For all aspiring writers that want to get better! Need a second pair of eyes and/or some encouragement? You're in luck.
Turning Fanfiction into Regular Fiction
Over the past four years, I've been writing a very long fanfiction (you might almost call it a novel) based on The Nightmare Before Christmas. The problem is that what I've written has taken on a life of its own. I've fleshed out enough secondary characters and created enough secondary plot lines that the whole work really doesn't resemble the claymation anymore apart from the fact that it contains a really tall, lanky skeleton who's in a complicated relationship with a ragdoll.
I would like to turn this into a regular fiction novel. The only problem is I am horrible at worldbuilding. I can expand on existing worlds, but creating my own in which I have to describe settings and character appearances is something I find very difficult. (Usually plays are mostly dialogue and detailed character descriptions are discouraged so people can cast more easily).
In short, I'm wondering if anyone can help me with worldbuilding and if it would be ok for me to post some of my fanfiction novel so I can work with real examples.




All types of fiction are welcome here on C.S.I, so post away! :D
Congrats on taking your first steps into worldbuilding! It can be incredibly daunting at first, but once you get into the swing of things, it can become one of the most enjoyable things of writing ; u ;
In your case, you have both the advantage and disadvantage of having an existing world to base off. Is this still in Halloween Town, or is this an entirely new world? If the former, consider what you need to do to differentiate it enough so it doesn't seem like plagiarism o n o
If the latter, then stop and take stock. Something a lot of people tend to forget when they get into worldbuilding is that all culture is based on the surrounding environment. Language, food, customs (to some degree), and even fashion is all based on what is around us. A desert culture is unlikely to have use for nautical terms, whilst a farming community is unlikely to deal with advanced technology. It's all relative in the end.
There are plenty of worldbuilding resources out there, but here are a few from tumblr that I think might help o u o /
http://fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment.tumblr.com/tagged/worldbuilding http://writersrandomramblings.tumblr.com/post/142572702577/overlooked http://papercraneswriting.tumblr.com/tagged/worldbuilding http://writeworld.org/post/133599394935/a-way-with-worlds-entire-column-listing
Hopefully, that's enough to get you started! And as always, I'm always up for chatting if you ever want a second opinion.
Happy building!
I would love to read your fanfic novel.