[snip essay]

	I think I probably agree with the above myself.  Trying to create 
a set guideline for writing a fanfic is as moronic as the thought of 
'civilized warfare'.  It looks good in theory, but not in practice.  I 
have a poster in my room, with my own philosophy for life, whether 
writing or living or anything else:

     There is one thing wrong with the essay, and that is the fact that this
is a *FANFIC* list. A fanfic, almost by definition, is an extention of an
existant series. This requires some special considerations apart from a
completely original story, as follows:
     Characterization
        In an original story, your characters will act in a way you
designed. There is no problem with improper characterization because they
are *YOUR* characters, and *YOU* are developing them. In a fanfic, however,
people are expecting characters to act in a specific manner. Those
characters were already created by someone else, and they already have
specific merits, flaws, and quirks, and those should be followed by the
author. Failing to follow the pre-existant characterization is a
disappointment to the readers.
        However, this doesn't mean that different aspects can't be followed.
Example: I just finished reading a story (Yearnings), where Priss very
nearly forces Leon to have sex with her. Even though the only thing we see Priss
doing with Leon is giving him the brush off, it made sense in the storyline
for this to happen.

     Style (comic, heart-wrenching, etc.)
        This is where the fanfic author has the most leeway (IMO). As long
as the characters are portrayed correctly, even Ranma 1/2 could be made to
be a sorrow-filled story (as we've seen on this list, already). But, if you
don't follow the characterizations, then (as we also have seen on this list)
the entire story falls apart.
        Of course, you're free to set the style of the story if it's an
original, rather than a fanfic.

     Continuation of the setting
        Here, a fanfic author is given a bit of leeway. If he's attempting
to write a story which takes place in the anime/manga's original universe,
then he shouldn't go changing things. But, if this is an x-over, or pulling
the characters into a different time period, and so on, then the fanfic
author has enormous possibilities for development.
        An author of an original story only needs to concern himself with
making sure his setting isn't self-conflicting (were an element of the
setting shouldn't be there according to the setting).

     Mechanics.
        I'll fully admit that I can't spell (and there will probably be a
few errors here which aren't typos). I do know my grammar pretty well,
though, and usually only make typo mistakes, or "silly" grammar mistakes
(like forgetting
to type in a verb or something). However, this doesn't mean that I don't need
an editor (as Jeanne Hedge will tell you :). Failing to correct mechanics
mistakes in *ANY* story (fanfic or original) is really detrimental to
readability, and therefore entertainment.
        Now, this doesn't imply that all characters should *SPEAK*
correctly, only that the non-dialogue sections should be mechanically
correct except in situations where breaking mechanical rules makes for
better reading. Some examples of this are where an author will use sentence
fragments as whole sentences, start a sentence with 'and' or 'or', and so on.

	RISK:  TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS
	I do my best to live by this, and I'll do my best to write by 
this.  You all should do the same.

     I hope that you read this and can see where I'm coming from. I agree
that you must write in whatever way you can do best (I just sit down and
write, others plan their story before touching it). But, fanfics require
that the author pay attention to someone else's characters and universe. Not
following those will usually detract from the entertainment value of a story.

Of course, it would help if I followed my own rules, right Jeanne? Remember
all the sloppy characterizations I used in Scared out of Control, and the
grammar and spelling mistakes you caught? ^_-
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Kosse bmk7411@cs.rit.edu
Homepage with anime and other interests. (http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411)
Biggest BGC otaku on the RIT campus (especially Priss).
Anime, RPG's, computers, poetry (read/write), music (listen/compose).
Author of the Bubblegum Crisis theme pack