dirk and Clayton are not your average ACCs either for they are evil on their own free will but are willing to show a shred of humanity once in a while.

New characters don’t just have to be friends of the Lyoko Team. Think of other roles for your characters. Maybe you can have a student who’s a member of the school news paper like Milly and Tamiya and is always spying on the Lyoko Team to try to find out their secrets. How about having another teacher on the staff that is just as suspicious as Jim is and is always teaming up with him. The possibilities are endless, all you have to do is use your imagination.

Well that ends the guide. I hope you walk away from this and learned something useful. This is all just one opinion of a single writer in the sea of many.

Well it’s been a while since I wrote the first Code Lyoko fanfiction writing guide so I decided to make another one. Once again, my word is not law and that this is my opinion. If you like it kudos to you if you hate it kudos to you. This guide will show you how to make a well rounded ACC and some critical dos and don’ts when developing them. I will reference my previous guide and of course Code Lyoko: A Retelling for examples so it’s best to get a general understanding of those two before continuing.

Part 1: Basic Specs

Ok, you HAVE to know the basic information of your ACC. The better you know your character the better you can write them since you can picture them in your mind very easily. Things to keep in mind of...

1. A Name

I’m not to critical on names here. I’m not going to advocate then ACC names should all have a deeper meaning and all of that other hogwash. Name your character whatever the heck you want but I do have a minor suggestion. If you’re character comes from a specific ethnic background, trying giving it a name that comes from that area. But then again this is only a small suggestion that I didn’t follow since I Jin is a Chinese name despite the fact he was born in Japan.

2. Height/Weight

Again, more info that I’m not to picky on. It’s good to have a rough idea on how tall your character is just to help your mental picture of them. Don’t just flat out wire "and he stood at 5'5 feet tall" that’s just information overkill. Then only time I "think" it would be appropriate for you to make special allowances on the height or weight of your character is if it matters to the story. For example, it was real crucial that readers knew that Clayton was a rather large individual since he is Dirk’s enforcer and is really strong.

3. Clothing

Some writers put a lot of description in a character’s outfit while others do not. This is all up to you. I personally described Jin and Dirk’s outfit in full detail once so that the reader could have an easier time picturing them in their minds. However, if an ACC wears a special article of clothing that is crucial to their development then by all means point it out and make occasional reference to it in your story. Jin’s left sleeve is something that is indeed important to his character and it was key that I would remind the reader every now and then about its existence so that they don’t forget.

4. Age

Age plays a larger role in a fic then you would normally think. For one, your character’s age affects what classes he or she will be taking or it your ACC is an adult, how they interact with others. Yumi is the oldest original member of the Lyoko team at it shows trough her maturity and how she can approach a situation calmly. Of course age is not THAT important but it should be one of the factors that leads to the development of your ACC.

5. General Appearance

This is stuff that I haven’t covered in the earlier segments (hair, scares, etc.) These are all up to your imagination. Whatever you deem is important for your character to have then by all means go for it. I’m not stopping you.

Part 2: Physical Features

The way you’re character moves and handles themselves can reveal a lot about their personality and make them seem more "real" to the reader.

1. Physical Limits

You’re character is human and thus being human they would have certain limits that they can not surpass unless under the most dire circumstances. Usually one’s physical limits can reveal a lot about their lifestyle and their activities of choice. For example, Jeremie is not the most physically fit person in the group since a majority of his time is spent in front of his computer and has a hard time keeping up with the others. Be aware of your character’s limitations and what they can and can not do while on Earth. Do not and I repeat DO NOT make your ACC some sort of demigod, that’s a major no, no in fanfiction writing.

2. Physical Strengths

This is different from limits as it showcases your characters unique talents. Does your character know martial arts? Is your ACC strong? Does the character play a sport? Is he/she very fast and agile? Etc. Usually it’s a good idea to give your character a few of these so that they don’t appear to be a bumbling idiot in your story, unless that’s what your intending to do. Again, do not go overboard in this area or else you’ll be creating another all-perfect ACC that will just piss your readers off. Jin has quiet a few of these I admit. He’s a good fighter, an excellent dancer and can take punishment like there’s no tomorrow. But then again, for every strength he has, there’s a major weakness ready to offset all of his advantages. On the flip side, Dirk is not a very strong character and has to relay on superior fighting technique and his friend Clayton to overcome his opponents/

3. Physical Weaknesses

Again, for every strength your character has there’s gotta be a weakness waiting in the wings. For example, despite his years of training and practice in the field of martial arts, Jin is still a very clumsy person for he is always tripping and landing on his face. Most weaknesses are pretty obvious if you look at them. Clayton is a very strong individual but he’s not the fastest person in Kadic Junior High due to his large size. Generally fast characters are not very strong and vice versa. You’re character can’t do everything, and giving your ACC weaknesses will make them a more enjoyable character to read.

Part 3: Personality

Now here’s the big one. If your ACC has no personality what so ever, I suggest you get off the keyboard you’re typing on and give one to them ASAP. An ACC’s personality can truly make or break them in the eyes of the reader so you gotta nail this aspect down or else people will be walking away from the story that you’ve spent so much writing.

1. Redeeming Qualities

Every individual in the face of this earth has special qualities that make them "human". You really have to think of your character’s virtues and not just randomly tack on good qualities to make your ACC seem cool. All of Jin’s personalty strengths play a crucial role in the fic. His strong sense of justice, his good humor and his loyalty to his sister. Even the "bad guys" have these feature. Even though Dirk is the "evil dude" of the Retelling Series, he makes sure that he takes good care of Clayton and will never do anything that would harm his friendship with him.

2. Personality Faults

Like I said before, you’re ACC’s can not be perfect little angles. What people don’t seem to understand is that what makes a character memorable is the faults they possess. Jin acts somewhat childish and can act a little too crazy for the other’s liking. Really push yourself to give your ACC some bad aspects too for it is a sign that you indeed spent time thinking of your character.

3. Strengths that are Weaknesses

Sometimes you’re character’s best quality is also their greatest downfall. These faults are always interesting to read and can add an extra level of depth to your ACC. For example, his loyalty to his friends has almost lead to his death countless times. Really analyze your character and see how their very personality can be the cause of their undoing.

Part 4: Meeting People

You really have to ask yourself how your character handles themselves with other people. How you treat a friend is drastically different then how you treat a complete stranger. Keep these situations in mind when you’re writing your story.

1. Interaction with strangers

If your character is a new student to Kadic Junior High then they won’t be the most popular student right off the bat. When faced with unfamiliar faces does your character keep to themselves or will they boldly ask the first person they come into eye contact. Their personality and history shape their actions.

2. Interactions with the Lyoko Team

Based on your character’s personality, they may favor some characters over others. Jin gets along with almost everyone but he can relate to Odd the most since they’re both the jokers of the "Weirdo Bunch". A new character adds a whole new dynamic to the group and can really change things up so you gotta show the reader the changes your character creates.

3. Interaction with adults

Once again, all of these questions can easily be answered if you are fully aware of your character’s personality. Would they follow the rules or will they just blow off their request right in their face. Forgive my brevity in these explanations but I feel like I’m writing the same things over and over again and I don’t want to waste your time.

4. Interactions with enemies

In the Code Lyoko Universe you’re character will make enemies no matter who they ally themselves with. If their with the Lyoko Team, or as I like to refer to them the "Weirdo Bunch", you will be making enemies with Sissy and her group. Usually when a character interacts with their enemies it reveals just a little bit of their dark side. Jin showed how vicious he can be when he first knocked Dirk out as he lifted him off the floor only to just throw him over his shoulder. Of course you can use these moments to show your character’s nice side too by having them show sincerity towards their adversaries. Whatever you feel is best for your story, go for it.

Part 5: Background

You’re character absolutely NEEDS a history. The more the readers know about your ACC, the more they can relate to them. If your ACC does not have a background and you want to write to put your character in your story let me say these words of advice..

.GET OFF YOUR KEYBOARD AND START FLESHING YOUR ACC OUT!

Backgrounds are an essential plot device for character development and without one, you’re just writing yet another face in the crowd. A majority of ACCs out there, mine included, are new to Kadic Junior High. The worst thing you can do for your character is if you just have them "show up". You have to keep in mind that Kadic Junior High is a boarding school and it’s not necessarily the type of campus you could just waltz into, unless your character is a day student. I find it easier to develop my character since he came to the school for a reason. Jin lived in America for two years before he was pulled into his sister’s fight against XANA so he has to win over the students of the school and adjust to his life back home. There are other factors too besides the school but the factors that go into making a background are virtually endless. Again, I ask you to use your judgement in what you think is good for your story and this is just a guide for your writing.

Part 6: Romances

I originally did not intend to write this section but seeing the overwhelming amount of ACCs that "hook up" with the existing cast I decided to share my VERY limited amount of knowledge in this area.

1. Give your relationships time to develop

Ok lets look at the original series for proof of this rule. It took Yumi and Ulrich a total of twenty-two episodes before they attempted to kiss each other. Let’s say that again, TWENTY-TWO EPISODES! These sort of things do not just happen out of the clear blue sky. If you’re going to write a romantic relationship, first show the reader how close the two characters are and how they feel about one another before you have them in "make out mode".

2. Lemon Scenes

Ahem *blushes* moving along people

Part 7: Lyoko

It’s important that you’re character is not all powerful here too. Fans get very uneasy whenever they see an ACC stomp out XANA’s monsters like nothing.

1. Lyoko Personality

Some character’s undergo a slight personality shift while on Lyoko. Ulrich is a lot more explosive and daring while virtualized and would never behave in such a way in the real world. Odd is just a little more serious while fighting XANA’s monsters while Yumi maintains her professional composer. The pressures on Lyoko can drive someone to accept a different pattern of behavior and it’s important you keep that in mind. I’m not saying that you mutate your ACCs personality whenever the step into the scanners but it’s something to think about.

2. Finding out about Lyoko

If there is one thing I HATE is stories that have a new character show up and all of a sudden Odd and the others are telling them about their secrets. This is basically my tenth rule in my first fanfic writing guide and I thought I would be worth mentioning it again here.

3. Lyoko Outfit

One rule, if you can write it, you can have it. Just use you’re imagination and it will be alright.

4. Lyoko Weapon

Again something that should be left to your imagination. All I suggest is that you really try to think of something original when giving your ACC a weapon. Almost every Chinese weapon (swords, bo staffs, sais, etc.) has been done. Try to think of what you’re character would like to use the most when deciding on their instrument of destruction. Maybe they were trained using this item or maybe they have a natural talent in wielding their weapon of choice. In the Retelling Series, Jin’s weapon was perfect for him since he naturally has a sharp eye for detail and will not let a lot of things go unseen.

5. Lyoko Power

Once more, try to think outside the box with your powers and try to think of something that would benefit the group as a whole. If you look at the existing powers, Triplicate, Telekinesis, Flash Visions, you see that they can help the entire team out rather then just the individual using the power.

6. The First Trip

You’re ACC has never been virtualized before so having them destroy countless monsters left and right on their first day in Lyoko is generally not a good idea. Put yourself in their shoes. You’re literally thrown into some parallel world, you have to fight these monsters you’ve never seen before and, on top of all of that, you have to protect this pink-haired girl so she can stop XANA’s latest attack. The experience alone is overwhelming and you’re just going to have a hard time figuring out what’s going one let alone fight. Unless your character has done something like this before, they are not going to be at the same level as the rest of the team, not yet at least. You really have to show your ACC learning the ropes of Lyoko while at the same time, demonstrate that they do indeed possess enough natural skill for them to be worthy of this unique responsibility. With Jin, his first trip really showed how careless he was. He fell on his face after the virtualization, nearly got himself killed by a Mega Tank and let’s not forget that he didn’t draw out his weapon during the entire time. His second trip showed him fighting back but he got knocked out by a Mega Tank. The more times your character goes to Lyoko the more he or she will be able to comprehend on what’s going on and the better the fighter they’ll be. The trick is not to rush these sort of things and just let them develop over time.

Well that’s it for my guide. Hope it provides some use for you guys if not, then that’s my fault huh?

Time for another article from yours truly. If I’m getting on your guys nerves let me know.

Today we’re going to talk about a single aspect that all fanfic authors need in order to write a good story. Beyond story telling, vocabulary and creativity, for an author to write a really good piece of literary work they need one element...

A vision.

Now when I say vision I don’t mean you saw your fic while you were washing your dishes or anything spooky like that. A vision is basically an overview of your story. You know how your fic starts, you know how it will end and you know how it gets from point A and B in-between. Many authors have to stop writing their fic because they simply did not have a vision to start with and their creative gas tank has just ran empty. Case in point, there are a lot of romance fics out there that it’s obvious that the author lacked a vision when they typed their first words onto their word processing program. They want to write a fic where Yumi and Ulrich finally confess their love for each other and when they finally get to that magic moment, they don’t know what to do from there. Next thing you know, they’re throwing everything, random XANA attacks, new girlfriends for Odd etc. etc. All they need now is the kitchen sink and then they do indeed have everything under the rising sun in their story. The point is, thinking of a simple plot device is not a vision. Ok, you have Yumi and Ulrich kiss in your story now what? Will you end it there? Will you have Sissy try to extract her revenge on Ulrich? Will Odd be jealous? The important thing is that you have an encompassing story that involves your plot device. Let’s use the previous example to illustrate what I mean. Now if your fic is just about Yumi and Ulrich kissing that’s not going to get you very far in the fanfiction community. However, if you expanded on your original premise and wrote a story about Yumi and Ulrich starting a prospective relationship (that was formulated by them kissing) and how it’s tested and strained by the circumstances that life has throw their way, now you have a hearty story on your hands.

Ok I admit, Code Lyoko: A Retelling is a pretty easy story to write in terms of coming up with a vision since I’m novelizing all of the episodes of the first season but I too need to foresee my chapters. I know EXACTLY when, where and how I’ll reveal my character’s secrets not to mention all of the fights and character development scenes I have waiting in the wings. The easiest way for you to put your story into perspective so you don’t just "make it up as you go along" is you make an event time line. That way you know what you need to write and when you can write it in terms of your fic that way you don’t use up all of your key scenes too quickly.

Well that ends yet another rant by me. Hope you guys got some useful information from this.

Time for some humor. Yeah I know I ripped the subject off of the message board, but I thought that this might be fun to write. Now let's get to the list. If you want to add to it, just drop me an e-mail and I'll give you full credit once again.

1. You watch Code Lyoko and wonder where the hell Jin, Dirk and Clayton are
2. You start wearing jackets more often so you can roll up your left sleeve
3. You consider The Art of War to be the greatest book of all time.
4. Headpones are the coolest fashion accessory around
5. When you hear that a realitive in your family is going to have twins, you say "such beautiful treasures"
6. You start reading up on Taoisim just becasuse of "Deja Vu's Recruit"
7. You envy pairs of faternal twins secreatly wishing that you had one yourself.
8. Michael Jackson does not seem so bad anymore
9. Before you do ANYTHING (be it take out the garbage or washing the dishes) you always crack your knuckles
10. Falling on your face from great hights is starting to look pretty cool now
11. You try to enter random conversations like a ghost so you can surprise your friends with your sudden enterance
12. You go into the "Hero Crouch" as much as possible
13. The "Nightmare Before Christmas" is now your favorite Disney movie.
14. You don't walk backwards anymore. You now perfer to Moonwalk
15. You scan your high school for a group of kids who can teach your martial arts
16. You drink green tea when your stressed out and fearful
17. You don't mind being clumsy anymore
18. You HAVE tried tying your scarf around your face to see if it would make a good breathing mask
19. Getting kicked in the face and having blood escape your lips isn't a big deal to you anymore
20. You make a retelling of the Retelling Series.