On Sun, 13 Sep 1998, Biggie Biggs wrote:

				  PAST

Action-oriented Ranma fanfiction simply doesn't work. The best of them 
are boring, and the worst are plain bad. Action-oriented Ranma fics that 
use new antagonists are guaranteed to be very bad.

The author can explore Ranma much more effectively confining himself to 
the canon material. Action-oriented Ranma fics like this one are not 
only inadequate vehicles for powerful character interaction, but add 
insult to injury by removing things so far from the canon.

I'm not sure what you mean by "explore Ranma," but as to character
interaction, Flashman may not have that as his foremost goal.  It's not
required that the characters actually change or develop to any extent in
a story.  I've seen action-oriented Ranma 'fics done very well.  I've seen
several original manga stories that could be called nothing except 
action-oriented.  Characters may come across as two-dimensional, but that
doesn't necessarily mean that the story is not enjoyable.  And
entertainment is the purpose of fanfiction, so I'll reserve my judgment
until I see more.

	The night sky.
	It's full of stars.
	Sometimes, there are shooting stars and the night in question was no 
exception.  There were two of them that night.
	Shooting stars the size of human beings.

You're trying too hard to be dramatic. If you don't have the artistry 
for it, dispense with it. It's not necessary, and when it's done badly 
it does nothing but burden your prose.

While it may not be good drama (I personally can't really tell when drama
is good or bad), I wouldn't exclude it.  Even if it is bad, there is no
other way to become better at such things than by practicing.

The major problem that I had with this series of sentences is that
whenever I see 'full of stars,' I immediately think of _2001: A Space
Odyssey_.  I don't know why, but when I see a phrase like this, I expect
the 'fic to be a comedy.  Just a personal quirk, I guess.

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    Josh Green, aka Pi -- SORT@BUCKET.UALR.EDU
       http://bucket.ualr.edu/~sort/fanfic/
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