Fan Fic Writing Questions and Answers.

[ashleyo85]

Two questions please.

Firstly, in the UK, we call them "cinemas". What do they call them in America?

Secondly, and not strictly speaking a writing question, but pretty close. How do you search for fanfics, by parings, as in Sheldon and Amy, Leonard and Penny, etc. ?

In Canada I say movie theaters, but  usually just theaters or movies.

A few examples 

"Do you want to go to the movies tonight?"

"What's in theaters right now?"

[Stephen Hawking]

Actually, this is by way of the scene, where Sheldon asked Amy to be his girlfriend.

I don't want to go into too much detail, for fear of giving away the story-line, but suffice to say, it's set around now, but refers back to the scene, back then.

[Tensor]

If you wanted Leonard and Penny stories, you could have sent me a PM to get the links to mine, Stephen.   

[nibbler747]

I was wondering, where do the fanfic challenges come from?  i.e Halloween challenge etc.?  I'd like to write a short fun fic, and see other authors take on the same subject.  Do they usually come from these forums?

Thanks!

[rachelshamyfan]

I was wondering, where do the fanfic challenges come from?  i.e Halloween challenge etc.?  I'd like to write a short fun fic, and see other authors take on the same subject.  Do they usually come from these forums?

Thanks!

we can do one from here

Someone like yourself can suggest a Halloween chchallenge and what sort of parameters are involved

[phantagrae]

I'm finally back online!!!

Stephen, in the US we do not use the phrase about she can't half drink, or whatever it was.  There are a few kind of related phrases, like something about bending an elbow, or simply being a lush or whatever.

Also, Sheldon's jacket would be called a windbreaker and we don't really use the word cinema in everyday use. We say movies or theater, as ahleyo85 said.

[jenafan]

Can someone give me a guideline on how many words constitutes a chapter being too long?    I'm approaching 6,000 - 7,000 words each because I have so much story to tell.

[DrWackaDoodle]

Can someone give me a guideline on how many words constitutes a chapter being too long?    I'm approaching 6,000 - 7,000 words each because I have so much story to tell.

That's the million dollar question. It seems that most authors shoot for 6-9k per chapter, but I've seen some as short as 450 words and some as long as 15k. I personally try to stay around 7,500. If you feel it's necessary for the chapter, and there's not a natural breaking point, keep going. The general consensus I've seen around here is the longer the better (pun not intended). 

[nibbler747]

Can someone give me a guideline on how many words constitutes a chapter being too long?    I'm approaching 6,000 - 7,000 words each because I have so much story to tell.

I go for 3000 per chapter, 5000 for a long chapter.  But everyone is diff.  I know DarcyFitz writes really long ones (over 10k) but they are so enjoyable!

i just try to find a natural breaking point and end there.

[rachelshamyfan]

I always think 1000 words is a minimum but I don't think any of mine have gone over 4000 per chapter, but everyone has different ways of doing things and that's ok as well

[tallin]

I wouldn't bother myself with the worry "chapter being too long" at all. I think when reader likes the story then he/she is happy for every extra word.  I'm personally way more excited when seeing new chapter is looong. 7000, no problem, I don't think any of my favorite writers goes beyond that, but if they did, I'd make myself hot tea, relax  and enjoyed every word of it

[Stephen Hawking]

Can someone give me a guideline on how many words constitutes a chapter being too long?    I'm approaching 6,000 - 7,000 words each because I have so much story to tell.

When writing the first chapter, of my first fanfic, I was concerned it might be too short (I'm sorry, what pun?  ), but I published it anyway, and it went down (again, I'm sorry, what pun?  ), OK.

Nowadays, I find my chapters hover around the 4k mark (that first chapter was barely 1.3k), but, once past around 3k, I just write till I find a convenient break.

If you are really struggling to make it a decent length (and again, I'm sorry, what pun?  ), you can always add a filler scene (girls night conversation, lunchtime science discussion between the guys, taking the pee out of Howard for not having a PHD, or some "whimsically inventive" coitus), to pad it out a bit.

Provided one chapter isn't like three times as long as the next, I don't think size it that important. And, once again, I'm sorry, what pun?  

I always think 1000 words is a minimum

I wrote a one-shot, which was ~ 800 words, but it came out OK.

but I don't think any of mine have gone over 4000 per chapter

Same here. ~ 4000 words is usual about my maximum.

The general advice, which I find is pretty sound, is to "write the story you want to write".

Edited October 17, 2015 by Stephen Hawking

[Stephen Hawking]

When you publish the first chapter of a fic, on fanfic.net, you can choose the characters, and link them as pairs.

One of the names listed is "OC".

Would I be right in thinking, OC stands for "Other Character"?

If so, is there a way to actually enter the Other Character's name?

[nibbler747]

My first chapters (chapter 1) tends to go longer cause I am trying to set up the story, character, and hopefully a hook to draw readers in.

[Stephen Hawking]

One of my reviewers, for one of my stories, began his/her review with "Now, that's what I call a hook!"

I have to admit to a twinge of pride, when I read it.  

Edited October 17, 2015 by Stephen Hawking

[April]

When you publish the first chapter of a fic, on fanfic.net, you can choose the characters, and link them as pairs.

One of the names listed is "OC".

Would I be right in thinking, OC stands for "Other Character"?

If so, is there a way to actually enter the Other Character's name?

"OC" means "original character", as in "a character I made up for the story", usually used when such a character has a bigger role to play. For example: when someone writes a story about the Shamy breakup and introduces a new love interest for Amy that character would be listed as "OC".

[Stephen Hawking]

So, what do I choose for a character from the show, who isn't listed on the options?

[Stephen Hawking]

My first chapters (chapter 1) tends to go longer cause I am trying to set up the story, character, and hopefully a hook to draw readers in.

Is it really necessary to "set up the character(s)"?

I think most readers will already know the characters.

I generally just set up the starting scene, which, if the story is a continuation of an episode (whether it's going to be AU, or in between episodes), usually just involves quoting from , and/or describing, a few minutes from the episode.

[jenafan]

Thank you everyone for your advice.   I'm finding that I prefer the longer chapters and have gone back and added details to prior chapters as my writing improves and I come up with better ways to describe a situation.   Sometimes I'll even go back and wonder why I wrote something the way I did and feel the need to change the wording I used.   Until the story is finished, I feel like the story is still a working document and hope people might be interested in rereading once the entire thing has been published as one complete piece vs. one chapter at a time.

Another thing I struggle with is writing dialogue.   I get so confused on when to use a comma(,) or a (.) before the end of the quotation and realize I am not being consistent in this area.   I remember having trouble with this in school, which is one of the reasons writers have editors.

It seems also that no matter how many times I read, I still go back later and catch a spelling or grammatical mistake.   I find it embarrassing and just hope the readers can be forgiving of it.

After reading Simone's 100 word drabble the other day, I'm interested in possibly giving that a try as a break from my current story.  I just don't know if I can contain myself in such few words.

Edited October 17, 2015 by jenafan

[Stephen Hawking]

I get so confused on when to use a comma(,) or a (.) before the end of the quotation and realize I am not being consistent in this area.

You place a comma where the speaker pauses (eg. to take a breath), and you place a full stop (aka "period"), where the speaker stops speaking.

It seems also that no matter how many times I read, I still go back later and catch a spelling or grammatical mistake.

Yep, I do that.

Also, for missed punctuation (mostly not closing dialogue), and missed out words.

[nibbler747]

Is it really necessary to "set up the character(s)"?

I think most readers will already know the characters.

I generally just set up the starting scene, which, if the story is a continuation of an episode (whether it's going to be AU, or in between episodes), usually just involves quoting from , and/or describing, a few minutes from the episode.

My current story has a lot of OC's so it was important for me to establish who they are and give them some depth.   The regular BBT characters I don't usually do that to.  But if the character is kind of a bit underdeveloped on the show (Kripke for example) then I spent some time developing his personality, likes interests further.

[nibbler747]

Another thing I struggle with is writing dialogue.   I get so confused on when to use a comma(,) or a (.) before the end of the quotation and realize I am not being consistent in this area.   I remember having trouble with this in school, which is one of the reasons writers have editors.

It seems also that no matter how many times I read, I still go back later and catch a spelling or grammatical mistake.   I find it embarrassing and just hope the readers can be forgiving of it.

After reading Simone's 100 word drabble the other day, I'm interested in possibly giving that a try as a break from my current story.  I just don't know if I can contain myself in such few words.

I hear you!  I haphazardly use my commas sometimes!  I find people that learned English as a second language have better grammar than native speakers.  Probably because they took the time to learn the rules properly.  My dad's grammer was amazing!  Mine....not so much lol !

this is what I do:

" blah blah blah" Sheldon said.

or "blah blah blah."

If there is something after the quote I put the period there.  If not I put it in the quote .  I'm not sure if that's right though.

As many times as I read something before publishing, I always find stuff to correct after.  Ugh...bane of my existence!

You should give that 100 word drabbles a shot.  It's fun!

[Stephen Hawking]

I wrote a 100 word drabble, which was exactly 100 words.

Boy, was it hard work, to get it to exactly 100 words.

[YlvaBorealis89]

While I agree that most of us already know these characters and thus a character introduction might be deemed superfluous, I understand why one would choose to do so. I personally always introduce the characters even in my one-shots because I like the "bookish" feel it lends to the fic. Of course if it's a one-shot I try to work it in rather than write an entire paragraph describing what these people look like etc. but if it's a longer fic I like to work on a proper character introduction - but I tend to keep descriptions of their outward appearances very short and spend more time introducing the reader to their inner world instead.

Should you or should you not? It's entirely up to you as a writer. Not introducing them gives you more time to get straight to the point which is always important when writing short stories (oh, listen to me getting into English teacher mode) and it might also give the reader a sense of familiarity - they know these characters and they might even be bothered by any attempts to describe them, or (gasp!) change them to your liking.

I would say though that introducing them also gives you a chance to set the mood and build up suspense - and it might help you establish your style. Your regular readers will become familiar with the characters the way *you* see them, and come to accept it as the truth if they agree with you.

....So that was a really long way of saying "it's up to you".

Edited October 19, 2015 by YlvaBorealis89

[Stephen Hawking]

Not introducing them gives you more time to get straight to the point which is always important when writing short stories.

I, personally, try to get into the "action", as it were, as quickly as possible. In many cases, I'll come in half way through a scene.

For example, in one of my stories, the first paragraph begins with Sheldon and Amy, dressed in pajamas, standing either side of Sheldon's bed, preparing for their first bed share.

In another, they're standing outside 4A, talking, at the end of date night.

In yet another (in this case, a one-shot) it's their 5th sleepover, and they're in Amy's bed, kissing.