The Writer's Ten Commandments

[scottishfae]

There always seems to be some breakdown of communication somewhere that leaves authors and readers frustrated with each other. To open those lines of communication I submit this post, one of two, that will help break down what both writers and readers like to see. These are working guidelines, so feel free to add on your own opinions. I'm only going to post a few that I know of and hope that other people can help feel out the form to its fullest. Remember, don't be unreasonable with your suggestions.

Ten Commandments

o1) Using author's notes is not necessarily a bad thing, but using them excessively is both annoying and hinders reading of the story.

o2) Similarly, making author's notes in the middle of the story should almost never be done. If things need to be noted, make a mark indicating a footnote and explain it at the end.

o3) While the size of each chapter is completely dependent on the author's own opinion of how the story needs to go, it can be exceedingly frustrating to see a one page update.

o4) Do not hold your story hostage for reviews. It's incredibly immature and it is rude to your dedicated readers.

o5) Don't assume that just because you've posted a story that you are entitled to reviews.

o6) While everyone has different schedules and RL to deal with, not updating your fic (without any word to your readers) is frowned upon--sometimes it cannot be helped but it is best to try and avoid it if at all possible.

o7) Authors should always proofread their story before it is posted. Betas are bonus points and can only really help a story and author.*

*There is a whole subtopic in the forums that is dedicated to beta reading. If you're looking for one or would like to volunteer, please go check it out.

[AmberRose]

Amen to numbers 2 and 5 but I'm terribly guilty of #6 .

[Saitochan]

Doh... I think I'm guilty of number 3... no matter how much time it takes me to update a story, my chapters are almost always 5 pages long. I guess it IS kind of dissapointing to wait around too long to get just that.

And as for number 7... I don't actually proofread my stories, but as I've always been much of a perfectionist, I tend to correct most of my mistakes as I write. But then again, maybe I should ask someone to beta my fics, just to be sure.

[bitBlackmage]

Number four and five! Damn I see it all the time on fan fiction sites and it annoys me!

[Harley Quinn hyenaholic]

I'm a bad girl, I do like getting reviews... but I never hold people hostage for "At least 10 or I'll not put up a new chapter!"

Number 2 is my most hated broken commandment though. I once read a story which went:

"Shadow raised one studded eyebrow"

AN: I love studding his eyebrows!

Seriously.

1: I didn't need to know that you love studding his eyebrows.

2: You didn't need to anyway - Shadow the Hedgehog doesn't have a stud.

3: The story was bad enough without you telling me how much you love doing this or that.

I'm serious, that did happen.

[Guest MortiferLascivio]

I've never held my story hostage for reviews, that's just plain rude. My updates tend to be more than five thousand words and I try to update regularly. I proof read as well, twice, sometimes three times if I feel like I'm not satisfied. The one thing I've ever really been guilty of is overuse of Author's notes (back when I first started writing, I did the AN thing in the middle of the story, and I also had AN's at the end that sometimes seemed longer than the chapter...oooops).

One thing I HATE in stories is when Author's feel the need to go deeply into their personal lives in AN's, especially when someone left a bad review. They'll start talking about how their parents beat them up every day, or their grandma died, or their hampster got ran over or something. I'm just like...huh?

[Solaris]

Number six usually cannot be helped at all, especially if writers' block hits you on that story or that your beta reader has up and vanished with your story unbetaed and you are stuck searching for a new one.

I usually would state why there was a delay in updating the story when I update the story with new content. Even if it means weeks or months of not updating to make sure that you have a good post to update with.

Anything less, is a slap to the face of your readers.

Beth

[Guest Alora.Sky]

Um, stupid question, but what happen to commandments 8-10?

[JayDee]

Credit Crunch?

[K.Blood]

4 and 2 drive me crazy. 2 not so much since the authors who tend to do this don't have very good stories anyway (or so I have found). 4, though, I can't stand it when I see people doing this and often stop reading their stories. If you are going to take the time to write a story do it because you enjoy writing, not because you love the attention.

3 can be irritating too.

Chapter size is completely dependent on the author's opinion, but come on! I've read updates before that were only a paragraph or so long. That's just mean.

[Dr_Jackal]

I'll definitely have to keep these in mind, not that I intend to violate any of them, but it's still good to be able to refer back to this.