1001 things you don't do in a fanfic

Kam said:
As a writer, sometimes we're really excited about a story. :D 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.
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Yes, I can understand the excitement of posting a new multi-chapter fic (I'm currently feeling the same way about a different fandom) but sometimes I don't have time to work on it. Sometimes I work on it when I have time; but other times I work on it when an idea srikes me, spare time or no spare time! :cool:

The problem with posting a fic when you're still doing it is that even if you do have the outline in your head, you never know if something's gonna come up. Real life is random like that, and not having an unfinished fanfic up online eliminates any pressure or guilt of updating in a "timely manner".

Of course, this is all my personal opinion and I understand and even agree with yours. It's just one of the things I've imposed on myself: I shall not read an unfinished multi-chapter story, no matter how many rave reviews it gets. Plus the CSI fandom has alot of one-shot fics. :)

And your pet peeve is a good one. Characters don't belong to the fic writers; they merely borrow the characters to produce something interesting/entertaining. Just because they love a character, doesn't mean their interpretation of said character is the only explanation for their actions.

As has been said previously, grammar and spelling are a must, and a little research is always great. I've never used a beta but that just means I have to be extra careful as to what I write. Sometimes one or two mistakes come through but I like to think that no beta means I keep my spelling/grammar senses sharp (this post, for example, has been revised four times prior to posting).
I'm not knocking betas, heck, I may get one for the current multi chapter fic I'm working on for my other fandom, but I guess it's just a good incentive for reading and re-reading my unfinished work, making changes where necessary (and not just technical ones). Microsoft Word is my only beta... although it's not perfect. :p
 
MacsGirlMel said:
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.
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I agree with that. And it annoys me when the character who is raped then leaps into a relationship with the hero of the piece, who is supposed to make everything better.

I have to confess, I wrote a fic where one of the male characters is raped and I deliberately tried not to soften the violence. I didn't want to make it all fairytale and out of focus - the rape was an awful thing and it had long-lasting effects. I hope I managed to portray that too, even though my two characters managed to get a relationship together before the end of the fic.

Something else that bothers me about the male/female thing is when male characters get called by their surname, and the female characters by their first name. It happens all the time, in fanfic and in books, and it's such a double standard!

On a totally different tack, something that annoys the hell out of me is "could of". *screams* "could HAVE"! :mad:
 
I’m no author, I’m just a reader but I hate it when writers combine words together. It makes it hard to read and it’s just irritating. . For example: Themorningafter or aroundthecorner. They are separate words, damn it.
 
^on your note:

correct use of hyphens.

Chances are, if you don't use them I won't notice the problem. But if you use them incorrectly I'm gonna want to shoot something. :mad:
 
That's a very interesting point.
I rarely see people using hyphens, and I think that's because people don't know when to use them.
Do you mean in between words or to say something on the side of a sentence?
 
Cara1090 said:
I’m no author, I’m just a reader
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Authors would be nothing without readers. It would be like shouting in a forest with no one to hear. We depend on you, and in my opinion, the pickier the reader, the better.

I agree totally about running words together and about the inappropriate use of hyphens. But the thing that gets me even more than that is the inappropriate use of apostrophes. It makes me grit my teeth, whether it's in a fic or a menu or whatever. (It's a little OT, I know, but I cannot believe that people pay to have signs printed on their vans / shops / carrier bags with incorrect spellings / punctuations. :eek: )
 
AliGtr said:
Cara1090 said:
I’m no author, I’m just a reader
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Authors would be nothing without readers. It would be like shouting in a forest with no one to hear. We depend on you, and in my opinion, the pickier the reader, the better.

I agree totally about running words together and about the inappropriate use of hyphens. But the thing that gets me even more than that is the inappropriate use of apostrophes. It makes me grit my teeth, whether it's in a fic or a menu or whatever. (It's a little OT, I know, but I cannot believe that people pay to have signs printed on their vans / shops / carrier bags with incorrect spellings / punctuations. :eek: )
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I'm definitly more of a reader than a writer, and the thing with apostrophes really annoys me too, maybe it's just me, but I feel like it kind of break up the story a bit, when the apostrophes are used in the wrong places.
 
I can tell you what not to do as a writer. I'm currently working on three fics at the moment. One has taken me almost a year to complete. :eek:

Anyway, The easier thing when writing is to break you story up into chapters. It's easier to write and it's easier on your beta to read. Unless of course it's a one-shot. :)

I am telling you this out of personal experience :eek:. One of my fics I just wrote and wrote and it's all one piece. I had to break into to chapters to figure out where it's going.

So,
my reccomendation is as a writer and a reader, break your fics up into chapters.
 
Here's a bit of a change, something you should do before writing a fic. If you are adding origional characters take a Mary Sue test. There is nothing I hate more than Mary Sues. Some are okay, if they are 'on the verge' of being a Mary Sue, but true sueness can kill at story. I reccomend these tests; take them, with honesty, and then make any corrections to the character that will help your character be realistic.
Writer's Mary Sue Test
Mary Sue Litmus Test
Personally prefered the first one. Check them out, then write your origional characters
 
Just to clarify, Mary Sues are the "perfect people" who have no flaws, issues, are flat characters, et cetera?
 
those are the ones.
Mary Sues can be:
Perfect in every way
Beautiful beyond belief
Extrodinarily talented/smart/ect
Have the most tragic of pasts yet always positive or guilt ridden
Always get the guy/girl no matter if the character was in a relationship prior to their arrival
there is a wikipedia article about it attached to the second link.
 
That's what I thought. Yay. :D

Then who are the characters who had horrible lives and are amazingly depressed beyond belief and painfully angsty?
Or the ones who lead perfect lives/had perfect lives, but feel like they have the worst lives?

Think they aren't Mary Sues... there's a different name for them, right?
 
I believe they're still considered Mary Sues. one is the Angsty Sue, who is incredibly tragic to the point where you no longer sympathize. The other is the Generic Mary Sue, who is perfect in all ways.
 
I'm not sure what number we're on, but here goes:

Having the characters act like love-struck, angst-filled teenagers. It's really annoying.
 
Having the characters act like love-struck, angst-filled teenagers. It's really annoying.
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I'll second that one! How about having any female character burst into tears at the drop of a hat. I hate that to no end. As soon as I see that in a fanfic I immediately quit reading and move on to something else. There isn't a single regular female character on any of the CSI shows that is that weak of a person.
 
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