Hi!

Feels like forever since I wrote to this thing.  Just a few comments on this 
guide.  I normally don't care much for writing guides: I've tried reading 
some of the 'better' books out there (Art of Fiction is actually quite 
good,) but tend to find them rather useless.  The only real way to get 
better at writing is. . . writing.  And reading.
But. . .

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).

On the research thing....
While I agree that some basic knowledge of what you're talking about helps 
with certain subjects, and research never hurts, I've wondered about this 
need to make fanfiction 'authentic' to culture.
Should fanfiction be culturaly accurate?  Seems to me that it's unimportant 
- in fact, can actually be a detriment to the fic.  Leaving aside the 
always-annoying inclusion of Japanese within an English-language fic, the 
inclusion of an over-abundance of Japanese-unique mundanities can only annoy 
or confuse the reader - and after-notes explaining the story aren't a viable 
solution.
On the FFML, fics are written for a predominantly Western audience by 
Western authors. . . how many subscribers to the list are actually in Japan 
(or other oriental countries?)  If fics are erroneous in detail by using 
Western norms, what of it?  The reader understands, and the idea the author 
wanted to convey is accurately transmitted.
Little touches of flavour here and there are nice, of course, and add 
atmosphere, but stretches of narrative explaining the cultural significance 
of an action wouldn't make sense (unless a gaijin is involved in the fic,) 
and also slow things down; and if you're forced to throw explanations into 
the author notes, there's something wrong.

After all, taking martial arts for an example, it's not like much manga gets 
it all that accurate.  Ranma 1/2, for instance, isn't exactly all that 
exacting in its portrayal of the arts (despite some amusing attempts I've 
seen to define the styles the various characters are using.)  It's 
entertainment, and just like in most tv shows and movies, realism is thrown 
aside for fun.  So if, say, many fics get numerous aspects of Japanese 
school-life wrong, substituting Western systems instead, what of it - 
especially if the audience never notices, accepting their own system without 
question?

Of course, some people love lengthy explanations (thus the popularity of 
Clancy, I guess, and Crighton) and cultural exploration in fiction, so maybe 
I'm right off my rocker her.  Just givin' an opinon...

Later!
(Nice list of links and books, by the way.)
Mike Noakes

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