How to make my stories not be cringe?

[Daytripper]

How do I make sure my fics aren't cringe and what can I avoid doing that will make them seem cringy?

 

[None of your bee wax!]

Is this a serious thread? Because this just screams "fucking around on the internet" then an actual question, (the fact that this is the internet doesn`t help).

Personally, I would say that you should allow your characters to do cool or interesting things, but not at the expense of logical actions, nor the story itself. People would rather read the characters going about their goals then just read the writer gush over how cool they look while being cool doing cool things that are cool. Neither do people want to read misery porn, or read a story about a character never having trouble except this one thing where they just can`t do it until the plot demands it. Drama is good but must come as a logical result of the characters own actions that is reasonable by the in-story logic set. The main thing is to be reasonable and not over power or reach the point you have to over correct to get a story moving. You don`t even need the main character to win, losing is just as good of an ending if it is handled well and is a gradual slope over entire-dy (from prolog to the last sentence) of the story. Along with the character pushing the story forward then just constantly having letting the setting pressure them into reacting.

A good example would be Azula from avatar being stuck in our world and having to fit in to survive: having her story start with her screwing up and use fire bending in public, which causes her to be hunted for her abilities, which in-turn leads to a adventure of figuring out the world while being on the run, being on the run leads to many smaller stories where whether by kindness or pure will she learns and grown her personality/wisdom. ( a reverse of the main show where Aang just went were he pleased rather then having to survive in a world out to get him) You could also do a few times where her ignorance or out right violent actions cause retaliation - leading to her injured in temporary or even permanent way,(like a gunshot wound or missing fingers/ear from a knife attack), and these having a affect how how she goes about her next actions. (lasting changes from actions/consequences is better then just rewarding the character with more power)

Otherwise, from what I`ve see is that you write mostly using franchises that are pretty steeped in internet culture, or are crossovers which brings back mostly negative emotions from 2004-2014 fanfiction: which was where I learned what Cringe means. I Personally don`t think of: Owl house, Gravity Falls-(I mostly think of all the Incest porn that sprung up around it), The Coffin of Andy and Leyley-(which somehow has Less Incest porn of it then Dipper and Mable do), and Hazben Hotel/Helluva Boss, and I don`t think of most Nick-toons, especially Danny Phantom, as good writing base as they tend to have very little in the way of serious grounding to build upon. If you do what to use them then it should be at a reasonable disadvantage to give a goal for the story. (whether that goal stays the same or changes as the story progresses is up to you, nothing needed to be locked down as you write.)

 

[Cherico]

Don't bother embrace the cringe take it far enough and it will become fun again

 

[Daytripper]

Should I avoid being part of cringe fandoms and stop watching/enjoying cringe shows?

 

[Oth]

Try to write in a clear and/or neutral state of mind, or wait a couple of hours after first draft and perform a second read-through to catch cringe issues. Often "good ideas" penned down in passion are not, or require some handling to toe the line, supposedly cringe scenes and/or fandoms can be made to work with some elbow grease.

Basically, avoid rushing out content or to post. Excitement tends to result in mishaps.

If possible, have a friend or beta to look over the scene, outside perspective. Yourself some time later can serve as well, after the initial rush is gone.

Ask yourself if copying the latest media you've just seen is truly a good idea.

Allcaps are the enemy. Even for shouting.

ADD: Enthusiasm is good for constructing the general body of a chapter/snippet, but tends to be a little clumsy. Let it do the heavy lifting and polish its product afterwards.

 

[Daytripper]

How do I have confidence in my writings and ideas again?

 

[None of your bee wax!]

How do I have confidence in my writings and ideas again?

Click to shrink...

You don`t, you write to have fun. Follow Cherico`s example and throw whatever you feel like against the wall, the only person who has to like it is you.

If you want people to look over and confirm, or offer their criticism, then you should just post a rough idea with whatever timeline for events and scenes you want to flesh-out. Hell, start at the end or middle, or just write a scene you want to see put to paper.

 

[Connamer]

How do I have confidence in my writings and ideas again?

Click to shrink...

Those are two different things. Having confidence in your writing is simple. Write a lot, and I mean a lot, then get your writing out there. Publish it for an audience. Post in writing forums and ask for C&C. Pay attention to the feedback you get, though don't necessarily take everything to heart. Think about it, ruminate on it. Observe other peoples' works, and try to isolate what makes them good or bad. Read books on writing. Take the feedback you got, and the knowledge you gained about style and quality, and go back to your old works. Dissect them, figure out where you were weak, and work on those areas. Re-write things. Write snips and short stories as well as long-form serials. Do writing challenges. Edit, edit, and edit again.

That all sounds quite tough, I imagine, and it is. It's a lot of work. But it's the only way to really be confident in your writing, because confidence is about knowledge. You have to know where you stand with your writing, both the good and the bad. It's very simple, in the end, but it takes a long time and a lot of effort to get there, and there's no other way.

Having confidence in your ideas is a different matter. That's about taste, and your taste is formed by the types of media you consume. No ideas are inherently bad, but all ideas are only going to appeal to a specific audience. That audience can be quite large or it can be quite small, but it's limited either way. A Digimon/Ben 10 crossover is only going to appeal to the sort of people that like those shows. Add a focus on romance and you narrow the audience to people that like those shows plus romance. That doesn't make the idea bad, but it does mean that the audience will be smaller, and you need to really understand that fact - internalize it - before you start writing, or else you could be very disappointed when you only get a few dozen regular readers. You can expand your audience by posting the story in a community that already enjoys the kind of story you're writing, or potentially hamstring yourself by posting it somewhere that people don't care.

The other element to being confident in your ideas is understanding that the quality of an idea is in the execution rather than the idea itself. Like I said before, no ideas are inherently bad, but none are inherently good either. No matter how good the idea feels when you come up with it, you need to be able to put in the work to turn it into something worth reading. The old 'one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration' chestnut, as true today as it was when it was first said.

 

[NightmareWarden]

How do I have confidence in my writings and ideas again?

Click to shrink...

Even the best writers get critics, which includes shitty critics. Their comments can hurt. Separately, neutral comments which lack any clear interest in the sections you care most about? Those can hurt. Suggestions for what you write in the future? Those can hurt, they can make you feel unappreciated. And of course a fat zero engagement can hurt.

What you have to keep in mind is, before the internet, the average author didn't get feedback. And any feedback related to editing likely focused on flaws, or explaining genre conventions to someone unfamiliar. So it was quite important that they pace themselves, and build a personal, steady fire to keep that motivation burning. I suggest you find the pillars of your story ideas- the things that make you want to write most of all. And occasionally just DO the fun writing, even if it is dozens of chapters away. Then? Work backwards. Figure out how you can turn that cylinder into a multilayer cake, shaping prior chapters to support it. Jumping forward and back, forward and back, making the scenes that feel good even richer with each pass!

 

[Sadim]

How do I make sure my fics aren't cringe and what can I avoid doing that will make them seem cringy?

Click to shrink...

Something that is quite helpful in reducing the cringe factor is asking yourself: Would people actually react that way?

If the answer is no, then chances are what you just wrote (or were planning to write) is just cringe. Because it's unrealistic.

Something else to keep in mind is that characters should be diverse enough to have a distinct personality. If you really want someone to fawn over your MC, you can have one character dedicated to that role - even better if they have a solid (or at least somewhat sensible reason) for being present. They can be a personal cheerleader hired because of self-confidence issues and 'fuck you' amounts of money, they can be a gold digger / himbo / bimbo or they can be someone or something else entirely.

As long as they have an actual reason to behave the way they do - just like all humans in real life have reasons to do whatever it is they're doing - the cringe factor of it will be fairly limited.

Just to put that out there: That applies to all sorts of characters.

Fleshing out motivations, goals and dreams is just as important as the base personality and the experiences they have gone through (their backstory). All of that impacts how someone acts.
Their motivation can be completely mundane (money),
their goals can be simple (becoming a homeowner, not being homeless / cold / miserable / alone, etc.) and
their dreams can be very 'bottom tier' (finding a girlfriend / boyfriend that's wife / husband material and actually making that relationship come to life).
Simply having those things will make them easier to write because it will give you a guideline to follow or a framework to work with that will make it easier to guess at or emulate (and then write down) their thoughts, actions and words. And if those are reasonable? There should be much less discomfort / cringe factor present in your stories.

I think something that is cringe can be considered much like being in the Uncanny Valley. Just that instead of the appearance of a person or the way they move, it applies to their personality and the way they speak and act instead.

Another thing I've read somewhere was to change the font and size of your writing if you want to look at it with 'fresh eyes'. And going over your work is definitely useful (and required) to weed out the cringy / uncanny parts and flesh out the lacking parts, as the others have already stated.
As for how to tell which parts are lacking? I can generally tell by not remembering having written those parts. Or them just not having much or any impact. Or leaving me high and dry in terms of build-up or pay-off. Emotional investment in a development isn't strictly necessary, comedies tend to not need it, but being emotionally invested in something sure makes it easier to remember it and more fun, exciting or engaging to read.

How do I have confidence in my writings and ideas again?

Click to shrink...

Confidence in your writing? By comparing your writing now / from the recent past to writing you did months / years ago (if applicable).
For me just remembering the dissonant garbage that pretended to be a story I wrote when I first started out, not knowing the first thing about how to write a story, and comparing it to my more recent creations gives me a large boost in confidence in my current writing ability.

Confidence in your ideas? As someone already said, ideas are not inherently good or bad. Execution is key.
And it is much easier to execute ideas well if you are emotionally invested in them.
They don't need to be cool. They can be funny. They can be silly. They can be goofy.
They can be anything so long as they make you want to put them in your story because you're the only one who gets to see all of your own writing and, unless you're a professional writer, your enjoyment of the stories you write comes first. Nothing is more draining than writing a story you are no longer emotionally invested in.

As for your ideas? I suggest turning them into a Oneshot.
Just a small story, maybe a few thousand words, that really fleshes out that idea.
One that gives it all the attention it needs and deserve to grow to the greatest extent your skills can manifest it.

Maybe nothing will come of it.
Maybe you'll have a neat short story that gets the plot bunny out of your head.
Maybe you can come back to those ideas years or months later and add to them or fit them into other stories you're writing.

Either way, the important part is that you enjoy what you write. And if you don't? Take a break. Go outside. Take a walk. Go somewhere public that you haven't been a while.
Maybe the pool.
Maybe an amusement park.
Maybe a shopping district.
Maybe a specialty store for nerds.

Being cooped up is horrible for getting into the right headspace to write a story that is not cringe.
It helps to see people just living their life, to get an idea of how people actually act before you try to make up your own.
And who knows? Maybe you'll get a cool idea in the meanwhile.

I certainly do get a few story ideas everytime I walk by the store stocked with D&D stuff or the store that exclusively sells Harry Potter stuff.
Even if nothing comes of it, that's fine.
Most of my ideas don't go anywhere, but that doesn't mean I don't have fun thinking about them when I do get them.
And, besides, it's easier to recall ideas you already had once before, even if nothing came of them at the time. They may be warped a little, but it's still worth taking the time to think the ideas you get through and flesh them out a little. If nothing else, it beats being bored or insufficiently stimulated mentally.

That having been said? I think you have a lot more experience with writing than I do, judging by the amounts of messages and likes you have received.
Even if you aren't confident in yourself, the amount of likes you received in relation to the amount of messages you wrote shows pretty clearly that other people think that what you write is of a good enough quality to amuse and entertain them.

And that's the main goal, isn't it? Writing doesn't need to be serious. Not when you're not going for a PhD or Master Thesis.
The main point in writing is to entertain. Yourself first and others second.

Though I won't deny that a rather significant aspect of writing is to pass on knowledge.
So if all else fails? You can just google a random thing / animal and try to write a short story about them.
Mantis Shrimps are badass.
Chinchillas are cute and fluffy.
Dogs are (allgedly) man's best friend. (Dogs don't like me much.)
Cats are lazy sociopaths. Fluffy ones.
Alligators, Crocodiles, Rabbits, Hawks, you can just pick any of those and write a short story about the first idea that pops into your mind...
And maybe you'll combine all of the short stories into a Menagerie story or something down the line. Who knows?
I'd certainly read a story where the MC can borrow 'any one trait' from an animal and learn about cool animal powers / traits and limitations that way.
With the usual way those stories go the MC could start at just borrowing one trait from one animal and then being able to draw on more and more different animals and trying to mix and match with the best of them (assuming the trait borrowing power isn't unique to the MC).

Feel free to write that story, if that tickled your muse.

---

Something else that doesn't quite fit in anywhere at the top:
Humanity isn't a monolith.
If everyone reacts the same way, something is seriously wrong.
Not even Godzilla showing up would get the same reaction from everyone.
There would be fanboys. There would be suicidal idiots. There would be the guys trying to record in defiance of common sense. There would be people that pass out. That call the military, the police, their family to say goodbye, to do whatever.

The point is? Diversity is the spice of life.
Use it in your writing and it will become much more engaging.
And engaging is fun and that's what we're here for.

That's enough from me for now. Have a nice day.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Write for what you love, not against what you hate.

Cringe comes from bashing and bashfics. "I don't like X so I'm going to make them really stupid and also pee their pants and die in an autoerotic asphyxiation accident" is pure cringe, no matter who X is. Mockery and vicious satire may get a chuckle from somebody who also hates X but it will have very little in the way of lasting power and will grow even more cringe (or irrelevant) over time.

By contrast, if you love Y and write a story about why Y is great it will not be cringe, unless you make everybody else a moron to uplift Y in which case you've doubled back into bashing and become cringe again. There is very little cringe to be found in a story where the writer is passionate about what they're producing and also is writing from a position of enthusiasm for the subject rather than hate.

Way, way back in the day on the Tenchi Muyo Fanfiction Archives we had basically two acronyms to establish a story was cringe, RHALI and AHRLI. This stood for, respectively, Ryoko Hating Aeka Loving Idiot and Aeka Hating Ryoko Loving Idiot. A story didn't qualify if it just had Tenchi hook up with one or the other, you specifically needing the "Hating" part and being a bashfic against the author's unfavorite character to qualify.

 

[Lorsïthrorung]

The back of my mind demands that I force myself to write erotic Minecraft fanfiction unironically.

Then realized to enjoy true cringe I should just make it about niche sandbox games and focus on the absurdist of a werewolf priest managing a monastery full of thirsty literal bitches with guns during a zombie apocalypse. Or Valheim and 7 Days to Die.

So many it-be-cool-if ideas.

 

[Oth]

The back of my mind demands that I force myself to write erotic Minecraft fanfiction unironically.

Then realized to enjoy true cringe I should just make it about niche sandbox games and focus on the absurdist of a werewolf priest managing a monastery full of thirsty literal bitches with guns during a zombie apocalypse. Or Valheim and 7 Days to Die.

So many it-be-cool-if ideas.

Click to shrink...

Support your indie devs and settings, create fanfics. Werewolf Priest - have the zombie apocalypse be occult-based, a breaking of the mystic masquerade with a hidden order of battle nuns, perhaps vampire hunters or similqr due to werewolf enmity, being one of the few holdouts? Run for a Hellgate London/Van Helsing feel reclaimig tbe world one hub at a time.

Also, werewolf phallus makes for a great nun-distractor.

Plotwise, decide if it will focus on NSFW, crack/humour, adventure as main concept, with each focus having its pros and cons - though elements of those not selected can still appear, just not core focus. Assign "goals/destinations" for each "arc" so that the story is moving at all times, and give a spine from which to "detour" from rather than freeform and likely losing track of the story.

Try to introduce characters together to allow them to play off of each other, solo debuts are a failure point for many 1st person narratives, especially SIs, as the PoV holder ends up monologuing to themselves.