[EnigmaEchidna]

As many of you already know I am a fanfiction writer of the Sonic genre, but lately I have been seeing many people "writing" ( and I quote it for a reason) from poorly to extremely poor. Though there are some writers who write well, they too have a few problems here and there. I am not saying that I am perfect, but I do have experience to explain things to people who are looking for guidance in writing within the fan genre. As part of what I mention in my other thread and what happened at my Fanfiction Panel at I-Con this weekend, I thought it might best to explain a few things to everyone.

I know writing can be quite difficult for some while it might come naturally to others, and the Sonic Universe is one of the hardest genres to write in because of the different paths to take. Staying on track tends to be tricky too, so I thought it would be helpful to create this guide for everyone.

First off the process of writing takes time. A suggestion that many writers make these days is taking your time. It is NEVER a good idea to rush through your own work, that is when you get into problems. Problems which may result into bashing and war between the writer and reviewer over IMs/PMs, BBS', and Emails. Writing a good story may take days even weeks for it to be considered as viewable.This means that the story must be proof read for any errors that might been in the story whether it might be grammar, spelling, structure, puncuation, or even changing things around about to better fit your ideas.


It is NEVER recommended to display a finished writing piece to the internet public after you spent 5mins to 1 hour writing it. IT IS recommended to show it to a private audience that YOU trust to get better feedback or find a Beta Reader who is familiar with the genre you are writing in to give you the proper feedback. There are even some writers out there who post their works on the BBS of their genre with a disclaimer labeling their writing as a WORK IN PROGRESS (WIP) as well as using different color font in order to distinguish a WIP from a completed chapter/story. This method is perfectly accepted by the fanwriting community.


Something that has been getting on the nerves of many readers and writers is the lack of proof reading. This also steams to story structure. NEVER use your age as an excuse of why your writing skills are so poor. EVERYONE should be at a point in their school or professional life to know better! Many of us recommend spellcheck, dictionaries, Diana Hacker's books, and any information that can be found at any online writing lab.

A fanfiction should NEVER be in script form! Scripts are ONLY used for plays, televison, and comics. A rule that helps many first time writers is ... "If your favorite author doesn't us script writing in their novels neither should you." Also a fancomic is in no way a fanfic!


Legal aspects/Etiquette: It is VERY important when starting your fancreation to list who owns what, whether they are copyrighted or not! This goes to characters created by other fans. In the SatAM fan universe their is a villain by the name of Packbell who takes over Robotropolis after Robotnik is defeated. He was created by Bookshire S. Draftwood ( David Pistone) back in AOL's 3.0 days, and almost always never given credit for his character. Also if an author has requested not to use their character or characters (whether copyrighted or not) please respected their wishes. If you do not do so then expect legal matters to be taken. Remember this is still considered as plagiarism and is taken very seriously! Aslo I would like to point out that mentioning of name brand items that are trademarked, such as Coca-Cola, are prohibited from use. In order to use a trademarked item, the writer must get the proper clearance from the owner. This also may lead to fancreator to pay for the use of the name!

Another thing I should mention is the use of trademark songs. Though I have not seen any action take against a songfic...sites such as fanfiction.net removed fanfiction containing trademark songs so that would not get sued. It is always best to place as much information about the song in the disclaimer just to cover your own tukus.

Research: Writing about ANYTHING may it be something for school or pleasure it is advised to do research on the genre and character. Not many fanwriters known that Amy has an official nickname or that other than her Piko Piko hammer has the gift of future sight that she tends to channel through her tarot cards. While the Amy from the Fleetway comic is more independent, a valuable member of Sonic's team, and uses archery instead of a magical hammer.

There are many fancreations out there that have given false last names to Canon characters. Researching helps you the writer stay on track with story. Certain traits that Sonic and the others have ONLY EXIST IN CERTAIN UNIVERSES. Also it does not hurt to make that certain nicknames/lastname/firstnames are correct. Case in point is the infamous last name "Takeshi". This is not Sonic's last, it was in fact created by a fan on the USEnet boards long before the creation of fanfic site such as fanfiction.net and websites such as Sonic HQ, but did roughly surface around the early days of Artail, The Sonic Foundation (tsf), and I would like to also point out that Knuckles' doesn't have the middle name of "Bobby" or "Bobby Boy". This came about because of ReBoot's very own Guardian 452 aka Bob. SEGA, SONICTEAM, and Naka have not created things and should not be taken as pure fact.


Staying on Track: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Many fanwriters tend to go off topic or tend to slip into the traits of another sub universe of that same characters. Also many readers tend to get miffed at some authors when do something in their story such as:

( I decided to give her a nickname) or ( I saw it on [insert name of chanel], it's true)

It is preferred that you place that piece of factual/ idea info in the disclaimer or star the reference for the end of the story/chapter so you can cite where the information was taken from.

POVs: this method of stating a character's point of view before writing about it. A majority of fan readers think of this as the fan author as just being lazy. You can get your point across by using description or what the character is doing/going through.

Reviews/Criticism: This tends to be a problem. Most authors do not take criticism well and end up taking revenge by bashing/ruining the reviewer in anyway possible. Whether good or bad it is always take it and use it to improve your skills. I would like to point out that the best reviews are that those that go into detail, and if you review don;t go mouthing off to the author how you hate their fic because it was depressing or even tell them what to do. The fanfiction author may already have a course of action planned.

Even when posting work on a BBS it is highly important that you lurk first before registering/adding your story. See it the BBS is the right place for your fic. If they bash fics like yours then keep on going till you find your home.



Important Fan Writing Terms:

Beta Reader: A person who is familiar with the genre that your are writing in and who is willing to review your work before you post for the public internet viewing audience. Their job is to check for any errors within in your work whether it might be spelling, grammar, usage, consistency in the genre, making sure there are no Mary-Sues etc.

Mary-Sues: Also known as "Sue", "Marty Stus," "Murray Stus," "Harry Stus," "Gary Stus." "Airy Ooh" (a rarely used unisex ) is a term describing a fan fiction character, who is an idealised stand-in for the author. It is also sometimes used to describe any stand-in for the author (whether idealized or not), any idealized character (whether a stand-in for the author or not), or any original character in fan-fiction.

Example->Writing a character for a fan genre such as Harry Potter that defeats Voldermort, has no weaknesses, is good at everything they do, shares the same interests as Harry and wins his heart is sadly a Mary-Sue.

Mary Sues are generally written unintentionally in within fan genres. There are some authors who deliberately write Mary Sues as a form of parody. This how the term Mary-Sue started. Someone came up with it to parody a Star Trek fanfiction.

Authors of such characters are sometimes labeled as Suethors.

A further explanation can be found at Wikipedia

Canon Sue: are canon characters who are changed into idealized stand-ins for the author. Canon-Sues learn or are suddenly revealed to have powers or skills which make them substantially and unprecedentedly superior to the other characters. They have hobbies, likes and dislikes, and opinions that are never shown in canon and are the same as the author's own. If Canon-Sues have flaws physical, mental, or opinions the author disagrees with, they will be either overcomed within the story or ignored entirely.

Authors writing Canon-Sues tend to reveal tragic pasts never mentioned in canon. They may dwell on tragic pasts mentioned but not dwelt with in canon, and are misunderstood or persecuted by other characters to a degree that they have never been in canon.

Canon-Sues have been known to become friends/lovers with characters the author likes (Sonadow, Sails, and TAMY) and enemies with characters the author dislikes, even if the reverse was true in canon. Changes to canon characters tend to be made only to make the character more exceptional, pitiable, or similar to the author, and not as part of genuine character growth. Often Canon-Sues will befriend, date, or even be mentored by a Mary Sue.

The term for the process of creating a Canon-Sue is called “sueification.” Authors of original fiction may also be accused of “sueifying” or "godding" if they suddenly idealize in canon a previously average character.


Romantic Sues: The fancreated ideal lover for the lead character or any character in your story.

Anti-Sues: "In an effort to create a character who is not a Mary-Sue, an author will sometimes go to an extreme reversal of the typical 'Mary-Sue' traits. Anti-Sues will often be described with just as much detail as their Mary-Sue counterparts; however, the description will usually be one that tells the reader in extreme detail how unbeautiful (or how pretty-but-not-stunngingly beautiful), unpopular, unrich, naive, unoptimistic, etc. the character is. Charlotte Bronte created such a character in Jane Eyre. However, these characters can be just as forced and as overbearing as their prettier Mary Sue counterparts." (from the Mary Sue topic at Wikipedia)


Gary Stu: are generally much darker then their Mary-Sue counter part. They tend to have a brooding and violent nature. They are very often apathetic and roguish, having no regard for authority or law (Do not confused Shadow as such). Vary Stus will often get away with their transgressions or when they show no remorse when they are punished. Shadow should not be consider as such.

Original Character (OC): to simply put it is a character that has been created by the author for the story instead of borrowing it from the source of the fanfiction. This is different from a self-insert in that the original character is not representing the author in any shape or form. Having an OC as a central part in a story may cause them to be unfairly designated a Mary-Sue. Some authors tend to write their OCs as secondary supporting characters so that they won't get confused for being a Mary-Sue. When used properly, original characters are often used as an important part to a Canon character's quest or problem. Sometimes becoming girlfriend or boyfriend to one an existing canon characters who may or may not have a lover.

Crossover: is a fanwork created to have characters of different media franchises interact. This area of writing is by majority tends to be very difficult to do and is stayed away from because it tends to become insanely complicated and does not flow well.


Original fanfiction: a fanfiction is written in an established universe such as Lord of the Rings That does not use canon characters.


Hatefics: fanfiction written by people who hate a certain genre or universe.


MSTings/MiSTings: are fanfics that use the cast of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 in order to mock another fic, sometime using pop culture reference. Sometimes MSTings might have canon characters or fancreations in place of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 cast. Kefka, The Dark One aka Mecha Sonic is known my many in the Sonic fancommunity as being heavily MSTed.


Songfic: a fanfic that is often one-shot that has a song/poem inserted into it. This class of fanfictions has become highly contraversal and is not covered under "fair use". Some have been yanked due to copyright violation because of the full use of the lyrics. Some exceptions have been made on certain songs.





More info to come

[???????]

I just got through reading this and I find it to be very informative, even though I don't see myself writing any soon.

[Lord Shmeckie]

You live in a world I want to destroy...

[SonicTheSamurai]

Nice and I have you know, please pin this topic.

[???????]

She's not a mod anymore so she can't do that.

[EnigmaEchidna]

I may not, I still know which person to talk to who won't give me BS

[EnigmaEchidna]

and now that Sway was so kind enough to pin this thread...

Is there anyone with a question regarding fanfiction in general or their fanfic?

Does anyone need a Beta Reader?

[Lord Shmeckie]

I don't need a beta reader; my fanfic is perfect and golden. There's talk of an oscar nomination...

[SonicTheSamurai]

EnigmaEchidna, on Apr 3 2006, 01:59 PM, said:

and now that Sway was so kind enough to pin this thread...

Is there anyone with a question regarding fanfiction in general or their fanfic?

Does anyone need a Beta Reader?

What is that? And yeah I need all the help I can get to write a well deserve fanfic. :S

[EnigmaEchidna]

such as?


Also I do have the same topic posted at Sonic-Anime.Net. Perhaps a question has already been answered there.

This post has been edited by EnigmaEchidna: 04 April 2006 - 11:33 PM

[???????]

You were a little friendlier on the title of your topic on SonicAnime.net.

Whoops, it took me directly to your post so I accidentally assumed that you made the topic.

This post has been edited by ???????: 04 April 2006 - 11:43 PM

[EnigmaEchidna]

I did make the topic as SonicAnime. The only difference is the environment of the BBS.

[???????]

Whoops, another blunder. I didn't notice that it was on the second page.

[EnigmaEchidna]

yes the very long explanation on 1337

[angelfire]

EE, you practically called me out on your first post for this thing. You said never use your age as an excuse. You don't wanna know how much I wanna tell you to just shut your trap.

[???????]

Don't start unnecessary conflicts, K.K.

Oh and you just did tell her to shut her trap.

This post has been edited by ???????: 05 April 2006 - 02:33 AM

[EnigmaEchidna]

but I won't

This post has been edited by EnigmaEchidna: 05 April 2006 - 02:44 AM

[angelfire]

I don't give a crap I'm not letting people talk crap about me!

[Lord Shmeckie]

Oh would you ease the fuck up. It's the internet, for god's sake.

[Kvitne]

See? This is what I'm talking about. Her stupidity and immatureness is funny. And then seeing Shmeckie's reaction as a result of his low tolerance for stupid people is comic gold.

EDIT:To me anyway...

This post has been edited by Kvitne: 08 April 2006 - 05:39 PM