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Post by nem on Jun 26, 2017 10:16:08 GMT -5
I don't have very many of these. I'm more interested in what you guys say.
Like:
- Odd, yet creative, plots. I always find them interesting.
Annoyed by:
- I strongly dislike it when people give their OCs rare and special names.
- Poor grammar
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Post by lazy penguin on Jun 26, 2017 10:26:35 GMT -5
Like:
~Creative Plots, especially ones with a more fantasy-esque feel.
~AUs (if done right).
~Writing styles that are completely different from the Erins'.
~Main characters WITHOUT love interests.
~Slow burning action/plots
Dislike:
~ When people use bad grammar to make a 'comedy' fic
~ Annoyingly unique names that don't make sense (ex. Winterheart, Fallbreeze, Dragonpaw, etc.)
~ AUs or plots that use pre-existing characters and takes them completely OOC
~ More for readers, but people would bash on a fic for being bad or crappy and don't offer constructive criticism
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Post by phantomstar57 on Jun 27, 2017 11:09:12 GMT -5
What I like:
Good use of canon and new characters in a unique "what if" story.
Unique stories of Clans outside the original clans.
Love a touch of mystical or fantasy elements.
When a fic brings a new twist to an old plot line.
When Good triumphs over Evil, even if its difficult.
When characters overcome odds in difficult situations.
I don't mind prophecies if it is well done.
3rd person. Don't mind 1st person i it is well executed.
What I don't like;
Overused plots like forbidden cross clan romances, and when lies are used to push the story forward.
Kit born to be evil plots.
When Evil wins. Hate it.
Poorly done prophecies, and even those when a character knows the prophecy from kithood but is insecure and unsure and then "wakes up" to it. That is getting old, though when it is well done, I don't mind.
2nd person unless it is outstanding in story and execution.
and my biggest bugaboo:
Poor grammar and a rambling redundant passive writing style full of weak verbiage and repetitive phrasing that slows down action and story flow. THIS will stop me from reading unless the characters and storyline are exceptional.
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Post by Brownie on Jun 27, 2017 11:23:08 GMT -5
Likes:
sassy narrators
second person (when done right of course)
Well-developed character voice
shorter sentences and fast flow
deep characters
fantasy/magical realism or symbolism
pointless writing/existentialism
Dislikes:
flat characters
overly-flowy thesaurus style writing
third person
grammar
using canon characters. Sometimes they can be decent, but I never can get past "this is decent" when canon characters are used.
being overly obvious about the plot but having the characters oblivious to it. Or the author feels they're being sneaky when they outright said something. no.
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Post by nem on Jun 28, 2017 11:27:59 GMT -5
bumpity
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Post by Maplestone360 on Jun 29, 2017 13:15:42 GMT -5
Entirely future tense. Major dislike.
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Post by phantomstar57 on Jul 8, 2017 13:59:46 GMT -5
Entirely future tense. Major dislike.
Past - ran, walked, was, did, etc
How does future tense read? I may have to go look it up! |
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Post by wadevvilson on Jul 8, 2017 14:27:52 GMT -5
I had a whole list of things I disliked somewhere, but now I can't find it. EDIT: Found it!
Dislikes:
~ The whole "chosen one is a child, and strangely has no qualms about having to go on some major quest and possibly die during it" plot that so damn many of these fanfics seem to have
~ OOC stuff, if you're dealing with canon characters
~ Every "abused cat [who is abused for literally no reason] eventually rises up against oppressors" story on fanfic websites nowadays is essentially a clone after a clone, with slight name changes of characters here and there. It got old a while back.
~ hiGHSCHOOL AU'S PLEASE NO I'M SICK OF THEM
~ Obvious prophecies. Like, I understand that sometimes it's hard to write a prophecy, but if you keep doing things like this then maybe you shouldn't include it in your story. Or just briefly allude to it; don't mention the actual words of the prophecy, just say that there was one. Things like that. What I'm trying to say here is, try to be vague about it, but not so vague that it's obvious to your audience that you don't know what you're doing. Also, when a character can't figure out an obvious prophecy.
~ Things which are blatantly purely written to satisfy some fetish of the author's
~ Bad grammar/spelling from a native English speaker who is not handicapped in any way. If you have dyslexia or something, I can understand, but otherwise I really don't think there's a reason for you to be so lazy...
~ Protagonists who clearly have had little effort put into them. Their dialogue reads like you're looking at a script.
~ Too much detail, ex. describing every little part of a cat's anatomy when they appear in a scene
~ Conversely, not enough detail. "He walked up to the tree. He ate dirt" just doesn't get the imagination a-flowing for me, sorry.
~ When cats get certain kinds of powers in a way that doesn't make sense with the storyline [hey, though I can't speak about this particular one all that much, at least there's somewhat of a reason for Duncan not being able to die in the RapidClan story]
~ When people treat medicine cats as lesser than the rest of their Clanmates. Like, if you didn't have a doctor y'all'd be dead.
~ Cookie-cutter characters and plotlines in general
~ Badly-written lemons. If you want to see me legitimately cry, hit me up with a dramatic reading of one.
~ Things written in 1st/2nd person, for the most part, depending on scene and narrator
There's a truly [madly, deeply] disturbing amount of things I could say on this topic, but I don't want to make this post too long. i'll save the rest for another post or several. Probably several, knowing me.
Likes:
~ People who clearly know what they're doing when it comes to writing
~ People who don't try to copy the Erins in terms of their fanfic writing
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Post by Maplestone360 on Jul 8, 2017 17:09:34 GMT -5
Entirely future tense. Major dislike.
Past - ran, walked, was, did, etc
How does future tense read? I may have to go look it up!Exactly what it sounds like. cx So, instead of this past tense example from Into The Wild, It was very dark. Rusty could sense something was near. The young tomcat's eyes opened wide as he scanned the dense undergrowth. This place was unfamiliar, but the strange scents drew him onward, deeper into the shadows. His stomach growled, reminding him of his hunger. He opened his jaws slightly to let the warm smells of the forest reach the scent glands on the roof of his mouth. Musty odors of leaf mold mingled with the tempting aroma of a small furry creature.it would say: It will be very dark. Rusty will sense something is near. The young tomcat's eyes will open wide as he scans the dense undergrowth. This place will be unfamiliar, but the strange scents will draw him onward, deeper into the shadows. His stomach will growl, reminding him of his hunger. He'll open his jaws slightly to let the warm smells of the forest reach the scent glands on the roof of his mouth. Musty odors of leaf mold will mingle with the tempting aroma of a small furry creature.I've just seen some people rp like that. |
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Post by phantomstar57 on Jul 8, 2017 19:43:22 GMT -5
I'm sitting here wondering how that tense reads! present is easy-is, does, runs, walks etc.
Past - ran, walked, was, did, etc
How does future tense read? I may have to go look it up! Exactly what it sounds like. cx So, instead of this past tense example from Into The Wild, It was very dark. Rusty could sense something was near. The young tomcat's eyes opened wide as he scanned the dense undergrowth. This place was unfamiliar, but the strange scents drew him onward, deeper into the shadows. His stomach growled, reminding him of his hunger. He opened his jaws slightly to let the warm smells of the forest reach the scent glands on the roof of his mouth. Musty odors of leaf mold mingled with the tempting aroma of a small furry creature.it would say: It will be very dark. Rusty will sense something is near. The young tomcat's eyes will open wide as he scans the dense undergrowth. This place will be unfamiliar, but the strange scents will draw him onward, deeper into the shadows. His stomach will growl, reminding him of his hunger. He'll open his jaws slightly to let the warm smells of the forest reach the scent glands on the roof of his mouth. Musty odors of leaf mold will mingle with the tempting aroma of a small furry creature.I've just seen some people rp like that.
And even in the passage from the book, I'd tweak that 1st few lines as it reads like the dreaded cliche' "It was a dark and stormy night ".
Maybe more like -- "In the dark, Rusty sensed something nearby." But I was not their line editor. . . sooo many spots like that are in those books. |
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Post by Maplestone360 on Jul 8, 2017 20:00:17 GMT -5
Exactly what it sounds like. cx So, instead of this past tense example from Into The Wild, It was very dark. Rusty could sense something was near. The young tomcat's eyes opened wide as he scanned the dense undergrowth. This place was unfamiliar, but the strange scents drew him onward, deeper into the shadows. His stomach growled, reminding him of his hunger. He opened his jaws slightly to let the warm smells of the forest reach the scent glands on the roof of his mouth. Musty odors of leaf mold mingled with the tempting aroma of a small furry creature.it would say: It will be very dark. Rusty will sense something is near. The young tomcat's eyes will open wide as he scans the dense undergrowth. This place will be unfamiliar, but the strange scents will draw him onward, deeper into the shadows. His stomach will growl, reminding him of his hunger. He'll open his jaws slightly to let the warm smells of the forest reach the scent glands on the roof of his mouth. Musty odors of leaf mold will mingle with the tempting aroma of a small furry creature.I've just seen some people rp like that.
And even in the passage from the book, I'd tweak that 1st few lines as it reads like the dreaded cliche' "It was a dark and stormy night ".
Maybe more like -- "In the dark, Rusty sensed something nearby." But I was not their line editor. . . sooo many spots like that are in those books.I didn't write it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I only changed the second version to future tense. Cringing all the while. |
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Post by Sea Drops by a Bird on Jul 8, 2017 21:15:27 GMT -5
Well for me, I always enjoyed how the Erin's for the most part made really unique and complex characters, and I like when fanfics do the same, either by creating their own characters or working with the ones the Erin's gave us. Aside from characters like Firestar (who you ignore because he is the main character, but seriously...A little overkill with that one) or that homewrecker Spottedleaf, the majority of the protagonist and supporting characters were very compelling. Take Whitestorm who was a supporting cat who was always so noble and awesome, and then when you peel back that layer you see he's actually a little insecure, or Blackstar who you could never like but have to respect because his journey is probably more exciting than Firestar's and he's definitely come a long way.
So I like when fanfiction's actually spend time with the character's they want to create instead of the story they want to tell, because it's the characters that make the story. As a writer, I've found that you kind of have to let the characters tell their own stories, and I learn new things about the characters I create all the time.
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Post by phantomstar57 on Jul 8, 2017 23:43:52 GMT -5
OMG it's HORRENDOUS! LOL The repetition of "he/it will" surely would drive me mad.
And even in the passage from the book, I'd tweak that 1st few lines as it reads like the dreaded cliche' "It was a dark and stormy night ".
Maybe more like -- "In the dark, Rusty sensed something nearby." But I was not their line editor. . . sooo many spots like that are in those books. I didn't write it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I only changed the second version to future tense. Cringing all the while. it |
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Post by copperxcalico on Jul 8, 2017 23:46:05 GMT -5
O h my g od i hate it so much when fanfics are written script style like...u have no idea
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Post by phantomstar57 on Jul 8, 2017 23:46:50 GMT -5
Well for me, I always enjoyed how the Erin's for the most part made really unique and complex characters, and I like when fanfics do the same, either by creating their own characters or working with the ones the Erin's gave us. Aside from characters like Firestar (who you ignore because he is the main character, but seriously...A little overkill with that one) or that homewrecker Spottedleaf, the majority of the protagonist and supporting characters were very compelling. Take Whitestorm who was a supporting cat who was always so noble and awesome, and then when you peel back that layer you see he's actually a little insecure, or Blackstar who you could never like but have to respect because his journey is probably more exciting than Firestar's and he's definitely come a long way. So I like when fanfiction's actually spend time with the character's they want to create instead of the story they want to tell, because it's the characters that make the story. As a writer, I've found that you kind of have to let the characters tell their own stories, and I learn new things about the characters I create all the time. |
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Post by ✲ριкαƒυєу✲ on Jul 8, 2017 23:56:43 GMT -5
My pet peeve is when canon characters are written super OOC. Like AU's are different, and I get that. However when the story is meant to keep the canon characters...well...canon, I don't like seeing them super OOC.
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Post by Sea Drops by a Bird on Jul 9, 2017 13:35:41 GMT -5
What does OOC and AU stand for? I'm not good with acronyms
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Post by ✲ριкαƒυєу✲ on Jul 9, 2017 14:04:51 GMT -5
What does OOC and AU stand for? I'm not good with acronyms OOC = Out of character AU = Alternate Universe :3 |
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Post by phantomstar57 on Jul 9, 2017 14:22:22 GMT -5
My pet peeve is when canon characters are written super OOC. Like AU's are different, and I get that. However when the story is meant to keep the canon characters...well...canon, I don't like seeing them super OOC. |
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Post by wadevvilson on Jul 9, 2017 15:47:50 GMT -5
O h my g od i hate it so much when fanfics are written script style like...u have no idea Honestly, exact same. Script style annoys me greatly, with the exception of things that are meant to be actual scripts. |
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Post by Sea Drops by a Bird on Jul 9, 2017 17:10:15 GMT -5
When it comes to using characters from the book, I find it's easier and more interesting to use non main characters, because even if you keep it canon we typically don't know enough about the character to feel like their actions are OOC, and it also gives you a story that most people don't tell, which will make it stand out. For example there are a million Dovewing and Ivypool fanfics, but what about Dustpelt? He's interesting and close to the main plot, but not so close that you don't have any wriggle room if you create a fan fic about him. Personally I prefer to use complete background characters who mostly just have cameos
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Post by phantomstar57 on Jul 10, 2017 9:00:53 GMT -5
When it comes to using characters from the book, I find it's easier and more interesting to use non main characters, because even if you keep it canon we typically don't know enough about the character to feel like their actions are OOC, and it also gives you a story that most people don't tell, which will make it stand out. For example there are a million Dovewing and Ivypool fanfics, but what about Dustpelt? He's interesting and close to the main plot, but not so close that you don't have any wriggle room if you create a fan fic about him. Personally I prefer to use complete background characters who mostly just have cameos
But using the canon characters is difficult because in my case, the main canon characters of course play their roles. Only the reader can judge if we do it well. I like to think I was reasonably successful. |
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