Fan Fiction FAQ - Version 4.0 (August 25, 2005)

The Official FanFiction Handbook and FAQ
Ver. 4

Hello!

Welcome to the FanFiction forums located here on the Jedi Council forums on theforce.net. Odds are you wandered in here to get your daily fix of wonderful, often colourful, tales of our favourite galaxy far, far away. Or perhaps you are new and decided to come in here to see what all the hype is about.

Well, let me be first to tell you that the FanFiction forums are often considered the most friendly, open, and community-oriented forums in the JC. If you are a new person worrying about fitting in, don?t worry! You will find friends in no time after you start reading or posting your first piece of fiction. Sound cool? I bet it does.

FanFiction reigns supreme as a top subject among Star Wars fans. Most people who are a fan have read a work from time to time, and here that is no lie. Inside the forum you will find a most diverse collection of fiction, all of them being read by people just like you. From action, romance, commentary, drama, comedy, or parody the FanFiction forum has it all and then some.

Are you worried about starting your newest fiction or how to characterise Darth Vader in third person, then the Resource forum is the place to go. If you are new, you will see a lot of topics talking about writing techniques, beta-readers, writing awards, and various polls. Don?t be worried if you don?t understand some of the abbreviations used in the topic titles, you will figure those out in no time. The Resource forum was created as a place for authors and readers to hang out and talk about their stories, writing in general and to socialise as a community.

There are a few basic questions everybody asks about the FanFiction forums. Here they are for you to see:

If I have a question about Fan Fiction who can I ask?

- The moderators for FanFiction are Healer_Leona, VaderLVR64, JadeSolo and oqidaun. They are there to help you with any trouble you have on the boards. If you wish to ask them a question, simply click on their name to access their biography, and then send them a private message at the top of the page. If they are online, they will read your message and get back to you as soon as possible. However, if they are not online and you need help right away, you can ask any moderator JC online to help you. If there are no JC moderators online then you can go to a FanForce moderator.


My friends and I are co-writing a fic. Can we share a username so that readers will know it's a collaborative effort?

The JC forums forbid sharing usernames. It makes enforcement of rules more difficult when the mods can't be certain which person it was who actually broke the forum rules.

However, Fanfic has allowed a special dispensation where two or more people can share a username under certain conditions. The first of which is that the mods must be made aware of the shared username and everyone who has access to the name. Secondly, the shared username can only be used in the appropriate story forum within the story thread itself, or in the case if shared named created to maintain indexes, the shared name can be used solely in the Resource Forum in the appropriate thread.

Under no circumstances can the shared name be used elsewhere. Also, should the shared name be used to break the forum rules, every person who shares access to that name will equally share in whatever punishment is decided upon.

Can I post anything in the FanFiction forums?

- You should not create topics about miscellaneous ideas in the FanFiction or Resource forums. Those types of topics belong in a place called Your Jedi Council

 

Alrighty folks, this is the updated version! Read it, love it, let it become a part of you. If you've got questions about any of the rules, feel free to ask here or to PM us.

And much thanks to TwiLekJedi for stickying this.

 

Nice. Thought I'd point it out, the Beta Reader Index closed v3.0 and started a new thread.

 

I have to say I disagree with a ton of these rules (especially no slash, drug use is always bad). That said, as much as they rankle me, I'm not going to ask that they be changed, because this isn't the place for it, and anyway it's unlikely to happen in the not-too-distant future as MST3K says. Anyway, I always have AFF.net for when I want to write a story where Han is banging Luke and they're both lesai addicts.

I *do* have a question about the PG rule. Is that still in place even though ROTS itself was PG-13? Because if so, it seems rather strange. Less than some of the books, I disagree with but can understand (Black Fleet Crisis was very very bloody). But less than the movies?!

 

Yes, the PG rule is still in place. The rating does not come from LFL, it comes from the site owners, Philip Wise and Joshua Griffin. Because of this, the rating did not change when ROTS aired. The owners want the site to stay 'family friendly', hence the PG-rating is still in tact.

If you have any more questions, comments, grievances, I suggest Communications.

 

Ooops, old link. This:

A thread specifically seeking a beta reader will undoubtedly be redirected to Beta Reader Index

leads to an older, locked beta reader thread. What's the current beta-reader list?

 

can i post a sequel trilogy script on here?

 

Sure can. If it's post-ROTJ, it would go in Beyond the Saga.

 

Thanks for the info now I can get started on my fic

 

Inappropriate

 

alright. I have a question . I was going to write a crossover between RENT and Star Wars. Because of some of the refrences in RENT, i decided to re read this first. Okay. So if some of my characters are homosexual, is this okay?? I mean, they are homosexual in RENT which is the onlty reason they are homosexual in this story. None of the star wars characters are homosexual.

Also, there is heroin use in the story. One of the characters ( Mimi) is going through withdrawal .Now and then she sneaks a hit. Is this okay??

Thirdly, is HIV okay in ths story??????

ALrgiht, i just realized how many questions i had. So im not going to post my story, just to be safe. But please answer them anyway.

thanks!!

 

No, Yes, Yes.

1) Based on a discussion we had while pondering whether or not to allow non-SW fanfic, to be on the safe side you'd probably have to apply the "No slash" rule to other fandoms as well as SW. So if it were RENT, you could write about Joanne and Maureen separately or as friends, but not as a couple.

2) So long as the heroin use isn't glorified (which it isn't in RENT), it's okay to show a reasonable amount.

3) Same as with any other mature theme. You can show it, just keep it down to a certain level.

 

This is Kylie ( too lazy too change accounts)

okay. I have another question. Is implied child abuse okay. Like there are no graphic descriptions but Mark was abused as a kid and its like mentioned ( and he idenifies with Obi wan). SO is this okay. If its not, please tell me so i can change it now!

 

In my Sabewan story, Obi-Wan becomes a drunk much to Sabé's dismay but I don't go into a lot of detail about that in the story. Is that all right?

~ aeryn

 

So long as you don't glorify the drinking, it should be fine. Feel free to PM us with any part you're not sure about.

 

It doesn't glorify drinking. I just wanted to check

~ aeryn

 

Hello.

I'd like to see information on who actually gets the copyright of the text whether I post it here. Is it like with the program called "icq" where EVERY single bit you write into is is automatically transferred into the companies' intellectual property with the result that everything you write within it, automatically gets owned - especially the copyright - by the company ?

Will it be the same here ? Does TheForce.Net or its owner automatically get the copyright(s) of a text I post here ?

Alrik

 

I don't actually know - never came across that issue before, though I can see where it might come into play. I'll ask in Mod Squad and see if anyone else knows.

 

Is this purely for stories or can Star Wars 'inspired' poetry be posted as well?

Also, has there been an answer for AlrikFassbauer's question about copyright?

 

There should be an edit to the FAQ to allow PG-13 fanfics. I mean, it basically means "Parental Guidaince for anyone under 13", and there are a lot of 13 year olds out on the net probably wanting to read a fanfic with more "meat" on it. I agree R-Rated and NC-17 rated fanfics shouldn't be allowed, but PG-13 is generally okay.

And, due to the fact that Revenge of the Sith was PG-13, the fanfic rating should be raised to coincide with that.

 

darth_da: To answer Alrik's question, I don't think there's too much to worry about when it comes to copyright in that context. Though, if anyone can think of a specific instance where that would be a concern, let us know.

To answer your question, SW-inspired poems are absolutely allowed! Just be sure to put it in the right story era forum.

SuperSaiyaMan: The issue was raised a long time ago when the ROTS rating was first announced, and the owners decided to keep the board rating at "family-friendly." That doesn't necessarily mean only PG and never PG-13 (as defined by the MPAA). Since it was the owners' decision, that's what we have to enforce. There are plenty of other sites out there, however, if you want higher-rated stories.

 

I want to submit *higher rated* stories. PG-13 is technically family friendly, only R and NC-17 aren't. If we could, could we have a board just for PG-13-NC-17 stories? That might solve the problem, because a lot of the authors here I talked to want to submit those type of stories.

 

Isn't there some way to contact the owners? And, I agree Slash should be left out(I will strangle the writers who pushed an Jacen/Anakin ship on AFF.net when I find them), but PG-13 is family friendly now adays.