Aug 13, 2026 · 1 hr · 11 segments
What makes fanfic good? Rachael, Jenn, and Sion get into the difference between a story that *uses* John and Marlena’s names and one that actually sounds like them. They talk character voice…
Welcome back to the Chaotic Soapbox.
I'm Rachel, Jen's here, Sean's still with us, and we are continuing our deep dive into fan fiction.
Last time we covered what it is and why we read it.
This time we're talking about what makes it good.
We get into character voice and why your fic actually has to sound like John and Marlena, not just use their names.
We talk about the truly unhinged things we've Googled for research purposes.
We get into writing for yourself versus writing for your fans, why those are very different things, and what happens when you lose the plot, literally.
And at its core, this one's really about why we write at all, what it costs us, and why the feedback is the only payment that keeps us going.
[upbeat music] I'm kind of surprised that nobody's rewritten the, the '97 reunion, and it's something that I'm considering.
It's on my list of stories to do because that-
That comes after the crossover.
[laughs]
I'm just saying.
Okay.
All right.
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