The elements of fan-fic discussion thread

[ch3353-h4xx0rrrr]

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.