Stuff to know
I have this up on my ff profile and I figured the people at livejournal deserve the same warnings.
Firstly- I refuse to give warnings for slash. I will warn about pairings. If I have explicit sexual I will give warning. However I will not distinguish between heterosexual and homosexual pairings. I am tired of the double standard that slash pairing are somehow more worthy of being warned of then other pairings. I am refusing to participate in this division. You have been warned.
Second- My Fan fiction pet peeves. They aren't listed in any order because if they were number seven would be way closer to the top.
1. MPreg.
Honestly people, what are you thinking? Female pregnancies are hard enough as it is, but how do you expect the wombless to not only get pregnent in the first place (ovaries, anyone?) but also bring the baby to term? Google ectopic pregnancies.
2. Mary Sues and Gary Stues.
I don't want to read about how amazing your life would be if you were the twin sibling of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, or if you were the child of Leroy Gibbs.
3. OC focuses.
If I wanted to read about OCs who could do magic I would either be reading original fiction or, better yet, actual books. I get that OCs have a purpose and can be great for a story, but more often than not people just ruin them. Leave them as plot enhancements and not plot supplements. (This does not include using OC povs as a lens of observing and interpreting the main characters. I've read some awesome fics done that way.)
4. Impossible pairings.
If you're going to make them happen you need a bit a of magic and one hell of a justification above and beyond "Had never noticed him before."
5. Overpowered characters.
It's boring. Like superman. Sure superman is super special amazing and were he real he would be a great asset, but he's boring to read about. The only thing that can beat him is a snot colored rock. Makes the story predictable. Same things happens in fan fics. When you overpower your character you eliminate conflict and tension with in the story. Conflict drives motion. No conflict, no motion, not gonna bother to read it through.
6. "I suck at summaries."
Do you really expect me to read this story if you can't even tell me what it's about? If you suck at summaries why should I trust you to be good at stories? In fact, I also include "better than it sounds" under this peeve. If the story is better than it sounds then make the summary sound better. You can edit the summary any time as it is. Get advice on what the summary should be from people. And spell correctly in your summary. I know that I am not the best with grammar and I don't hold others to standards I can't reach, but at least spell your summary correctly. It's two lines of text and if you can post fanfiction you can access an online dictionary.
7. Review or no more chapters.
You know what, screw you. If you are going to write do it for yourself. Holding chapters hostage because you didn't receive enough laudation is both pointless and childish. Instead of pouting at the lack of response, find out why. What is it about your story that isn't getting you reviews? Is it just a low volume fandom? Is it because you are being boring in your story? Is it a mass of grammar errors or plot holes? Use a lack of feedback as a sign that you can make improvements. Better your writing instead of whinging at your audience. After all, they have thousands of stories to choose from.
8. Author Notes in the middle of the story.
Save it for the beginning or end or make it an end note. Nothing interrupts action like Hey: FYI I got this idea from so and so. It happens. I've seen it. And it really spoils a chapter. ANs- should be like this.
9. Sign Posts.
The audience doesn't need A Few Minutes Later or Three Days Later as a spacer between scenes. If the time change is important then write it into the story because announcing it is lazy. More importantly, it also ruins the rhythm of the story. There is nothing more frustrating than reading a great scene and getting thrown out of the emotion of the story by a public service announcement on information you don't need. Especially the a "Few Minutes Later." If it isn't happening at the same time then of course it is happening later.
10. Over Whump or Limp.
I never thought I'd say this, but there are times when less is more. I've seen stories that are 20 chapters long and 19 of those chapters is a character lamenting on how they've been captured are being tortured because they can't escape. When you do that it becomes monotonous and predictable. The point of Whump is suspense. If your story is one big whump after another with the character never managing to avoid the danger you kill the suspense. The audience sees the werewolf or runaway car and goes "Impact in 3, 2, 1" instead of doing the nail biting "Is our hero going to escape?" You also stall the plot and since stories need plot you stall the story. Stalled stories aren't interesting. They're more like watching the same scene in a movie over and over again. Find a way to more forward. Basically, just whump responsibly.
And now the second rant can be found here!
Firstly- I refuse to give warnings for slash. I will warn about pairings. If I have explicit sexual I will give warning. However I will not distinguish between heterosexual and homosexual pairings. I am tired of the double standard that slash pairing are somehow more worthy of being warned of then other pairings. I am refusing to participate in this division. You have been warned.
Second- My Fan fiction pet peeves. They aren't listed in any order because if they were number seven would be way closer to the top.
1. MPreg.
Honestly people, what are you thinking? Female pregnancies are hard enough as it is, but how do you expect the wombless to not only get pregnent in the first place (ovaries, anyone?) but also bring the baby to term? Google ectopic pregnancies.
2. Mary Sues and Gary Stues.
I don't want to read about how amazing your life would be if you were the twin sibling of Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, or if you were the child of Leroy Gibbs.
3. OC focuses.
If I wanted to read about OCs who could do magic I would either be reading original fiction or, better yet, actual books. I get that OCs have a purpose and can be great for a story, but more often than not people just ruin them. Leave them as plot enhancements and not plot supplements. (This does not include using OC povs as a lens of observing and interpreting the main characters. I've read some awesome fics done that way.)
4. Impossible pairings.
If you're going to make them happen you need a bit a of magic and one hell of a justification above and beyond "Had never noticed him before."
5. Overpowered characters.
It's boring. Like superman. Sure superman is super special amazing and were he real he would be a great asset, but he's boring to read about. The only thing that can beat him is a snot colored rock. Makes the story predictable. Same things happens in fan fics. When you overpower your character you eliminate conflict and tension with in the story. Conflict drives motion. No conflict, no motion, not gonna bother to read it through.
6. "I suck at summaries."
Do you really expect me to read this story if you can't even tell me what it's about? If you suck at summaries why should I trust you to be good at stories? In fact, I also include "better than it sounds" under this peeve. If the story is better than it sounds then make the summary sound better. You can edit the summary any time as it is. Get advice on what the summary should be from people. And spell correctly in your summary. I know that I am not the best with grammar and I don't hold others to standards I can't reach, but at least spell your summary correctly. It's two lines of text and if you can post fanfiction you can access an online dictionary.
7. Review or no more chapters.
You know what, screw you. If you are going to write do it for yourself. Holding chapters hostage because you didn't receive enough laudation is both pointless and childish. Instead of pouting at the lack of response, find out why. What is it about your story that isn't getting you reviews? Is it just a low volume fandom? Is it because you are being boring in your story? Is it a mass of grammar errors or plot holes? Use a lack of feedback as a sign that you can make improvements. Better your writing instead of whinging at your audience. After all, they have thousands of stories to choose from.
8. Author Notes in the middle of the story.
Save it for the beginning or end or make it an end note. Nothing interrupts action like Hey: FYI I got this idea from so and so. It happens. I've seen it. And it really spoils a chapter. ANs- should be like this.
9. Sign Posts.
The audience doesn't need A Few Minutes Later or Three Days Later as a spacer between scenes. If the time change is important then write it into the story because announcing it is lazy. More importantly, it also ruins the rhythm of the story. There is nothing more frustrating than reading a great scene and getting thrown out of the emotion of the story by a public service announcement on information you don't need. Especially the a "Few Minutes Later." If it isn't happening at the same time then of course it is happening later.
10. Over Whump or Limp.
I never thought I'd say this, but there are times when less is more. I've seen stories that are 20 chapters long and 19 of those chapters is a character lamenting on how they've been captured are being tortured because they can't escape. When you do that it becomes monotonous and predictable. The point of Whump is suspense. If your story is one big whump after another with the character never managing to avoid the danger you kill the suspense. The audience sees the werewolf or runaway car and goes "Impact in 3, 2, 1" instead of doing the nail biting "Is our hero going to escape?" You also stall the plot and since stories need plot you stall the story. Stalled stories aren't interesting. They're more like watching the same scene in a movie over and over again. Find a way to more forward. Basically, just whump responsibly.
And now the second rant can be found here!