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(Note: Originally written by Tatsunoboshi Horoko)
The DO’s and DON’T DO’s of in the making of a story.
DO's
Space between each paragraph and half-paragraph of story. If it is spaced, it's easier for the readers to well...read.
Know your punctuation. Periods, commas, colons, semicolons. You know, those things.
Use a word processor to type your stories. You wouldn't believe how many typos and etc I've seen that easily could have been avoided by a simple highlight from Micro Word (Don't have Micro Word? Try Abiword. It’s free and simple to use. http://www.abisource.com/)
Do proofread. PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD. Remember, your Word Processor is a program, not an editor. If possible, try and get a beta reader for your stories.
Write short and sweet sentences. It’s not a crime to write short sentences, as long as they transvey what they are trying to transvey.
Avoid run-ons. Run-ons are the worst. I went to the store with Jack and Bob and we went to try and go for the last time today but we went out to the race track where Bob lost thirty dollars on the race horse with the blue sash and we..." No, don't do this.
Remember to differentiate between your dialogue and your internal dialogues. It really gets hard to tell what’s what in some cases. So remember to tell your internal dialogue apart from your regular (italicizing your internal, or parenthesis, etc etc...)
DON'T DO's
Don’t use chatspeak. For the love of god, PLEASE DON’T USE THIS. This and smileys, they tend to drive people to murder >.<
Don’t write your fic in a script format. Script format stories are not stories, they are scripts. At least TRY and use quotation marks, people.
Don’t load up on details. "Detail whoring" is commonplace in most fiction. It’s when you describe way too much and leave the reader confused and bored out of their wits. Tell people the important things with in-between for some minor, yet captivating details. Rest assured, I’m pretty sure that some people don’t want to read what color hair the character has if you have seen him for about 200+ episodes. I should know the best on this one; I was one at one time.
Don’t use archaic speak or speech that is just plain awkward: Use your thesaurus wisely. Things like “He nictitated at him dilatory.” Seriously, those big words just make your readers confused, not impressed. Don’t try and make your chapters full-length episodes. Does someone REALLY want to read that much in one sitting? Make your chapters flow well without being drawn out and wordy. Make them relatively like book chapters. This doesn’t mean you can’t write long chapters, but make sure there is a lot in there that can’t be taken to say…2 chapters instead.
Example(s)
[u]Example(s) While I’m at it, let’s just go onto writing simple sentences.
This is an example of a sentence(s) that could have been something.
The dog ran to the mailman and bit him on the butt.
Short and sweet, but not very exciting. Let’s try…
The Doberman sprinted after the fleeing mailman, and sunk his canine teeth into his rear-end.
Now see, by adding a specific type of dog type and adding a bit more details, I made the sentence much more interesting.
But this doesn’t mean you do this with every sentence. Not every one needs to be “amplified” as such. Learn how to do this effectively, and you will be able to write descriptive passages much more effectively.
Dialogue is also another problem that plagues fic writers I see. They don’t seem to know HOW to do it. So let’s just look at an example of such.
There are effectively 3 ways authors write dialogue:
1) “Like this.”
2) He readied his fingers for typing. “Like this.”
3) “Or, you can try something different,” he said. “Like this.”
First one is for single dialogue.
Second one isn’t used that much, but if you can find a way to use it, do it. Just don’t use it as much as you would one or maybe three.
Third one is used as much as one in writing. It is used to separate 2 lines of dialogue. You can also use this method to space between dialogue (just replace the period at the end of “he said” in that example and add a comma.)
Oh yes, and there is another “Don’t Do” right here.
“Said” is the bane of a fic writer’s existences (Well, one of them at least.). It is okay to use “say” maybe once in a while to tell who is talking (afterwards, it should not be used again since we established who is speaking already). But this doesn’t mean you have to find replacement words for it, that’s just as bad.
Here, take these examples.
Typical fiction writer:
[align=center][i]“I can’t do it.” Bob said.
[i]“Make it so.” Jane said.
[i]“Then, that means that we have to start a new.” Bob said.
[i]“No! It can’t be! It just can’t!” Jane said.
[i]“Please! You make it far too hard to say what I have to say next!” Bob said.
[/align]
No, don’t do that. It’s just plain annoying. Once you have established who is talking, you have no need for the word “said” again. In fact, you don’t even need said half the time. Most of the time you can tell who is talking just by actions beforehand.
Also, don’t try and beware of those archaic words. “*****” and “ejaculated” are much different now than what they meant back then >.> Any more questions or any other things that you may need to contemplate can be found at this site, a much better guide than this if I do say so myself.
ADDITION 1: People in your fics and why you should ask permission.
Personally? I never found the fun in adding people to fan-fics. Actually, I think that's better when you draw it in comic form (well, Horoko himself makes comics to publish his fan fic 
). Now I know that a lot of you DO like adding people in your fan fics, so let me give you a little advice, okay?
ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO ASK PERMISSION BEFORE INCLUDING A PERSON OR PERSONS IN YOUR FAN FICTION.
Unless you know the person, the person won't mind, or you are inclusive, DON'T add someone in there "just because you can."
ADDITION 2: "Different language" versions of fics.
Running your fic through an online translator does not make you cool. If people who actually understand the language take a gander at these, they won't understand them. C'mon, English if you read and write it, just use that.
Fanfiction is a broadly defined term for fiction about characters or settings written by admirers of the original work, rather than by the original creators. But enough quoting from Wikipedia now, let's get to business. I consider fanfictions a way of expressing your thoughts, and therefore try to make my fanfictions as deep as possible. However, I can understand if other people do not feel the same. Let's talk about writing a fanfiction.
Format
A format is the structure of the fanfiction, and the writer's most powerful tool to determine it's readability. Therefore, the Format is considered a necessarity for making fanfictions, and should therefore be included in any subjective or objective rating. Along with the general structure of the story, a fanfiction should also include the dialogue format in any rating.
Proper formatting
To improve your format, and therefore improve the general quality of your fanfiction, there are countless things you can do, depending on the current quality. Here are some things I suggest you to do. See the Example Spoiler at the bottom of this section of the article for examples on breaking these Guidelines.
1. Only use numbers when you are not writing them inside the story, but as a matter of description.
2. Use properly spaced out lines. Do not begin a new sentence of dialogue in the middle of a row.
3. Do not write in different colours. It only makes your fan-fic look childish and also makes it harder to read. (If you must use colours, do it for the effect rather than categorizing)
4. Do not use down-cut words, like & instead of ”and” or 1st instead of ”first”.
5. And, finally, stick to a single dialogue format style during the whole fanfiction. Do not change, even in duels. More about format styles below.
Dialogue
In my opinion, there are three kinds of formats for dialogue. The Person-Action-Dialogue format(PAD), the Dialogue-Person-Action format(DPA), and the Person-Action-Person:Dialogue(PAP:D) format. Below, I will provide examples of each format.
PAD
Michael(P) grunted(A).
- (D)Can't you carry anything, Anna? My feet are burning!
or
"(D)Can't you carry anything, Anna? My feet are burning!"
DPA
- (D)Excuse me, Mike, but I'm the one with the backpack here!, (P)Anne (A)shouted back at him.
or
"(D)Excuse me, Mike, but I'm the one with the backpack here!" (P)Anne (A)shouted back at him.
PAP:D
(P)Michael (A)sighed.
Michael:(P:D) But I've been carrying the firewood!
As you can see above, the three formats might resemble each other, but should all be viewed carefully. The PAD format can be used in a slower story, while the DPA is more active. The PAP:D is possibly the slowest, but the easiest to understand. Both PAD and DPA can be used with either dialogue lines (-) or quotation marks ("").(Thanks to Ixigo for this addition.)
Jerry drew 1 card.
- I'll play Dragon's Mirror, and Summon 5-headed dragon!
Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.
- I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!
Jerry drew 1 card. - I'll activate Dragon's Mirror, and Summon 5-headed dragon!
Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs. - I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!
Jerry drew 1 card.- I'll summon Dragon's Mirror, and Summon 5-headed dragon!
Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.- I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!
Jerry drew 1 card.- I'll summon Dragon's Mirror & Summon 5-headed dragon!
Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.- I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!
Jerry drew 1 card.- I'll summon Dragon's Mirror & Summon 5-headed dragon!
Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.Nicholas: I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!
Description
Descriptions are necessary to any fanfiction, as it otherwise becomes a brickload of dialogue and nothing else. I've seen tons of fanfictions that have been like this, and they soon become boring to read. Without small sentences describing what the characters do, where they are, what happens in the environment around them, the story becomes a script. Literally if you use the PAP:D format. And if you think it's a script, you're treating your fanfic like a movie, which it isn't. In a movie, all the descriptions come by themselves. Now, you'll have to write them instead. It's as simple as pie. Now, I will give you examples on how a text can be changed by simply adding descriptions.
(Ronald: No cards on field, 3500 LP)
(Ben: Dread Swordsman (1400/1000) and a face-down spell/trap, 2000 LP)
Ronald: I summon Firebreath Golem (1800/0) and place two cards face-down. Your turn.
Ben: (draws a card) You don't think you can harm with that, right? I activate Polymerization! And with it, I'll combine Dread Swordsman (1400/1000) with the Skeletal Dragon (2900/2300) in my hand to summon Nightmare Dragon. (3200/3200) Now, my Dragon attacks your Golem.
(Firebreath Golem is destroyed, Ronald loses 3200 - 1800 = 1400 LP, drops to 2100)
Ronald smiled. The duel had gone easy so far, and he had easily been gaining advantage over Ben, step by step. Now, he was in the lead with thirty-five hundred Life Points compared to Ben's two thousand. However, his field was clear, while Ben controlled a Dread Swordsman and had a card face-down. This didn't bother Ronald much though; he knew he could finish this easily. He drew a card, and sighed. It wasn't exactly what he had hoped for, but he could deal with it.
- I summon Firebreath Golem! (1800/0)
As he placed the card on the Duel Disk, a roaring flame emerged from it. Ben took a frightened step back: it was an illusion as good as any. Soon, the flames shaped themselves into the vague form of a man, and hovered a few inches above the ground.
- And after that, I'll place a few cards face-down and end my turn.
Ben nodded, and drew a card. His eyes flashed and he smiled; Ronald became worried. Maybe Ben had drawn...
- You don't think you can harm with that, right? I activate Polymerization! And with it, I'll combine Dread Swordsman (1400/1000) with the Skeletal Dragon (2900/2300) in my hand to summon Nightmare Dragon. (3200/3200)
Ben placed a Spell on his Duel Disk, and Ronald simply stared as a large purple and orange whirl appeared in front of Ben. The Dread Swordsman turned around, and walked into the whirl. One of the cards in Ben's hand flashed, and a slender dragon with neither skin nor muscles, but simply a skeleton of a dragon flew into the whirl as well. The air around the whirl seemed to shiver as the whirl exploded into a million of colors and a new dragon emerged. Ronald almost fell to his feet; the Nightmare Dragon was truly a fearsome monster. With a long, slender body consisting of a purple mist with a clearly visible spine partially hidden beneath it. Ben smiled at Ronald.
- Now, Nightmare Dragon attacks your Firebreath Golem.
The dragon opened up it's mighty jaw, revealing a bottomless pit of darkness. As Ronald stared into it, he felt his very health being drained away. He felt as if the dragon was sucking him in somehow, trying to end his life. In front of him, he saw that the Golem reacted the same, only far worse. The golem had already lifted off the ground, traveling directly towards the bottomless pit that was the Nightmare Dragon's mouth. After a few seconds, the golem had vanished inside. The world itself seemed to rest as Ronald's Life Points fell to twenty-one hundred. He looked at the dragon, then at Ben, his old friend. Ben was grinning deeply, and in his eyes Ronald saw the same endless darkness that he had seen within the dragon's jaws. This was no ordinary duel anymore.
Writer Rank
During my time at this forum, I have arrived at this conclusion:
There are two kinds of writers at this forum. One kind that does not care about spelling or grammar, and one that does. Maybe the first kind just writes for their friends to read. Maybe they just write for the fun of it, and decide to focus on the plot rather than on S&G. This kind normally writes very short chapters, often around a page. The second kind are also divided into two separate categories; Those that actually use proper spelling and grammar, and those that aspire to. The first kind of these are qualified writers in my opinion; they generally make longer chapters and more interesting plots aswell. Also, they follow the rules of the English grammar. The second kind of these are on their way to becoming qualified writers, and have a wish to become such. I have ranked these kinds of writers from a scale of one to three, the Friend-Writer being rank three, the lowest rank, and the Qualified Writer as rank one. Below, I will list guidelines for each of these ranks.
Friend-Writers:
*Try to include good, if not flawless, S&G in your stories.
*Make the plot as interesting as possible.
*When/If you use characters from the original show and/or GX, do not change their decks or behaviour.
Aspiring Writers:
- Make the plot interesting, and include descriptions.
- Use as good S&G as you can. Do not cut down on the S&G just because you can't put the story up at the appointed time.
- When/If you use characters from the original show and/or GX, do not change their decks or behaviour.
• If you have reached this rank, you do not need many of these guidelines. However, you should follow the General Advice listed below.
General Advice
This advice is given to all that aspire to write a fan-fiction.
- If you use characters from canon, do not alter their personalities.
- When you post a thread, make sure that you include part of the fanfiction in the first post. If there's nothing there to read, the thread is not a fan-fiction and will be moved to the appropriate section or locked.
- If you read someone else's fanfiction, and would like to comment or review it, any insults are unnecessary. However, feedback and constructive criticism are appreciated. (Thanks to Faint Brushfire for this one)
- Don't panic when you read this article. I don't expect everyone to be a Qualified Writer.
Edited by Umbra, 01 August 2011 - 07:57 AM.
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