Indeed.

I agree on many points. I disagree on others. But that's not the point.

The point is, there should be a few reasons you are writing fan fiction.
Bear with this. Some or all may not apply.

Reason 1: You enjoy writing. You want to, perhaps, make a living out the
subject, and suppose you need practice at it. So, you turn to fan fiction,
something that enables you to practice your skills and perfect them through
critique on work with already laid foundations. This, in a general sense,
is my reason.

Reason 2: You want to make a name for yourself. Maybe this is starting
small, maybe you don't even give your real name, but the basic idea is you
want to be well-known. It is with much despair that I must admit that this
fault is mine as well.  BUT--

Reason 3: If, at the base of what you're doing, you are just trying to write
something that people would enjoy, something that would enrich the lives of
others, then you don't have to worry about what people say about SI's, OOC,
or ANCs. It won't be your problem, because you want to write something that
people enjoy, not something that only you enjoy. You write for the
people.

Amuse them, confuse them, sadden them, entertain them--that's what's it's
all about.

I think essays like this undermine that. The sarcasm, the lack of style,
the stereotyping, the outright petty, childish insults--all these do is cast
a bad image on you. You don't help anyone with this type of essay except
maybe stopping them from trying. If you're so tired of seeing these kind of
mistakes (which, I remind you, we have ALL made at one point or another)
then don't read anything. If you have something to say about someone's
mistakes, tell it to them in a C&C of their fic.

The point is, though most of your advice is sound, it is all negative. It's
completely composed of "Do NOT do this, and if you do, you're a moron" and
the like. Read Thermopyle's essay. You can see the intentions there in
the title-- What MAKES a good Ranma crossover, not what tears a bad one
apart.

I've never read any of your fanfics, yet--I've only been in this game for
about two years. But when I do, I hope I can do so with much more indulgence
for human error than you show here.

Best regards,
AJ Andreason




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