The Grammar-Freak's Guide to Fanfiction

[Umbra]

As I am the new moderator of the Fanfiction and Role-Play sections, there are some guidelines I would like to post. This guide will cover everything I consider worthy enough for the Fanfiction section.

 

 

The Guide on Fanfiction

 

Fanfiction is a broadly defined term for fiction about characters or settings written by admirers of the original work, rather than by the original creators. But enough quoting from Wikipedia now, let's get to business. I consider fanfictions a way of expressing your thoughts, and therefore try to make my fanfictions as deep as possible. However, I can understand if other people do not feel the same. Let's talk about writing a fanfiction.

 

Format

A format is the structure of the fanfiction, and very well determine it's readability. Therefore, the Format is considered a necessarity for making fanfictions, and should therefore be included in any subjective or objective rating. Along with the general structure of the story, a fanfiction should also include the dialogue format in any rating.

 

Proper formatting

To improve your format, and therefore improve the general quality of your fanfiction, there are countless things you can do, depending on the current quality. Here are some things I suggest you to do. See the Example Spoiler at the bottom of this section of the article for examples on breaking these Guidelines.

 

1. Only use numbers when you are not writing them inside the story, but as a matter of description.

 

2. Use properly spaced out lines. Do not begin a new sentence of dialogue in the middle of a row.

 

3. Do not write in different colours. It only makes your fan-fic look childish and also makes it harder to read. (If you must use colours, do it for the effect rather than categorizing)

 

4. Do not use down-cut words, like & instead of ”and” or 1st instead of ”first”.

 

5. And, finally, stick to a single dialogue format style during the whole fanfiction. Do not change, even in duels. More about format styles below.

 

Dialogue

 

In my opinion, there are three kinds of formats for dialogue. The Person-Action-Dialogue format(PAD), the Dialogue-Person-Action format(DPA), and the Person-Action-Person:Dialogue(PAP:D) format. Below, I will provide examples of each format.

 

[spoiler=PAD]

Michael(P) grunted(A).

- (D)Can't you carry anything, Anna? My feet are burning!

or

"(D)Can't you carry anything, Anna? My feet are burning!"

 

 

[spoiler=DPA]

- (D)Excuse me, Mike, but I'm the one with the backpack here!, (P)Anne (A)shouted back at him.

or

"(D)Excuse me, Mike, but I'm the one with the backpack here!" (P)Anne (A)shouted back at him.

 

 

[spoiler=PAP:D]

(P)Michael (A)sighed.

Michael:(P:D) But I've been carrying the firewood!

 

 

 

As you can see above, the three formats might resemble each other, but should all be viewed carefully. The PAD format can be used in a slower story, while the DPA is more active. The PAP:D is possibly the slowest, but the easiest to understand. Both PAD and DPA can be used with either dialogue lines (-) or quotation marks ("").(Thanks to Ixigo for this addition.)

 

[spoiler=Examples]

How not to write:

[spoiler=Guideline 1]

Jerry drew 1 card.

I'll play Dragon's Mirror, and Summon 5-headed dragon!

Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.

- I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!

 

 

[spoiler=Guideline 2]

Jerry drew 1 card. - I'll activate Dragon's Mirror, and Summon 5-headed dragon!

Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs. - I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!

 

 

[spoiler=Guideline 3]

Jerry drew 1 card. - I'll summon Dragon's Mirror, and Summon 5-headed dragon!

Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.- I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!

 

 

[spoiler=Guideline 4]

Jerry drew 1 card. - I'll summon Dragon's Mirror & Summon 5-headed dragon!

Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.- I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!

 

 

[spoiler=Guideline 5]

Jerry drew 1 card. - I'll summon Dragon's Mirror & Summon 5-headed dragon!

Nicholas revealed 1 of his face-downs.Nicholas: I activate 1 face-down card! 2-Pronged Attack!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Description

 

Descriptions are necessary to any fanfiction, as it otherwise becomes a brickload of dialogue and nothing else. I've seen tons of fanfictions that have been like this, and they soon become boring to read. Without small sentences describing what the characters do, where they are, what happens in the environment around them, the story becomes a script. Literally if you use the PAP:D format. And if you think it's a script, you're treating your fanfic like a movie, which it isn't. In a movie, all the descriptions come by themselves. Now, you'll have to write them instead. It's as simple as pie. Now, I will give you examples on how a text can be changed by simply adding descriptions.

 

[spoiler=No descriptions]

 

(Ronald: No cards on field, 3500 LP)

(Ben: Dread Swordsman (1400/1000) and a face-down spell/trap, 2000 LP)

 

Ronald: I summon Firebreath Golem (1800/0) and place two cards face-down. Your turn.

 

Ben: (draws a card) You don't think you can harm with that, right? I activate Polymerization! And with it, I'll combine Dread Swordsman (1400/1000) with the Skeletal Dragon (2900/2300) in my hand to summon Nightmare Dragon. (3200/3200) Now, my Dragon attacks your Golem.

 

(Firebreath Golem is destroyed, Ronald loses 3200 - 1800 = 1400 LP, drops to 2100)

 

 

 

[spoiler=Descriptions added.]

 

Ronald smiled. The duel had gone easy so far, and he had easily been gaining advantage over Ben, step by step. Now, he was in the lead with thirty-five hundred Life Points compared to Ben's two thousand. However, his field was clear, while Ben controlled a Dread Swordsman and had a card face-down. This didn't bother Ronald much though; he knew he could finish this easily. He drew a card, and sighed. It wasn't exactly what he had hoped for, but he could deal with it.

 

- I summon Firebreath Golem! (1800/0)

 

As he placed the card on the Duel Disk, a roaring flame emerged from it. Ben took a frightened step back: it was an illusion as good as any. Soon, the flames shaped themselves into the vague form of a man, and hovered a few inches above the ground.

 

- And after that, I'll place a few cards face-down and end my turn.

 

Ben nodded, and drew a card. His eyes flashed and he smiled; Ronald became worried. Maybe Ben had drawn...

 

- You don't think you can harm with that, right? I activate Polymerization! And with it, I'll combine Dread Swordsman (1400/1000) with the Skeletal Dragon (2900/2300) in my hand to summon Nightmare Dragon. (3200/3200)

 

Ben placed a Spell on his Duel Disk, and Ronald simply stared as a large purple and orange whirl appeared in front of Ben. The Dread Swordsman turned around, and walked into the whirl. One of the cards in Ben's hand flashed, and a slender dragon with neither skin nor muscles, but simply a skeleton of a dragon flew into the whirl as well. The air around the whirl seemed to shiver as the whirl exploded into a million of colors and a new dragon emerged. Ronald almost fell to his feet; the Nightmare Dragon was truly a fearsome monster. With a long, slender body consisting of a purple mist with a clearly visible spine partially hidden beneath it. Ben smiled at Ronald.

 

- Now, Nightmare Dragon attacks your Firebreath Golem.

 

The dragon opened up it's mighty jaw, revealing a bottomless pit of darkness. As Ronald stared into it, he felt his very health being drained away. He felt as if the dragon was sucking him in somehow, trying to end his life. Infront of him, he saw that the Golem reacted the same, only far worse. The golem had already lifted off the ground, traveling directly towards the bottomless pit that was the Nightmare Dragon's mouth. After a few seconds, the golem had vanished inside. The world itself seemed to rest as Ronald's Life Points fell to twenty-one hundred. He looked at the dragon, then at Ben, his old friend. Ben was grinning deeply, and in his eyes Ronald saw the same endless darkness that he had seen within the dragon's jaws. This was no ordinary duel anymore.

 

 

 

 

Writer Rank

 

During my time at this forum, I have came to this understanding:

There are two kinds of writers at this forum. One kind that does not care about spelling or grammar, and one that does. Maybe the first kind just writes for their friends to read. Maybe they just write for the fun of it, and decide to focus on the plot rather than on S&G. This kind normally writes very short chapters, often around a page. The second kind are also divided into two separate categories; Those that actually use proper S&G, and those that aspire to. The first kind of these are qualified writers in my opinion; they generally make longer chapters and more interesting plots aswell. Also, they follow the rules of the English grammar. The second kind of these are on their way to becoming qualified writers, and have a wish to become such. I have ranked these kinds of writers from a scale of one to three, the Friend-Writer being rank three, the lowest rank, and the Qualified Writer as rank one. Below, I will list guidelines for each of these ranks.

 

 

Friend-Writers:

*Try to include good, if not flawless, S&G in your stories.

 

*Make the plot as interesting as possible.

 

*When/If you use characters from the original show and/or GX, do not change their decks or behaviour.

 

Aspiring Writers:

*Make the plot interesting, and include descriptions.

 

* Use as good S&G as you can. Do not cut down on the S&G just because you can't put the story up at the appointed time.

 

* When/If you use characters from the original show and/or GX, do not change their decks or behaviour.

Qualified Writers:

* If you have reached this rank, you do not need many of these guidelines. However, you should follow the General Advice listed below.

 

 

General Advice

 

This advice is given to all that aspire to write a fan-fiction.

 

*If you use characters from the original show and/or GX, do not change their decks or behaviour.

 

* When you post a thread, make sure that you include part of the fanfiction in the first post. If there's nothing there to read, the thread is not a fan-fiction and will be moved to the appropriate section or locked.

 

* If you read someone else's fanfiction, and would like to comment or review it, any insults are unnecessary. However, feedback and constructive criticism are appreciated. (Thanks to Faint Brushfire for this one)

 

* Don't panic when you read this article. I don't expect everyone to be a Qualified Writer.

[Purple Dinosaur]

Great guider Umbra. I guess you are the best person for the Fan-Fic section.

[Umbra]

Thanks, Anchor. I appreciate that.

[Guest Ixigo]

I'd like to add that it's usually a good idea to put dialogue lines between quotes (""), since it effectively separates dialogue from the main text.

 

I liked the emphasis on the format, coloring, spelling and grammar. No matter the audience it is directed to, a written story should always contain perfect spelling and grammar. However, since for some people this is clearly impossible - why, I can't even begin to fathom - they should at least try not to brutally butcher every single word. Spellcheck is your friend.

 

Good work there, Umbra.

[Cyber Altair]

cool guide, i might make a fan-fic myself soon.

[Atomix]

I'm an Aspiring Writer for my crazy plots that go into deep description, nice Guide ^_^

[Umbra]

I'd like to add that it's usually a good idea to put dialogue lines between quotes ("")' date=' since it effectively separates dialogue from the main text.

 

I liked the emphasis on the format, coloring, spelling and grammar. No matter the audience it is directed to, a written story should always contain perfect spelling and grammar. However, since for some people this is clearly impossible - why, I can't even begin to fathom - they should at least try not to brutally butcher every single word. Spellcheck is your friend.

 

Good work there, Umbra.

[/quote']

 

Yes, the quotes can also be used as a dialogue format. But I would like to incorporate that under the PAD format.

 

Thank you on the rest.

 

cool guide' date=' i might make a fan-fic myself soon.

[/quote']

 

Thank you. Best of luck on your fanfiction.

[Cyber Altair]

cool guide' date=' i might make a fan-fic myself soon.

[/quote']

 

Thank you. Best of luck on your fanfiction.

 

thanks man, it will be deferent from the rest.

[Guest Ixigo]

Yes' date=' the quotes can also be used as a dialogue format. But I would like to incorporate that under the PAD format.

[/quote']

 

Actually, quotes can be used in PAD as well as DAP format. The exception would be PAP:D format, which I must admit I'm not really fond of in stories, since it looks script-ish.

 

Also, Cyber Altair... you might want to re-read the part about spelling and grammar D=

[namallan]

Yeah, great guide Fan - Fics are awesome

[Umbra]

Yes' date=' the quotes can also be used as a dialogue format. But I would like to incorporate that under the PAD format.

[/quote']

 

Actually, quotes can be used in PAD as well as DAP format. The exception would be PAP:D format, which I must admit I'm not really fond of in stories, since it looks script-ish.

 

I don't enjoy the PAP:D format either, but it's a well-known format and is, as I said, one of the easier to decrypt. But I'll add the quotation marks as a sub-format to PAD and DPA.

[Chaos Impact™]

good at least i understand why yo are the fan fic moderator

[Umbra]

good at least i understand why yo are the fan fic moderator

 

I believe that every member of the Moderator squad should contribute in some way, except for everyday moderation. This is my contribution, and I'm glad you liked it.

[Brushfire]

Defiantly the best for the job, Umbra. I'm a Qualified Writer though this has shown me what people may think. Well done again Umbra.

[Umbra]

Defiantly the best for the job' date=' Umbra. I'm a Qualified Writer though this has shown me what people may think. Well done again Umbra.

[/quote']

 

Thank you, Brushfire. Although, I don't think I've seen any of your works here on this forum? (Probably up somewhere else, but if there is works of a Qualified Writer somewhere, I'd like to read it.)

[Umbra]

Defiantly the best for the job' date=' Umbra. I'm a Qualified Writer though this has shown me what people may think. Well done again Umbra.

[/quote']

 

Thank you, Brushfire. Although, I don't think I've seen any of your works here on this forum? (Probably up somewhere else, but if there is works of a Qualified Writer somewhere, I'd like to read it.)

[Guest Ixigo]

Defiantly the best for the job' date=' Umbra. I'm a Qualified Writer though this has shown me what people may think. Well done again Umbra.

[/quote']

 

Adverb

defiantly (comparative more defiantly' date=' superlative most defiantly)

 

1) In a defiant manner.

2) [b']Common misspelling of definitely. [/b]

 

Lulz.

[Guest Ixigo]

Defiantly the best for the job' date=' Umbra. I'm a Qualified Writer though this has shown me what people may think. Well done again Umbra.

[/quote']

 

Adverb

defiantly (comparative more defiantly' date=' superlative most defiantly)

 

1) In a defiant manner.

2) [b']Common misspelling of definitely. [/b]

 

Lulz.

[Brushfire]

Defiantly the best for the job' date=' Umbra. I'm a Qualified Writer though this has shown me what people may think. Well done again Umbra.

[/quote']

 

Thank you, Brushfire. Although, I don't think I've seen any of your works here on this forum? (Probably up somewhere else, but if there is works of a Qualified Writer somewhere, I'd like to read it.)

 

All my work is hosted on fanfiction.net and other various sites.

 

Ixigo, that was a typo, I know how to spell definitely thanks.

 

EDIT: A Rule to include would be "No flames, but Constructive Critism is always good".

EDIT2: OK, I admit I suck at spelling, and I need a spellchecker.

[Dragonzord]

These tips are way better than the last thread's. 4/5

[Wyhe]

Thanks for the guide.I know many people here would benefit from it.

[Phantom Roxas]

That's because Umbra is the best author on this site.

[Frunk]

Mine doesn't have any characters or dialogue (I suppose it's much like the documentary that got lost among the films), but I worry about my sentencing. I occasionally have very long sentences that feature a lot of commas and in the end I fear that people may miss the point I was originally trying to get across.

 

Any suggestions on how I could fix this would be very useful.

 

Thanks, Frunk.

[Frunk]

Mine doesn't have any characters or dialogue (I suppose it's much like the documentary that got lost among the films), but I worry about my sentencing. I occasionally have very long sentences that feature a lot of commas and in the end I fear that people may miss the point I was originally trying to get across.

 

Any suggestions on how I could fix this would be very useful.

 

Thanks, Frunk.

[Umbra]

Mine doesn't have any characters or dialogue (I suppose it's much like the documentary that got lost among the films)' date=' but I worry about my sentencing. I occasionally have very long sentences that feature a lot of commas and in the end I fear that people may miss the point I was originally trying to get across.

 

Any suggestions on how I could fix this would be very useful.

 

Thanks, Frunk.

[/quote']

 

Basically, you ask how to get rid of them commas, and shorten down the sentences? Basically: Outspacing. If you feel that you've written too much, the Enter button is your friend, if only for a single click. Also, punctuation and sentence reconstruction. In some places where you would have placed a comma, end the sentence there, and write the rest in another sentence.