Hello my dearest friends,
It seems like the state of the Twilight fanfic world is in utter disarray and some have questioned what I will do in all this madness. For those who are interested, I have plans, but they may shock you.
Are you ready?
I WILL DO NOTHING.
That's right. I will do nothing. I'm not leaving fanfiction.net. I'm not making bold claims with flowery pose that I will terminate my account. I may not access Fanfiction.net during the boycott, but that will be because I will be in Vegas at the Twific Meet Up.
I will do what I feel is the right thing, just like I did the last time these groups got a wild hair up their asses.
I think this whole bullshit surrounding pulling fics is just that....Bullshit. It's bullshit that we have all faced before and will face again after this dies down or until FF.Net does the right thing here. Its the nature of fanfic and there is no escaping it really.
Listen folks, I know this won't be popular, but I'm already not that popular to begin with so I will say it. The problem here isn't the jackass groups that are reporting stories. Don't get me wrong, these people need a life. The problem here is Fanfic.net, but not in the way you are thinking.
You see, FF.net has rules or should I say guidelines that a writer must agree to before posting a new story. They haven't changed these rules recently. The only thing they have changed as of recent was increasing the number of words allowed in a summary from 255 to 384 characters. They made this change on May 28th and truly if you ever tried to write a summary for a story it is a welcomed change, but everything else.. its the same.
For those who have never seen the actual rules here they are:
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Community Etiquette:
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FanFiction.Net does not filter content and is an open system that trusts the writer's judgement. However, there is an inherent responsibility that falls to writers as a result.
Here is a list of conducts that should always be observed:
- Spell check all story and poetry. There is no excuse for not performing this duty. If you do not have a word processor that has the spell checking feature, use a search engine such as Google.com to find one.
- Proofread all entries for grammar and other aspects of writing before submission. 'Hot off the press' content is often riddled with errors. No one is perfect but it is the duty of the writer to perform to the best of his/her ability.
- Respect the reviewers. Not all reviews will strictly praise the work. If someone rightfully criticizes a portion of the writing, take it as a compliment that the reviewer has opted to spend his/her valuable time to help improve your writing.
- Everyone here is an aspiring writer. Respect your fellow members and lend a helping a hand when they need it. Like many things, the path to becoming a better writer is often a two way street.
- Use proper textual formatting. For example: using only capital letters in the story title, summary, or content is not only incorrect but also a disregard for the language itself.
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FanFiction.Net Content Guidelines:
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Version: 11-20-2008
The chapter system is not to be used as placeholder for non-story content such as author notes. You can add short author notes to the beginning or at the end of stories but never as individual chapters.
FanFiction.Net is not an archive for non-fanfiction literary works. Please visit FictionPress.com to publish your non-fanfiction literary works.
Do not upload chapters, series, or segments of a story as separate entries. In order to submit a 5 chapter story, for example, use the 'Create Story' page to submit chapter 1, and then use the 'Edit/Upload chapter' feature in the left menu, after login, to submit chapters 2 through 5.
Entries not allowed:
- Non-stories: lists, bloopers, polls, previews, challenges, author notes, and etc.
- One or two liners.
- MST: comments inserted in between the flow of a copied story.
- Stories with non-historical and non-fictional characters: actors, musicians, and etc.
- Any form of interactive entry: choose your adventure, second person/you based, Q&As, and etc.
- Chat/script format and keyboard dialogue based entries.
Actions not allowed:
- Multiple entries of the same material. There can only be one copy of any unique story on the entire site. No exceptions.
- Rewriting names of characters/locations of one story in order to upload to multiple categories.
- Copying from a previously published work (including musical lyrics) not in the public domain.
General rules:
- Entry title and summary must be rated K for all audience. No exceptions.
- Entry must be given the proper rating. No exceptions.
- Entry must be placed in proper category. No exceptions.
- Chapters of the same story are not allowed to be submitted as separate entries. All chapters/segments must be grouped together using the 'edit/upload chapter' feature in the left menu.
Content Ratings:
FanFiction.Net adopts the rating system from FictionRatings.com.
Please note FanFiction.Net does not accept explicit content, Fiction Rating: MA, and the rating is only presented for reference.
FanFiction.Net respects the expressed wishes of the following authors/publishers and will not archive entries based on their work:
- Anne Rice
- Archie comics
- Dennis L. McKiernan
- Irene Radford
- J.R. Ward
- Laurell K. Hamilton
- Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb
- P.N. Elrod
- Raymond Feist
- Robin Hobb
- Robin McKinley
- Terry Goodkind
Failure to comply with site rules will result in the removal of stories and/or suspension of account.
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OK, so there you have it.. the guidelines that a writer promises to follow as they post a story. They really are simple rules and truly not much is asked of a writer. Over all I truly feel that FF.net over looks a lot. I mean, I have read chapters that were basically lyrics which goes against the rules. I personally have posted as chapter that was just an AN, which is against the rules as well. We have all seen stories that have broken the guidelines as they are listed here and for the most part FF.net turns a blind eye, so what the hell is the big deal now? It's simple. It's the simple statement listed;
Fanfiction.net does not accept explicit content.
That's great. They do not accept explicit content. I understand that. I think we all understand that, but what I don't understand is how they can make this statement and enforce a rule when they have not defined what explicit content is by their standards. In reality, there is no agreed upon definition of what consists of "explicit content".The US Government has not been able to define it and sadly, neither has Fanfiction.net. It is here that I feel they are failing us.
You see, as a writer I am more than happy to comply by their terms. I am happy to label my story properly as well as write a summary that is K rated for all audiences. I am fine with all of that, but what I am not fine with is a rule that they are holding me to, yet refuse to define. How can I be expected to follow a rule that there is no explanation to? How can I be expected to comply to something that the governing body cannot even define?
The problem here is not the critical group of people demanding that FF.Net remove fic based on explicit content. It's not people the problem is that FF.Net has rule they enforce that is too subjective to be a rule. Truly, my definition of explicit content maybe different than yours, yet if I get a 100 or more of my narrow minded friends to agree a person can have a fic removed on content alone. It's crazy right? Yeah, just crazy enough for it to be real.
So, instead of fighting with the three idiot groups that are demanding that Fanfic.Net follow their "no explicit content" rule by removing fics that they have deemed as explicit, I think maybe, as a group, we need to rethink our approach. Instead of this awkward fighting, we need to approach Fanfic.Net and ask them to give us a definition to the rule they enforce by removing fics. It's not much to ask and shows good faith by us writers that we are willing to work within their guidelines.
With that being said. I have no plans of leaving Fanfiction.net. I will stay and ride out this bitter storm of injustice just like I did last time by staying out of the fray while asking Fanfiction.net to do the right thing by giving us a definition to the vague guidelines that govern us. If one of my fics happens to get removed you will find me on The Writers Coffee Shop as well as this blog for those who care, but I would be surprised if that happened.
Until later my lovelies....
Stay calm and demand a definition...
Love,
Lori
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