Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Hi AC/FICTALKers. If you see this (11/12/2024) please see new post in General Discussions about Open Doors OTW Organization for Transformative Works) offering to help preserve the AC archive and let me know your thoughts:

https://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/topic,3415.msg125627.html#new

Author Topic: What Makes a Great Fanfic?  (Read 2237 times)

Sakabelle

  • General Pandemonium
  • *****
  • Posts: 2608
What Makes a Great Fanfic?
« on: May 06, 2010, 05:33:23 PM »

Hey guys.  I was bouncing around AC looking for something new to read and I was just kind of wondering about this.

I know for me personally I'm partial to anything starring Nick that has some fun lighthearted moments in it mixed in with drama.  I also need believable characters who get some kind of development.  I find that if I'm reading a story, and it has a lot of dramatic events but no real substance, I will tend to drop off.

So, what makes a fic great in your eyes?
Logged
~Saka ♥

"Write a lot. Write something you’re scared to write. That’s the best advice I can give: If you have an idea, and you can’t stop thinking about it, but something about it scares you half to death—WRITE THAT."
- Rainbow Rowell

honey

  • Supreme Time Waster
  • *******
  • Posts: 5321
    • Being Jamie Baker Website
Re: What Makes a Great Fanfic?
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2010, 05:55:39 PM »

and also, would your answer to this question be the same for a book you read? Or is it different because it's fan fic?



good question Steph! I'll have to think about it and get back to it.
Logged
If Ryan looked at me the wrong way, I lost it. If Ryan looked at me the right way, I lost it. And whenever he tried to kiss me, something usually blew up. Someone ought to teach him a little control.

RokofAges75

  • Supreme Time Waster
  • *******
  • Posts: 18650
    • Dreamer's Sanctuary
Re: What Makes a Great Fanfic?
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2010, 09:41:12 PM »

I like either group stories or stories with Brian or Nick as the main character.  I prefer serious stories to light-hearted ones, preferably drama with some suspense or romance.  I like the epic, life-or-death stuff.

But I also agree with Steph that there has to be some substance to it - not just an endless string of melodrama like a soap opera.  The tragic stuff only works when you feel for the characters; they need to be relatable and real, and the situations believable.

So for me, it comes down to the combination of a storyline that's interesting to me and good writing to tell that story in a way that sucks me in.

My answer is about the same for books, though I tend to go for more horror/thriller than romance/drama when I read books these days.  I've read romance/drama Bsb fics that are way better than any published novel I've found - if anyone knows of any good adult romance/drama authors who aren't cheesy, cliched, and repetitive, I'd love to check them out!
Logged
~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling

cabybakes

  • Commander of Confusion
  • *****
  • Posts: 1010
Re: What Makes a Great Fanfic?
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2010, 10:04:01 PM »

and also, would your answer to this question be the same for a book you read? Or is it different because it's fan fic?



good question Steph! I'll have to think about it and get back to it.

Hi all...great question, Steph :)

I'm going to stew on it too...I'll be back.
Logged

mare

  • Banner hater
  • Queen of Fanfiction
  • Supreme Time Waster
  • *****
  • Posts: 23831
Re: What Makes a Great Fanfic?
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2010, 09:02:25 PM »

I think a great fanfic in general needs to have a great plot and appropriate character development depending on whatever fandom you're writing for. The main people need to be believable and true to their counter parts to a certain extent, for me to want to read anyway.

BSB in particular, it needs to be about the BSB and not about their love interests. It's something i've always said ever since I started reading and STILL feel strongly about all these years later. Even though admittedly, I rarely even read them anymore. I've always been partial to Nick or Kevin centered fics and suspense, drama, action and comedy. Not sure how popular any of those genres are anymore. I can't even say for sure but just occasionally skimming the most recent updates pages on AC I think they are genres not really represented much nowadays.

The plot and storyline are the key things for me as well as character development. I feel the same way about books. I'm not as picky about what I read genre wise when it comes to books as long as the author is telling a great story and can suck me in. When it's a BSB fic however, it needs to be about BSB lol that's my two cents  ;D
« Last Edit: May 08, 2010, 09:04:24 PM by mare »
Logged
Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it. ~ John Green

Rose

  • Supreme Time Waster
  • *******
  • Posts: 8275
  • Uh oh! We lost Nick again...
    • Double Rainbow Fiction
Re: What Makes a Great Fanfic?
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2010, 12:38:12 AM »

Almost always, romance can't be the main plot. Subplot at best. It has to be a hell of a fanfic to get me with romance. I'm just so extremely picky with romance, I'm the same with books. Usually something say suspense, horror, sci-fi...or drama about the guys and their relationship as a group. Basically the genres that never pop up sadly. Has to be Brian, Nick, or Group centered to catch my eye.

Characters need to have depth, I am SO anal about characters when I write (ask Julie lmao), that I'm the same way when I read.

Female characters are okay, HOWEVER, it can't be all about her. She needs to have purpose in the story, in relation back to the Boys. She needs to have flaws and be real and easy to relate to. A good example of good use of a female character? Claire in Broken.
Logged
Double Rainbow Fiction - So Bright and So Vivid...


"Don't annoy the writer. They may put you in a book and kill you." —Anonymous

“I don’t believe in being serious about anything. I think life is too serious to be taken seriously.” —Ray Bradbury