CL Fanfiction

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Well, this is more or less the reason we're all here, so here's a topic to discuss it!

[Coto524]

The Best of Times The Worst of Times (TBOTTWOT) is a very good one.

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

I would look it up but the search feature is down currently. Umm...let's see.

Kelly had asked the question in the pairing topic something like this (it isn't word for word): What works in Cl fanfiction and what doesn't?

Well, for me, I think that it really depends how much effort is put into the fanfiction. You can usually tell how long someone spent on something by how well written it is and so on. Things like that.

Any other thoughts?

[Railen]

Spellcheck yes or no. 0.o

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

YES. Like, a huge yes. But then you should always at least skim it over to make sure it didn't do anything wrong.

Shadows has seen things without spellcheck, and it's like: well, there goes my eyes. Unless if they're a good speller anyway, then it's okay, I guess. Though I would just use it anyway.

[Dobermutt]

Spell check!!! My favorite. (Or at least one of them.) Seriously, if you want to make a good story, it doesn't just need a good plot, or characters, or description, it needs good spelling! I agree with Shadows, definitely!

[aelitaxwilliam]

I'm a huge grammar/spelling/punctuation sort of freak when it comes to these things. And I get really annoyed with bad grammar/etc./youknowalready, so that's one reason I'll abandon a story.

Details are also an important too! Too many details makes the story boring and too long to read. I'm probably guilty of this, but would you want to read something like, "The sparkling sun shone on the crisp, white walls of her room. Beautiful replications of famous paintings such as Mona Lisa hung on the walls. And family photos, such as the one where she ate too much vanilla ice cream and threw up on her cousin's feet, were on a bulletin board which she had gotten on sale at Walmart last July." or would you want to read, "The sun shone brightly on walls of her room. Various photos and paintings hung about in her room, giving the room a personal touch"

Of course too little details are bad too. Details make the story more interesting, more than just a boring retelling of life.

So yeah..I'll think of more later, since I can rant a lot on this subject.

@Shadows
My original question [I think] was "What makes a good fanfiction, good?"

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Well I was close enough.

I think that one of the most important things is definetly to have the characters in character. They wouldn't invite someone new to join the gang right away, and none of them would be jerks to eachother without character development, which is also important.

I always try to imagine the characters saying what I'm typing. Like, in the voices their voice actors give them. That usually helps me.

[aelitaxwilliam]

I'm okay with OOC-ness actually. It just really depends. Some people are great at writing characters that have changed personalities...some are...not so great at it. It's practice, I guess.

But yeah...I love coming across a fic with great spelling, good details, IC characters, and smooth transitions. It's awesome coming across one, especially when said fic is supposed to be centered around a crack pairing. It makes me so happy to come across those type of fics. Because IC crack pairings are pretty hard to write.

[Stella Luce 333]

The biggst thng for me is findng fics that have ideas that arn't normlly seen, or ones that take an idea seen a lot & give it a twst that makes it diffrnt...

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Since I used to dab normally in the tragedy thing, that was a bit of a challenge. Since someone's going to die, that's a given, but how to make it different than all the other tragedy stories. It was great though, because it really helps to get a style of writing, and it's easier to experiment. But you're right, a creative storyline is pretty important.

In character crack pairings are interestings, because usually they take a few scenes and you're like "oh! That could work!"

[Coto524]

In character crack is good. So is OOC crack.

One really good fic is Twisted Reality: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2413766/1/Twisted_Reality

Another fic, though seemingly discontinued, is The Sixth Station: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2681875/1/The_bSixth_b_bStation_b

[aelitaxwilliam]

Crack fics with lots of yelling and chaos are always fun.

[Coto524]

Ones with references to XL quotes, such as A Night With Kiwi, They Wanted Penguins, & We Need a New Elevator. All good fun.

[Stella Luce 333]

I knew abot We Need a New Elvter, but not the othrs. I've got some redng to do!

[aelitaxwilliam]

Also, I (already said this in RF, I think) hate when authors put theur chapters in hostage situations. Like "I want twenty reviews or else you're not going to get the next chapter"

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Don't we all. Plus, if you're going to hold out to put up a chapter, it's questionable about how much you even want the story to be read. I mean, I can understand saying "if you review enough, I'll give you something extra." Because that's fun, but holding it hostage? No.

[aelitaxwilliam]

Yeah. I understand that authors would want reviews. So they'd offer an incentive for people to want to review, therefore it would be of the reviewer's own will. But the hostage sort of thing makes me not want to review, just so the author gets annoyed. Unless it's a really good story, which then I have grudgingly reviewed.

...Other things that cause you to abandon or at least considering abandoning a story?

[AelitaBelpois]

One would probably be the lack of interest in updating it, due to the stresses of every day life, the feeling that nobody is paying enough attention for the story for it to continue, the lack of popularity, or that people have bigger and better things to do (if the fanfiction isn't great in the author's eyes).

It all boils down to if the author wants to continue or not, I guess.

[Stella Luce 333]

For me, a big del brekr is when the entre chaptr is only a pargrph becase they havn't put in any line breks. I just find that style to be very hard to undrstnd...

[Coto524]

I hate that, as well.

I also hate stories where people talk really stupidly, with bad spelling, and don't even know that much about the fandom! (@ Kelly and Shadows: Yes, I'm on about jim sale)

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

I think jim sale is a troll, I really do.

Um, I don't like it when author's abandon stories because they get a few bad reviews. Especially if the review is from the same person,and especially if the story get other, positive reviews. I mean, I get it, flaming is bad, but just ignore them. Especially if they're anynomous.

[aelitaxwilliam]

Trolls are usually better than that though. They're funny [at least a lot of them are funny to me]. Like My Immortal, though I decided not to finish that, on account of me finding a better story.

Trolling can almost be an art, because you write so bad [yet you keep your spelling half-decent], it's funny. But jim sale was not a funny troll at all. :/

I don't like it when people start a lot of good stories and take forever to update them. Hey, if I wrote a lot [which I really need to get back to doing], I'd be guilty of that, but still...

[SeeMeInTheShadows]

Well, I have to say, I do that. All the time. It's a bad habit, I guess. I mean, I could never understand why someone would write over 100,000 words with over 1,000 reviews, and yet still quit. My idea was always, you worked hard to get there, just **** it up and finish it, though that would probably be hyporitical, because, I would probably stop too, if I wanted too.

I don't like CL fics where they make one character seem so mean and stuff (character bashing) because really, they're all friends and they have their quirks, but they wouldn't try to like, be completely rude to one another.

[memoire-blanche]

I think most people abandon stories because they can't finish them. They get an idea, develop it in few chapters and run out of ideas. That's awful, because most of such stories are really good and beg for being continued. Sometimes when you start writing your creativity leads you and brings the proper ending, but I think that if someone starts a multi-chapter story, then he should think of it from start to end. It would save a lot of stories from being discontinued.
Lack of time can also be the cause. It's really frustrating when your brain is about to explode with ideas but you have no time to write it all down.

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