Fanfiction Lounge

This is what I did after all of my chaptered fics died. They can be any length, really. I've seen some excellent ones that fit on my screen without having to scroll down. Then again, I have read some amazing ones that are so long the author had to post them in two separate posts because they went over the character limit. (No, I am not talking about Torn. I'm narcissistic, but not that bad.) Generally, between 1000 and 5000 words is what people want to read, though.

The thing is that just like any story, let it unfold in its own time. If it needs another couple of pages to wrap itself up naturally, do it. Unless you're writing for a contest with a word limit or something, nobody's gonna pull you up on length as long as it's quality.

If you write thirty pages of crap, you can brag that you wrote thirty pages, but nobody will want to read it. If you wrote five pages of gold, the guy who wrote thirty pages of crap can diss you all he wants, but you'll be the one getting the reviews.

tl:dr version: Any length is fine, as long as it gets the point across, but people will be less likely to read an incredibly long oneshot.

IMO, the story should really be as long as it should be to properly tell the story. If it ends up going longer than what you first anticipated or planned for... then it's probably meant to be that way (unless you're using purple prose or something, of course). I see all sorts of lengths for one-shots, myself.

I haven't read much of Edgar Allan Poe - what I have read was good though. My favourite authors though.... hmm. Too many. Diana Wynne Jones is pretty darn good though, so I'll just mention her and shame all of the others out there by not mentioning them, like Eoin Colfer, Terry Pratchett, J.V Jones, Ursula K. Le Guin (ownage), John Marsden...

Oh wait.

Pretty much what Sparkling Dragon and bobandbill said. The only time you should really be concerned about word limit is if it is far too short for people to get any lasting enjoyment out of it, or far too long that people lose interest along the way. Essentially, that gives you a lot of leeway, and it does require a bit of judgement to know when you're inside these rather vague boundaries.

A One-Shot is as long as it needs to be. There is no certain length it has to be or that it shouldn't go over. Whenever the writer feels that he or she has done the best they can to get the point across, or done the best they can to tell the story, then it is as long as it should be.


Favorite author: hmmm...Ayn Rand probably. She wrote some amazing books in her lifetime (The Fountainhead, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged) and they hold messages that I believe should discover. Her work brings out the truth in things and shows the hypocrites for who they really are.

Following her would probably be Joseph Heller (best known for Catch-22), Joseph Conrad (The Heart of Darkness) and Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist).

I like my philosophy...

Joseph Conrad (The Heart of Darkness)

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Ooh, we did him and that story last year in English. I quite like him (plus he was Polish, so to be known as a classic English writer when it wasn't his first language to begin with is quite the feat).

Nope, no patriotic bias there, not at all.... *whistles*

First language really has no bearing on whether someone has the potential to become a great writer of English. I know someone who's always complaining about how his writing is rubbish because English isn't his native language; someone who needs to take a dose of reality. *glares at said person* That said, many excellent fanfiction authors - on this forum, even - are non-native speakers of English.

Sparkling Dragon said:

First language really has no bearing on whether someone has the potential to become a great writer of English. I know someone who's always complaining about how his writing is rubbish because English isn't his native language; someone who needs to take a dose of reality. *glares at said person* That said, many excellent fanfiction authors - on this forum, even - are non-native speakers of English.

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True, although I suppose nearly everyone has potential, really - and it does usually take a fair bit more work for those who take on a language later in their lives to write something good and enjoyable (and understandable, but that's a requirement, I suppose, of good writing, so eh...) - let alone to become an author of Conrad's standing. I've seen it happen, including around here, but it's not all that common.

*activates patriotic pride and flies off*

Patriotic pride? Not me, no sirree! I do not, I repeat not, care if the All Blacks win!

Also, we get taught grammar and spelling in elementary, then it seems to drop off the face of the planet, until they reintroduce grammar again in college. While ESL students learn the grammar at a later time, would easily memorize the rules.

Some of the best English students in my year are not native speakers, because they haven't picked up the sloppy habits of those whose mother tongue is English. Rather, they've had to learn formal English, so they thrive with things like writing and reading.

Yeah, it would seem that some things would make you want to cringe. XD

My sister for example is in university, and she get's good marks. It's a good thing she uses a computer with spell check though, because her spelling is horrible. I cringe every time she asks me how to spell a word.

People are always asking me to spell things. I'm like, the class dictionary. I'll get asked for spelling, definitions, synonyms, for Arceus' sake, and even 'what word fits here?' It gets tedious, but at least I feel they appreciate me for something.

I'm a bit like that. :P Except across pretty much every academic subject. D:

Generally, the only spelling mistakes I make are typos, which are simply the result of hitting a close key. XD;

Granted, I'm like that too but in my mother/native language. When it comes to English, or "English" culture, as long as it has to do with computers or math (or videogames) it seems I'm the one to ask to.

It feels good sometimes, but the majpority of the time it is essentially the burden of having everyone ask you the kind of stuff people ask to you, S.D, but in two languages. I sometimes hate my society and politics so much...

On-off-topic: It's interesting to notice that we discuss authors to fave here when at Serebii they're doing kinda the opposite ...

I myself don't fancy a particular author because I don't have that much literary baggage, but I do enjoy some writer's particular ways to do things. Edgar Allan Poe is a given, as is Isaac Asimov's display of philosophical torture in his short stories. The flow of narration and the "mundaneness" of the evolvig *-Vac in "The Last Question" is the aspect I love the most in his writing. For my nation's culture I'm on Isabel Allende all the way (her reimagination of Zorro is quite lucid in the historical sense).
Also, for what he does and how he manages to put it on paper, Stephen Hawking is my weird recommendation. I mean, come on, spaghetti'ed astronauts cosmonauts, why the həck didn't someone explained black holes that way before?

There's also the occasional good children's (or teen's) book whose authos I can't remember but they had damn good plot and I can't read them again because 1.- I can't find them and 2.- people would stare at me asking "what are you doing reading children's books?" (not that I care: I still play Original Nintendo).

I should be going to bed. But first, a question (I'll answer myself later):

Does your culture's iconography (as in: set of cultural, religious, social or economical symbols) play a role in your writing? If so, what symbols and/or meanings do you explore/exploit?
(Note: I'm assuming here not everyone is Monroian American, hence the wording "your culture". Please take no offense).

Does your culture's iconography (as in: set of cultural, religious, social or economical symbols) play a role in your writing? If so, what symbols and/or meanings do you explore/exploit?
No. Because my fic is set post-apocalypse, the entire culture has changed (and, well, centred around the tyrannical Oligarchy.)

Does your culture's iconography (as in: set of cultural, religious, social or economical symbols) play a role in your writing? If so, what symbols and/or meanings do you explore/exploit?

No, I try to keep it to canon if at all possible.

Also taht seribii link was great XD I like how the first post at the top there was totally bashing the twilight books XD. I mean you don't mess with Vampire lore... that's just making them too uber, and they have to have flaws... Stupid sparkles...

In my time, of watching it off-handedly at work (without sound), during my till shifts, every other scene the two are in, are just them staring at each other...

EDIT: Though I haven't read his books completely, the one I recall was Flash Forward, the author, Robert J. Sawyer, a Canadian wrote about the Large Hadron Collider quite a while ago (I bought the book at the airport when I was yonger), and though I did not understand a lot of what was being told, I still found the story intriguing.

Citrinin said:

Some of the best English students in my year are not native speakers, because they haven't picked up the sloppy habits of those whose mother tongue is English. Rather, they've had to learn formal English, so they thrive with things like writing and reading.

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I myself am not English and yet I thrive in the subject at school. Not because I'm 'Shakespeare' good at it, but because most people where I'm from mostly speak in broken English. (I just moved, it was better in my old neighborhood)

Sparkling Dragon said:

People are always asking me to spell things. I'm like, the class dictionary. I'll get asked for spelling, definitions, synonyms, for Arceus' sake, and even 'what word fits here?' It gets tedious, but at least I feel they appreciate me for something.

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Yeah, it happens a lot to me too but only on spelling and grammar though, not punctuation. Even my teacher asks me sometimes. I'm not proud of it, I'm actually scared. My Important Exam year and my teacher is uhhh...well you know.

solovino said:

I myself don't fancy a particular author because I don't have that much literary baggage, but I do enjoy some writer's particular ways to do things. Edgar Allan Poe is a given, as is Isaac Asimov's display of philosophical torture in his short stories. The flow of narration and the "mundaneness" of the evolvig *-Vac in "The Last Question" is the aspect I love the most in his writing. For my nation's culture I'm on Isabel Allende all the way (her reimagination of Zorro is quite lucid in the historical sense).

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Yes! That's what I was missing, Isaac Asimov. How could I have missed him out? Yes, The Last Question was really profound in it's own sense, especially the end.

Universal AC said:

And AC said: "LET THERE BE LIGHT" And there was light--

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The story really touches on Entropy and how prepared we are for it, even though entropy will increase to the maximum as stated by the Laws of Thermodynamics.
You can really get the science even if you don't understand half of it.

Nightfall was also another of my classic favourites. There are so many other stories like The Ugly Little Boy that I won't post here because I'm lazy. :P

Does your culture's iconography (as in: set of cultural, religious, social or economical symbols) play a role in your writing? If so, what symbols and/or meanings do you explore/exploit?
Not yet, but I'm planning to. It's mostly names and some religious beliefs though.

Does your culture's iconography (as in: set of cultural, religious, social or economical symbols) play a role in your writing? If so, what symbols and/or meanings do you explore/exploit?
Well, if social symbolism can be music, then yeah. I consider music to be a culture, and music takes a role in my writing. Hymns of the holy and my gods Lyrics and even band members are referenced and used in my fic. Whether its just for fun or fits the mood.

An example. Chapter four is what I'm currently writing. There is a song by Avenged Sevenfold (my gods and fav. band) called Chapter Four, and some of that songs lyrics are used in it.

Lash said:

Does your culture's iconography (as in: set of cultural, religious, social or economical symbols) play a role in your writing? If so, what symbols and/or meanings do you explore/exploit?
Well, if social symbolism can be music, then yeah. I consider music to be a culture, and music takes a role in my writing. Hymns of the holy and my gods Lyrics and even band members are referenced and used in my fic. Whether its just for fun or fits the mood.

An example. Chapter four is what I'm currently writing. There is a song by Avenged Sevenfold (my gods and fav. band) called Chapter Four, and some of that songs lyrics are used in it.

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I see what you did there.

Also, from your usertitle I see you either like Linkin Park, Transformers 2, or both. D

That Serebii thread is silly. You can't avoid bad authors and only read the "good" ones. By reading the "bad" writers, you learn what not to do when it comes to writing. Just like from the "good" ones, you learn what works in the writing world.

For instance, I read Twilight, and from it, I learned what not to do when it comes to writing a romantic relationship.

It's the same with Paolini. From reading Eragon, I learned how much description is too much, and how to not handle description and dialogue.

Besides which, it's all a silly concept to tell people to avoid authors because you think that they are "bad". Some people kept telling me to avoid Twilight because it is so badly written, but I still read it, and actually enjoyed reading it, despite the bad writing. (I enjoyed the simplicity of the story. So much so that I was excited to see the movie. Also, delicious delicious KStew. Or perhaps I just like Mormon books.) It's subjective opinions when you get right down to it.

There's also the fact that some people miss the point of the books. Like the Series of Unfortunate Events. I haven't read all of them, and the ones that I have read were read so long ago, but I knew that the books didn't take themselves seriously. You could just tell that the ridiculous writing, plot, and characterization (as that poster said in the case of Sunny being able to read and talk) that the books were meant as some serious tale.

I could also argue that there is nothing wrong with Brown's description of "The sad man looked at the red cup." It's simple, yes, but sometimes, simple is quite good. Hemingway and Steinbeck wrote simple sentences. One of Hemingway's that comes to my mind is "He came to the river. The river was there." There's no need for over-the-top writing when something simple gets the message across.

My goodness, it seems as if every time someone links me to Serebii (on the exception of the fic recommendations I get from my friend), I tend to rant, and then go on search of other things to rant about. There are reviews over there that just grate my nerves.

But let me answer the bold topic, shall I?

Does your culture's iconography (as in: set of cultural, religious, social or economical symbols) play a role in your writing? If so, what symbols and/or meanings do you explore/exploit?
I'm currently thinking of studying the Irish culture further for my Pokemon fics. The Pokemon world of my writings are Irish-based. (One can see that simply by the names my main character and her Pokemon have.) So I am looking forward to learning about that, and using it in my writing.

If you are talking American culture, then I can't really say that much of the culture is there. I'm sure that there are signs of it included on a subconscious level, since that is the culture I was raised with, and it would be hard to avoid.