FF/RP Guide Thread

[center][b][u][size=20] FF/RP Guide Thread [/u][/b][/size][/center]

This is the official FF/RP Guide Thread. This thread will act as a guide? if there is something you are unsure of, be it a rule or something else related to FF/RP, this is the thread designed to combat that. The thread will always be closed, you might ask: ?How am I meant to request a guide then?? There?s a simple answer; the FF&RP Discussion Thread. Simple post in that thread, clearly explain what it is that you want clarified and I, TestVirus101, or another FF/RP Moderator will do our best to clarify this in a guide. In such a case, the Moderator who wrote the guide will open this thread, post the guide and then close it. Upon that, they will post a notice in the FF/RP Disucssion Thread and I will re-open the topic, edit the guide into my first post and then close the thread once more.

Post 1: Introduction

Post 2: Etiquette Guide

Post 3: FF&RP Terms Guide

Post 4: Content Guide

Post 5: FF/RP Frequently Asked Questions Guide

Post 6: Roleplay Tutorial Guide

Post 7: Creative Writing Guide

« Last edited by TestVirus101 on Jun 14th 2008 »

First off, I?d just like to clarify why this was the first guide written. The second guide I intend to write will be a Frequently asked Questions guide. Before I posted this however, I thought it better that I post an Etiquette guide.

Before someone even attempts to understand FF/RP, this guide is a must. Before you learn all the terms, etc. I?d expect that you knew exactly what sort of manners were required from you.
This will probably turn out to be one of the shortest guides, it?s a basic understanding and is designed to get you to see exactly what sort of guidelines you should follow.

Section#1: You?ve just entered the forum

Don?t act like an idiot. Ever. This is true in both non RP situations as well as in an RP. For instance, if you?re in an RP or what?s known as a ?Role-Play,? think of it as real life, after all, that?s the idea. You don?t have to make a character based on your personality, and it?s probably best you don?t. I?m not saying you?re an idiot and nobody likes you, I?m saying it?s a good idea to go creative and let your imagination flow, after all, that is what this forum is about.

Section#2: Non FF/RP Areas

This doesn?t mean other forums, although what?s said here should be applied in other forums in other situations. A lot of the posts you?ll read are normally about Role plays and Fan fictions. If they?re not, they?re probably spam. First off, don?t go and say they?re spam, while posting in said topic, make a footnote and ask for a moderator?s clarification if that is spam and/or flame. They?ll usually reply when they get online and they?ll act if you?re right? that?s not an excuse to go: ?OMG! SPAM! Mods delete! Delete!? anywhere in your post. We ask that you go about it politely and ask if it is spam or if it is blatantly spam and a mod posts in the topic without deleting it, then point it out. Do not be a ?mini-mod? or a ?back-seat mod.? These terms imply that you are not a moderator or even if you are, you?re not a moderator of the forum and you?re taking action on the offender. Although on this forum it isn?t a rule-breaking action, on many forums you will get a strike towards banning. We don?t tolerate it here, so don?t do it.

Section#3: Fan Fiction Topics

If you post in a fan fiction topic, we expect certain things from you. While it?s ok to just generally say its cool(even the mods do this every now and then) we encourage you to criticise? we encourage you to point out flaws and not butter up the author. They?re probably going to respect you more for pointing out a flaw and allowing them to fix it. That said, it?s also encouraged if you think the piece of work is really good, or even lacking something to suggest this to the author. For all you know, the author needs some form of plot filler to keep things interesting and your idea of the Villains attacking the Heroes base just might be something they love and adopt. But don?t think there aren?t barriers in this sort of respect, for one, don?t point out useless things, and don?t under any circumstances start swearing and condemning against the fiction, be responsible and voice your opinion in the nature of what you thought would have been a better ending etc. On a similar note, stupid suggestions are looked against in the worst regard. Telling someone the fiction would do greatly from adding something like giant, mutated chickens with guns is not a valid suggestion unless of course the fiction is something about an alien chicken farmer who abuses the chickens.
*Note: If anyone finds such a fiction, please tell me and link the fiction to me, it would be funny to read.*

Section#3: Role Play Topics

There are some issues involving RP topics. Over sixty percent (60%) of the forums activity is at least RP, not having actually made a proper calculation, do not take this as right. But I?d have to say the forum is probably (75% Role plays, 20% Fan Fictions and about 5% spam topics that the mods have dealt with.)
Biographies: If the topic creator has used a biography, remember that you must make one and use the fields that he has written (name, age, etc.)

An RP is an option to interact with other members under the guise of an alternate identity? that said, it doesn?t mean you have the right to go around back-stabbing everyone, ?plot swiping? and other offences. To define a ?plot swipe? as even other Moderators are not familiar with the term, (I sort of made the term up to define the action upon writing this) in general a ?plot swipe? is a very frowned upon and punishable action. I?ll use a scenario to explain.
Jack= Plot creator?s character
Sam= Other Role player
Tom= Other Role player
Sandra= Other Role player
Post#1: ?It?s time that we kill the Elves,? said Jack, drawing his sword, ?They?ve been causing trouble for too long.
Post#2: Sam smiled, ?Oh really? Well I?ll have you know I?m opposed to killing Elves, regardless of their attitude, they have a large compendium of knowledge we couldn?t hope to tap without their potential.?
Post#3: Tom looked at Sam in disgust, ?How can you say that?! They killed our entire village! They slaughtered all of our family? and friends!?
Post#4: Sam frowned and looked down at the floor, ?I know? I just? I just don?t believe that killing them accomplishes anything, all it means is more friends and family losing loved ones??
Post#5: Sandra jumped up and down, ?Oh wow! Look a dragon, everyone let?s follow it!? Sandra ran happily after the dragon, she stopped and looked back at her friends, ?Please? help me, I need assistance.?

^That?s plot swiping. Sandra just grabbed Jack?s plot about attacking the elves and turned it into a plot where they should chase the dragon.
Basically: Don?t. Do. It.

One last thing I want to cover: The art of a real conversation. In an RP, there will come a time when someone will directly ask another Role player a question. If Jack was to ask Sandra why she liked the dragon in the above scenario, it?s not appropriate for Tom to jump in and start posting purely because they want to see their name in print. It?s a one to one question and it should be treated like that. If I was with two other friends in real life, if one asked the other a question? I wouldn?t but in, nor would I like it if my friend was talking to me and the other one butted in mid conversation.
The road goes both ways as well? you can?t just run off with another character:
?Jack, want to go to the bar?? asked Sandra.
?Damn straight,? replied Jack, ?The rest of you go die or something.?
((So yeah like other Role players, just me and Sandra are running off for about eight pages to chat, don?t bother us))

Make sure you read the other guides and you?ll have no reason to come under fire from the moderators. The FF/RP forum is not an uptight high-end social forum, it?s a fun forum, for anyone. That does not however mean that it?s a forum where you can take advantage of anything or take anything for granted.

« Last edited by TestVirus101 on May 2nd 2008 »

FF & RP Terms

In the domain of Fan Fiction and Role Play, there can be some very specific terminology used to describe things. Of course, it isn?t mandatory that you use these terms, but it is necessary that you can understand them. Many members of the forum might use them, and it?s best if everyone understands each other to avoid confusion.

I?ll start with the most basic internet slang, just so we don?t have to explain these things more than once. Note that we don?t encourage using these phrases all the time, just if its actually necessary. I just think it?d be best if you all know these terms to start with.

? Lol: Laughing out loud. Basically, people say this when they think something is funny.
? Lmao: Same basic idea as lol. It means laughing my *** off.
? Rofl: Rolling on floor laughing,
? Omg: Oh my God.
? Stfu: Shut the **** up. ((NOTE: We STRONGLY discourage this phrase, and will probably delete posts with it.))
? Wtf?: What the ****?
? Newb: Newbie. Newcomer to the forum. Note that there is a large difference between newb and n00b.
? N00b: Basically, someone who has no idea what they are doing. Experienced, just not necessarily smart. Discouraged from forum use.
? Flame: First off, go read the forum rules. You should know this by now. Secondly, it means insulting another member.
? Spam: Any pointless post or post with three or less words. Again, you should already know this one.
? Leet, l33t, or 1337: Slang for elite. Basically, awesome.
? Own, pwn, or 0wn: to be better than. Example: Mike pwns Earl at chess. This would mean that Mike is much better than Earl at chess. Also could fit in ?I?ll pwn you if you say anything!? Basically a threat, in that case.
? Mod: Moderator. The people in charge of a specific board on a forum site.
? Modding: Moderating.
? Smod: Moderators who keep charge of all boards on a forum site.
? Admin: Administrator. The member of a site in charge of the forums, who decided who can be moderators and the like.
? Thread: A specific topic in a forum.

Those are basic concepts that might be used all over the internet. There are, however, a few concepts that are specific to FF RP:

? FF RP or FF & RP: Fan Fiction and Role Play.
? SC: Supercheats.
? Ff, fan fic, or fic: Fan fiction. Any story written by a fan of something about that thing, such as a movie, game, or book.
? Origific: Original Fiction. Any story written by a member of Supercheats based on their own creative ideas.
? RP: Role Play. This could be used either to referring to a role play, or as a verb. As a verb, it is slang for Role Play in the sense of ?Play the role.?
? Rper or RPer: Role Player. One who plays a role as a character in a role play.
? BIC: Back in character. If a person in a role play is only posting off topic, someone could tell them to get back to role playing by simply saying ?BIC.?
? Bio: Speaks for itself. It is the bio, or biography, of a character in a role play. See the FF RP rules for a example bio.
? NPC: Non player character. An NPC is any character involved in the role play who no one posted a bio for. These characters can be manipulated by anyone.
? Bump: Referring to forums, this is posting in a topic just so it can be brought up to page one. On Supercheats, it is discouraged to bump topics that haven?t been posted in for thirty days or more.

There are also, of course, terms in FF RP that aren?t simple abbreviations.

? God modding: Hard to explain without examples. I?ll start by saying it is against the rules. It is, in essence, forcing something to happen. If you say that your character threw a knife at someone, it isn?t god modding. If you say your character threw a knife and it hit someone in the throat, that IS god modding. Even if the thing doesn?t matter TOO much, the actions of a characters must be the choices of that character. In other words, the other character has the right to dodge the knife.
? Ego tripping: Also against the rules. Posting in a Role play without interaction with another member of the role play. The point of a role play is for more than one character to act out the storyline. If you want to do it all yourself, make a fan fiction. The same goes for God modding, you?re welcome to do it in your fic because no one else is being forced to do anything.
? Remote controlling: No member can control the character of another member without that members permission. This includes the killing of or severely wounding of a character. Also against the rules.
? Plot Hijacking: Changing the plot of the role play without the consent of the creator of the role play. This can include ending the storyline abruptly. Is also against the rules.


These are the most commonly used phrases and slang terms on the internet. Again, no one is forced to use these terms, but it helps to know them in case another member uses them. That is all.

Due to recent confusion regarding the acceptable levels of violence, profanity and other content in fics, I will now clarify roughly what we will accept.

Violence - should not go into horror movie-esque detail. We're fairly lenient about this, but you'll know when you've gone too far.

Profanity - the forum's language filter will take care of this one, but nobody likes reading a row of stars, so keep it to a reasonable minimum.

Sexual content - you'll get your fic locked for this, so be careful. Kissing and cuddling is about as much as we'll allow. Anything else and you'll be warned to edit if it's your first offence, or locked if it's not.

Any further questions should be posted in the FF&RP Discussion Thread.

[center][b][size=16][u]FF/RP Frequently (And those not so frequently) Asked Questions[/size][/b][/u][/center]

What this guide hopes to outline and achieve...

Well for one it?s about tying up lose ends, I planned to write this guide almost a year ago, sorry for not getting to it sooner, but I?ve decided the FF/RP Guide Thread was going to waste and that it was time I added some content into it (coincidently enough sparked by Pandemonium?s content guide). In this guide most, if not all questions I can possible think of will be answered? this is a very flexible guide, anything you don?t see there which ISN?T covered by another FF/RP guide, inform me in the FF/RP Discussion thread and I?ll edit it in. Well then? let?s get down to business.

My Character was kicked from a Roleplay! And the creator wasn?t even the one who did it!
The Creator has the power to accept, deny and remove people from his/her RP. The Mods have a much larger scale of authority however, if they say you?re out of the RP, then you?re out. MOST of the time you?ll get a warning however, if you choose to ignore that warning, you chose to ignore your lifeline.

I wasn?t let into an RP!
The RP Creator has the right to hand-pick their members, this isn?t Team and Clans, not everyone is guaranteed in by law.

The Mods closed my RP/Fic! I don?t know what happened!
I can assure you there was most likely a rule broken, check the FF/RP Rules thread and try and find out why. If you can honestly, not find out why; make an appeal in the Discussion thread, asking why your RP/Fic was closed.

Or more specifically

My Fic was closed! Help!
There may have been several reasons your fiction was closed. The Moderator will probably point it out, but if he doesn?t (or she if in the future we get a new female mod) then I advise you to first search the latest few chapters after that Mod?s last post in the thread and try and figure out exactly why it was closed? the Content Guide is probably a good place to start? make sure your fiction isn?t breaching our expectations as a family orientated site.

I?m never allowed into ANY RP?s. Please help me!
It?s perfectly legal to not be accepted into RP?s? there?s a few things you can do about this:
-If you see that a certain group likes to RP with each other and you repeatedly are turned down from their RP?s, they might not consider you experienced enough or might just want to keep it within themselves? nothing can be done about this.
-Improve your RPing skills? I GUARANTEE if you look like a real newbie and you?re applying into an RP with plenty of more experienced RPers, you are almost never going to get in. PROVE that you can match the best the forum has to offer and bring something productive and fun to the RP.
-The Bio? I can?t stress this enough if the Role Play is asking for a Bio to be provided. THE BIO, THE BIO, THE BIO, THE BIO! If you?ve got a three word answer to every part of the Bio form? hardly anyone will want you? if you?ve got a great character who?s interesting and your bio is well written? you?re probably going to get accepted.

Does my fic have to be long?
In FF/RP, we don't have a minimum. Chapters can be any length? we don?t expect an award-winning author, we just expect that you put the effort into it to make it readable and half-decent. I don?t like reading ill-formatted fics and fics that have crummy length, I like a good fic that?s well structured and looks professional. Oh and for the record, we would prefer if it were at least one page long on Microsoft Word. Believe me on this, you ask someone who enjoys writing and they?ll tell you writing one page is nothing short of being really easy, in fact many have chapters pertaining to at least a decent three pages at minimum. If you don?t think you can write that well? try and write at least a page, believe me, a page is EASY, just try your best.

Someone?s ridiculing my Fiction, insulting it, etc.
If someone points out flaws in your fiction, even if they use a rather harsh tone, it?s standard. Believe me when I say you?re not going to get better without being schooled everytime you get something wrong. When I came to this forum back in very early 2005, I knew NOTHING about writing fics, I could barely pull a paragraph, but I have Seos San Nekros to thank as after almost every chapter I wrote, he suggested something, he didn?t overload me, but eased me along. Every chapter I got a little better. Believe me when I say knowing how to write well is the key to success? my grades at school have even improved, merely because I know how to word things and write something fairly lengthy and presentable to hand into my teacher. That all said, if someone is downright being rude, unfair and extremely harsh and hurting your feelings, the FF/RP mods should be alerted in our all-purposes Discussion thread and we?ll come to your aid? don?t want them in your fic and have a good reason for it? Consider them gone.

I was kicked out of a Role-play? the mods resolved the issue and I understand what?s happened? but then the creator went and killed off my character! Is that acceptable?
As far as you being in the RP is concerned? Without consent? no. Also, even if you?re kicked out, at no time does a Mod or a regular member have the right to kill you off? to make my point clear: Killing you off under the circumstances you?ve been removed from the RP would seem like the thing to do, but Mods will allow a post for you to leave? death or no death involved. Oh and? regardless of how much you hate someone from kicking you from the RP, try and make this last post creative and not just say, ?Jack disappeared in a puff of smoke, never to be seen by the others again??

The RP Creator has been banned from SC/Left the website/etc? but I really love their RP! Please, please, please can I continue it as leader?
The topic will be closed after the ban/whatever other reason as a normal part of Moderation, HOWEVER, if you gain permission from the RP creator (through msn or another way) then yes, show us this and we?ll consider it, don?t expect it to be guaranteed to happen though. But it probably will be acceptable.

That?s honestly all I can think of? any other questions that aren?t specific enough for their own guide? As I said, FF/RP Discussion thread? I?ve no objection to re-opening the thread, editing posts and re-closing it, I?ve done it a few times before. Hope the Guide Helps


« Last edited by TestVirus101 on May 2nd 2008 »

Role Play Tutorial

1. If your RP is based on something existing (eg. Pokemon) then check if your idea for a Role Play is the same or very similar to the one already being Role Played in the forum (actively, not finished or dead ones). If it is, don?t post it, if not, go for it.

2. When coming up with a name for your role play, think of something relevant to the story, preferably without advertising (Naruto RP: Please join), all caps (POK�MON ROLE PLAY), claims of superiority (Greatest RP in the World!) or multiple uses of brackets or similar keys ( [[[[[[[[ Zelda RP]]]]]]]]).

3. When coming up with the RP?s plot, try to think of something original. If it?s based on something than it?s alright to use the series plot slightly, but try to wonder away from it a bit and come up with some originality. An average run-of-the-mill plot will get boring quickly (Everyone?s been killed by some evil overlord so you?ve got to go and kill him). It should also be of a good length, explaining the plot in good detail.

4. If the Role Play needs a Bio then the next thing is your character bio. Even if you?re not making a Role Play and just joining one, you should follow this. The basic RP bio should be as follows:

Name: obviously, should be something realistic and easy to spell, not something stupid (Mike Rotch).
Age: something realistic for what your character is. Try to avoid ones like ?As old as time?, it doesn?t work.
Height: Realistic, should be in relation to weight.
Weight: Realistic, should be in relation to height.
Weapons: Appropriate to the timeline of the role play (guns in a medieval role play?).
Abilities: If your character has magic abilities, no instant death spells. No invincibility either.
Appearance: Good amount of detail needed. Standard stereotypes with little detail wont get you anywhere (tall with brown hair).
Personality: Nothing that conflicts. Stuff like ?cool? and ?strong? do not count as personality traits.
History: Good, detailed explanation required here. No stereotype stuff (parents killed by evil overlord). No avoiding this one either (Unknown).

When accepting people for a role play, you have the right to not allow people in to the role play, though this may put others off of joining it as well. If it?s because of a problem with their bio, let them know what it is so they can edit the problem.
The creator may also create characters that only appear in the role play for a little while. Only the creator can control these non-playable characters, or NPC. This does not apply to the generic enemies that you face (such as armies of ninjas in a ninja RP. However it DOES apply to ?bosses? in the RP)

5. When in the role play, you need to be aware of the following rules:

No God-modding. In addition to what the rule says on this, do not use abilities that are not on your character?s bio and try not to have too many, or if you?re in an RP without a Bio, try not to have too many that you randomly invent. Also, try to have your abilities being similar. Being able to make people levitate and shoot fireballs are two random and unrelated powers.
No plot stealing (taking the plot away from the creator and altering it to your own plot).
If you need to address a member directly out of character after starting, use double brackets ((like this)). However, try to avoid using this in a post on its own without anything in-character. Too many of these in close succession results in the thread being locked.
If you are not the RP creator, get permission before creating any NPCs
No killing/injuring other people?s characters. If you must attack another member for any reason, you cannot specify that they were hit. However, it is not good practice to constantly avoid attacks without sustaining any damage.

6. If your role play starts goes a while without a post - i.e start to die - don?t double post to get your role play noticed. You can advertise your role play in the Fan Fiction and Role Play Discussion thread to try and get it going again. If that fails, then just leave it, it?s run its course. Leave it and, if you have an idea, start a new one.


« Last edited by TestVirus101 on May 2nd 2008 »

Creative Writing Guide

I?ve been meaning to write this for over a year, and I?ve finally been motivated to do so because I?m fed up of correcting basic grammatical errors in people?s work. So, let?s start with some basic definitions!

Creative Writing Terms

Fanfic/Fanfiction: A Fanfic is where you take characters that someone else has created and write a story using them, possibly adding your own characters as well. An example of this would be a story about the characters from Harry Potter after the events of book seven. Alternatively, a fan fiction could be written using only original characters, but set somewhere from someone else?s work. Sticking with Harry Potter, an example of this would be Hogwarts fifty years after the end of the seventh book, with a new student doing stuff.

Fic: A Fic is a story written using characters and plot of your own creation, and stands for Fiction. Note that it does not usually refer to Fan Fiction, which uses the term Fanfic. Almost all published works are original, but an example of a Fic on this forum would be Trial by Fire.

Crossover: Admittedly not written very often on this forum, this involves taking characters from two different sources and having them interact. If you write a story involving Harry Potter fighting against Goku, that?s a crossover Fanfic.

Cameo: This is where a character from another source (or even a person you know) appears in your story, either in their original form or changed slightly. The most common form of cameo is name insertion, where a character in the story shares a name with one of your friends/enemies/pets. It?s considered bad form to cameo real people without their consent. An example of a cameo is Jade Hitomi Carson, who has appeared in around thirteen different stories on this forum.

Profanities: Swear words. Nobody really minds if you use them, but do remember that reading a row of asterisks is annoying, so don?t swear too much.

Short Story: Also called a one-shot, a short story has no chapters and is posted all at once. Generally these are three to ten pages long, although they can easily be longer or shorter if you want.

Novel: This is your basic story, with enough chapters to make it interesting and to bring the narrative from introduction to conclusion. Most creative writing on the forum is in the form of novels.

Epic: This is a novel which is ridiculously long, with a complex plot, and is practically impossible to write. Don?t try. The Lord of the Rings is an example of an Epic.

Genre: The style of the story. Try to stick to one or two genres. Nobody wants to read an action horror romance fantasy historical comedy sci-fi story. There are more genres than that, of course, but you get the idea.

Working title: This is what you call your story until you come up with a proper title for it. I like ?This is a Title? myself.

Parody: Like a Fanfic, but making fun of another source. Writing a story about Hairy Porter taking on the Demented would be a parody of Harry Potter and the Dementors.

Deus ex machina: Latin for God out of a Machine. It basically means something incredibly unlikely being introduced just in time to solve a problem. For example, an angel suddenly appearing to rescue a character who was dying.

Redshirt: This is a phrase originating from Star Trek, and meaning a character whose sole purpose in the story is to be killed. It was created because the grunts on Star Trek who were killed when beamed down to a planet wore red shirts.

Stupidity: This includes writing a story about the forum moderators being killed in a variety of nasty ways, or copying out a book word for word.

Original Fiction
When writing original fiction, follow these simple guidelines:

1. Open a word processing package, and write the story in that. I cannot stress this enough, you need to be able to save and spell-check your work. The forum does not have a spellchecker, so you need to do this before you post the thing.
2. Try to make each chapter at least one page on MS Word, Times New Roman font, size 12. If you?re writing a short story, one page probably won?t be enough, and most authors will write over two pages per chapter. Longer chapters are a good thing if you?re an experienced writer, but for beginners, it?s often better to start with short chapters.
3. If you?ve never written before, put that plan for an epic fantasy away! The best way to start writing is with short stories, or a short novel. That way you can practice without making a complete mess of a long story.
4. Naming your story can be difficult, so until you come up with a good title, just call your story something which catches the eye and has something to do with the story. ?Invasion? or ?Wrath of the Gods? could be examples of either working titles or actual titles.
5. Keeping a plot gong is the second hardest part of writing a story. Planning can help, but not everyone can be bothered with that. The thing is, if you take the time to come up with a proper plot and work out where it?s going, then you?ll have a much easier time writing the story. However, if you don?t write a plan then you gain the ability to use ideas as and when you get them. The problem with not planning is that you run the risk of your story having more plot holes than most of mine!
6. Names. Aaargh! Naming characters is the part of writing that most authors have trouble with. Outside of main characters, the easiest way to name people is to use one of the random name generators on the internet. For main characters, go with a name that sounds good to you, look on a website and search for name meanings, or try translating words into foreign languages. Incidentally, this is also a good way to name spells.
7. Actually coming up with a plot is generally easy enough. If you?re stuck, look at your favourite books, films or TV shows for inspiration. Don?t just copy their plots though!

Fan Fiction
This is much the same as original fiction, but with a few differences.

1. Don?t just follow the story of your favourite TV show or book. Nobody wants to read about the Doctor meeting Rose and fighting the Autons, because it?s already been done. A better idea would be the two of them going to the planet Alberon III and tricking the Zargons into handing over the Time Matrix. Yeah, I just made those names up off the top of my head.
2. If you?re using characters created by other people, try to keep them in character. Harry Potter is not going to join forces with Voldemort and take on the evil Dumbledore. That?s what is known as being a prat.
3. The above point does not apply if writing a parody. Parody characters are generally the complete opposite of their original counterparts, so Voldemort could very well be a cry-baby, and so on.
4. I can?t think of anything else.

Common Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes, even the pros. However, there are some things that are just silly. Here?s a list of things to avoid.

1. Two different people speaking in the same paragraph. This is a perfect example of how to look like an amateur, and happens so often that it?s unbelievable. It?s alright if it?s an honest mistake, but just not bothering to put the new paragraph is definitely out.
2. Stating the facts. This is basically where you miss out description. For example, this is Stating the Facts: ?John pulled out his gun. It was black. He pointed it at the woman?s head. She froze in shock.? Doesn?t read very smoothly does it? Try to vary the lengths of your sentences, and to add description.
3. No punctuation/capitalisation. This breaks the flow of your story, and makes it annoying to read. Proofreading before posting will help you prevent this, though your word processor will probably get most of it.
4. Run-ons. This is where you write a sentence which has so many commas and conjunctions in it that it becomes unreadable. Again, proofreading will catch this and allow you to insert a necessary full stop.

If you think I've missed anything important, tell me via MSN or in the Discussion Thread.

« Last edited by Sotek on Jun 14th 2008 »