Twenty Suggested Guidelines for Fanfic.
By Michelle Hiley (e...@hiley.demon.co.uk)
Note: these are not some Almighty Rules. They're just my personal
thoughts, culled from three years of writing fanfic. Some are posting
tips, some general pointers as regards manners in the fanfic world, and
the last two are aimed mainly at new fanfic writers. Suggestions and
corrections humbly received.
1. If your story is more then 30K, divide it into parts and post the
parts separately. Some providers have difficulty receiving postings over
30K, and will cut them (aol often have this problem). Number the parts -
stories sometimes turn up in an odd order, due to the whims of the News
Gods. I once posted a 22 part story, and part 12 vanished, and turned up
three days later. Who knows.
2. Restrict line length to 72 characters. 80 at the absolute most, but
72 is best. This allows comfortable reading for everyone.
3. Don't forget to add a disclaimer that the characters belong to
Warners etc and are used without permission. No idea if this is really
worth anything legally, but at the very least it's polite to
Warners.<g>.
4. You might consider putting a warning label on your story for any of
the following situations. As an author you have the right to write about
what you like, but it is only fair to your reader to warn them if you're
going to use sensitive subject matter. So I'm sure it would be
appreciated if you labelled for:
a. Violence.
b. Bad language.
c. Sex (specify hetero or homosexual, and also specify whether it's
consenting).
d. Excessive sadness. You don't have to give the plot away, but in the
case of a very upsetting story (for example a main character dies of
cancer or something), it might be nice to say something in the intro by
way of warning that the story is a sad one. Not everyone will want to
read very upsetting fic.
A suggested age rating is also a good idea. See Sharon's category list
for more advice. Note: there are some things that are still considered
taboo in fanfic - including stories promoting sex with children or
animals. Not only is this illegal and distasteful, but many providers
have a policy of dropping groups that carry such fic. At the very least
you can expect a complaint to your provider, and possibly even a visit
from your local law enforcement. Stories promoting sex with children or
animals are not welcome here.
5. Mention what the last episode you saw was, especially if the story
contains spoilers for that episode. This helps people avoid stories that
might spoil them. It's also useful in years to come, when people are
looking back on the archives and Dejanews. Knowing a story was written
after "A Hole In The Heart" helps them place it. If you are setting a
story in the past, mention which episode it follows as well as the last
episode you saw.
6. If you quote a poem, song etc, do mention in the intro where it comes
from. Not only is this polite to the person you're quoting, your readers
will want to know.:)
7. If the story isn't finished, say so in the intro (or in the summary
if on a website). Posting unfinished stories isn't a problem, but
readers have the right to know if this is just one in a series.
8. Do run your story through a spellchecker first, and use the alt.tv.er FAQ,
(found at http://www.digiserve.com/er/) to
check character names. Having Randee siting at the recupption desk
talking 2 Jeri is extremely irritating for your readers.<g>. Nobody
expects perfection, but you should at least try.
9. Read your fic yourself before you post it. It's amazing what you pick
up on the second or third time through. Even better, get an editor to
read it over and advise you.
10. Don't forget to give your story a name. And put your own name and a
contact address on it, for feedback! Remember if you change e-mail
addresses, to contact any archives carrying your stories, and ask them
if they'll update your address.
11. Exercise caution when writing about real people. Carol Hathaway has
no feelings to be hurt, and if you want to write a story in which she
has sex with the entire hospital, well fair enough. Julianna Margulies
on the other hand is a human being, and entitled to a certain amount of
respect. Do what you like with the fictional characters, but when it
comes to writing about the actors, be more careful.
Examples of what I mean from the X-Files group. A story in which the
main character was having a torrid affair with David Duchovny was seen
as unfair. After all, nobody asked poor Mr Duchovny. On the other hand,
another excellent story had Duchovny and Anderson accidentally swapping
places with Mulder and Scully. The horror of the actors at their plight,
and their resourcefulness in trying to cope were very well done, and
both were allowed their dignity (neither had sex with anyone, both
behaved very well). It's a question of judgement. Ask yourself how you'd
feel if that story was written about you.:)
Of course stories *only* about the actors are off-topic anyway. But they
might be brought into ER stories (like the example above where Mulder
and Duchovny change places), and if they are, well just use a little
tact.:) Kerry Weaver is indestructible, Laura Innes is not.<g>.
12. Don't use smart quotes. They're those little curly quotes Microsoft
use. They are non standard, and often get stripped out entirely. If you
write in Word, save as plain text. It's really very bad of Microsoft to
use something so non-standard, and as an archivist, I'd personally like
to kick their butts for it (do you have any idea how long it takes to go
through a story re-inserting every apostrophe and quotation mark?).
13. Do what I call a "logic read." Every story should have this done at
least once. Read it all the way through just looking for lapses of
logic. Then read it again, visualising it. Here are two genuine examples
from stories, which Ra and I picked up on during simple "logic reads."
A woman is in her kitchen canning fruit from her garden....but earlier
in the story, it's been established it's early May. That fruit wouldn't
be in season yet. Reason; the story was originally set in the autumn.
The time was changed, but the author forgot about the fruit.
A woman comes into a room with her arms full of laundry - and then pours
someone a glass of water and hands it to them. What happened to the
laundry? She never put it down.
Sometimes when you've worked on a story a long time, you no longer "see"
it. So it can be a good idea to ask someone who hasn't read the story
before to do a logic read prior to posting. Amazing what a fresh pair of
eyes can do.
14. Use specialists. "Specialists" are what I call people I bring in to
help on just one aspect of a story. For ER, unless you know about
medicine, you'll need a medical "specialist" to try and help get the
medical details straight. Ask around, you'll usually find a nurse,
doctor, med student, paramedic, someone on the group who can just help
you sort the basics. Sometimes you'll need a geographical specialist,
someone who knows Chicago and can help you with scenes outside the
hospital. Non Americans should get themselves a dialogue specialist, so
that when the characters speak they aren't using non American words and
phrases. Likewise, anyone using Corday in a story might be well advised
to get a Brit to check her dialogue (she's going a bit native, but even
so there are things she wouldn't say). See point 18 for more on this.
15. Always remember to credit and thank your editor, specialists, and
anyone else who helped on a story. Not only is it good manners, they
like to feel their hard work has been appreciated.
16. I think everyone knows this one. Don't use characters created by
another fanfic author, or write sequels to their stories without asking
their permission. This is the height of bad manners in fanfic circles.
Sometimes an author will grant permission if asked (depending on the
story), but if they say no, then you mustn't proceed. Should they say
yes, then be sure and credit them in the introduction, and thank them as
well.
I've been asked to say something about plagiarism so OK, here goes.
First up, IT IS ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE TO DELIBERATELY COPY THE WORK OF
ANOTHER AUTHOR. Plagiarism is wrong, pure and simple. Don't do it.
However, coincidences do happen. We're writing about a small group of
people, with limited scenarios. Inevitably, some stories might be
similar. So don't immediately assume, if two stories have elements the
same, that one has copied the other. Simple plot elements in common
happen a lot, because they're logical. If Doug is attacked, he'd
logically weep in Carol's arms, and not Kerry's. Likewise the odd phrase
or situation might crop up several times.
If you seriously suspect someone has copied your work, mail them
privately. You've the right to enquire, but they've the right to defend
themselves in private. Plagiarism is a serious accusation, not to be made
lightly. I've seen totally innocent authors destroyed by public
plagiarism witchhunts. Talk to them privately, and bear in mind they may
not be at their computer. People go on vacations, so give them time.
Should you find yourself on the enquiry end, then one of three scenarios
is possible. And I've known cases of all three of these.
1. You deliberately copied the author. In which case, for shame. You
should apologise immediately, and withdraw your story from any archives
carrying it. This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable.
2. You did read their story, but you forgot it, and copied it
accidentally. This does happen, the subconscious does strange things.
The correct thing to do is confess the moment you realize.<g> Mail the
author to apologise, publicly acknowledge what happened, and wait and
see what the author says. Some authors might be happy to let the story
stand if you credit them. This happened to me once, I suddenly got an
apologetic letter from another author, who had copied me without
intending to (I hadn't known about
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