Chao- Here's something that even the newest of people who come across while reading fan fics realize: Some authors really enjoy torturing characters. And it's true! Let's face it; it's something fun to do. We see our favorite guys struggle against some evil while going on a strenuous journey that may bring about their demise, or at least have them covered in cuts and bruises and maybe a concussion. Cruel, aren't we? Or are we?
YChao- Cruel? Yes. Still awesome to bear through? Yes.
Chao- Ok, but what about original works? The heroes go on these long journeys to find themselves. There's angst, drama, action, humor. Is it any different from fan fics?
YChao- Yes, the characters in fan fics have already been established of who they are and what misadventures await them. We write our fan fics focusing on the characters we want to and leave out 100% of the ones who dislike or don't care about, minus any bashing fics.
Chao- Yes, fan fics use already established characters and universes, yet they all undergo some sort of journey--to face some evil or find themselves or both.
YChao- And some fans get a kick out of that--bruises, concussions, nightmares, and all.
Chao- Some of this may seem cruel when you think about it, but as humans, isn't this what we're drawn to? We want something to read that will make us care about something; some of us aren't afraid to drop a story if we just aren't interested. These perils give us something to care about. It can be, after all, a reflection of human life.
YChao- That's too much of a positive spin!
Chao- Yeah, you're right. Sometimes we torture our favorite characters just for the heck of it!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Big Harry Potter Survey Thingy
Big
Harry Potter Survey Thingy
Chao- Not really. Saw movies 1-5(?) Pretty good series.
Chao- Holy cow! You mean these guys actually have middle names?!
YChao- Well, yeah, they are books from across the pond. This ain't your average American TV sitcom.
Chao- Touche.
4. What’s Hermione’s?
I.
General
1. Are
you obsessed with Harry Potter?
Chao- Not really. Saw movies 1-5(?) Pretty good series.
2.
Could You Prove That Statement In Court?
3. Do
You Know Any Of The Characters Middle Name’s?
Chao- Holy cow! You mean these guys actually have middle names?!
YChao- Well, yeah, they are books from across the pond. This ain't your average American TV sitcom.
Chao- Touche.
4. What’s Hermione’s?
5.
What’s Ron’s?
6.
What’s Harry’s?
7.
What’s Ginny’s?
8. Have
You Seen All The Movies?
9. Read
All The Books?
10.
What Do You Think Of JKR?
Chao- Pretty cool writer. Certainly was lucky(?) since the book was original thought of to be a waste of time. She probably had to go through a lot, like cleverly using a pen name over her real name, but especially with crazy fans who are all about shipping. And The Simpsons' had said it best:
Lisa: (to JKR) "You've turned a generation of kids onto reading."
JKR: "Thank you, young muggle."
Lisa: "Can you tell me how the series ends?"
JKR: (annoyed) "He grows up and marries you. Is that what you want to hear?"
Lisa: (exhales dreamily) "Yes."
Chao- Either twin. They're funny. Doesn't one of them die or something?
1. Weasley?
Chao- Wouldn't that completely nullify the series if they weren't together?
1. Harry or Ron?
1. Have you Been to A Release Party?
Chao- Nope!
4. Had A Dream About Harry Potter?
Chao- No characters or plots, but maybe one of the castles and its moving staircases.
Chao- Probably.
7. Have You Ever Roleplayed?
Chao- And that means what?
Chao- Really? That's funny. There's H.P. for Harry Potter and H for Hermione and.... Dunno her last name!
Chao- Naw, just one of those stone collections or something.
Chao- Probably like any kid dealing with those types of teachers/professors.
38. Do you wish that you went to Hogwarts?
Chao- No, not really. Chao would probably flunk everything.
YChao- You wouldn't have even been assigned a House. That Shorting Hat couldn't read your mind.
Chao- No, but the Hat might have been entertained if we mentally sing all the songs from the Phineas and Ferb soundtracks.
41. Have You Had An RP Party?
Chao- Are those for real or are they fan fics?
45. Do You Want To?
Chao- No idea who that is!
xxx
Chao- Saw this on someone's profile and thought it'd be fun to share! Boy, that series sure made an impression on readers and culture, didn't it? Hope that there will be something like this in the future for more readers to enjoy.
Chao- Pretty cool writer. Certainly was lucky(?) since the book was original thought of to be a waste of time. She probably had to go through a lot, like cleverly using a pen name over her real name, but especially with crazy fans who are all about shipping. And The Simpsons' had said it best:
Lisa: (to JKR) "You've turned a generation of kids onto reading."
JKR: "Thank you, young muggle."
Lisa: "Can you tell me how the series ends?"
JKR: (annoyed) "He grows up and marries you. Is that what you want to hear?"
Lisa: (exhales dreamily) "Yes."
II.
Favorites
1.
Weasley?
Chao- Either twin. They're funny. Doesn't one of them die or something?
2.
Character, Overall?
3.
Female character
4. Male
Charcter?
5.
Group Of Characters?
6.
Adult?
7.
Professor?
8.
Ship?
9. Spell?
10.
Sweet?
11.
Place?
12.
Weasley Twin?
13.
Shop?
III.
Least Favorites
1. Weasley?
2.
Character, Overall?
3.
Female?
4.
Male?
5.
Adult?
6.
Student?
7.
Spell?
8.
Book?
9.
Ship?
10.
Sweet?
11.
Death Eater?
12.
Shop?
13.
Place?
14. Professor?
IV.
Couples? What Do You Think?
1.
Ron/Hermione?
2.
Harry/Hermione?
3.
Harry/Ginny?
4.
Harry/Luna?
5.
Harry/Pansy?
6.
Ron/Lavander?
7.
Ron/Luna?
8.
Ron/Pansy?
9.
Ron/Fleur?
10.
Hermione/Krum?
11.
Hermione/Draco?
12.
Hermione/FredORGeorge?
13.
James/Lily?
Chao- Wouldn't that completely nullify the series if they weren't together?
14.
Lily/Snape?
15.
Lily/Sirius?
16.
Lily/Lupin?
17.
Tonks/Lupin?
18.
Draco/Pansy?
19.
Fred/Angelina?
20.
Bill/Fleur?
21.
Harry/Cho?
V. This
Or That?
1. Harry or Ron?
2.
Hermione or Ginny?
3.
Neville or Seamus?
4.
Snape or Slughorn?
5. Fred
or George?
6.
Harry/Ginny or Harry/Hermione?
7.
Ron/Hermione or Harry/Hermione?
8.
Harry/Hermione or Harry/Luna?
9.
Ron/Hermione or Ron/Luna?
10.
Hermione/Krum or Harry/Hermione?
11.
Ron/Lavander or Ron/Hermione?
12.
ButterBeer or Fire Whiskey?
13.
Hog’s Head Or The Three Broomsticks?
14.
James/Lily or Snape/Lily?
15.
Hogwarts or Hogsmeade?
16.
Hogsmeade Or Diagon Alley?
17.
Malfoy Manor or Knockturn Alley?
18.
Beartie Bott’s or Fizzing Whizbees?
19.
Witch Weekly Or The Daily Prophet?
20.
Rita Skeeter or Barty Crouch?
21.
Gyrffindor or Ravenclaw?
VI.
Random
1. Have you Been to A Release Party?
2. Ever
cried while reading one of the books?
3. A
Movie?
Chao- Nope!
4. Had A Dream About Harry Potter?
Chao- No characters or plots, but maybe one of the castles and its moving staircases.
5. Been
To A Fansite?
6. Been
to JKR’s Site?
Chao- Probably.
7. Have You Ever Roleplayed?
8. If
So/Do..Who were you/ are you?
9. Did
you use to have an absurd theory?
10.
What was it?
11. Did
you/Do you hide your obsession?
12. Did
it/ Does it work?
13.
Ever dressed up like a Character? For Halloween or Just No Reason at all?
14.
Ever noticed That You can’t “Spell Hermione without Ron”?
Chao- And that means what?
15.
Notice That If Harry&Hermione Got Married They’d Have EXACT Same Initials?
Chao- Really? That's funny. There's H.P. for Harry Potter and H for Hermione and.... Dunno her last name!
16. Did
you just try to prove that wrong?
17.
Have you noticed That Lily Evans And Ginny Weasley are a lot alike?
18. Do
you find it weird that Harry & His Dad Fell In Love With Girls So A Like?
19. Do
you know what fanfiction is?
20.
Ever Been To A Fanfiction site?
21. Are
you a member of a fanfiction site?
22.
What site?
23. Do
you write fanfiction?
24. Do
you like to write fanfiction?
25.
Ever had Harry Potter Candy?
26. Do
you own a lot of Harry Potter Stuff?
Chao- Naw, just one of those stone collections or something.
27. Do
you have Harry Potter Scene It?
28. Do
You Have A Harry Potter Shirt?
29.
What Character Are You Most Often Compared Too?
30. Do
You Agree With This?
31.
What Are They?
32. Do
you object to being Called By them?
33. Are
Your friends Supportive of your obsession?
34. Do
you have any inside jokes that relate to Harry Potter?
35.
What’s One?(You don’t have to explain)
36. Do
you relate a lot of things to Harry Potter?
Chao- Probably like any kid dealing with those types of teachers/professors.
37. Do
you love being obsessed With Harry Potter?
38. Do you wish that you went to Hogwarts?
Chao- No, not really. Chao would probably flunk everything.
YChao- You wouldn't have even been assigned a House. That Shorting Hat couldn't read your mind.
Chao- No, but the Hat might have been entertained if we mentally sing all the songs from the Phineas and Ferb soundtracks.
39.
Have you re-read the books?
40.
Have you had A Harry Potter Themed Party?
41. Have You Had An RP Party?
42. Do
You Want To?
43.
Have you ever read a Harry Potter Musical?
Chao- Are those for real or are they fan fics?
44.
Have You Ever Wrote One?
45. Do You Want To?
46.
Have you ever entered A Contest TO Win Something Harry Potter?
47. If
You Wrote A Hogwarts Musical, Would You Let People Read it
48. Are
You Going To Write One?
49. IS
The Musical Thing Annoying You?
50. Am
I more annoying than Rita Skeeter?
Chao- No idea who that is!
xxx
Chao- Saw this on someone's profile and thought it'd be fun to share! Boy, that series sure made an impression on readers and culture, didn't it? Hope that there will be something like this in the future for more readers to enjoy.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Featured Post: Summary 101
Chao- Can't believe Chao hasn't touched this subject! Anyway, summaries are what the word sound like: They sum up the plot of your work. They are important because they give readers a glimpse into your story. A lot of people have their own thoughts about writing them; some give the basic idea and others just fill in the blank with lines from within the work. Not sure what else to say about summaries, but Chao came upon a good entry in a blog about them. This entry is a special one since it is a feature post by FanFiction.net author DarkHeartInTheSky.
Chao- Nicely done! Glad to know that some users don't like having to search for summaries. Seriously, authors are there to share their stories, not have readers hunt for something that may or may not interest them. And while people took a look at that advice, this author found some other advice to share.
Ideas to Consider:
"Summary Writing: 101
The best way to get more readers for your stories is to write a really good summary. However, a lot of people seem to have trouble with that part. I thought I would try and help out. Here is a list of 5 (in no particular order) ways to write better summaries, and get more readers.
1: DON'T write, "summary in profile." That is the worst thing you can do. It deters almost all readers. People want to know the summary as they're scrolling through the page; they don't want to have to search for it. I understand fanfiction doesn't give us that much room to write a summary, which is why you, as the author, have to really know your story so you can make a summary that fits within the character limit.
2. DON'T begin your summary with, "what if". Maybe it's just me, but I don't like summaries that start that way. "What if" implies a hypothetical situation. And all fanfiction is hypothetical, so it seems redundant to state that your story is a hypothetical situation. Or maybe I'm just nit picking...
3. Use correct capitalization. I personally don't read any stories where the summary is either all capital or all lower case letters. It looks sloppy, and makes me think that your story is written the same way.
4. Spell-check. If you have a lot of spelling errors in your summary, especially with the names of the characters, then again, I infer that your story is written in a similar style. It only takes a few moments to fix this problem, and unless the language you're writing in isn't your first language, you shouldn't have any problems with this.
5. DON'T end your summary with "read to find out!" Again, this part should be implied. "Bob meets Jane and a friendship blossoms. But the closer they become, the more dangerous their relationship. Because Bob has a dark secret."
It is implied that I have to read the story to find out what Bob's secret it, so I shouldn't have to say it. It would be redundant.
Again, it's possible that I'm just nit-picking, but I really think that if you can write a really good summary, you will earn a lot more readers to your story. You could have the best story out there, but if your summary sucks, the majority of people won't know because they won't read it."
1: DON'T write, "summary in profile." That is the worst thing you can do. It deters almost all readers. People want to know the summary as they're scrolling through the page; they don't want to have to search for it. I understand fanfiction doesn't give us that much room to write a summary, which is why you, as the author, have to really know your story so you can make a summary that fits within the character limit.
2. DON'T begin your summary with, "what if". Maybe it's just me, but I don't like summaries that start that way. "What if" implies a hypothetical situation. And all fanfiction is hypothetical, so it seems redundant to state that your story is a hypothetical situation. Or maybe I'm just nit picking...
3. Use correct capitalization. I personally don't read any stories where the summary is either all capital or all lower case letters. It looks sloppy, and makes me think that your story is written the same way.
4. Spell-check. If you have a lot of spelling errors in your summary, especially with the names of the characters, then again, I infer that your story is written in a similar style. It only takes a few moments to fix this problem, and unless the language you're writing in isn't your first language, you shouldn't have any problems with this.
5. DON'T end your summary with "read to find out!" Again, this part should be implied. "Bob meets Jane and a friendship blossoms. But the closer they become, the more dangerous their relationship. Because Bob has a dark secret."
It is implied that I have to read the story to find out what Bob's secret it, so I shouldn't have to say it. It would be redundant.
Again, it's possible that I'm just nit-picking, but I really think that if you can write a really good summary, you will earn a lot more readers to your story. You could have the best story out there, but if your summary sucks, the majority of people won't know because they won't read it."
Chao- Nicely done! Glad to know that some users don't like having to search for summaries. Seriously, authors are there to share their stories, not have readers hunt for something that may or may not interest them. And while people took a look at that advice, this author found some other advice to share.
Ideas to Consider:
- Practice giving summaries for well-known stories like fairy tales
- Look at summaries written for your favorite stories and fan fics
- Note that some published works offer no summary at all! Do you find this to work well or are just annoyed by it?
Chao- Some places on the web or in magazines do have a word limit for stories and summaries, so authors can see writing summaries in the given space as a chance to work with a word limit. But authors aren't require to give a sum up of the plot; instead, they can give a snip it of an interesting introduction or character lines. those can be just as eye catching as well. Hope this helps!
Thursday, June 12, 2014
100th Post!
Chao- Hard to imagine that Chao has made it to 100 posts! Pretty happy to have written and published that many entries!
YChao- Shouldn't we calculate how many entries shouldn't count since some of them are about you and your announcements for updates? Or rather, lack there of?
Agent Daisy- *browsing through past entries*
Chao- Hey! Posting monthly updates is a good way to communicate with others who enjoy your stories and visit your blog!
YChao- And what about the posts all about memes?
Chao- Those are always fun to read. It's easier to post them here rather than on the FF.net profile cuz then it'll make the profile ridiculousy long. And it still fits with the theme since they pertain to characters and a bit of fan fics.
YChao- Ok, what do you plan to talk about in this entry?
Chao- Hmmm... Well, Chao has found some interesting videos about stories.
What Fear Can Teach Us (TED Talk)
Chao- So why post this video? Obviously it's because the speaker made a great connection between fear and storytelling. Authors bring stories to life. Some authors may not even consider themselves to be writers, but rather storytellers. Once we find a subject or even a character we meet and want to explore through out words, we write/type our ideas into sentences. Here are some more videos regarding grammar and word choice.
Be A Better Writer in 15 Minutes 4 TED-Ed Lessons on Grammar And Word Choice (TED Talk)
Chao- Pretty cool videos and advice. But even with such help, sometimes we don't know what our hero wants to do next. We are lost after Point A, and we must get our guys to Point B. What to do for writer's block? Here's a TED talk featuring Sting.
How I Started Writing Songs Again (TED Talk)
Chao- Whether we are writing songs or stories, it is important to find a way to manage writer's block. The next link deals with videos about storytelling--some about just a general tale and others about the different media for stories.
How to Tell a Story (TED Talks)
Chao- Chao likes a good story, writing one and reading one. There's just something captivating about reading that is so fun, especially fan fics.
YChao- Liar! You only like it when there's juicy angst or wonderful character torture.
Agent Daisy- *browses through favorite fan fics*
Chao- Well, duh, that's what makes a story fun--the banal journey these guys go on to fight evil or battle for a personal goal! And these stories come about because writers share their idea and a little bit about themselves through their work. Maybe some will go on to a full time position, maybe write a few articles for a magazine, blog, or newspaper, and maybe others will just stop at fan fics. The last link is something just for fun but has still impacted the writing environment.
10 Words Simpsons Invented
Chao- And so this is the 100th post for this blog! DarkChao1663 will continue on to write more entries about writing, fan fics, and the fan fiction community. Hope this helps anyone stopping by!
YChao- Shouldn't we calculate how many entries shouldn't count since some of them are about you and your announcements for updates? Or rather, lack there of?
Agent Daisy- *browsing through past entries*
Chao- Hey! Posting monthly updates is a good way to communicate with others who enjoy your stories and visit your blog!
YChao- And what about the posts all about memes?
Chao- Those are always fun to read. It's easier to post them here rather than on the FF.net profile cuz then it'll make the profile ridiculousy long. And it still fits with the theme since they pertain to characters and a bit of fan fics.
YChao- Ok, what do you plan to talk about in this entry?
Chao- Hmmm... Well, Chao has found some interesting videos about stories.
What Fear Can Teach Us (TED Talk)
Chao- So why post this video? Obviously it's because the speaker made a great connection between fear and storytelling. Authors bring stories to life. Some authors may not even consider themselves to be writers, but rather storytellers. Once we find a subject or even a character we meet and want to explore through out words, we write/type our ideas into sentences. Here are some more videos regarding grammar and word choice.
Be A Better Writer in 15 Minutes 4 TED-Ed Lessons on Grammar And Word Choice (TED Talk)
Chao- Pretty cool videos and advice. But even with such help, sometimes we don't know what our hero wants to do next. We are lost after Point A, and we must get our guys to Point B. What to do for writer's block? Here's a TED talk featuring Sting.
How I Started Writing Songs Again (TED Talk)
Chao- Whether we are writing songs or stories, it is important to find a way to manage writer's block. The next link deals with videos about storytelling--some about just a general tale and others about the different media for stories.
How to Tell a Story (TED Talks)
Chao- Chao likes a good story, writing one and reading one. There's just something captivating about reading that is so fun, especially fan fics.
YChao- Liar! You only like it when there's juicy angst or wonderful character torture.
Agent Daisy- *browses through favorite fan fics*
Chao- Well, duh, that's what makes a story fun--the banal journey these guys go on to fight evil or battle for a personal goal! And these stories come about because writers share their idea and a little bit about themselves through their work. Maybe some will go on to a full time position, maybe write a few articles for a magazine, blog, or newspaper, and maybe others will just stop at fan fics. The last link is something just for fun but has still impacted the writing environment.
10 Words Simpsons Invented
Chao- And so this is the 100th post for this blog! DarkChao1663 will continue on to write more entries about writing, fan fics, and the fan fiction community. Hope this helps anyone stopping by!
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