1001 things you don't do in a fanfic

[magicmunchies]

Did you mean they shouldn't talk about it? If yes, I disagree. I personally feel it is important for two consenting adults to talk about their relationship before making it... physical. I don't mean "Oh I love you more than I could ever say ___ I have been saving myself for the one I love most in the world... you" and such OOC drabble but the whole 'this is the first time we are making love' thing, must be apparent. It is in real life.

No! I don't mean it like that! I mean like in some fic's were they are just like

Danny (in front of the others): Lindsay and i are going to go to our bedroom to make love.

Believe me I have read fic's like that!

 

[Kam]

somethingsdont said:
It should be "Hey, Delko," said Ryan. with the comma inside the quotation marks.

It can also be written: "Hey, Delko." said Ryan. Creative fiction has a few Grammar rules that vary from the essay writing rules.

But then again, I'm a fan of aesthetics and incomplete sentences.

And never trust Word. It may give you a basic idea of what needs to be done but it doesn't point out the most common abuse of commas or semi-colons. Though, it's spell check is useful .

In case that's chalk full of horribly bad grammar mistakes, I've slept three hours in two days. It's my excuse, I don't actually post fiction in this condition.

lostladyknight said:
I generally find slash fic to be of a lower quality when considering characterization, plot, and mechanics.

In my previous fandoms I've found the exact opposite true, which is funny because in this one it's pretty much level ground.



12)If you're going to nab a cliche plot idea, at least try to go about it a different way. Reading the exact same two stories is not my idea of a fun time. In fact, if you can manage to make a cliche plot new and exciting, it's usually a pretty well received story. There is, of course, a reason the plot is cliche.



I'm guilty to a couple of these.

Expecially the PWPs. I'm pretty much done with them, there's only so much you can write before it's just going through the motions. And then the PWPs that actually had PLOT.

And of course, the A/N :devil: I went through a 29 chapter story with basically one line A/Ns that explained how hard/easy the chapter was to write or why the chapter took so long to come out. (until the second to last chapter where I felt the urge to share why exactly I was writing and how I felt about it)

but wrote a series of short stories, six to 12 thousand words that had insanely long A/N. I usually feel the urge to explain the reason why I wrote it, because my short stories are usually focused on one thing I want to get across.

On that note.

13) Keep your A/N at the bottom of the story please. I want to read the story and make up my mind about what was going on, what you were trying to get across. Not be ruined by you explaining it to me first off.

14) I understand that characterization can be hard to grasp, it usually takes me a couple of short stories to feel like I even have a feeble grasp on the characters...

But when deciding to write suicide... at least make the attempt to make it make sense. Danny isn't going to pop a bunch of pills just because Mac yelled at him a little. At least get him fired or something.

15) Words that sound alike but are spelled completely different. There/their/they're aloud/allowed lose/loose etc. Pay attention people, the meanings are completely different and will really mess with someones head when they read that and have to pause.

16) And for God's sake. If you're going to curse or use his name, TYPE IT ALL THE WAY OUT. None of this F*** and G-d business. If you're not comfortable using the language... then it doesn't need to be used. It's as simple as that. We don't hear the characters constantly cursing up a storm or using God's name in vain, they can say something different just as easily AND still be in character. Now if you were writing Boondock Saints fic and your main character was the bar tender, uhg what's his name?, than you just might have a problem.

 

[somethingsdont]

Kam said:
It can also be written: "Hey, Delko." said Ryan. Creative fiction has a few Grammar rules that vary from the essay writing rules.

No, you can't do that, even in creative writing. There's rarely dialogue in essay writing anyway; most dialogue is concentrated in creative writing in the first place, so I don't see why there'd be two acceptable sets of rules for dialogue punctuation. You can do that with exclamation points and question marks (e.g. "Hey, Delko!" said Ryan.), but not periods.

I break rules of conventional grammar in my writing, too, but dialogue punctuation is a syntactic issue rather than a stylistic one.

I agree with 16. It's so easy to break the flow of the story with unnecessary censoring. Replacing it with other characters is even worse: @$$h0le.

 

[Kam]

somethingsdont said:

Kam said:
It can also be written: "Hey, Delko." said Ryan. Creative fiction has a few Grammar rules that vary from the essay writing rules.

No, you can't do that, even in creative writing. There's rarely dialogue in essay writing anyway; most dialogue is concentrated in creative writing in the first place, so I don't see why there'd be two acceptable sets of rules for dialogue punctuation. You can do that with exclamation points and question marks (e.g. "Hey, Delko!" said Ryan.), but not periods.

I break rules of conventional grammar in my writing, too, but dialogue punctuation is a syntactic issue rather than a stylistic one.

Sorry, which was what I meant. I didn't mean the period. My examples are off as well, but basically. What they teach you in school via regular English grammar rules and what you use in creative writing vary.

Such as the dialogue. In school I was always taught that after a period it's always capitalized. Which in creative writing it's not so. When your sentence is broken up by dialogue like the above example you can either use the comma or a question/exclamation mark and instead of two spaces it's one and said is not capitalized. Like you did,

It's not something I use too often myself usually I manage to get by without trying to figure out the best way to write the sentence.

And by aesthetic I didn't mean stylistic differences, I meant more pleasing to the eyes.

For example: "Hey, Delko," said Ryan. for some reason just seems off. Too many commas, I guess. That's just personal preference probably. From someone who has learnt too much of a good thing can be really bad.

Though breaking the rules is usually cool, as long as you know you're breaking them. Then you know why you're breaking them.

I really should remember to not try and make a point so early/late, I always get things mixed up. Sorry about that.

 

[SandleDL]

Nice thread
As for the thing with non-native speakers, I feel kinda guilty for I'm not a native speaker either, but never have a beta-reader. So of course I make mistakes, not in spelling or grammer I think, but more when it comes to certain words/ expressions. Those I'm not sure of, I check, but I guess there are still a lot of things that are wrong. But as long as nobody complains, that's fine for me^^

What you said about doing research on the topic is exactly my opinion. I read a wonderful CSI ff once dealing with the Islamic religion, and that girl had done the research perfectly. I didn't only read this story just for fun, but I actually learned something! That was just great.

One thing I hate: lack of emotions/ descriptions! Like He said, "...". Then she said, "...". "...", he answered. (Not sure about punctuation ) Speaking/ conversation always means emotions, body language etc. You can say something loudly, quietly, agressively, tenderly, with your eyes cast down or with a wrinkled forehead - you know what I mean? English isn't even my first language but I still manage to use such expressions, so why can't other people do that? The best plot is useless if the style is boring.

 

[WhosLaughingNow]

I don't know if this has been said yet, but I personally hate it when people put in large chunks of the dialog straight out of an actual episode. I really hate feeling like I'm doing a read through of an episode of CSI.

 

[AliGtr]

There is so much that I love about fanfic, and an unbelievable amount that I hate about it. I am so relieved to find this thread and find that I'm not the only person who's picky about my fanfic.

1. Big, big hate! Chaptered fics that are fantastically good, that I really get into, which die out without conclusion. Nothing is more frustrating (apart from the plotbunny that does a runner in the middle of writing a fic, which is the other side of the situation, I guess). Please, writers, finish a story before you start posting! Or at least have a good plot outline and make a commitment to finish.

2. Bad spelling and grammar, especially when spelling names, and inconsistency of spelling. Writing Callie here and Caleigh there doesn't help. You're just hedging your bets there.

3. I hate either action or sex written blow-by-blow. It robs it of all the effect it might possibly have had. There are time when a little poetical glossing-over says much more than descibing every move can.

4. Songfics where the verses / choruses are littered throughout the fic. My mind skips over them automatically. On the occasions when I have written a songfic, I put the lyrics at the end and just hang the fic loosely on the meaning of the song, rather than following it slavishly.

5. Immature writers. I do not want to be lectured on love by a 13-year-old. Fairytale love does not exist, in reality or fanfiction. Maybe I'm just old and cynical, but I prefer my fics with a realistic level of difficulties to climb through before my characters get to their possible happy ending. :devil: I'm afraid that that does mean that I do some awful things to my characters.

6. Having said that, I find slash writers are often less immature, and so the fic can be more readable, IMO. But that's just me. Unrelenting 13-year-old happiness grates on me.

7. OOC. Need I say more? Please get to know the characters before you write about them! Otherwise, what's the point?

Having started, I could probably go on all night, but I'll call a halt there before I fill up all 1001 myself. :lol:

Oh, and one more, if I'm allowed.
8. Fics which obviously haven't been reread, never mind betaed. We all have brain burps when our fingers write something we didn't intend, but a rereading can fix that. Take the time!

(Love your avatar, WhosLaughingNow !)

 

[MacsGirlMel]

I have to watch myself for a tendancy to go overboard...obviously in may fics chars are going to get hurt or abused to a point but there's a line between believable and going overboard...I've been known to slip myself in fic and RPs both (fortunately I realized it and the fics never got posted lol) so I have to always keep that in mind. Especially when I write a kidnapping fic...I have to tell myself "don't torture the poor person too much or they'll just go insane" lol

 

[adorelo]

No! I don't mean it like that! I mean like in some fic's were they are just like

Danny (in front of the others): Lindsay and i are going to go to our bedroom to make love.

Believe me I have read fic's like that!

Ooof, I see. Oh dear. :lol:

I have just read a fic, wont say which, that had at the end and I quote:

"Leave a review, even if it's just a 'hi'"

Err, what? Last time I checked reviews were about constructive criticism and praise, not a 'lets see how many reviews I can get' thing. And 'hi' does not constitute a review.

That's probably already been said, but it really bugged me.

 

[Hestia]

6. My pet peeve...authors that post stories in chapters,
but NEVER finish them. Sucks the big one to be left
hanging. Or, authors that take MONTHS to put out the
next chapter. I certainly understand being busy, but
when it happens I often have to reaquaint myself with a
story before reading the new chapter. I really wish
authors would finish writing stories before beginning to
post them.

Completely agree with this one, and as it has been said by Aligtr, writers should have the courtesy of having the story aleady written out, from beginning to end, before they post! That's why I refuse to read multi-chapter fics unless they're completed and that's why I rarely write multi-chapter fics, myself (unless I'm sure what I'm gonna write and I have virtually everything written down).

 

[MacsGirlMel]

One thing I thought of that bugs me is when writers, even professional ones, have a double standard for character treatment. We never see male chars tied up, beaten and raped or almost raped like Stella in All Access, yet women get it all the time. The double standard is annoying.

 

[Kam]

Hestia said:

6. My pet peeve...authors that post stories in chapters,
but NEVER finish them. Sucks the big one to be left
hanging. Or, authors that take MONTHS to put out the
next chapter. I certainly understand being busy, but
when it happens I often have to reaquaint myself with a
story before reading the new chapter. I really wish
authors would finish writing stories before beginning to
post them.

Completely agree with this one, and as it has been said by Aligtr, writers should have the courtesy of having the story aleady written out, from beginning to end, before they post! That's why I refuse to read multi-chapter fics unless they're completed and that's why I rarely write multi-chapter fics, myself (unless I'm sure what I'm gonna write and I have virtually everything written down). [image]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/CloakedHestia/Smilies%20and%20gifs/Noddingyes.gif[/image]

As a writer, sometimes we're really excited about a story. This happens to me often, I get extremely excited and I start bypassing steps. Though as of late I've been writing the one shots but that's because my attention span is that of a gold fish.

I mean I completely understand about unfinished, you really get into and then it just... drops off the planet and chances are by the time it comes back you've done fogotten about it.

And as for myself, even when I write stuff down on paper by the time it makes it to the internet it has gone through several changes. Like the longest story I've ever written, 29 chapters with five pages via word per chapter give or take a few. I had started it on notebook paper, got up to72 pages and figured all righty then up you go shiney first chapter. Come up to the 20th page and I figured out something got compeletly out of hand and scrapped all 50 chapters which meant a small delay from chapter x to chapter y.



Number one thing that gets me.

1) Your idea on the characterization can be the only right one.

We all take something from the characters and we make decisions on their actions via our own experiences. This can go to both readers and writers, I suppose, but there is nothing that will turn me off of a story then reading an A/N explaining why this is why the character acted that way and it can't be argued. I mean, okay yes go ahead and explain to me why they did what, gravy under the boat for me, just don't go on about why it's the only way or the only reason they would react so.

 

[adorelo]

I have another.

People who do not listen to constructive criticism or advice at all. I've told this one writer that Calleigh's name is not spelt 'Callie' numerous times. Yet she has just posted another story in which she has spelt it wrong again.

It just bugs me that people don't bother to listen when others give them detailed reviews. They just think 'this is gud plz cntue!!11!!!' is a good review and ignore the advice people give them.

 

[pretty_in_pink]

sissi59100 said:
I have a suggestion: since this thread is called "1001 things you don't do in a fanfic", why don't you add numbers before writing your ideas? This way we'll have , in the end, the 1001 things.
It's just a thought of course not an order :lol:

Smart idea.

When I chose the title, I just thought 1001 would be the coolest sounding number, lol. :lol: I don't know if we'll get more/less things.

 

[Skell]

Ah. I'm writing a fic now. I definitely hope I can finish it. D: