The elements of fan-fic discussion thread
 

well, I'm working on a fan-fic myself about Mac growing up (it's going to be pretty long I assume) and I would like to know all of the things that people like to see and don't like to see. I'm new to the fan fiction thing.So, I know lots of people don't loike OC's or whatever they're called, but I don't know what those are, I need to know what you guys wanna see, and don't wanna see, do you wanna see comedy mixed in with drama, friendship and morals, a mix of all the good elements is what I'm looking for. I'm just trying to please my people.

Thanks all!


~Bloo2daMacs

P.S. I think I might post some preview of the Fic here. 8-)

An OC is an Original Character - one created by yourself (e.g. if you make up a crush for Mac). And OCs can be pretty good (in my fanfic, people liked mine), so you can put one in if it's needed for the story.
What true Foster's fans DETEST is OOC-ness (Out Of Character; e.g. Wilt going emo, Mac becoming goth, etc.).

Some of us also detest pairings. Put the accent on humor, keep the OC's low-key, and oh my stars avoid Mary-Sue! :) ;)

okay got it, pairings not too intense, no OOC, and minimum amout of original characters, thank you for the helpful information so far

Don't make Mac all... un-Mac-like. Make sure to keep him in a mindset you think the creators of the show would put him in.

i.e, don't do something like

"Mac was thinking, and decided to jump off a cliff."

No. Craig, Lauren, Tim, nor anyone else on the Foster's staff would EVER make Mac do that. Think about what you write down, then think "Could this be plausible in an episode?" and if it can, most likely fiction readers will like it. Now, you can get a little extreme, in a way they WOULDN'T put it on TV... ever, but if you think Foster's ever became a PG13 show, still keeping the essence of Foster's, go ahead and put it in there.

Yeah, stay away from generic-brand "Mary-Sues" (test your original characters here), or just original characters in general, I guess. Well, you *can* create characters, but usually if they're the main part of the storyline and interact with Mac a lot, they have to be REALLY good or no one likes them and no one likes the story.

Also, don't make any new imaginary friends that have really sad, angst stories and need Mac's help. Those stories annoy me to Davy Jone's locker. Keep away from angst in general. No drama. No soap operas. Death is fine, but don't make Mac emo from it. >>;

Yeah, that's all I got.

Oh god no I would NEVER do that!! Suicide just isn't my thing.

Well, I was just using it as an example. I mean, Mac most likely wouldn't commit suicide, but he wouldn't do this either.

"Mac was thinking, and decided to betray all his friends at Foster's because he was so mature."

This thread is helpful. Now I know what OC and OOC are.

Well, I've never written a fanfic before, but I can say this much.

I shouldn't say it though.

But here's something. Spell check! I once read a fanfic (which I now dearly regret reading) where all the e's were 3's...

ooohh... that always upsets me, unless it's used in a humorous fashion, like the name: ch3353h4xx0rrrr

Hey, I never knew that the 3's and the 5's stood for e's and a s! Now I see Cheese! (I hope that's right.)

Yup yup yup.

It's a highly advanced language of the computer.

\/\/\-\323 3\/32Y 7\-\*//& *5 1*/<3 7|-|*5.

Most people hate it. I think it's funny because some people don't know how to use it and make themselves look dumb, ya know? ;)

So now everyone knows my true name: Cheese Hacker. :o It's not a good "language" to put in a fanfiction, due to the level of difficulty you have deciphering it, plus when you only use threes or fives it looks... dumb.

EXTRA INFORMATION: t3h language is called "1337", or "LEET".

Oh I get it! Sort of.

I (and many others) dislike it when people make Terrence *evil* as opposed to just a stupid bully. There's a difference. Terrence doesn't like Mac and he probably hates Bloo but there's been no indication in the series that he "beats the crap" out of Mac, like tons of people like to put in their fics.
He pushes him around, he gives him wedgies, he's the stomp-on-a-sandcastle type, but he doesn't pound and pound until the blood comes. Got it? :P GOD I HATE THAT. -_-

I think that no brother, no matter how much he may dislike his sibling, would beat up his kid brother so badly that his kid brother ends up bleeding.

Is the Mary-Sue test OK? For I tried it on a character about who many *reliable* people on this board told me is totally alright, and I got the result that she's the ultimate Mary-Sue... :P

I'm guilty of making Terrence seem terrible myself (coughWOWTHcough)... And I probably went a little overboard... It does bug me every now in then though wen people make it seem like he's evil or something. I mean, I know I went overboard in my coauthored fic, but I don't think that Terrence should be eternally damned for that or anything. No, we have... er, bittersweet redemption planned in the end.

And the Mary Sue Test... Well, I've been using another one, and I tried that one. The one I usually use told me my character was fine (Irene from my Newsies fic), and then this one told me it was a big fat Mary Sue.

I think it's a Mary Sue myself... which is why the story is on indefinite hiatus until I get a chance to edit it... Which might be a while.

-Marty 8-)

I think Grand High Idol/Delete-Lover has got a good idea of how Terrance ticks; it is likely that he's trying to heal the wounds from his father's death (it's likely a death rather than a divorce or Mom having an affair; Craig's dad died and people think Mac's based on him.) The problem is that due to Duchess' lack of appearances, people see Terrance as Foster's arch-enemy.

Grand High Idol/Delete-Lover...? Who's that? Sorry.

I hate Mary Sues, its true, but I also hate Mary Sue "tests", even if some of them are reliable. Just the idea that there's a "test," I guess, bugs me. The problem with Mary Sues is, pretty much *any* original character (especially one the same gender as the author) is GOING to be called a Mary Sue at some point. It's really an insult to a writer when people do that - I mean, original characters often stem from one's own personality and experiences, that's how original characters are *born*. So technically, there's a little of the writer in every one of their original characters (well, that's how I see it). And in a fanfic, there's usually a little bit of the writer in every one of the CANON characters as well, no matter how in-character they are portrayed. That's just the writing process. That's why co-authored fics are a million times awesomer than non-co-authored, in my opinion. That's why a show like Foster's has multiple writers, not just one. If the show had only one writer, it would be a disaster. You NEED multiple personalities and points of views to bring together a show, especially one like Foster's. Actually, when writing a fan-fic, I like to think of myself as sort of co-authoring with the writers of the original source material. That's the key I think - WORK with the existing material, don't reinvent it. When you reinvent it, that's what we like to call AU, or alternate-universe fanfic writing. ;) Anyways the same goes for original characters. If they honestly mesh with the existing ones, you're off to a good start. If they totally clash, *that's* a clue that you're heading in the wrong direction. Don't be afraid to ask others for opinions, but do NOT take the first person you ask's word for it. Because some people are a little TOO quick to cry "Mary Sue".

Just my opinion. And please don't take my Foster's fics Focus and Edge as examples; I swear I wasn't even trying when I wrote those. I was just bored, and it was before I was really and truly a fan of Foster's. That's why I stopped writing that series; as a FAN, I think it was a bad start.

Don't give up, Sparky! You haven't seen how I started! But now, I'm quite satisfied with my fanfic. :)

Good AU fics work with the source material as well as reinvent it. It's always interesting to see familair characters placed in new situations. For example, take Futurama. When it first came out, people accused Bender and/or Fry of being re-hashes of Homer, but since they were in a different setting, they could develop in different ways and act in different ways.

I agree with Sparky about the whole Mary Sue thing. I am ABSOLUTELY FREAKING TIRED of seeing every single OC accused of being one, and seeing so many people throw the term around like confetti on New Year's Day. OC's containing fragments or even good portions of the author's personality is INEVITABLE; and believe it or not, there's NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT as long as the character is grounded and fits with the show's spirit. And I hate "Mary Sue tests". All they really do is encourage people to create Anti-Sues that are equally annoying and contrived, akin to fighting obesity with starvation. And one of the tests even admitted that the system is not perfect, as it said U2 frontman Bono(A REAL PERSON) did very high in the test, and then bluntly came to the defense of a fictional character which apparently also scored high, whom the test-master nonetheless loved.

Some posts are bad.