September 21, 1999Dear Listmembers,
I have noticed several recurring themes during 
my poor attempts at C&Cing. With that in mind I am
presenting this "How To" course in fanfic writing.
__EVERYTHING__ is (except for URL's and Citations) 
 __In My Opinion ONLY__!!!

Take what you find useful and ignore the rest.

1)Don't ask "is this is a good idea':

 There are only a few basic plots.
What matters is GOOD STORY telling. Edger Rice Burroughs had some of the
most hackneyed and simplistic plots in the world. And he told WONDERFUL 
stories.
 ^_^
Concentrate on your characters, how they interact. Draw the reader 
into their  world and make the reader CARE about them, what they do 
and what happens to them. 

2)In Character and OUT Of Character {IC & OOC}: 

There are interminable and unresolvable arguments on this subject. 
 First, your characters must be

a)believable and 

b)internally consistent. 

If you have a character start
 out as a friendly, helpful person in chapter 1 and in chapter 2 
they've hacked their mother-in-law to death and served her up on
toast you MUST explain this within the story. The development of 
character from friend to fiend must be examined, explored and 
explained. If you just drop what is essentially a 'new' character
into the story the reader has been cheated. The development or 
growth of a character in and of itself can be entertaining. 

Fanfics have a sub-set of difficulties. Readers of fanfiction are 
familiar with the basic story and characters. They read a fanfiction
 with certain expectations. If, for instance, you write a Ranma
fanfiction . . .except the main character is Jeff Schwartz. And he's
 a CPA, not a martial artist. And he didn't fall into a cursed spring 
but instead turns into a were-rat when exposed to neon-light. . .
well that's quite a bit OOC. ^_^ Which doesn't mean it's not a great
 story. Sailor Moon can be a twisted, deformed gang-banger and 
the Dark Kingdom can all be Barry Manilow fans. It just has
to be supported within the story.

3)Author Notes: 

Keep them to a minimum. And for goodness sake don't apologize for 
your story. Trust me when I say that there are one or two people 
on FFML who will, regretfully, point out your mistakes. ^_~
Let the story speak for itself. If you have to have a note telling
 the reader the story is funny . . .it isn't. 

If it's a multi-part story a brief introduction, telling what 
has gone before may be nice. Notes on cultural, linguistic and 
other matters may also be useful. It is not useful to give your life
history, favorite recipes, maps to the homes of the stars, etc.


4) Read: 

Not just fanfics but other types of fiction. Try to read critically. 
Find out WHY you like a particular author. Look at dialogue, 
descriptive passages, action, emotion, etc.

 A common mistake is to drop large lumps of description into 
the middle of a story.


     "The Bad Guy was wearing a grey cloak. His eyes were burple in color. 
He raised his large hand to his wavy brown hair which rustled in the
 cold breeze from the Dark Caverns of Doom."


This may all be useful information but it slows the story. Another 
way might be:

     "Bad Guy shaded his glowing burple eyes from the setting sun. A 
cold  breeze from the Dark Caverns of Doom matched his mood." 

Integrate description into the action of the story. It helps convey 
information about, not only the characters physical demeanor but also 
his emotional traits and details about the location. 

Try to match vocabulary with mood.

Ukyou walked

Ukyou stalked

Ukyou staggered

Ukyou turned

Ukyou spun

All show movement, but the MOOD is very different.  The English language 
has a lot of words. Don't be afraid to use them. OTOH don't OVER use them.

     "She picked up the heavy rock. Walking heavily across the rocks 
she threw the rock over the edge of the rocks.'

OR

     "Grunting she brought the massive stone over her head. Staggering 
across the mesa she heaved the boulder into the abyss."

5) Know where you are going with the story:

 It's all to easy to write yourself into a corner, especially with a 
long story. Some helpful things:

a)Maps of the territory. Show important buildings, streets, rivers, etc. 
Make your own or adapt existing maps for your purpose. 

b)Character descriptions. Likes, dislikes, hair, eye colour. 

This prevents the blue eyed heroine from living on Main St. in chp. 1
 and living on Takahashi Dr. in chp. 6. And now her eyes are green.
 <oooops>

c)what are the motivations for the story. WHY do the characters 
(hero/villain) do what they do?(And why does the reader CARE???}

This can be very simple:

Akane is kidnaped by the Amazons. Ranma goes to the rescue. Akane 
decides she likes being an Amazon. Happy ending with Akane, 
Shan Pu, Ranma, hand-cuffs and a case of Pez.

OR
Very detailed, with each chapter carefully outlined before starting.
 This is up to the individual author. At least have an idea of where 
you are going with the story and what the end should look
like. Otherwise you may end up going in circles forever.

6) Research:

 If you are going to set a story in Sweden you should know a little 
about  the people and customs.

If the story is in Japan, a little knowledge about language and customs 
will go a long way. For instance, there is a great deal of difference 
between suicide and ritual suicide(seppuku).

Seppuku is/may be different for men and women, has elaborate and specific 
rituals for very particular circumstances. It is NOT slashing your
 wrists (or even slitting your belly) because life is too hard. 

I once spent over sixteen hours (over a period of weeks) researching
 Kimono for a scene that took about two paragraphs. I spent about 
half that much time researching roofing tiles to write about three lines. 

 OTOH ERB made a HUGE number of mistakes about Africa in his Tarzan 
stories and the readers didn't care at all. ^_^ I like doing the
 research and it helps me with the story line. Many times the research
 gives me ideas that I wouldn't have had otherwise.  Good story telling 
makes up for a lot of things. And while Tom Clancy has made a fortune 
from basic research, it hasn't made him a good story teller. 
(I like Clancy for the details. But he gets dated very quickly).
Bottom line, Research and detail will not make a bad story good 
BUT lack of detail or carelessness can ruin a good story. 


7) Conflict or Dramatic Tension: 

This is the engine that drives the story. UN-resolved conflict is VITAL. 
Will Momiji survive the Aragami attack, 
Can Usagi escape the Lovely Dream,
How will Nurse Angel get the Green Vaccine in time??? 
(Tune in NEXT week to find out.) 

People want to see Ranma fighting Saffron on Mt. Phoenix. They are
 unlikely to read a storyline:

Ranma eats miso soup, goes to school, takes a test, goes home and 
goes to bed. An all to common mistake is  resolving the conflict
 too soon and too easily. 

8) Tell a good story:
This is the authors primary purpose. The hints I have given are all
 directed toward that end. It is not enough have a good idea.
 The story must grab the readers attention. The characters must 
engage the readers emotions.  If it's a good story I can't wait 
to find out what happens next. If it's a great story I get to the 
end, look up and realize that several hours have
passed and I didn't notice. ^_^

9) Write

10) Write some more. A LOT more. Then do it again. And again. Like 
any other skill, writing improves with practice.

Below are some Books and Links I have found useful.
Good luck. I hope this has helped.
*****************************************************************************

Books:
Samurai by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito.

Japanese street slang by Peter Constantine

Japan's Cultural Code Words by Boye Lafayette De Mente

Zakennayo! The REAL Japanese you were never taught in school by Philip J.
Cunningham

Samurai Warfare: Dr. Stephen Turnbull
Samurai, The Warrior Tradition: Dr. Stephen Turnbull

Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan: Lafcadio Hearn

Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts: Donn F. Draeger

Warriors of Japan: Paul Varley

The Anime Companion: Gilles Poitras

Three Zen Masters: John Stevens

Myths and Legends of the Martial Arts: Peter Lewis

Speed Tribes: Karl Taro Greenfeld

A History of Japan(3 vol.) I: A History of Japan to 1334; II 1334-1615; III
1615-1867

Lost Japan: Alex Kerr

Zen Words for the Heart; Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra: Trans.
Norman Waddell

NTC's Dictionary of Japan's Cultural Code Words: Boye Lafayette De Mente

When China Ruled the Seas: Louise Leveathes

The Craft of the Japanese Sword: Leon and Hiroko Kapp, Yoshindo Yoshihara

A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all
countries and in all
times, together with some closely related subjects: George Cameron Stone

Cambridge Illustrated History China: Patricia Buckley Ebrey






URLs:
This is the English
version of the new Japanese Sumo page. It has quick
time movies, statistics, interviews, history, etc. 

http://www.sumo.or.jp/index_e.html#sumokyokai


What is Shinto?
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8871/kamiway.html

Gods and goddesses
http://www.cybercomm.net/~grandpa/asia.html

Basic terms of Shinto
http://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/bts/index.html

Shinto Legends
http://hyperion.advanced.org/12865/mray/lshi.htm

Kannagara Jinja                  
http://www.kannagara.org/

Weaponless Warrior
http://www.mindspring.com/~disaak/


Shinto: an introduction
http://www.ubfellowship.org/archive/readers/601_shinto.htm

Japanese Myth
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~cycle/SACHIE.HTML

Myths and Legands
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/myth.html

Catholic Encyclopedia: Buddhism
http://www.allmax.com/advent/cathen/03028b.htm

Zen Koan Study pages
http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/ZenPages/KoanStudy.html

     Tokyo Living Guide
http://www.jwindow.net/OLD/LWT/TOKYO/LIFE/tokyo_life.html

Welcome to Tokyo Survival Guide
http://www.ima-chan.co.jp/guide/sub101/sub101.htm

Living in Japan
http://hana.asij.ac.jp/japan/tokyo.html

Japan  A travelogue by Evelyn C. Leeper
http://www.travel-library.com/asia/japan/leeper.html
                                
     The following is from a Northen Lights Special Collection. You have to
pay $2.95 if
you want the entire article. I'm including the URL in case you think it's
worth buying.


http://library.northernlight.com/BM19990225150035384.html?cb=0&sc=0#doc

                  Title: 
                       Dateline Tokyo, Japan: Convenience store as Shinto
shrine
              
             Summary: WHEREVER YOU may find yourself in Japan, from the old
temple
                       neighbourhoods of Kyoto to the ski resorts of
Nagano, you will never be very far from the gaudy, neon-lit comfort of what
everybody here
knows as the "konbini", a Japanised contraction of the English
"convenience store". The concept is American. But, like so many
foreign imports, the konbini has transformed itself over the years into
a uniquely Japanese institution. If the great Tokyo department stores,
 such as Tokyu, Seibu, and Mitsukoshi, are the cathedrals of Japanese
consumerism, then the konbini are its local Shinto shrines.

Japanese language: http://www.hayamasa.demon.co.uk/afaq/afaq-full.html


Japanese Tea Culture:

http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/~ellen/tea/tea.html

http://www.art.uiuc.edu/tea/

http://www.teahyakka.com/

http://www.pacific-bridge-arts.com/TeaMasters/Home/FrFrame.html





http://picce.uno.edu/faculty/rbs/Kyoto.95.Web.html

http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/greal/Japan-tearoom.html