NOTE: everything is based off of the opinion and observations of the author. This is just advice written by her own knowledge, and you are by no means obligated to follow any of her "rules or guidelines." They are only there to provide help if needed, or suggestions. Every author has the right to create whatever they want!

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REVISED AND EDITED.

This topic may seem not so important, but it actually is very vital to know about! Many Warriors fanfiction authors seem to just throw various different plot devises in their books, and I can never keep up with what is happening. When I was writing my own Fanfiction, I tended to do this a lot because I often ran out of ideas. This chapter is intended to help you out if you also have a tendency to do this! After all, the plot is VERY important, if not THE most important thing in your book. Constantly changing it will only ruin any good ideas you have.

TIP: Stick to your initial plot!

Now, allow me to start us off with beginning your novel.

The Beginning.

Prologues. This is what I hate about prologues: they always start of with mostly 1) a she-cat kitting the main characters, 2) a battle going on, and/or 3) one or a few StarClan cats overlooking the Clans, telling each other how powerful the main character is and how they'll save the Clans or destroy them, also probably throwing in a prophecy. No joke. This happens way too much.

(I've seen so much variety nowadays, though. Warriors fanfic authors really stepped up their game lately!)

How do you make a prologue, you ask? Well, limit the stereotypes and make up your own ideas, something that is vital to what happens in the book later! Limit the kitting she-cats, the battles and the StarClan prophets. This is annoying me and many other readers way too much.

Here is an example of what you should do: Perhaps you can start off with the main character having a dream. I honestly did this in my fanfiction, because that dream is what changed the Clan lives forever. Or maybe you could have two leaders arguing about something that will occur later on in the book, or your main character doing something against the warrior code which might create conflict in the first place.

There are many ways you can start a prologue, so please try to limit the overly used beginnings. This will hook your readers, and don't forget to add a cliff-hanger in the prologue that will get your readers to fall in love with your book!

BTW, I'm not saying you're not allowed to use these stereotypes! Don't forget that some stereotypes can be interesting.

ANOTHER NOTE, sometimes you don't even need a prologue. Some authors are so good that they just jump right in to their story!

From kit to apprentice. Mostly in the first chapter, or in a span between chapters 1-5, your cat will become an apprentice! We all do that, honestly. But I just wanted to tell you guys something. In the beginning, your apprentice DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO HUNT, also DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO FIGHT. They are innocent from the core, unless they've been haunted in their dreams by bad cats or secretly leaving their camp to meet with some super expert hunter or even another Clan cat at a very young age.

But this doesn't happen in most cases. Apprentices usually are fresh from the nursery, so they're not especially gifted at things they just learned! Please, just remember that.

Unless you have a reason, don't start your book with your cat already in a good height. I love seeing the story building itself up, and the protagonist earning their way to the top. Put some effort in to your beginnings to make a fresh and simple start, until BAM, the problem hits and things get interesting.

I'm just saying, this is an interesting course to take because since a Clan is not accustomed to problems in the very beginning of your book, the struggle they face later in the plot will stand out more. I love seeing characters struggle because it makes the book more realistic.

So remember, humble beginnings! (Unless your cat is born into a harsh world, a mean mother, a bully as a littermate, etc, etc. . . .)

Also, if your cat is not an apprentice from the start of the book, then you have a much more interesting take on things. After all, warriors already have pre-developed personalities. There is nothing to develop before our eyes, since it's already there! Unlike warriors, apprentices have many different routes into how their personality will turn out and we thus not as restricted when you give them things to do. Contrarily, warriors (or older characters in general) have to follow the backstory you have in mind for them, even if your readers don't know their backstory. After all, unless your cat has some kind of personality disorder, they're not going to be changing their mind about things every two seconds and acting upon random new personality traits. This ties in with the Characters chapter of my guide book. Make sure you are consistent with the personalities you give to your characters, especially with pre-determined and older characters!

If you begin the story with an older character, you also don't necessarily need to follow the "humble beginnings" rule. Again, just make sure your character does actions that relates to their personality!

The Middle.

Conflict is essential. So up to this point, it is pretty obvious that your conflict had already erupted. There's either a deadly sickness, an all-out war or even a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a storm. Whatever your conflict is, it should be already happening by this point.

And whether your protagonist is a kit, apprentice, warrior, leader or medicine cat, they are obviously involved in helping their Clan solve this problem, being that they're involved with the conflict, the cause of the conflict, or is helping the cat chosen for a prophecy or something like that.

BUT, some people don't start their conflicts at all until they reach the middle-end point, where it completely doesn't matter anymore! That author probably lost most of their readers, because nothing especially interesting happened and they're bored out of their minds! Trust me, even though you might not think you made a fanfiction like this, I'm pretty sure we all have. (When I was a newbie at writing, I honestly done it a LOT. But I deleted those terrible fics.) Or, some people may not even realize that they are reading a fanfiction like this.

Trust me, a warrior fanfiction without any conflict is extremely common, but hard to notice. Luckily, some of us see this flaw and want to open your eyes.

Please, try your best to have your conflict already forming towards the beginning, and completely all-out already in the middle. This way, you have a lot of ideas and time to make your protagonist and book plot develop into something amazing, something readers will never forget. I hope you understand!

Friends and enemies! Obviously, you need side-characters and an antagonist or more if the conflict of your book does not have to do with a natural disaster. Your main character should have already developed friends and enemies! When it comes to this, I love it.

Why I'm telling you to mostly develop these characters towards the middle is because your cat will be able to tell good from bad already, and choose what they want to do. And along the way, they often find partners to battle along side with, to love, to cherish as friends, and to help each other.

Plus, during the beginning you need that time to introduce the readers to the main character(s) and show what their personality and development is like. I don't want to read about a book where the protagonist is completely unknown to me throughout the whole book. I really love being able to get into the main character's head, predict their actions, and put together the personality that the author had so carefully constructed for them!

Above all, the middle of your book is the perfect time to let your main character decide who they want as a friend and an enemy. It's harder than it sounds, so choose carefully!

The Ending.

Yikes, creating an ending is hard. I'll tell you why: some people are afraid that their endings suck, some people (like me) run out of ideas, some people are bad at creating battles if there is one (I'll get in to this topic later), or even some people wrap it up too quickly to even notice. There may be no emotional impact. There may be a neutral-end setting which is boring. The good guys may always be the winner.

Now, I will tell you how to make an unforgettable ending!

Pace it. Don't rush the ending, just because it's the end. When you rush an ending, you're going to cause your readers to get confused, and you may even confuse yourself! That's a terrible thing to do, because if you've written a good novel all along the way, and ended it badly, the whole thing will be straight-out labeled "terrible."

Slow things down a bit, add side tasks and missions, and even have scenes that may take some more time out of your ending. Just try not to make these boring, and have them relevant to the ending.

How to not bore to death your readers. I'm about to talk about how not to make a boring ending! Make an ending with an emotional impact. Such endings often cause the adrenaline to pump, and for the readers to be on the edge of their seat. These endings are what makes readers want more from your writing!

Here is an ending that may have to do with an antagonist: have your protagonist and antagonist talk before anything happens. Let them express their purposes, intentions and feelings. This way, we can understand both sides better and will be more emotionally struck when the ending occurs.

Make your character attached to their home: whether your character is a rogue, a kittypet, loner or from the Clans themselves. If their home becomes destroyed, your reader might have been attached to it in some way too. This brings a certain feeling that draws them to like the way the book is turning out.

If there's a death: your characters should be close to the one who died, because it creates a new trait that your protagonist may have, and it may interest the readers because of the large-created emotion. It can also add on goals that readers may want to see your characters achieve, such as a want for revenge, making things straight, or cutting ties with one they shouldn't associate with anymore. This is a good add-on to a great ending. And these tactics can also be used in any part of the story, whether it'd be begging or middle as well!

If you want to kill your character: this is probably the biggest hit of them all. If you do well to make your readers emotionally attached to the protagonist, killing off your character will actually make their eyes go wide and their mouths drop. Despite how sad it is, this is a good writing technique.

Now on to the next topic.

Good doesn't always win. As the title says, the good side can't always win, but it appears that they mostly do.

Some books have more than one battle, and the victory often leads to the team your protagonist is on. Please, just don't do that. No emotions will be built, no lesson-learning, no battle skill will be earned. Nothing interesting will come out of the good side always winning in your book. That can also mean for the end, as well.

In the end, sometimes people want to make a second book. So to make one, you must try to avoid letting your protagonist's Clan or team or whatever to be the winning side, so you can continue on in to a next book that will include more action-packed adventures.

Last piece of advice!

Try to read other books to get ideas of great endings that will fit your plot perfectly. Look at Erin Hunter's examples of creative and different prologues, beginnings, middles and endings. Even look at fellow writer's ideas (but please don't steal them) to see what to do, just for inspiration of a beginning and ending that will fit your book purrfectly. I'm so lame . . .

Well anyways, try your best to look at good examples and find amazing pieces of advice and inspiration! That's what will always keep your book running on the good meter.

And remember, be consistent! Consistency with plot is key!