At 12:35 AM 2/25/96 LOCAL, you wrote:

Now that I'm finally free of December's End, I will do my victory dance! 
(per Susano Orbatos, "Orion")

I've never started a thread before, so here's one that's puzzled me since I 
started writing (adapted for fanfics):

What qualities make a good fanfic?  What qualities make a bad fanfic?  Is there
any sort of quantifiable that beginning writers can use or is it simply "I 
liked that one."?  How much of it is mechanics vs. type of story vs. genre?

I believe what makes a good fanfic is something that interests the writer
and allows him, or her, to express ideas and concepts in a format that they
believe is correct.  To others it may seem wrong, but to the writer, it is
the best way that he or she saw fit.  If the reader enjoys the fanfic, all
the better.  There will always be people that will hate your writing, and
others that will worship it as the 'greatest work on the face of the earth.'

mechanics = continuity, writing style, etc.
type of story = crossover, continuation, lemon, etc.
genre = Ranma, AMG, BGC, etc.

The only important thing, IMHO, from that list is the mechanics.  If the
mechanics of the story is bad, people will not read it, even though they may
like the concept, storyline, or cast.  Either way, you are loosing readers
that may have liked or not liked your work.  Sound grammer and spelling is a
good basis for a good fanfic.  An easy writing style, one not so unusual
that it takes a reader three weeks to decypher what has transpired, is
another good start.  I hope, when I write my first fanfic, I will be able to
listen to my own advice! <G>

Its kind-of spammy because its not a fanfic or comments related to a specific 
fanfic, but neither is it totally without relation to the mailing list.

Dont think this.  I found this thread very helpful in my quest, if that is
not too strong a word, to write a fanfic.  The adivce and little pieces of
information that I have gotten from this thread is very helpful (so that I
do not make as many mistakes in the beginning as possible! ^_^)

Thanks

No, thank you!  ^_^

JK

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                      Ozymandias (aka Jon Quirit)
E-mail: ozymand@netzone.com                                 IRC: Ozymand
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