Note: Before I start, I will say that everything I write is IMHO and not meant to offend anyone. I'm trying not to sound preachy or anything, but it is possible I'll come across that way if I go ahead with the plan I detail below.
I shouldn't be writing this.
I should be working on DoB. Or on the half-finished story I was writing for last quiz. Or on that twisted tale of Korgan and Ellesime that sprang to my mind when I was reading about Gimli's thing for Galadriel in LOTR.
That's what I should be doing…but screw it; my muse is on six-week vacation, it seems.
Instead of writing, I've been reading quite a bit lately. A lot of published books, to be sure, but also a LOT of Attic stuff. I've been reading things I haven't followed too closely in current quizzes and browsing the archives a bit.
And yes, I'll say there's a lot of great stuff in the Attic—stories that prove that fanfic does not have to suck.
But there is quite a bit that I find very flawed. And more often than I'd like—though far, far less than I might fear if I were to go to any random ol' fanfic site—I find myself thinking, “THAT is the definition of craptacular.”
And even some of the really good stuff has what I see as weak spots.
I can think of quite a few general comments on the sort of thing I feel it's just a bad thing to do. I might even have enough to make a small list. This will just deal with general beefs—hopefully not in a way that is overly abrasive, and CERTAINLY not in a way that mentions any one story or series by name or by obvious unique traits.
What good will this do? you may ask. Aren't I basically proposing a massive bitching session?
Not exactly. It's my hope that people will read this list and start looking at their own writing with a critical eye that might be immune to their usual writing blindspots (Every writer has blindspots, IMO. I'm sure I've got 'em; I just can't see 'em since they are BLINDspots.), to start asking themselves questions, like, “Gee, in following this detail from the game am I actually ignoring all real-world, non-gamey logic? Does that bother me? What can I do about it?”
But I'm just one voice, at times perhaps more obnoxious than most, but one voice nonetheless. I don't think that anyone would necessarily benefit that greatly just from whatever insight one voice can provide. So this list I'm proposing is a writer's resource I want people to feel free to add to. Open to all.
It will be a list of subjective opinions, perhaps even contradictory opinions, but that's alright; it obviously isn't meant to be a set of hard and fast rules (because often things boil down to a good old-fashioned difference of opinions), just some things that everyone might want to at least consider as they're writing.
So, to sum up: I propose a thread that will be an open list of general writing tips, particularly of traps that people fall into, for writers to keep in mind.
For example…
Sometimes writers—even professional writers—will include a character in a story that I feel is uninteresting and detracts from the quality. Commonly known as a Mary Sue, this type of character often comes across as too-perfect (good-looking, smart, talented, powerful, and all-around better than everyone else—without ever having to sacrifice anything to achieve these things) with no real flaws. Every other character is often madly in love with the Mary Sue, and he/she tends to be an author's idealized self-image.
Note that it would not be OK to start calling an Attic author's character a Mary Sue. In a case where you feel the need to give an example, please refer only 'real' books/stories (i.e. works of professional writers—anything that can be found in a bookstore is fair game).
I have a lot more to say than the universal “Mary Sues=bad” rule, a lot of which is pretty much BG-specific, and I'm hoping I'm not the only one. I am eager to start, but I thought I should ask the opinions of fellow Attic-goers. Would there be a problem with this if it were done in a civil manner that didn't single anyone out, but just addressed general 'problems'? Or does it sound like a divisive, unhelpful thing that I should just forget about?
Hope this whole thing made sense instead of coming across as a series of disjointed ramblings. Opinions on this would be most welcome.
