Welcome to Classic Fan Fiction!

Guide for New Readers and Writers

Welcome to the Fan Fiction boards at TheForce.Net! These may be similar to other fan fiction sites you?ve participated in; in other ways, they may be very different. First of all, all stories posted here must be ?family-friendly.? The rating is equivalent to a PG movie, since that is what the Star Wars films are rated as. While all members of the boards must be at least 13 years old in order to post, the boards can still be read and accessed by younger kids. And some people here like to share the stories with their friends. So if you want to post stronger stuff, such as PG-13 or NC-17, please find another forum.

In addition to the boards here, there is also a Fan Fiction Archive. It is a bit more formal. Stories accepted there must be read and vetted by at least two other readers before being submitted, and the staff of the Archive determine whether to accept them. Only completed stories are accepted. Some beautiful, well-polished work is there, and many of the stories posted here are later sent to the Archive. They also have some boards with interesting and helpful information for writers.

Take a few minutes to look at the header at the top of the boards. It has information on what codes to use to create the smiley faces, and how to set your own preferred settings (like what icon you might like to use to represent your alter ego, or when to tell you if your favorite author has posted). To contact someone, you should click on their name. Information about them will come up on the screen, and somewhere there is a line ?Send Private Message.? Click on that to get in touch with them.

I. Too many choices?

The boards are split into five separate areas:

[color=]The Writer?s Resource Forum[/color] ? It?s not just for writers, readers are welcome too! Here are questions on characters and situations in the GFFA, opportunities to discuss the craft of writing, such as how to create mood, write dialogue or action scenes, create description. Board policies are discussed, so if you have strong feelings about what you want to see, you should participate. There are also games, challenges and social threads to relax and get to know other fan fiction folks.

[color=]Classic Stories[/color]
In the beginning, there was only one board of fan fiction, and this was it. Writer?s Resource split off when people posting stories were having trouble finding them because of the many question and discussion threads taking place. The Fan Fiction community still continued to grow at an amazing rate, leading to complaints that stories were still disappearing. So in September of 2003, after a great deal of discussion by the members of the community, a vote was held and it was agreed that the fiction boards would be split to reflect the different eras of Star Wars. The stories currently in progress became part of the Classic Stories board. New stories cannot be added, but you are welcome to read and comment on any which are still in progress.

[color=]Before the Saga[/color]
The Galaxy Far, Far Away was around long before Queen Amidala faced off against the Trade Federation. Stories about the time before The Phantom Menace are posted here. Many are based on the Jedi Apprentice novels by Jude Watson and Dave Wolverton, but there are other stories, too? Qui-Gon?s apprenticeship with Dooku, the Sith Wars, the founding of the Jedi and Han Solo?s childhood might all make their appearance here.

[color=]The Saga[/color]
This is the classic timeline of the films. The Saga begins with Episode I: The Phantom Menace and ends with Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Anything that takes place between the time Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive on Naboo to try to negotiate an end to the