Author Topic: Fanfic Tips  (Read 4300 times)

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Patrick

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Fanfic Tips
« on: December 01, 2003, 05:51:45 pm »
• Bad spelling. Read through your story again and run a spell check. Make sure you don't have words misspelled, misused (there, they're, their, etc.), or otherwise incorrect. Always be sure that you're spelling the names of the characters and locations correctly, too (it's Crono, not Chrono; Aeris, not Aeries, etc.)

• Bad grammar. Make sure you don't have any run-ons, sentence fragments, or comma splices. Look your story over to make sure it's free of grammar errors.

• Mechanical errors. This would include switching tenses back and forth (for the record, it's always recommended to use past tense in your writing,) the misuse of punctuation and capitalization, and spacing errors.

• Start a new paragraph when a new character speaks! This is a huge mistake that's made all the time, and it can be a killer.

• Don't insert Author's Notes into the middle of the story. Wait until after the chapter to do so.

• Never, never, never use emoticons ( :-), ^_^, etc.)  

• Don't write short chapters. Chapters that are only a few paragraphs aren't nearly long enough and should be expanded or combined with other chapters.

• When you submit, be sure that there's enough for us to judge by.

• Screenplay format. Don't use it. It's not a good way to write unless you're specifically writing something as a screenplay for a production. Even then, it's going to have to be exceptionally well done to pass.

• Lack of detail. I can't stress enough how important detail is. It lengthens the story and makes it more interesting. Detail also helps to prevent the plot from making sudden jumps. As Sam put it, "Show, don't tell." Don't just write:
"So and so did this. Then he did this. 'what?' said so-and-so."
Put some detail in there. Use some variety. Just don't go overboard and write fifteen sentences about Cloud hitting his head on a rock.

• Remember that fanfics are stories, not games. That means certain elements need to be removed, such as HP/MP, save points, and overuse of healing spells and ultrapowerful offensive spells such as Knights of the Round.

• Stories should be longer than a page. Most SHORT stories have absolutely no detail and no plot, and even if it's a good short story, people will probably automatically look down on it because it's short. Almost nothing can get said in a page. A story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end.


I hope that helps!
« Last Edit: December 01, 2003, 05:53:47 pm by Patrick »

Banana

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Fanfic Tips
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2003, 03:03:27 pm »
That's preety good. I'll have to keep those in mind.

Homestar voice: You win fwoist prize!

-Banana

Patrick

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Fanfic Tips
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2003, 03:04:51 pm »
Ding!

Lol...
We're Zeenin you, a happy thanksgiving!

SS4Gohan

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Fanfic Tips
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2003, 03:29:27 pm »
I think I got all those in my fanfics... but people still hate it

Offline SpongeBrain

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« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2003, 04:03:35 pm »
cool tips
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Megan

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Fanfic Tips
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2003, 07:20:41 pm »
thanks for the tips. i dont think im going to try the fanfic contest. im too horrible.

Offline SpongeBrain

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« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2003, 03:58:50 am »
i might write 1 one day...
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