I'm still not sure I entirely understand. If internal fanon is what you believe, wouldn't that mean you don't actually know it's not canon? '.'
I suppose I'd also want to encourage not automatically rejecting things just because they're fanon. Use whatever suits the story best.
I tend to look at canon itself pretty loosely, since I'm mainly a fan of AU and crossover fiction. But internal consistency is important no matter what you're doing. It's possible to pull off a lot of variance from original continuity without seeming too jarring as long as the variations all fit together, but if things start working differently from scene to scene with no reasonable explaination, it all falls apart. (Imagine my mortification when going through one of my stories and finding a character had said something totally OOC - because an entirely different character was supposed to have said it. o.o )
(Not many people seem to be able to do something really interesting that takes place in the middle of a series without breaching the continuity somehow. Continuations, of course, are different.)
On the use of style guides... I'm not sure how much they'd really help most people. If you don't already know you're making a mistake, you can't look it up, and if you don't know, just looking through the book probably won't impart enough to you that you'll start knowing. Of course, once you've found out there's a problem, they're great; I really wish I knew where mine was, because I'm *certain* I've been bungling my posessive plurals.
I've found spellcheckers can be somewhat useful, once you've trained them properly. But, like most such tools, you really need to look over its shoulder all the time.
There's one problem I've had a few times that only proofreading myself really helped with. I tend to write scenes out of order, so sometimes I end up *thinking* I wrote something that I actually haven't. Leaving something for a while and then rereading it is a good way to catch this sort of thing; someone else proofreading might not realize there's anything missing.
I'd also suggest "Don't automatically do everything your prereaders say." I've heard of that sort of thing happening, and it really causes problems. And sometimes you'll get well-meaning suggestions that simply aren't right for the story, for one reason or another.
-Morgan. (And we all know Ami's bisexual anyway... *innocent innocent* )"I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, time travelers, or espers here, come sleep with me."
---From "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
-----(Not really)
I suppose I'd also want to encourage not automatically rejecting things just because they're fanon. Use whatever suits the story best.
I tend to look at canon itself pretty loosely, since I'm mainly a fan of AU and crossover fiction. But internal consistency is important no matter what you're doing. It's possible to pull off a lot of variance from original continuity without seeming too jarring as long as the variations all fit together, but if things start working differently from scene to scene with no reasonable explaination, it all falls apart. (Imagine my mortification when going through one of my stories and finding a character had said something totally OOC - because an entirely different character was supposed to have said it. o.o )
(Not many people seem to be able to do something really interesting that takes place in the middle of a series without breaching the continuity somehow. Continuations, of course, are different.)
On the use of style guides... I'm not sure how much they'd really help most people. If you don't already know you're making a mistake, you can't look it up, and if you don't know, just looking through the book probably won't impart enough to you that you'll start knowing. Of course, once you've found out there's a problem, they're great; I really wish I knew where mine was, because I'm *certain* I've been bungling my posessive plurals.
I've found spellcheckers can be somewhat useful, once you've trained them properly. But, like most such tools, you really need to look over its shoulder all the time.
There's one problem I've had a few times that only proofreading myself really helped with. I tend to write scenes out of order, so sometimes I end up *thinking* I wrote something that I actually haven't. Leaving something for a while and then rereading it is a good way to catch this sort of thing; someone else proofreading might not realize there's anything missing.
I'd also suggest "Don't automatically do everything your prereaders say." I've heard of that sort of thing happening, and it really causes problems. And sometimes you'll get well-meaning suggestions that simply aren't right for the story, for one reason or another.
Quote:I don't think I've *ever* read a fic like that. o.O It seems so anti-Misato. I've seen Misato accused of being lots of other things, but never that...
Evangelion's Misato is a martinet
-Morgan. (And we all know Ami's bisexual anyway... *innocent innocent* )"I have no interest in ordinary humans. If there are any aliens, time travelers, or espers here, come sleep with me."
---From "The Ecchi of Haruhi Suzumiya"
-----(Not really)