[FFML] Facing down the end

[Timothy Miller]

On Wed, Apr 7, 2021 at 7:08 PM Saber Prime <saberprime at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hmm... How about as a send off, we write a collaborative list or a guide of
> things to and not to do as an author?
>

This sounds like an idea, although I can imagine some interesting debates
springing up about dos and don'ts. It would also depend a little on if
we're talking about fanfics, or being an author in general.

One "do" that I'd say applies across the board is CONSISTENCY. Consistency
of characterization, of setting, of magic or technology; whatever you're
writing about, you need to abide by what you establish, or have a
discernible reason for the exception. If you lay down in an early chapter
that a character does something a certain way, or has an old scar that can
identify them despite a cunning disguise, or that spellcasters need to
recite a certain kind of incantation, then you'd better have a good reason
why that gets contradicted three chapters later.

Consistency is arguably even more important in fanfiction than in wholly
original writing. Writing a fanfic based on Ramna 1/2, or Sailor Moon, or
Dragon Ball, or what-have-you means that you're borrowing familiar
characters to tell a story of your own - and if your depiction is starkly
at odds with the original material, like having Ranma be a chivalrous
gangster with a selection of knives hidden in his (or her) clothes, readers
who know the series are either going to look really closely for the "why,"
or just abandon your fic before the third chapter comes out. Similarly,
having Usagi throw a tiara or whack a youma with her staff when she's NOT
Sailor Moon, or Lucy Heartfilia casts a Dragon Slave on her own power,
without any explanation? Your readers will want answers, and you'd better
provide enough of them (or at least reasonable hints) to keep your
audience's interest.

Timothy Miller
terumiya at gmail.com
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