Fanfiction Faux Pas

[Lord Raa]

Is this thread going to be official? I know that I've started to point people here for this.

It's not really "official" - I just started the topic so it could be used as a guideline for new and inexperienced writers.


I'd also like to add "Rampant crossover madness" as a faux pas.

Not all crossovers are going to work. In fact, unless you're a reasonable writer, many crossovers are not going to work.

Magic and technology tend not to mix - though there are exceptions (Outlaw Star, but that's because it's in universe). Also, different magics have different rules.

For example the magic in Negima and Bastard!! have differing principles.

Also, different technologies are not always compatible. Star Trek and Tenchi operate different technology bases, as do the Gundam universes and Babylon 5.

And finally geography does not a crossover plot device make. Yes, Juuban is near to Nerima, but then again, New Jersey neighbours New York - so does that mean I can have a Friends/Sopranos crossover?

 

[FH_Meta]

Actually, done right, that last one could be a comic gold mine.

I'm not certain who the heck could do it right, but still.

 

[alpha zulu]

Hmm. How about these:

Don't use narrative dialog like 'so then suddenly decided he wanted to go over to the door to open it'. What the fuck is that? It gets really jarring when you switch between stilted pseudo-Shakespere dialog and narrative that sounds like grade school conversations.

For the love of god, don't use IM-speak, L33t speak, gangsta prose or other sub-sect variants in a fic unless it is for humor - and even then, use it sparingly.

Spell checking is critical, but never overlook the fact that a machine is as stupid and literal as the person operating it. Ewe sea, faith in spell cheques can kiel a fic. Or make you look like some neurotic panty hamster. Just because a word is spelled right doesn't mean that the word is the right word.

Betas and pre-readers are all well and good, but in the end, remember that you are the one who is ultimately responsible, so act like it.

In the end, I suppose it comes down to this: if you don't write because you enjoy writing, you won't learn a damn thing. Either write because you enjoy it, or save the rest of us the hassle of reading crap fics.

Forgot to mention 'please write this idea for me' deals, but that is a real rant, so it will have to wait for another day.

 

[TheBetanWerecat]

Think five or six times before you take established characters from a universe, any universe, and decide to write chibi stories with them. Very few people can carry off the repetative and limited vocabulary of young children in the first place without making all over the age of nine want to kill them. Doing this with characters who are known for mature behavior, or at least late teen behavior, generally results in a disaster that is a blot on the author's name and a horrid waste of computer storage space.

If you must write lemons, any kind of lemons at all, at least stick to what is anatomically possible. If you don't know for a fact some stunt is physically possible, DON'T PUT IT IN! This includes some idea of just how many times a human can climax in real life ok? Don't forget that women have a lot higher endurance there than men do. The well runs dry long before the tanker hits capacity. Because a chunk of your audiance is going to be old enough to know these things and will also know you're faking it. And the more rude and litteral minded of them will tell you so in no uncertain terms.

Don't bash canon characters without being able to justify it IN CANON! Just because you 'want' someone or dislike their canon partner is no justification to abuse the established personalities of the characters in a universe. I see it in all the universes I bother to read and it makes the authors look very petty and stunningly jealous of a drawing! So give that a thought before you do things you can't reasonably stretch the universe to cover.

Never let yourself forget that insertion of original characters in a universe requires skill. Writing a wish story just so you can have your OC lay the lead of your choice is going to produce trash, pure and simple. Nor is it easy to put in a character that exceeds the abilities of the established lead of a universe. Even the best have trouble pulling that one off. A good OC has an honest reason to exist and while they may aid the lead or be aided by them, they are swimming in 'Mary Sue' waters when they reach for more than that. Let yourself consider what you'd think of any OC you create if they did whatever it is you have planned in someone else's story. If the thought gives you hives, consider it a warning to do some significant modification of your plans.

One of the biggest sources of bad stories is the misuse of canon characters sexuality. People, most canon characters aren't gay or lesbian. If you want to make them behave that way, you better be able to justify it. And if your justification is "because I wanna", keep the story in your own file cabinet to enjoy in private.

 

[immolo]

Please don't come up with random bull shit names for thing that were previuosly unnamed. Things such as naming Sasuke's fighting style generally end up sound extremely retarded.

 

[Ray]

I don't see what's so wrong about coming up with new names for otherwise unnamed things. Frankly, if its not named in canon, then you have the right to change it to whatever the hell you like.

Changing established canon names for what you want, however, is a mistake, and one that should be avoided, lest you end up looking like a fool.

 

[toraneko]

Addition to that: Don't name something that hasn't been named before unless you intend to elaborate on it. If, say, you want to give a character a fighting style called "The Waiting Dragon", it should be explained just what makes this style special enough to be named.

 

[Hawk]

Well, I am speaking out of experience. I mean, I lost a beta because he ended up disliking how "mental" I made things when I wrote, so...Meh. I don't know. It's just been in my experience here on the forum that readers in the Naruto section that like psychological fics are in the minority.

I think that has more to do with the base audience and general setting of the Naruto fandom then anything else. Most people simply don't expect deep shit from Naruto works and are thus quite boggled when they come across it.

For the NGE fandom, it's more or less expected and I don't think any NGE fan is particulary surprised if they come across some pretty deep shit in an NGE fanfic.

I've also noticed that the degree of deeper stuff tends to increase the longer a fandom has been around, probably because the writers get bored of reading and writing the same old shit over and over again, at the same time as the writers has grown older and more experienced.

A few years down the road, we'll likely see some deeper shit for the Naruto fandom as well, if Bakamoto hasn't turned everyone off it at that point, that is...

 

[MannequinMuse]

I think to be a succesfull NGE fic you have to delve into the mindfuck because thats the way the author himself wrote it. In Naruto Kishimoto isn't delving into the psyche of the characters and so when a fanfic author does it readers are unprepared. Which is sad really because there is a lot of potential in a fic looking at the psyche of Naruto characters.

 

[Steel]

Heh, as I said above, he didn't lose me because it was psychological, it was the way it fitted with the story. Just not my area of interest.

 

[Pridefall]

Heh, as I said above, he didn't lose me because it was psychological, it was the way it fitted with the story. Just not my area of interest.

In other words, I suck

 

[Dawn_Gazer]

1.) Please, please no more Ranma/Sailor Moon Xovers, PLEEEAAASE, atleast be original, or atleast have a good writing style.

2.) Every time I hop into the Naruto fics, I see atleast 4 Naruto/Sasuke pairings per page, ENOUGH ALREADY!

3.) Every time I hop into the Harry Potter fics, I see atleast 4 Harry/Draco parings, ENOUGH ALREADY!

4.) Say again how bad you are at writing summaries, ASK FOR ADVICE OR HELP, I DON'T WONT TO HEAR IT ANYMORE!

5.) Never have caps for longer than a line, it gets annoying, wyrd eh?

Thats all I got that hasn't been said before.

 

[PCHeintz72]

1.) Please, please no more Ranma/Sailor Moon Xovers, PLEEEAAASE, atleast be original, or atleast have a good writing style.

2.) Every time I hop into the Naruto fics, I see atleast 4 Naruto/Sasuke pairings per page, ENOUGH ALREADY!

3.) Every time I hop into the Harry Potter fics, I see atleast 4 Harry/Draco parings, ENOUGH ALREADY!

4.) Say again how bad you are at writing summaries, ASK FOR ADVICE OR HELP, I DON'T WONT TO HEAR IT ANYMORE!

5.) Never have caps for longer than a line, it gets annoying, wyrd eh?

Thats all I got that hasn't been said before.

I disagree with #1, even some recent crossovers of those two series I've liked.

I agree thoguh, as far as I'm aware, no other combination of crossovers with Ranma can touch the sheer number of Ranma/Sm crossovers out there.

I had to recently point out elsewhere on this forum the odd skew to it, of even the ones I track, which is no where near all of them.

 

[garedelyon]

okay so i guess this only applies to anime and maybe manga but

doing things, ANIME STYLE!

its kind of annoying when instead of expressing some sort of emotional response a writer will instead go:

"(insert char here) sweatdropped, anime style."

falling over is also another common one that's pretty frustrating

anime style should only be used in satire by writers smart enough to pull it off