References for fan fic writers

Requests for information (such as weapons, maps, history, grammar, spelling, outlining, ect) for your writing. Or where to post useful reference sites that you have found useful in writing. Anything from information research to writing guides.

References for fan fic writers

Postby lwf58 » Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:39 pm

If anyone is interested, over in the Lost Library's new forum, I've been posting reference threads about Japanese language and culture.

Right now, it's stuff like using honorifics properly and what words are commonly used for family members. We've also opened up a folder for fan fiction writing tips and one for a list of this year's anime conventions and tips on attending a convention for newbies.

While I realize that the average fan already belongs to way too many forums, anyone who might be interested is encouraged to sign up and join the talk. We can use the input and any additions to the projects you'd like to add.
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Postby Spokavriel » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:32 am

Now that Sunny moved the How to get C&C and Characterization threads to another board and expanced what it should be used for wouldn't this fit in there now too. Although I'm still a bit confused why it wouldn't have fit in Fic research in the first place.
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Postby lwf58 » Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:38 am

Well, it's too late now since he expanded fic research to include writing tips. But I was trying to drum up activity in the Lost Library forum by making it complementary to this one. (Just so you don't have to go scurrying for a dictionary, complementary means "mutually supplying each other's lack", as opposed to complimentary, which means "expressing admiration".)

The Lost Library forum has areas for talking about Japanese culture, music, tips for attending anime or SF conventions for the first time, writing tips, and other "real world" topics. It has folders for talking about fan fiction, but that's as a safety net. They are nowhere near being as extensive as the folders in Fukufics.

Up until this latest change, the focus of Fukufics was entirely on fan fiction topics, which are de-emphasized in the Lost Library... well, except for spamville, that is.

Right now, the Library only has one person who bothers to generate topics much, and I've been told that he's unpopular and that people have decided not to join just because he's there. But if no one else signs up and posts, that's not going to change. He behaves himself for the most part, so I don't have a legitimate reason to boot him out - not to mention that booting him would kill all the forum activity and he does have some good points to make if approached in a non-confrontational manner. I can only ban people if they make a nuisance of themselves toward other members with no provocation - the same standard I use here.

As it stands, I'm in a bind. I really can't think of any other ways to generate activity in the Lost Library forum, and if that one person is really preventing other people from joining in, I can't do anything about it and keep my impartiality as an admin - not when he's only done one thing wrong and apologized about that.

The whole situation has left me feeling somewhat traumatized, and wondering if I should just give up on it.
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Postby ToastedPine » Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:17 am

I'm not sure if you're allowed to advertise, but I think you could get a lot more activity if you manage to net some of the people using ff.net boards on Ranma since their board system really sucks. One thing I did notice on visiting today was that the forums take really long to load, which might be because of my computer.

I also think there's room for another different fanfiction board, fukufics has its own particular way of writing, which influences even non fuku ideas posted here, then there's TFF and they have their own mostly non-sequiter (partially naruto derived) ideas, anifics...I don't see any real trends there. In any case, there's still a good chance of finding a niche with steady supporters.

For my part, I just signed up, though I mostly lurk so not sure how much help that is. Your guides are useful and you should continue making them, people link others to reference sites often so you may get more members out of it.
Last edited by ToastedPine on Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby lwf58 » Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:27 am

It isn't your computer. Seems like the server is having problems this morning. At the moment, I can't get to anything there. We aren't having any problems with Fukufics because even though it's on the same hosting service, it is physically on a different server.

As for the guides, make some suggestions and I'll see what I can do. I write mostly as a response to things I see people ask about.
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Postby antimatterenergy » Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:03 am

I tried to register to the lost libraries forum and got an error message:

You are not authorized to carry out this operation
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Postby lwf58 » Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:13 am

I just tried to register a test account and got the same message. I'll check the database.
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Postby antimatterenergy » Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:20 am

Yeah I tried it right before posting on this site. I just tried again and it worked though. So I'll post some stuff there now.
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Postby Sunshine Temple » Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:37 pm

Larry wrote:Up until this latest change, the focus of Fukufics was entirely on fan fiction topics, which are de-emphasized in the Lost Library... well, except for spamville, that is.

The nuts and bolts of writing are very relevant to fanfiction topics.

Larry wrote:Right now, the Library only has one person who bothers to generate topics much, and I've been told that he's unpopular and that people have decided not to join just because he's there. But if no one else signs up and posts, that's not going to change. He behaves himself for the most part, so I don't have a legitimate reason to boot him out - not to mention that booting him would kill all the forum activity and he does have some good points to make if approached in a non-confrontational manner.

The guy is a bit sensitive when people are critical of his ideas. He used to be on fukufics, in the ideas section; he didn't like the comments he got. There was a Rule 1E (flames personal attacks) violation, and after being warned he quit.

As he's a quite prodigious poster, the points are there, but as Larry said you to be quite careful when critiquing the idea of his that are not good.

A good primer for his style is his topic on how to respond to flames.

Larry wrote:I can only ban people if they make a nuisance of themselves toward other members with no provocation - the same standard I use here.

And the two forums share almost all the same rules

Larry wrote:As it stands, I'm in a bind. I really can't think of any other ways to generate activity in the Lost Library forum, and if that one person is really preventing other people from joining in, I can't
do anything about it and keep my impartiality as an admin - not when he's only done one thing wrong and apologized about that.


Was that when he deleted that one post?
Or did he apologize for that personal threat he made?
Because that would make me feel comfortable enough to return.

Larry wrote:The whole situation has left me feeling somewhat traumatized, and wondering if I should just give up on it.

Cheer up, you got some people to come over. You can see how it goes.

You know what happened when one person tried to come over there and inject new blood, and now see what happens when others come.

Least now if one person goes it won't "kill all forum activity".

Personally, I recommend everyone go over, at least to look. See how you like the atmosphere and the topics. If you're motivated then comment and critique.
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Postby lwf58 » Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:40 pm

Sunshine wrote:And the two forums share almost all the same rules


Yep, all except the ones that are based on your policies regarding nested quotes and such. That one is a Fukufics exclusive. :)

There are also slightly different standards for sig and avatar images. The Library allows sig images to be a little bigger, but avatars are smaller, as the avatars need to match up width-wise with the rank images for the sake of a neat appearance. I may allow taller ones eventually, but not wider.

Was that when he deleted that one post? Or did he apologize for that personal threat he made? Because that would make me feel comfortable enough to return.


It was the one he deleted because he was unsure if it would be considered fanning the flames. It had a blanket apology for participating in the argument. I'm going to prune that topic and get rid of everything related to that.

Cheer up, you got some people to come over. You can see how it goes.


Much to my surprise and delight. Makes me wonder if sad puppy-dog eyes were the answer all along. :lol:

Well, a few posts have been made without any land mines exploding. Maybe there's hope yet.
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Postby Sunshine Temple » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:49 am

On an unfortunate side note. It looks like the LL forum is down, given I get the webhost info when I try to go there.

It's probably an extension of the host problems it was having yesterday.
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Postby lwf58 » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:56 am

Yes, it was. It lasted about 10 minutes or so, and then went back to normal. Had me in a panic for a few minutes. I logged into the server, checked all the databases yet again, logged into the site by FTP to make sure all the files were still there, and then sent a message to the host. When I finished all that, I closed the browser, reopened it, and found the site was back online.
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