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Fan Fiction
Requirements For Submitting
Beta-Readers
When thinking of writing a story, or when in the midst of doing so, here's a page that may be helpful to you:
Do ...Use spell check.
...Use a beta reader if your first language isn't English.
...Read something besides R.L. Stine, sultry romance novels, and the Sweet Valley High series. For all our sakes.(see the bottom of this page for recomendations)
...Keep a thesaurus handy, along with a dictionary.
...Give your characters character! Don't allow them to be limp and doll-like, give them interests! Make them passionate about something other than whatever your love-interest does career-wise -- unless you're using another celebrity, then that's fine.
...Give your original character dislikes.
...Practice writing Every. Day. Studies show that people's writing generally doesn't improve if you don't write at leats four times a week. So keep that in mind.
Don't ...Go into elaborate detail about the outfit you're character is wearing, unless is has some amount of importance in the story. Which it usually doesn't.
...Write stories based on very questionable and utterly demoralizing reality shows that have no chance of making it past 3 seasons.
...Make your characters flawless. Only Superman is flawless -- and now he rides around in a wheelchair that moves when he blows into a tube. That's what'll happen to your character if he or she is flawless.
...Base main characters off yourself or name them after you.
...Plagiarize.
...Use made-up words. Only Lewis Carroll can get away with that.
...Let your characters fall in love within the first chapter. (this doesn't concern you if you're writing a short story)
...Allow your sentences to be redundant (ie: the same length).
...Rush. It's not about where you're going, but how you get there.
Random A very tough area in writing, that I, myself, have been struggling with is writing between dialogue; recently, I've come to the realisation that there are mainly three keys to this: movement, thought, and space (area in which your characters are). What are your characters thinking? Are they fidgeting? What surrounds them?
Another thought on that is speeding time and not delving into their conversation, but instead writing 3-4 lines of dialogue and then focusing on what the characters do next. Be it continue chattering about how their younger sibling despised wind-up toys, or an uneasy calm falling upon the room (or telephone line), as Cassie nervously spreads more marmalaide onto her toast and tries to busy her mind with something other than the person she's failing to converse with.
~*~ "Procrastination is like masturbation: it feels good until you realize you're screwing yourself." --Contemporary American Proverb
Resources Books
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Dangerous Angels, a.k.a. The Weetzie Bat Books by Francesca Lia Block (this volume contains 5 books, which you can also buy individually)
(if you can find them, they're out of print) Ecstasia & the sequel Primavera by Francesca Lia Block
The Rose & the Beast by Francesca Lia Block
Violet & Claire by Francesca Lia Block
Congo by Michael Crichton
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen (not much like the movie, it's a memoir)
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Harry Potter Books by J.K. Rowling
The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
Franny & Zooey by J.D. Salinger
I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
God Bless You, Mr Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
You'll notice we're big Block and Vonnegut fans.Web Sites
Writer's University The Most Comprehensive Guide to Fan Fiction on the Internet
Yes, that's about it for the moment, so anything you think should be added, don't hesitate to email me.
