Fanfiction Grammar

[hawker_748]

When you're reading a really well thought out story, do you find your self flinching at every single grammar fault, or are you able to look past the mistakes and enjoy the story?

Now I admit, I've made a few grammar mistakes here and there, but what about the writers that don't seem to care about the pain they're inflicting on their readers? I'm talking about the absolutely atrocious, mind numbing, nausea inducing, mangling of the English language that seems to live in far too many fanfics. Where otherwise interesting ideas are made unreadable by the virtue of a writer that doesn't apparently know how to use a spell-checker.

What's an appropriate response?

A constructive e-mail?

A scathing review?

Hunting them down like rabid dogs and physically beating them down? (Probably illegal, but most likely satisfying.)

What do you think?

 

[Israfel]

Meh, I don't reall mind bad grammar as long as it isn't excessive (excessive = more than 5 -6 times a chapter) but I am a bit of a grammar nazi as every time I do see an error I really want to correct it. But usually I'll just grop stories that have really atrocious grammar. And I don't leave reviews, ever, but if I did I would leav a rather scathing one, but still helpful, that they need to edit it, or get a beta reader.

 

[GenocideHeart]

When you're reading a really well thought out story, do you find your self flinching at every single grammar fault, or are you able to look past the mistakes and enjoy the story?

Now I admit, I've made a few grammar mistakes here and there, but what about the writers that don't seem to care about the pain they're inflicting on their readers? I'm talking about the absolutely atrocious, mind numbing, nausea inducing, mangling of the English language that seems to live in far too many fanfics. Where otherwise interesting ideas are made unreadable by the virtue of a writer that doesn't apparently know how to use a spell-checker.

What's an appropriate response?

A constructive e-mail?

A scathing review?

Hunting them down like rabid dogs and physically beating them down? (Probably illegal, but most likely satisfying.)

What do you think?

If the story really enrosses me, I don't mind typos and whatnot. Hell, I myself, lacking a beta reader, make typos.

But if the fic is a grammatical train wreck... well, yes, I feel an urge to kill that forces me to fire up an emulator and play Mortal Konbat, just to picture the fic writer in the place of my opponent. <_<

 

[Dead_Alfadur]

Personally, i have to agree with Israfel on my abilities to handle grammatical errors.

But basicallly the only fanifiction that I refuse to even give a chance to are those created by the texting generation. Yes, i know that it is valuable to be able to combine letters and numbers to shorten the words. But you are supoesed to be writing to as broad a base as possible IMHO. 1 d0n't l1k3 t0 s33 wr1t1ng l1k3 th1s.

 

[hawker_748]

I second that...

DON'T get me STARTED about '133t speak'!

Abreviations are fine... IMHO, BTW, FYI, etc.

But don't be making up words with numbers!

 

[Israfel]

Hey l33t speak is the pig latin of todays generation, and I assume this is coming up in the first place becasue of the conversation me and and H-Man had? It's just something to do so, meh, just killling some time.

 

[GenocideHeart]

Hey l33t speak is the pig latin of todays generation, and I assume this is coming up in the first place becasue of the conversation me and and H-Man had? It's just something to do so, meh, just killling some time.

I'd be more than happy to kill you so that you can keep the time you murdered company. <_<

 

[Israfel]

Bah. What? I had fun with it at least, it's an amusing distraction and I get a kick out of doing it every so often just to see if I still remember it but if you're all gonna be such grammar nazis about it then I won't anymore, Hyne you don't have to rally up a mob or anything. <_<

 

[GenocideHeart]

Bah. What? I had fun with it at least, it's an amusing distraction and I get a kick out of doing it every so often just to see if I still remember it but if you're all gonna be such grammar nazis about it then I won't anymore, Hyne you don't have to rally up a mob or anything. <_<

Dude, we're fanfiction writers. Good ones, too, or at least I like to think so. The 'grammar nazi' part kinda comes with the job.

 

[Israfel]

Meh, I know, I just wsn't aware that 1337 had been so blackballed around here, sorry, wasn't aware everyone would flip out over that. And believe me I'm a huge grammar nazi as well, if I see any typos in any of the posts in my section, I'll edit the post to fix it, that's how much it bothers me.

 

[SimmyC]

I'm not much of a grammar nazi (since I'm pretty guilty with sub-par grammar myself), and if a story is REALLY good, I can overlook a spelling or structure error or two. It's only when it is extremely excessive (like, well, almost every freakin sentence), THEN I quit reading it at that moment.

As for my response, I'd first give him a helpful review first if said fic was half-way decent/good except for grammar. If he continues on his suckage, well, usually I stop reading at that time, BUT, if I really wanted that fic to be good, I'd give him a more scathing more demanding review.

As for 133t speak... :angry: If I see fics with this, I'm out of there! Well, maybe I'd give him a flame (something I NEVER write), then I'm out! Seriously though, I haven't seen fics with 133t speak so this really isn't an issue. And even if I did, I'd just ignore it since, well, if I can't read it, what's the point? :lol:

As for abbrivations...well, if they use it a few times, like OMG or LOL...I might not have a big problem with it. If it is like the entire story, then no, I wouldn't bother with that fic. This is also why I'm not a huge fan of Chat format. I don't believe they should be banned like FFN's restrictive rules, but still, I can see why people don't like them too.

Though I admit, seeing "ZOMG, tehz lik, jus roxz" can be funny if used in the right context.

 

[Israfel]

As for 133t speak...? If I see fics with this, I'm out of there! Well, maybe I'd give him a flame (something I NEVER write), then I'm out! Seriously though, I haven't seen fics with 133t speak so this really isn't an issue. And even if I did, I'd just ignore it since, well, if I can't read it, what's the point?

I wasn't referring to it being used in fics, if I see it in a fic then I'm definitely dropping that one very fast, I was just referring to me and H-Man using it and everybody getting pissed about it.

 

[Fatuous One]

On a slightly related subject, what do you think of Japanese usage in fics? Stuff like "iie, iya, nani, hai, arigato, etc."

I myself don't mind it as long as it isn't excessive (whole freaking sentences of it, even translated later is stupid to me) or if its a word that doesn't really translate well (like some honorifics) it's okay.

Oh, and I actually do know of a decent fic that uses l33t in it. It's a MegaTokyo crossover with Ranma

 

[Israfel]

On a slightly related subject, what do you think of Japanese usage in fics? Stuff like "iie, iya, nani, hai, arigato, etc."

I myself don't mind it as long as it isn't excessive (whole freaking sentences of it, even translated later is stupid to me) or if its a word that doesn't really translate well (like some honorifics) it's okay.

Oh, and I actually do know of a decent fic that uses l33t in it. It's a MegaTokyo crossover with Ranma?

I don't mind any Japanese honorifics such as -san or -chan and if it has words such as "hai", "nani", or "moshi moshi" (when answering the phone) I can handle that and feel it sometimes even adds to the fic but any more than that and it just becomes excessive and annoying. And I can take 1337 speak in a fic if a character speaks in it, but still Megatokyo is one of the only things that can pull that off.

 

[Fatuous One]

I don't mind any Japanese honorifics such as -san or -chan and if it has words such as "hai", "nani", or "moshi moshi" (when answering the phone) I can handle that and feel it sometimes even adds to the fic but any more than that and it just becomes excessive and annoying. And I can take 1337 speak in a fic if a character speaks in it, but still Megatokyo is one of the only things that can pull that off.

I find 1337 in fics to normally be extremely retarded, especially when the characters are speaking it. Many authors don't seem to realize that when 1337 is spoken outloud, it is the same as normal English.

The fic I was talking about doesn't though, and takes the various translating bit in an interesting way, kinda.

 

[GenocideHeart]

I don't mind any Japanese honorifics such as -san or -chan and if it has words such as "hai", "nani", or "moshi moshi" (when answering the phone) I can handle that and feel it sometimes even adds to the fic but any more than that and it just becomes excessive and annoying. And I can take 1337 speak in a fic if a character speaks in it, but still Megatokyo is one of the only things that can pull that off.

I find 1337 in fics to normally be extremely retarded, especially when the characters are speaking it. Many authors don't seem to realize that when 1337 is spoken outloud, it is the same as normal English.

The fic I was talking about doesn't though, and takes the various translating bit in an interesting way, kinda.

I plan to have one of the minor OCs in my fic (specifically, Rin when she's possessed) speak in russian. Just a quirk to make the... thing... she can turn into even more alien than normal.

 

[SimmyC]

Back to the use of Japanese in fics, I'm fine with that as long as its kept to a minimum. I mean, "Japlish" (as a long of people call it) can make a story more interesting, and in some cases, more 'correct' than if they spoke in pure English. For example, sempai really doesn't have a direct translantion in English (from my understanding, sempai meaning respect for a superior figure). I mean, what do you say in the case of Shinobu when he refers to Keitaro? The closet might be mister, but that's not quite right. Or if you take Evangelion with Maya and Ritsuko, instead of sempai, ma'am? In this situation, to be really accurate, a little Japanese would go a long way. Now, if they go the extreme and use too much of it, then I might have a problem.

And I don't ming 1337 being used here. Just in fics since, well, when people speak in 1337, guess what? They speak normally! <_<

 

[Israfel]

And I don't ming 1337 being used here. Just in fics since, well, when people speak in 1337, guess what? They speak normally!

Exactly, which is why it's a computer language and not semi-dialect like gibberish (which is a real language, somewhat of a distant cousin to pig latin) and thus is only meant to be typed, not spoken.

 

[BlackSun]

If it's just a few errors here and there, be them spelling or grammar, it's ok, as long as they're not too glaring. I mean, english isn't my native language, I can only use it to read and write (not speak), and I still find fics with so many errors my brain tries to shut down to save itself.

Japanese words are ok when there's no way to translate them, like with honorifics, or for some things that sound much better kept in japanese, like the jutsu(s) in Naruto (they sound dumb translated).

Adding whole sentences in japanese is stupid. It's the work of some demented child who keeps finding phrases from some book just to say they know japanese, when the characters from any japanese anime or manga will be always speaking japanese, no matter the language you write the fic, unless stated otherwise (example: talking to some foreign character in their native language).

 

[hawker_748]

Oh, and I actually do know of a decent fic that uses l33t in it. It's a MegaTokyo crossover with Ranma?

What the HELL is it called? And where do I find it?

Japanese words are ok when there's no way to translate them, like with honorifics, or for some things that sound much better kept in japanese, like the jutsu(s) in Naruto (they sound dumb translated).

I concur...

I plan to have one of the minor OCs in my fic (specifically, Rin when she's possessed) speak in russian. Just a quirk to make the... thing... she can turn into even more alien than normal.

Hey, what about EVA fics that have Asuka using German?

 

[Fatuous One]

What the HELL is it called? And where do I find it?

L33T Ranma by Black Dragon6

It hasn't been updated in a while (See: 3 years) though. The fic itself is far from perfect, but I think it pulls it off decently.

Hey, what about EVA fics that have Asuka using German?

I have seen a few fics that have Asuka doing that (and I mean more then just a dummkopf (sp?) or something small like that). Lucythebeast's (FF.net)Only In Your Eyes Am I Worthy (FF.Net) for one.

I personally think that it adds flavor to the fiction, so long as it isn't excessive. If the other language usage means sense, and doesn't deter from the fic, it's all good. Of course, there aren't many authors that know the proper language to pull it off.

 

[Israfel]

have seen a few fics that have Asuka doing that (and I mean more then just a dummkopf (sp?) or something small like that). Lucythebeast's (FF.net)Only In Your Eyes Am I Worthy (FF.Net) for one.

I personally think that it adds flavor to the fiction, so long as it isn't excessive. If the other language usage means sense, and doesn't deter from the fic, it's all good. Of course, there aren't many authors that know the proper language to pull it off.

I agree, Asuka has been seen to use German and even sometimes English before in the show so it's perfectly fine for authors to have her using it in their fics as well. Quick question that I just thought of, has anyone seen a fic where Asuka takes Shinji with her back to Germany after presumably failed 3I? I've seen one before but I can't remember it.

 

[GenocideHeart]

The one thing I really can't stand in fanfics is REPEATED misspellings of the same word, even after pointing out the error many many times. I've seen several fics where people misspell 'Jusenkyo', for instance, or even worse, actually confuse it with 'Jusendo'. -_-

 

[BlackSun]

Some people just don't seem to realize they can add words to their spell checkers. I keep seeing fics with some characters called "Auska", "Garra" and "Jiriaiya" who I never heard about, and no background is provided on them. Whenever I see one of them I either stop reading, or if the idea is good enough, save them to my HD and correct them.

 

[GenocideHeart]

Some people just don't seem to realize they can add words to their spell checkers. I keep seeing fics with some characters called "Auska", "Garra" and "Jiriaiya" who I never heard about, and no background is provided on them. Whenever I see one of them I either stop reading, or if the idea is good enough, save them to my HD and correct them.

Ew, I know what you mean. Those misspelling are painful.