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Fic Writer's Guide
Re: Fic Writer's Guide
#8
Hope it isn't too late to offer some advice...
Overall
Is it "Hogwart's" or "Hogwarts"? (I've never read the books.)

Part I
1. Learn, and write in, reasonably proper English.
Quote:
Not even Hemingway was Hemingway, at least in terms of his writing, when he first put pen to paper.
Before anyone replies "But Heinlein *sold* his first story!", read "Life-Line" critically and compare it to his later short stories; you'll see how far he progressed with a few short years of practice.

2. Acquire writers' references, and consult them as needed.
Quote:
And there's a book called "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" by Lynne Truss which is also very good and just as fun.
Now supported by a website: >

5. Pay attention to what your prereaders say.
Quote:
Sometimes "why does this happen?" has an answer that would spoil a future chapter (see "Checkov's Gun" in section II).
Since you've seperated "Asspulls" into its own section, this should point there instead or as well.
comment: I believe this is the only place in the document that you use "in section II" - almost all other references to other entries use "above" or "below".

9. Know your source material
Quote:
I can almost excuse this for anime fanfiction -- *almost*. Trying to work with names in one of the languages most foreign to English speakers can be daunting at first.
Most licenced anime DVDs have subtitle tracks, where the names are written out in a consistent manner. This is an example of "When in doubt, look it up" (above).
Taking this problem to an extreme, Ryan Mathews's fanfic "Bubble Gum Cards", >, spells the lead character's given name differently every time it appears. But that's a parody; do you really want people laughing *at* your fanfic?

10. Don't arbitrarily violate canon for your convenience.
Quote:
One of the worst cases I've encountered was someone who couldn't be bothered -- and actually said so in an embedded author's note (q.v.)
comment: I believe this is the only place in the document that you use "q.v." - almost all other references to other entries use "above" or "below".
12. Don't disguise original fiction as fanfiction.
Quote:
... their backgrounds are all so radically different that it's hard to justify it even as an "elseworld", ...
comment: You haven't defined "elseworld" in this document yet. (Is the term a trademark of DC Comics? I don't recall one way or the other.)
16. Don't blackmail your readers.
Quote:
Don't *demand* reviews, or C&C, or whatever your outlet of choice calls reader response, and by the gods do not threaten to stop writing if you don't get any.
If you do, then some people will take you up on your offer to stop writing. If you do it repeatedly, then *many* people will take you up on your offer to stop writing, and some will complain when you don't keep your promise. Nobody likes an extorter.
17. Grow a thick skin.
Quote:
There's always somebody who's going to hate your work, no matter how good it is. DON'T LET HIM CHASE YOU AWAY FROM WRITING, BECAUSE THAT WAY HE WINS.
comment: I'm now using this line, with proper attribution, as my .signature over on rec.games.frp.gurps .

Part II
1. Vocabulary, Vocabulary, Vocabulary
Should you want a quotation for this section, here's an applicable one that I keep in mind when writing:
"The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter - it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
- Mark Twain, in a letter to George Bainton, 15 October 1888
Quote:
The combined image is not of a mystical medieval fortress, but rather of a pile of cheap modern building materials out of which protrude the rear ends of humongous spiders.
With its windows on fire.
(The previously-quoted text claimed "the windows were each burning with torch light", rather than "the windows were each glowing with torch light". To me, "burning" means "on fire", and my copy of Roget's doesn't list "burn" in entry 420, "Light"...)
xx. Assuming Familiarity With Your Sources
Quote:
This is a hard one to call, but if I have to come down on one side or another, I will encourage fanfic authors to write their stories so that someone unfamiliar with the source(s) on which they are based will not be utterly lost.
This also helps casual fans of the particular setting remember who's who and what's what in the universe. Only the most die-hard fans of a work will remember every detail about that work; providing the essential background in your story will refresh the other fans' memories.
Quote:
The beauty of Wolfe's work here is that if the reader is (like I was) unfamiliar with either or both shows, he will learns everything he needs to know about them before he's more than a third of the way into the story.
typo alert: "will learns" instead of "will learn".
xx. Mondegreens and Eggcorns
Quote:
* "Phase" -- as in, "The strange behavior did not phase him."
The correct word for this usage is "faze". "Phase" is a part of a cycle or sequence, usually one that repeats on a regular basis.
It's also come to mean "interpenetration of matter" in space-opera and supers fiction. (In "Read or Die", Nancy's first demonstration of her metahuman ability did not phase Yomiko, but it did faze her momentarily.)
Quote:
* "Prodigy" for "protege".
Or vice-versa. Chiyo-chan from "Azumanga Daioh" is a prodigy, not a protege.
Quote:
* "Mindsight" for "mindset". This is another pure eggcorn.
Unless the character is a Newtype, Lensman, or other esper, in which case it's a neologism which still doesn't mean "mindset".
xx. Eye Dialect
Quote:
The transcription of spoken language is what is called "eye dialect", and I certainly do it myself in Doug's dialogue, among others.
comment: You haven't yet mentioned in this document who Doug is.
xx. Asspulls (part of Chekhov's Gun)
Quote:
(more examples here)
Priss Asagiri wishes she could survive the fight she's in, and suddenly a combat robot that hasn't been seen or mentioned before (or since) shows up to fight alongside her. (BGC OAV #6 - another "pro" example)
xx. Narrative Voice vs. Character Voice
Quote:
It's the 'Rabbit Season', "Duck Season" cartoons... without the clear voices or visual charicters to tell who said what.
typo alert: "charicters" instead of "characters".

spellchecker barfs:
Also:
"rouge" for "rogue" -- the context being the infamous "Rouge Boomer" of "Bubblegum Crisis" fanfiction fame. It's supposed to rampage, not apply makeup.
"cannon" for "canon" -- mostly found in reviews. (The Verne Canon is the body of Jules Verne's fiction; the Verne Cannon is a fictional very-large-bore weapon from "Castle Falkenstein".)
xx. NARRATIVE TIME VS. NARRATOR TIME
Quote:
If you think to use "ago"/"tomorrow"/"yestrday"/etc.
typo alert: "yestrday" instead of "yesterday".
xx. EXCLAMATION POINTS
Quote:
I am of the opinion that tthere's a Law of Conservation of Excitement
typo alert: "tthere's" instead of "there's".
xx. STORY KILLERS
Quote:
Over-large casts. Harems that diserve their own zip code.
Which is either a special case of "over-large casts", or a specimen of "Negima!" fanfiction.
typo alert: "diserve" instead of "deserve".
comment: My spellchecker wants to change "diserve" to "disserve", which makes this another example of miscorrecting a badly-spelled word into a completely wrong correctly-spelled word.
Quote:
Anime fanfic that uses excessive Japanese dialogue. Adding suffixes to names is fine. The occasional exclamation like "Gomen" or "Itai!" is less fine but still understandable.
Sometimes it's unavoidable, because the equivalent term just doesn't exist in English (e.g. "genki"). Even in these cases it should be used sparingly.

Part III
Don't Restore The Status Quo
Additional commentary:
One of the things many Star Trek fans hated about "Star Trek: Voyager" was how they kept "hitting the reset button"; the situation at the end of almost every episode was identical to that at the beginning. The Saior Moon anime "Sailor Moon SuperS" also suffered from excessive restoration of the status quo. Both of these series are widely considered by fans to be the weakest parts of their respective canon.

The Eternal Now
Quote:
Other series are more definitive. We can pretty much place the Read or Die OAV series at a specific moment in time (around 2000 or so) and the follow up TV series follows up on it a specific number of years later.
Episode 14 of "R.O.D The TV" gives viewers a detailed back-story and timeline for the setting (and breaks the "ExpoSpeak" and "Show, Don't Tell" rules in the process).

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Messages In This Thread
Fic Writer's Guide - by Bob Schroeck - 09-21-2006, 04:27 AM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Morganite - 09-21-2006, 05:35 AM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by ClassicDrogn - 09-21-2006, 09:54 AM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Epsilon - 09-21-2006, 10:50 AM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Custos Sophiae - 09-21-2006, 06:01 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Evil Midnight Lurker - 09-21-2006, 06:14 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Bob Schroeck - 09-21-2006, 07:00 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by robkelk - 09-22-2006, 12:45 AM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Bob Schroeck - 09-22-2006, 02:20 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by jpub - 09-22-2006, 05:33 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Rieverre - 09-22-2006, 06:45 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Bob Schroeck - 09-22-2006, 07:02 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by robkelk - 12-16-2006, 10:14 PM
Re: Fic Writer's Guide - by Bob Schroeck - 12-18-2006, 05:19 PM

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