RPGClassics Fanfiction Requirements

This page is probably quite vague, simply because I don't have very many concrete requirements. I don't like to put too many constraints on my writers, since this is their site - I just maintain it. I know the real world isn't like that, and usually the producers have more power, but I try to keep a bit of the fantastic in everything I do. Write a good fanfic, don't do bad stuff, and be proud of what you write are basically what I believe in. However, since some (read: everyone else in the universe barring the slight exception of my mom) people don't think like me, I'm forced to make a list of requirements. Woe is me, I hope I won't turn into a machine... :)

Oh, and this page is definitely schizofrenic. Mazrim wrote most of it, including the paragraph above, but right now it's Weiila speaking. I don't really want to alter/delete Maz' work since that just feels wrong, so let's just say that here the word "I" might be either me or Maz. Okay? Good, it doesn't really matter apart for what the two of us think, you guys just read the instructions. Onwards!

Technicalities

Send your fanfics to me via email to this address, or this one, either attached or linked in .html or .doc format. If you compose your fanfic in MS Word or any other editor that isn't Notepad, Wordpad, or an HTML editor, then just convert it to .html format from there. It's in the file menu. I'll probably accept fanfics that are in other formats like .txt, or that are in the body of the email, or that are hidden behind a wall of other things, but that'd just make my life miserable, and you'll have to wait a really long time for an update. :)
Many people have lately been using fanfiction.net when submitting their fics. That's a good idea, it's just fine to simply send me the url to your story if you have it posted there. I'll just copy the text and voila, "instant" submission!

Oh, and try not to send me incomplete fanfics. I know I have a lot up already - most of those are throwbacks to the Saturn age, when he took care of the Incomplete things. However, they're a real pain to update, especially the ones that are like 10+ chapters long. If you can't contain your excitement, at least try to send a substantial amount each time you send your story to me. The deal I have worked out with The Mana Priestess (author of The Legend of the Jumi) is that she sends me a quarter of her story when she finshes it, and I post that quarter. Yet another deal we worked out was with Richard B. Sampson Jr. (author of the Memoirs of an Adventure's Child series), which is almost done - he sendt me stories, and I posted them as I got them. But, I combined his 30+ chapters into just 7-8 'story arcs' which I consider part of the same story. If you have an unfinished fanfic, I'm sure we could work something out.

Minor technicalities that makes things go smoother:
I get a lot of spam mail, so when you submit (at least for the first time, I tend to remember your name and mail after that when I see 'em again) a fanfic, PLEASE write something like "fanfic submission" or at least something about fanfiction in the subject line. If you just leave the subject empty or write something like "Hello", there's a risk that I'll believe it's a virus which renders the submission falling into my trash can.
Secondly, one of the reasons that updates takes a little more time than any of us would like is that when I get a submission I have to go through it, look for the italic/bold/underlined/centered stuff in it, put in the right tags. Also the paragraph and line tags. I have to do this by hand since Save As HTML in Word will make the files 5 times or more the size needed. So, if you want to help me out, you can write at least the tags for at lest italics and such as you write the story. You don't have to of course, but it would be nice. So, if you don't know how, this is how it goes:
<I>Italics</I>
<B>Bold</B>
<U>Underlined</U>

I've used special letters to make the < and > show, but they and what's between them will disappear in a html conversion when you write them normally. Basically you tell the words to be sloped, bold or whatever with the first tag, and tell them to stop being it after the tag with the / in.

No, I'm not good at explaining... :P

Grammar 'n Stuff

Try to use correct grammar and spelling, if at all possible. I'll take your story if it is for the most part, correct in terms of grammar and spelling. If there are way too many errors (read: every fourth word is misspelled or misused), I may ask you to read an online version of Strunk and White's Elements of Style, and then correct your grammar. Basically, follow the rules in that book as best you can, and your fanfic will most likely be accepted. I don't have too many rules myself about what is good and bad grammar. Basically if it makes me cringe too often, it has bad grammar; if not, it has good grammar. I'm not trying to be your English teacher here, and I think that good ideas can be conveyed through bad grammar, even if it is unintentional.

So don't worry too much about grammar as you write - that can come later, when you proofread it. Ideas are more important than grammar. Remember that.

Lemons, Cussing, and Other Untouchables

1. No Lemons. For the newbie, a 'lemon' is basically the fanfiction writer's pornography. It contains graphic sexual content, and while I'm sure that you can manage to weave ideas in there, it is my belief that drawn-out sexual scenes serve only to weaken a story's overall message to the readers. That doesn't mean you can't have innuendoes, jokes, or references to such scenes - just don't include those scenes in the fanfic itself. I don't like them, the other staffers don't want them, and there is the slight chance that we could get kicked off our server for having them (no porn allowed on our server). So don't do it.

The author StarStorm has kindly written a rant about lemons for us, and you can read it here.

2. No Censorship. That's right, you heard me. No censoring swears. If you're going to write a story where swears are necessary (a good example is Honey, Vanilla, and Satin, written by SilverKnight, from the point of view of Cid of FFVII fame), leave the swears in. If I deem the swears unnecessary (someone says 'fuck' just to get a laugh), I simply won't accept the fanfic.

3. No baseless insults on the basis of race, religion, creed, sexual preference, etc. If your character does so because he/she's a jerk, that's fine, but if you as an author just use your fanfic to promote your own prejudices, it won't be accepted. If you can give me a good argument as to why it's not baseless, I'll think about it.

Style

Ahh...the hardest section of all. I would like to say that I'll accept anything, no matter what writing style you use, no matter how complex your words or epic your plot. I have epics, and I have vignettes. I have fanfics long, drawn out, verbose language, and I have fanfics that would make Hemingway proud. So far, I have had to decline two fanfics, since they looked like they were written by second graders (later I found out that one of them WAS written by a second grader...). So, with that in mind, let me present a vague set of rules...

1. Your fanfic should either have a plot, or it must try to convey an idea. That idea can be a place.

2. Your fanfic should not overuse such expressions as "AHHHH!" or "Waiii!" or the little emoticons (such as :P). They're all right to be used in moderation, but they're just annoying if used too much.

3. Your fanfic should not have too many plot holes, unless it is a humorous fanfic mocking those plot holes.

Like most rules, these can be broken under extenuating circumstances. If you really think that your fanfic should be admitted, even if it breaks one of these rules, send it over. The worst that can happen is I'll reject it, and that's really not such a bad thing. In my 'rejection letters,' I often try to explain why it was rejected, as well as add a little piece of advice for how to fix that without losing the story's appeal. Usually there's some wisdom in that, though you might have to look sort of hard for it :).

Maintained by:

TrkJac

d Galloway