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[Rose]

lmao it's been awhile. Poor Nick.

LMAO killing Nick in stories is a fun time.

[Rose]

Howie killing Nick trumps my four!  Thumbs up to that LOL.

Howie killing Nick is awesome! So is AJ killing Nick lmao.

[Rose]

LMAO and I also kept saying during the Notebook "OMG this is soo boring DIE ALREADY!" I'm such a romantic at heart.

Awww I love The Notebook lol.

[Rose]

Here's a question to the romance writers - how do you guys feel about those who write romance and go as far as to insert a pic of themselves into the banner? It's a step beyond the normal Mary Sue level.

It annoys the heck out of me, and I think it's incredibly shameless. It's one thing to go Mary Sue, but that is always above and beyond. But I wanted to see other perspectives on it.

[mare]

I hate banners of all kinds lol

[Rose]

I hate banners of all kinds lol

You don't count LOL

[julilly]

I hate banners of all kinds lol

Really? I never knew that about you. You should have told me...

[mare]

I try to keep it a secret. How am I doing so far? lol

[FrickingKaos]

I do NOT like banners with the writer's pic in there....such a turn off for a romance imo.

[RokofAges75]

Here's a question to the romance writers - how do you guys feel about those who write romance and go as far as to insert a pic of themselves into the banner? It's a step beyond the normal Mary Sue level.

It annoys the heck out of me, and I think it's incredibly shameless. It's one thing to go Mary Sue, but that is always above and beyond. But I wanted to see other perspectives on it.

I just think it's kind of weird, but hey, more power to them; just because I have no self-esteem and would never put my picture in a banner for the world to see, or deem myself worthy of dating a Backstreet Boy, even in fanfic, doesn't mean everyone's that way.  People who do that must have a lot of self-confidence... so, um, good for them?

It is kind of a turn-off to me as a reader, though; I feel like the author might as well put in the summary, "This is my fantasy about falling in love with my favorite Backstreet Boy.  Enjoy!"  I don't wanna read someone else's fantasy... blatantly, anyway.  Make it your fantasy in disguise, with a seemingly "original" character I'm more apt to relate to, and then we'll talk.

[Rose]

I just think it's kind of weird, but hey, more power to them; just because I have no self-esteem and would never put my picture in a banner for the world to see, or deem myself worthy of dating a Backstreet Boy, even in fanfic, doesn't mean everyone's that way.  People who do that must have a lot of self-confidence... so, um, good for them?

It is kind of a turn-off to me as a reader, though; I feel like the author might as well put in the summary, "This is my fantasy about falling in love with my favorite Backstreet Boy.  Enjoy!"  I don't wanna read someone else's fantasy... blatantly, anyway.  Make it your fantasy in disguise, with a seemingly "original" character I'm more apt to relate to, and then we'll talk.

Right, I'm picky with romance fanfic to begin with. If you make it THAT obvious that it's your fantasy with the Backstreet Boys, I'm not even gonna bother with the summary. It's THAT huge of a turn off. The banner alone will cause me to scroll on by.

[colorguard_diva]

I should check it out, I've heard a lot of good things about it, and how it differs from the standard romance. Like I've said, there's exceptions to everything, but it tends to be the norm.

Honestly though, my whole reason to read BSB fanfic is to be the Boys. And that's a huge issue in romance, it tends to become more about the female. Which, if that's the case, it may as well be Original Fiction and be done with it you know? There's nothing wrong with original characters. They add a lot to the story at times. But the Boys shouldn't be cameos, they should be right up there in the center of it.

Now putting a piece of yourself in a character is one thing. Oddly enough, my version of "Nick" these days, is scarily close to the way my own random mind works. Random lyrics, musings, whatever. I usually give them to Nick's character. I don't think it's the same as a female insert who is based heavily off yourself. I can see how a female perspective is easier to write, but that doesn't mean she should be based so much on you. Why not make her different? For me, the challenge makes writing more interesting.

I don’t think romance is the only genre to that makes a single boy the center of a story.  I’ve read other genres that will have one guy as the main guy and the others are non-existent. Every fan fic has original characters or a story would solely have the boys any other person that is their real lives in it.  It doesn’t bother me if a story is in the guys’ point of view or another character’s point of view. Really if it’s a good story none of the fan fic rules or annoyances bother me.  Personally I just want to read a good story.
I agree that if the boys or even one of them has a minute part in the story, it’s not really a BSB story. Personally I say to each their own, because when it comes down to writing it’s your story and as long as you enjoy writing it…it’s all good.  For me and many other writers, it’s a chance to be creative and work on your writing skills. Yes, I have stories that I cringe when I read them, but  I know if I didn’t write those stories, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today.  All I say it write, write, write. Get it on paper and enjoy it.  With each story, you get better. Writing should be a positive experience don’t let people take the joy out it.

[RokofAges75]

Personally I say to each their own, because when it comes down to writing it’s your story and as long as you enjoy writing it…it’s all good.  For me and many other writers, it’s a chance to be creative and work on your writing skills. Yes, I have stories that I cringe when I read them, but  I know if I didn’t write those stories, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today.  All I say it write, write, write. Get it on paper and enjoy it.  With each story, you get better. Writing should be a positive experience don’t let people take the joy out it.

That's very true!  We all had to start somewhere, and no one wants to peak with their first story.  Writing is like any other skill - the more you practice, the better you'll get at it.  I do think if you're "publishing" your story on a site like AC for others to read, there are certain quality standards that should be met - it should be properly edited, for one thing - but you live and learn.  If you don't get much feedback at first, keep writing, and eventually, you'll put out a story that people respond to.  If your grammar sucks, keep studying, keep learning, make an effort to improve (or find yourself a good beta reader), and it will get better.  It's a process; no one's mastered it.  We all have cringe-worthy stories of our own that we could post and mock.

[Carter-Orange]

I'm guilty of adding a banner with me on it on one of my first stories.  It's not that I'm confident or any of that though and I certainly don't think any celeb would even look my way, lol.  The thing is, I was a late starter to fanfic and only discovered it in 2007 (god knows how I never came across it before).  Anyway, on the site I discovered fanfic, all the writers there wrote about themselves with their favourite member of Take That, all the stories were romance and all had banners with the author's picture.  I thought that was the way it was done, lol.

And then I discovered good quality stuff on AC and haven't looked back!  I don't write myself into the stories anymore and I certainly don't include my own picture.  But I don't mind if the writer writes herself into the story as it's up to them what they write about.

[Carter-Orange]

I hate banners of all kinds lol

You learn something new every day, lol