let's have a little discussion, shall we?
This morning we're talking about fan fic. It's something that most of us have indulged in. We all have personal preferences when it comes to fic. Here's how I like mine:
• Well-written. I know this sounds simple enough but really it isn't nor do I really think that this is everyone's preference. I saw a "fic" once that was made up of words in no coherent way that people really liked. It went like this:
Heat.
Air.
Body.
Like that but more words and longer. Now this ... is not fan fic. These are words that look like a grocery list. Did everyone hate it? No. In fact, the grocery list was hailed as original. Now I look at it and I think, "That is the most uncreative thing I've ever seen in my life." Someone else looks at it and thinks, "Genius."
• When I say well-written, I mean, I want the sentences to make sense. I want it free of grammatical errors. I want someone to know that it's Justin's "taut" stomach and not his "taught" stomach (see icon). Sometimes, people think that it's asking too much. People argue that "we're not writing college essays" and I say to those people -- if you're lazy enough not to hit a spell check button or not to look up words that you don't know, then don't be surprised if people don't bother reading your fic.
I think it's disrespectful to a reader to be lazy about your writing. It's one thing if you're writing something on a whim that you don't want anyone to take seriously. It's another thing to write something you claim to care about and not even think about looking it over more than once. To say that you're not "writing a college essay" implies that you don't care about what you're writing so why do you think anyone else should care?
I don't need it to be written like a novel. But I need to know that not every sentence is a fragment, that there are descriptions that depict what they're doing rather than all dialogue that's showing me nothing. It's all very basic stuff for an author.
EPITHETS.
DON'T USE THEM.
"The blond said" or "the auburn-haired man said" (last one stolen from a bad fic). No, I'm sorry. There is nothing wrong with using their names. If his name is Brian, use Brian. If it's Bob, use Bob. No, it doesn't not get "boring" or repetitive using their names. In fact, I prefer it because I visualize that character. I don't need to know the color of his hair. I already know it. If it was a physical description before, I don't need it repeated because I already know he's blond. And if it's a he then it's "blond" with no "E."
It is not boring using their names. Trust me. Believe me. I will not get them confused if you're spacing this out correctly.
• I need realism and I need the characters I'm familiar with to remain the canon characters that I know them to be. Brian and Justin will not call each other pet names. They will not say "baby" or "honey" or whatever cutesy term of affection you may associate with in your own life. Brian and Justin are not your Mary Sues. Do not live your life with your perspective through them.
I also believe in character development. Justin in S1 is not the Justin of S5. He is not stalking Brian all the way up to S5. He is not bouncing around or "giggling" like the teenage boy he once was. Let him grow up.
I believe Brian is a little more of a tricky subject. I know he will never be romantic or mushy. He will never say "baby" when talking to Justin. But I believe his character should always be there -- snarky, an asshole (not just a cute one but he's a dick too), loyal, hard-working, etc. Those characteristics should be there.
It's important to understand their dynamic as a couple. It retains the characters, continues their story from the show, and that's important to me. I want the show to live on through someone else's perspective but with the characters I remember.
Realism. Be realistic -- research, research, research. Research settings, research movies you're basing a story on, research the way that gay men have sex if that's what you're doing. RESEARCH.
• Format. Especially for the web. Don't bunch the sentences up together in one long paragraph. Use spaces. Separate dialogue for me or one character from another. Format's important because this is the internet and you have an unlimited use of space. Make it legible.
But like I said, everyone has their preferences. These are mine. I only used Brian and Justin as an example because I know people here or who read this are familiar with them. I think that I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who read everything. By that, I mean, fic where there are a lot of misspellings, sentence errors, canon errors -- is it the story that interests you the most? Do you ignore these things? Do you get past a poorly written sentence and only pay attention to the idea of a story?
Feel free to argue away in here.