Fanfic 'rules'

[blingaway]

And secondly: does that mean there's a forum-wide slash banning? I mean, my sig isn't exactly in your face, but it's created with a view to the characters being wuvved up (and subsequent angst, obviously).

The forum's a great place and I wouldn't like to have to leave on principle.

Right now in the Daniel Thunk thread, we have a good-natured bicker over slash going on. For obvious reasons, PG forum and all, there isn't a whole lot of in-depth discussion, but our little thread of insanity acknowledges that some viewers see that relationship and the mods haven't had a problem with us.

While I myself don't go for slash, I think your sig is lovely. A subtle look is more engaging than a grope-fest a lot of the time.

[Skydiver]

Not including slash fic in the archive is darren's rule. Explicit het fic is also not allowed.

For a more detailed explanation, you can contact him. it basically comes down to 'his archive, his rules'. There are archives out there that also don't allow het or slash fic, one of them is STargatefan.com, which screens all its fic to make sure that there is no ship or slash submitted. Fanfiction.net disallows any and all adult fic, no matter of pairings. Area52 disallows anything that ISN'T slash orientated.

At the end of the day it comes down to the preferences of the person who is paying the bills, and also the terms of service rules that s/he must abide by with their host. I remember one year with the awards that we could not link directly to a story as was the normal way of things because the story dealt with Daniel and Skaara and skirted too close to being interpreted as 'kiddie porn' and that would be a violation of the TOS with the awards host.

Your sig is fine, in fact any sig that stays within the PG boundaries of the forum is fine, no matter the pairing or grouping of characters. All it needs to be is 200x700 and 50K or less and PG.

[alfirin_kirinki]

Your sig is fine, in fact any sig that stays within the PG boundaries of the forum is fine, no matter the pairing or grouping of characters. All it needs to be is 200x700 and 50K or less and PG.

Oh, well that's good to know! I don't know the exact measurements, but it doesn't look too massive!

I'm glad there isn't a general anti-slash theme on here. I totally agree that this sort of forum needs to be PG, and I'm amply aware of the existance of sites like Area 52 and Wraithbait, both of which do accept slash. I was just a little worried that there was a bit of an antipathy towards it generally.

Mind you, having realised that some of the guys (Rainbow, for example - although I wouldn't dream of shipping Ford, he's too much like a kid brother! Heh) hang out on here, I feel less inclined to rave about it. I can imagine it might make some people a little uncomfortable (or, y'know... just make them laugh themselves silly! )

Thanks for the notes, guys - especially blingaway. I like it, too.

[Kazzy J]

Hi Guys,
New here, I wanna write a fic, got an idea and have written them for other sites, but never from a Stargate POV. I was wondering if there were any real do's or dont's. I've had a look through the threads and nothing apart from the obvious comes to mind.

The only thing, as you said above, is where and how to post/archive them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

k xx

[Skydiver]

there's a lot of suggestions in the 'are you a fanfic snob' thread.

what i would suggest, however, is just to write. sit down and do it and then post it. don't worry about pleasing any certain person but yourself.

i guarantee you that the fandom is so wide and varied that someone will enjoy whatever you write

[Kazzy J]

Thanks for that Skydiver.

My fic is chugging along nicely, now, do people post the whole thing, or can we post in chapters?
Is there a word count, min/max that sort of thing?

Kaz xx

[Skydiver]

Thanks for that Skydiver.

My fic is chugging along nicely, now, do people post the whole thing, or can we post in chapters?
Is there a word count, min/max that sort of thing?

Kaz xx

my personal preference is to have it posted in one complete story. I know that some writers prefer chapters, however, here is my POV on it. I'm a 'saver'. if i find a fic that i like, i c/p it into word and tuck it onto my harddrive to read again without going looking for it.

when a story is in one part, that's easier (and i personally will never post a fic as a 'work in progress' and i rarely ever post my stuff in chapters unless they're a series of fic).

In fact, for me personally, i tend NOT to read fic that are broken up into several chapters until it's recommended to me. First, i won't read WIP's since i've been burned by too many never being completed, and second of all, it's just a bit of a pain to flip through pages and pages to read it all

and from the pov of the archivist for gateworld. I scan the fic that's uploaded. if it's uploaded in one part, then i just have to check one fic. if it's uploaded in several, i have to check several. I like it easy

However, you do as you wish. Honestly, single stories are my personal preference, however i know others that aren't as anal as i am, so please, do whatever you wish and it will be fine

[Kazzy J]

LOL,
Ok thanks for.
Now to decide how long to let it go on for...

LOL

k xx

[Mousie]

If you do decide to post in chapters can I suggest that you think about what length each chapter would be. I'd recommend at minimum of 1000 words to a page/chapter. Anything less is I find is just too short, you can't get into the story as there is no substance in such short parts.

[Sy~]

Hi... its been a long time since I have posted on gateworld.

I have written the first part of a story and wondered if I would be best just publishing the entire story, or to break it up as I indended to - into different parts.

It is pretty long, so what would you advice?

Regards,

Simon

[SilverRider]

Hi... its been a long time since I have posted on gateworld.

I have written the first part of a story and wondered if I would be best just publishing the entire story, or to break it up as I indended to - into different parts.

It is pretty long, so what would you advice?

Regards,

Simon

It depends on where your hosting you ric. if it on GW, the posted as a whole, if it on ff.net, do it in chapters, which should be no more then 1,500 words IMO.

But if it at GW, A mod could help you out.

[Skydiver]

well, from my personal pov, i much prefer one whole fic. I find it easier to read than going out to track down every single chapter.

my point of view is also the pov of a dialup person who tends to c/p fic into word so that i can read it offline at my leisure rather than burning up internet time reading. (and i never pass the fic on or reuse it. i just read it. and if i like it, i keep it to read again. if i don't like it, i delete)

From the perspective of a mod and the archivist for gateworld, darren's preferences are also for complete fic. You can post your fic in chapters if you want, but we have no chaptering system like ff.net does. you would have to upload each chapter as an individual story and give it a name like Story, chapter one, two, three, etc so that the readers know that it's all linked. This is another reason why uploading the whole fic works better.

One thing he does not want archived are works in progress, unless each chapter can stand on its own like a series would. Gateworld's uploader simply isn't set up to handle it and he also prefers complete fic to be on the site, not bits and pieces that may never be finished

I hope that helps, if not, feel free to PM me with any questions, or you can certainly post them here

[Sy~]

Umm.. problem is guys is that its over eight chapters long and over 8000 words and I am not even half way through writing it.

My main reason for wanting to post what I have now, is so that I can get people's thoughts on it so that I can then modify the storyline in its earl days.

However, if it is generally prefered that a story be posted whole, give me another four weeks or so and it should be finished... possibly.

Its nice to be back here posting again.

Regards,

Simon

[Skydiver]

you can always post it on fanfiction.net in its chaptered form, and then there's a thread in the fanfic section here to post links to your fic, post links here, see if folks will read and talk aobut it, then use gateworld forum for thei finished product

[Major Clanger]

Umm.. problem is guys is that its over eight chapters long and over 8000 words and I am not even half way through writing it.

My main reason for wanting to post what I have now, is so that I can get people's thoughts on it so that I can then modify the storyline in its earl days.

well... I have some fics (and so do loads of other writers) that come in at over 35,000 words. Some people's are even longer.

I'm with Skydiver - I prefer to see a whole fic posted (I won't read a WIP). And in fact, if you look around here and see some of the "what don't you like with a fic" a lot of people will hit the back button faster than you can say SG-1 if the author posts in parts to see if people like it before posting the rest.

I think the best reason to write a fic is because you want to. It's a bonus if anyone else likes it too.

Just my thoughts on this, though.