cu-kid9

For the review, I would say that, while the person does seem to be a bit overly critical about how your story is/was formated, it seems that the real problem stems from the reader not having any knowledge of the fandom you've crossed over into. However, the review was well-worded and, for the most part, polite. I think that, if you are to respond to it, you should respond in kind -try not to take the criticism to heart, it sounds like they're really just trying to help you out. I'm a firm believer in A/N's just because I think it's a good way (really the only way here on AFF) to communicate with your readers. I respond to my reviews at the end of chapters. I feel that it makes the readers feel like I'm actually taking into account what they're saying. And I read other people's author's notes, too, even if they are just drivel -unless it's one of those, like RikuDrak said, telling the readers that they're going to write however they wanna

Well...you know what they say: Write what you know...

I don't want snow here. It means I have to stay late at work I'm ready for summer already...I've been ready since the beginning of winter -but I'm one of those people who's chilly even when it's 60. My whole thing with snow is, if it's going to snow, I want it to SNOW. None of this measly barely-cover-the-ground stuff -that just irritates me. I want FEET! Sort of like what's in the pictures

I know this isn't what she said, but this is what I hear: "I understand that you're being protective, but..." and the word "but" is rarely good coming out of a girl's mouth. I can't give your GF crap about hanging out with guys older than she is. I did it when I was around 16 and 17 -but I was also taking art classes at the local community college, so I kind of feel like I had a legit reason for doing so. The whole thing about her mom...well, I can't really say anything about that either, since I don't know anything about her family dynamics. I know that if I had done something like that, my mother would have probably killed me, grounded me, yelled at me, and locked me away for the rest of my life -no matter how old I was when I did it. In fact, I did something a little similar when I was about her age (not taking my shirt off or anything, but going out with a guy I didn't know...except he was the same age as me...and I was with a group of friends...), and my mom flipped when she found out. I thought I was dead for sure. Here's the thing that really irks me about this whole situation -you spend time and energy to make sure that she's happy and seem to get...well, not much in return. The fact that she's maintaining contact with this guy (who I'm assuming you still haven't met) is really -excuse my harsh language- pretty shitty (and when did she get his phone number?!). The fact that she thinks it's amusing that he creeps you out and gives you a bad vibe is also shitty. It's also, in my opinion, disrespectful. Your statement about how you're happy when you're making her happy just...gnaws at me -has since I read it. I'm honestly not trying to be rude or make you mad, but this is the one thing I hate hearing from people in relationships. It just sounds so one-sided to me, like you're saying no matter what happens, no matter how much your feelings get hurt or how much she disrespects you, it's okay as long as you're making her happy. The reality of it, though, is that you are the only person that can make you happy -no one else. Making the people around you happy should just be a bonus.

Okay, whoa...what? Are you saying that you overreacted to her going into some strange dude's house and taking her shirt off (oh, and it doesn't matter if she still had her bra on, btw. She still partially disrobed for a stranger)? How are you overreacting? Really, the only time this should ever be acceptable is during A.) Mardi Gras, B.) around you, or C.) in a life-drawing class (a legitimate life-drawing class). Whatever her emotional reasons for doing so, this act of...whatever it was, isn't acceptable relationship behavior, as Shinju said, and you shouldn't think it is. I may have missed this somewhere in the thread, but have you even told her how much this hurt you? I mean, if the situation were reversed, and you did something like this, what would she do? Probably freak (I'm not saying she would, but I think I would). It's all well and good to cater to her emotions and to make sure that she's happy, but wasn't the whole point of this thread to recognize that you have feelings too? You are obviously emotionally invested in this relationship and that's not a bad thing. And obviously you love her and care about her. I don't think that an incident like this is enough to warrant a breakup, but I think that something should be said about it. This isn't a jealousy/possessiveness issue -this is much more serious than that. Not only did she show a considerable lack of concern for her own well-being, but she showed the same lack of concern for your feelings. Yeah, okay, so you say something about it and she yells at you, freaks out, whatever...there's only a 50/50 chance she'll do that, right? If she really loves you, she'll be willing to talk about this -and I mean talk, no shouting, no emotional bullshit like tears or anything like that, but truly sit down and maturely talk about it. The point is that you have to make her aware of the things she does that you feel are inappropriate, and encourage her to do the same to you. My parents have been married for almost twenty years and they've only fought (I mean, all-out shouting matches) maybe a handful of times. Part of it may be just because they're a great couple, but I also think it's because they take the time to talk things out, reasonably, rationally, and maturely. You're one-half of a whole in this relationship -it isn't all about what makes her happy, it's about what makes you happy, too. If being with her makes you happy, great. But there are going to be snags and bumps in the road and, unless you address the issues and then move on, you're just going to let them fester. Again as Shinju said, you sound nice, but don't allow that niceness to let people walk all over you.

Okay, before I say anything to respond to this rant, I just want to make sure that you know that I'm not in any way trying to "bash" your girlfriend either -I don't know her, I'm just going on what you've said and my experience with girls...well, and being a girl :clap: Well, that depends on the girl. Personally, I think it's bull that guys feel they need to walk on eggshells when talking to girls. Unless something is said intentionally to hurt my feelings, I can take just about anything. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as guilty as the next girl at doing that whole take something the wrong way, twist it around until it doesn't even come close to resembling what it was supposed to -but I usually do that in fun. In my opinion, if you have to think about everything you say -two, three times over- before you open your mouth to a girl you're seeing, it just isn't worth it. That's not being overly-sensitive, that's just flipping out for the sake of flipping out (and probably for attention). This whole thing about her going over to a stranger's house and taking her shirt off sounds questionable to me. If it had been a friend, I probably wouldn't have even responded to this. But the whole thing is too weird. I mean, I wouldn't have gone into someone's place that I didn't know by myself -especially not a guy's place being a girl...and if, in some moment of utter and complete insanity, I did, there's no way in hell he could have convinced me to take my shirt off if I had a boyfriend -I mean, short of drugging me or clobbering me over the head. I know artist types, I've been one and hung out with them my entire life and, while sometimes they come off as a little strange (no offense ), they're mostly harmless. But this whole "it's hard to trace the beauty of your body with your shirt on" crap is just...crap. Who says that? Furthermore, who falls for it? Oh, and the "it felt like a relationship" part? Yeah, that's crap too. She just met the guy, how can she have a relationship with him? And what kind of "relationship?" Like a friends thing? No offense, but it's girls who do and say things like that who give girls a bad name. The fact that she told you about going to the guy's place is cool. I mean, at least she didn't lie about it. But the fact that she gave you as much detail as she did, and wasn't creeped out by anything (the "relationship" thing really kills me...you don't even know how absolutely dumbfounded I am by that), means one of two things: A) she is just being sincerely honest with you and wants you to know what happened, or (and this, I think, is more likely since I know girls pull this shit all the time) B.) she wants to make you jealous. Because, the reality of it is, we know you guys aren't heartless bastards -in fact, we're very aware of the fact that you have hearts. And some girls will do and say whatever they can to rip it out and do little jigs all over it. Men may not be heartless bastards, but some girls sure are ruthless bitches. I guess I should ask how old this girl is before I continue, but sometimes it doesn't matter. Not to be harsh against my own sex, but some girls don't outgrow what I view as a high school attitude, where you say you love someone because it's what you're supposed to say. It doesn't matter if you mean it, or really know what love is. You say it so that, when asked, you can say, "Oh, Johnny-boy and I are so in love." Besides, who feels sick (or strange, even) when other people talk about how in love they are with their significant others? I don't. I'm happy for people who are in love. It's a great thing, so why would anyone look down on it? Oh, and not all mother's spoon feed their daughters feminist bullshit. When I moved away to college, I kept a long distance relationship with my boyfriend at the time...and all the while, my friends back home were making bets on how long it would be before I cheated on him. While it was tempting, I never did. I've been cheated on before, too, and I can't think of anything more cruel you could do to a person you supposedly care about than that. Now, since you've made me go on a rant of my own and this is officially my longest post here, I'm going to shut up and go play Tetris or something else equally time-consuming that will help me put off the writing I should be doing.

Oh great...now I'm going to spend all my time playing Simon... I love it though

I'm 27. It's cool to see such a wide range here...and to see people around my age and older (I keep running into 23 year olds, what is that?).

I've noticed it's really bad with cheeses...makes the cheese taste like plastic, yuck (not that some of them don't already...). Have you seen the plastic bags that are supposed to keep your food tasting better because they let "the gases that foods naturally release" out while "locking the freshness in!!!!"? (These aren't really direct quotes) No? Well, apparently this is the reason why your food tastes like plastic and doesn't stay fresh for as long as it should. I saw them on an info-mercial one night -yeah, it was late, I was totally bored, hush. I don't use plastic either when saving stuff in the fridge. I have these old Pyrex containers that I use. They work since I don't keep leftovers around for too long. Or, if I make too much, I freeze it and take it to work.

I use Behindthename.com (the first name and surname page) too, but only if I need a name that needs a specific meaning -and even then, I tend to change the spelling slightly if I don't like the original. I am constantly writing down names that I see or hear -e.g. Spiro Xanthos (I loove that one), Rade, Xanthia, Rhean- all of which I keep in a little book for reference when I need a good, strange, interesting name. I like coming up with guy names the most for some reason (my recent characters have been Astor Delaney, Cillian Blake, Leif Rosenhart). I got slack in a creative writing class one time for using names that were "unpronounceable." Okay, it was a story about Ragnarök and I was using Nordic names -sheesh.

Yeah...I'm confused too. So, if someone gave you naughty points, they're just gone? And I opened a bank account and have a lot less there than before the upgrades (which I adore, by the way). The naughty points aren't really a big deal, except that this is the second time I've had them wiped from my account.

You can go to their site to create an account: National Novel Writing Month. They also do a Script Frenzy Month (which I don't participate in because I can't write scripts) and have programs for youth writing. And, yep, it can be fanfiction. I think there was a thread there on their forum about that. They consider fanfiction original writing.

If you have 50,000 by November 30th, you win! But you can't start writing until the 1st of November -this means no prose written out. You can have plots, outlines, character descriptions, research, etc. but you can't start writing the actual story until the 1st of the month. You can submit pieces of your work during the entire month (they have bots that will do your word-count for you) so you and other people can see how you're coming along. You can also submit an excerpt so other people can read what you've come up with. The hardest part, for me anyway, was just writing. If you get bogged down with going back through and editing, you'll never make it. Editing is for December. In November, you just let it all flow out of your fingers, onto the keyboard no matter how stinky it is!

I second this motion! This story, though not an entirely original plot (so far...we'll have to see where the author takes it), is very well-written. In fact, because of this, I don't even mind the plot. The author has that certain knack for lovely descriptions. Go! Read!

I love your advice! I do this all the time (although, writing about my dog scratching her butt on the carpet is a little too crass for me ). If I'm stuck on something, I write something else...doesn't matter what, just as long as I'm writing. And, I find, that somewhere in the midst of writing about how my roommate's fat cat has to practically do sit-ups to clean herself, I have a breakthrough and can go back to writing about how a seemingly good guy is really up to no good.

I tried to read everyone's responses thoroughly, but this is a really long thread. So, if I say something someone else has already said, forgive me. I think it's a bit ridiculous to say that fanfiction isn't "real" writing and the authors of these stories aren't "real" writers. I've seen more "real" writing in fanfiction archives than in the originals. Unfortunately, to find these, you don't have to merely weed out the bad ones -you almost literally have to trudge through them before you find those rare gems of good, solid writing. Maybe I'm a little confused about what some people's definition of "real" writing is. What do these stories lack that make them any less real or serious from an "original" piece? Is it just that they're using characters that have already been thought up by someone else? That's bull. Characters -and plots- from literature get recycled and reused all the time. By saying that other people have no right to change the way a character acts, how they look, what they do, is like saying that the original author's work was like a sacred text that is completely and utterly infallible in its creation. You limit the creative potential of every writer and artist out there by that one statement. It's like saying you have to come up with all your own special, perfectly original ideas -all the time. I'd like to meet one, just one, writer or artist that can honestly say that what he/she has written or painted hasn't been inspired by someone else's work. Tolkien was probably one of the greatest and foremost writers in the fantasy genre. If you think about it, really, everything after that was just fanfiction (and where did he get his ideas? Hmm). You can't own an idea. Sure, you can write it all down, publish it (if you should be so lucky), and get it copyrighted to your heart's content. But, in the end, you're just copyrighting words on a page. The Idea, that fundamental wisp of thought that led to the words on the page, can never truly be owned. You will release it to the masses and they will interpret it how they will. And then, if you are truly lucky, they will love it -so much so that they will want to immerse themselves in your world, think up new experiences and adventures, new characters to interact with the old. If a story ended and no one was around to explore the possibilities of the idea contained within it, what would happen? A new and potentially exciting world would suddenly cease to exist simply because it was forgotten. It doesn't matter if Rowling never intended or hinted at Snape being gay. The fact of the matter is, the fanfic authors are exploring new ideas based off the old...and people act like that's never happened before. It's unfortunate that fanfic writers have been deemed an unimportant part of the literary world. Their creativity sometimes exceeds that of "original" writing.

Exactly. The whole point is just to see if you can do it. This year was the first year I finished. It's a ride, I'll tell you that, full of all kinds of anxiety, frustrations, nervousness, and irritation. But, it's really fun too. I came up with things I never dreamed I'd come up with. My outline from October got thrown out the first few days in -and a good thing too. I started coming up with plot twists, important background info, and character development that I never thought was possible for me. There are good days and bad days. I had days where I didn't write anything, and then would turn around and write 5,000 words. People, I think, tend to go about NaNoWriMo the wrong way. Last year, I tried to write everything chronologically. For some people, this works (especially if they already know, chapter by chapter, what's supposed to be going on). But I tend to write by the seat of my pants; I never know exactly where I'm going to end up. Or, if I have some vague idea, I never quite know how I'm going to get there. Writing the story in parts and then going back in and writing all the connecting stuff works best for me. I'm left with kind of a mess at the end of the month, but it's a mess that has, at least to me, some kind of order. Also, it doesn't have to be good -that's what December is for. During November, you are allowed to write the most obnoxious, ridiculous, cheesiest stuff you want. I'm currently going back through and taking out stupid dialogue and horrid bits of description and re-writing them. It's a little less like a contest and more of a commitment to yourself. You just say, "I'm going to write 1,700 words everyday for a month," and before you know it, you have a novel. I recommend trying it -you never know what you might come up with. Congrats on winning, Kirlaskia! I keep spying your story on AFF and keep meaning to check it out, but I just haven't had the time. I'll try to set some aside soon and take a peek.

The first fan-fic I ever read was...gosh, it was so long ago now, I can't remember. It wasn't on this site (although, I think you can find the author here...Autumn-something-or-another -I'm too lazy to look it up). It was Yu-Gi-Oh yaoi where the Yamis were vampires. I did this: And I loved it. L.O.V.E.D it. I don't write yaoi, but, by gods, I'll read the shit out of it!

I think, to a certain extent, everyone feels a little depressed when they can see the end of a project looming. You've spent time and energy on a new creation, and now you have to let it go. I've done the same; sat around and not written anything because there's something a little terrifying about The End. But you should also feel a sense of accomplishment! It's a tough thing, sticking with something through its completion. If you feel you need to stretch back stories and plot, then do so. Write a series, write a collection of short stories about your characters that can be independently published. You're ultimately to one who decides how much needs to be said -if you feel there's more, then write it. I'm not sure if that really answers your questions, or helps in any way. But that's my two cents, for what it's worth

Thanks. All of my favorite stories never get updated grrrr! My favorites are anything by Quillwing717 (Inu fandom) -except she hasn't updated in forever and I'm kinda feeling the withdraw. Also, fallenangel7583's "Shades of Gray," most of Tirch's romances in the Originals section. Rosesareblue had one in Erotica that I really liked called..."A Boy Girl Thing" maybe? I dunno. The story is gone My guilty pleasures are the romances written by templeton21.

A graveyard was the strangest place for me, too. It was this big one that was way outside of town and had a ton of mausoleums, which normally totally creep me out. Teenage horniness must have negated the creepy factor. Most cliched place...back seat of my parent's car (mini-van, actually...how convenient that the backseat folds down into something almost bed-like ).

I had a reviewer once...every chapter all he/she left was, "GREAT STORY. PLEASE UPDATE SOON" or variations of this. While the ALL CAPS annoyed me slightly, at least the person took the time. These, I don't think, constitute the stupid reviews. The stupid one I got (the loooong one) said something to the effect of how the reviewer didn't like reading lemons and usually skipped over those parts...and then proceeded to say that I wrote a fantasy-like version of what a girl's first time having sex was like. Why was this stupid? Well, first of all, nowhere in my story did I mention that the girl in question was a virgin. And, secondly, why the sudden interest in my lemon when he/she doesn't like reading them in the first place? Boggles the mind, it does.

I don't mind the "OMG! I luuurv your story! Update soon!" reviews (they're only irritating when they're in ALL CAPS with multiple !!!!!!s). These have their place and at least someone took the time to hit the review button and let me know they're enjoying my story. I really think the reason no one leaves anything constructive anymore is because of all the fan-brats out there who get pissy if anyone so much as hints at something wrong with their story. They take everything personally and ruin it for the rest of us who actually want people to take some time out and be critical. What a shame.

I wouldn't worry about whether or not your ideas are cliched or not. I'm usually of the mind that there are no such thing as new ideas; there are simply revised, updated versions of old ideas. I think that if you write well, even the most cliched idea can be fresh and interesting. About being a copy-cat...Well...That sort of goes along with the whole "cliched ideas" thing. I stumbled on Holly Lisle's Writer's Index and, to my surprise, found something really interesting there -a section called How To (Legally and Ethically) Steal Ideas (It's not really what it sounds like ). Besides, you know what They say: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

I do the same thing sometimes. I have a few authors whose work I'll read no matter how long it is. If a story is thirty chapters and still has my attention, that's good stuff. I think with the longer stories, sometimes, readers don't want to have to make the commitment...it's kind of like a one-night stand, you know? They want to get in, be pleased, get out and leave you with a quick "That was great, thanks" -or just sneak out without leaving a review or rating the story. The stories I write pretty much vary in length. It all depends on how much needs to be said, what's happening, how immersed I've become in chasing rabid plot monsters.