I'll try to review a little bit of grammar and a little bit of general writing tips that I've picked up. I'm not high and mighty, but I think these things will make fan fictions a little less bleh.
Tip #1: Summary
If you choose to write a summary for your piece, make sure it includes the proper details to fill a potential reader in and also leaves them hanging enough so that they'll want to read but they're not totally in the dark either.
Try to shy away from ending your summary with a question. The questions usually give away the end of the story or leave only two possible endings. It's always hard to end a summary, but questions are rarely ever the best way.
Bad: Sarah loved Joe from the moment they met, but then things took a turn for the worse. Will their love ever be the same again?
There are only two possible outcomes from that story: Sarah either loves Joe or hates Joe. The author is right in that they give details and leave the reader hanging, but there are only two possible outcomes.
Good: Sarah loved Joe from the moment they met, but then things took a turn for the worse. It's only then that they begin to realize that love can come in many forms.
It gives enough details, leaves the reader hanging, and doesn't end with a question that leaves only two possible outcomes. This also allows the readers to create their own questions.
For SFI, if you need help writing a summary, e-mail me or IM me (info on the about page) . I'll be more than happy to help you or write one for/with you.
Tip #2: Too Many Details
I used to do this a lot when I started writing and reading fan fiction. I loved to describe what everyone was wearing and every last detail of each character. That can get a little overwhelming and boring for the reader after awhile. Part of the fun of reading a story is being able to imagine yourself as the character. After too many details it's hard to be able to picture yourself in the story. Not everyone is a 5'5 107 blonde with three tattoos and owns an orange tanktop with blue stars and dark blue cutoff jeans.
I'm not saying that the details of characters should be completely left out, but I'm saying that they should be blended into the story.
Bad: Joe eyed her from a distance. She looked stunning in a floor length black dress that laced up in the back. The satin fabric clung to her slim figure in all the right spots and made her look slim and sleek, although she really didn't need it. Her black hair with blue streaks was pinned up and it tumbled over the edge of a clip with some ringlets framing her face. Sarah's dark green eyes had little star stickers at the corners.
How many things did you learn about Sarah's looks in those few sentences? Everyone would LOVE to look like Sarah, but it's a sad realization that most of us probably never will. Sorry. Plus, that was pretty boring to read.
Good: Joe pushed Sarah's black hair from her face to reveal her green eyes.
There are probably a couple of details that were left out, but they can be inserted slowly and gradually into the next paragraphs with actions like, "Joe slid his arm around Sarah's black satin clad waist..." Now we know that she was wearing something black and satin, but we weren't bombarded with details.
Always remember to leave SOMETHING up to the imagination!
Tip #3: Grammar and Spelling
Here at Sad Films Inc, I will not post a story with crappy grammar and spelling, but I know other places are more lax on that stuff. When I'm reading around, I will stop reading ANY story that writes like this:
Bad: SaRah caLlED joE aNd TolD hIM ShE woULd mEEt HiM aT 4:00.
Who the hell has time to write like that? Who the hell has time to read it?
Bad: sarah called joe and told him she would meet him at 4:00.
Sarah and Joe are proper names that need to be capitalized. Sarah also needs to be capitalized because it's the beginning of a sentence.
Bad: Sarah caled Joe and told him she wold meet himat 4:00.
It's called Spell Check! If you don't have spell check, go to SpellCheck.net
Bad: Sarah called Joe and told him she would meet him at 4:00
No period! Where does this sentence end! Give me an ending!
Good: Sarah called Joe and told him she would meet him at 4:00.
You can read it, proper capitalization, spelling is correct, and there is a period.
Tip #3.5: Apostrophes and Multiple Words
This is hard for me even now, but I've managed to get by. Word is very helpful when trying to decide when to use an apostrophe, which "there", or anything else.
"Their" ownership. "They're" They are. "There" place.
"Sarah's dog" ownership
"Sarah's at the store" Sarah IS.
"Sarahs" more than one Sarah. Multiple Sarahs.
Tip #4: Start and End
The start and the end at the two hardest things to write. They will NEVER get easier. Please, please, please try to shy away from starting a story with "Come on!" or "We're late!". Those are the two most used phrases in Fan Fiction. I have come across millions of stories starting out with phrases like that, and they always turn out to be very generic fan fiction. Let me tell you something about stories that start out like that in FF: two friends (usually girls) are late to get to the concert / tour bus / party / whatever. Those girls will then meet one of the guys in (insert band here) and then one of the girls will fall in love, live happily ever after.
If you're going to start a story out, I don't think prologue is ALWAYS a good way to go. Prologues are sometimes really great to give some general information, but they should ALWAYS be set before or after your story takes place. They should never be used in sequels. Epilogues are similar. They should ONLY be used if you are absolutely possitive that you will not have a sequel. Epilogues are things used to wrap the story. They should only be used on the last story in a series. Those things are very tricky, so if you're not sure what you want to do with your story or how to use them properly, don't use them.
Tip #5: Research
Always do a little research on your band. It will help you out SO much in the long run. Find some really good websites with great info so the story might seem a little more real. It also doesn't hurt to read interviews or articles to get a sense of how the band acts and speaks.
Tip #6: Proper Formatting
The hardest thing for me to do as a webmaster and reader of fan fiction is to read a GREAT story with horrible formatting. It gets really hard to read a story that has 500+ words all crammed into one paragraph. It's not right. Even 200+ words in one paragraph is *very* straining to read. Seperate thoughts deserve seperate paragraphs.
With that said, another thing that is just HORRIBLE is when people don't format quotes correctly. Whenever someone says something new, start a new paragraph. That's a little confussing. Here's an example:
"Don't leave now!" said Bob as Susie walked out the door.
"I'm going to be late, though," said Susie.
"Who cares if you're late?" Bob walked over to Susie and smiled. "No one will miss you if you're five minutes late."
It's so completely annoying to read stories like these. The sad thing is, so many of them are *really* great stories. THEY JUST PAIN ME TO READ THEM IN CRAPPY FORMAT. If I get a story like this, chances are I won't waste my time on trying to get them to be...well...less painful and in proper format
Tip #7: Commas and Parenthesis
Please, when you're writing a story, don't use parenthesis for any reason. I cannot think of a reason to use them. Please don't...I hate having to edit them out and put commas in their places. It gets old real fast and if it happens a lot, I'll stop editing your story which means it won't go on the site. Instead of using parenthesis, use commas. They can be used the same way in those situations.
Tip #8: Big Words
I am so glad you have a great vocabulary, but I can seriously tell when you've been hitting the thesaurus too much. Big words are great, but use them sparingly. If you use too many, readers may get tired of going to m-w.com to look up words. Use the thesaurus for words you use too much and occasionally for words that just pop up. Also, when trying to spell thesaurus, use a dictionary. *see I'm making fun of myself!*
Tip #9: Paragraphing
Don't use too many words in a paragraph. I have to separate it out...and I hate doing that. I feel like I'm really trapsing on an author's work. If your paragraph has more than 200 words (at the EXTREME maximum) cut it down. Readers can better read your work if it's all broken up into easily digestable chunks.
Helpful Links:
Writing World.com
Fanfictionforums.com
If you have a FF problem and you'd like some advice, e-mail me at SadFilmsInc@hotmail.com