MOD Welcome New Users! Please start here! (Now with a quick guide to era tags)

WELCOME NEW USER TO THE JEDI COUNCIL FAN FICTION BOARDS



The JC FanFic boards are a community to share fan fiction in an accepting and friendly environment. Here you can post Star Wars fan fiction, read Star Wars fan fiction and socialize with your fellow readers and writers. Basically, it’s all about having fun.

This Forum is for Star Wars FanFic only, if you would like to read or post non-Star Wars Fan Fic, please check out the NSWFF section of the boards.

This is merely a brief introduction to this forum. The “FanFic” FAQ is where you can find the rules and policies of this forum. The Board-Wide rules and Terms of Service still apply here as well.



WHO ARE WE?

We are the mods Briannakin and mavjade. We are here to answer any question or concern you may have, so feel free to start a conversation (also known as a PM or private message) with us.

Yes, we're also here to enforce the rules. Moderators can be identified by their name in colors and a title that says "manager" or "moderator". The mods of a specific forum can be found in the top right of that forum. You can find the current mods online on the main page of the Jedi Council Forums on the right hand side under "Staff Online Now".

Administrators are the heads of the forums overall. If you have an issue and don't feel comfortable contacting a mod, you are free to contact an admin. The current Head Admin is JoinTheSchwarz, the other admins are GrandAdmiralJello and LAJ_FETT



WHAT CAN I POST AND WHERE CAN I POST IT?

Here in the Fan Fiction and Writing Resource forum, you can find many social threads, discussions on writing and reading fanfic in general, fanfic indices, character discussion threads, and even prompts and writing challenges. It is basically a place to seek assistance with writing and reading of Star Wars Fanfic as well as socialize with fellow writers and readers. Here you will also find important board information from your mods.

Please review the Fanfic FAQ before beginning any new thread, but here are some pre-existing threads you may find helpful: the Writer’s Desk - If you have any question at all about your specific story, please post it there. If you are looking for a "Beta Reader" (an editor), you can do so in the Beta Reader Index.

The Fan Fiction sub-forum is where you can find all the stories and where you can post your own fan fiction. All fanfic is posted here, divided into Before the Saga, The Saga and Beyond the Saga. Only Fan Fiction stories can be posted here.

Please note the "Stickied Threads" at the top of both forums. Important threads such as this welcome thread, the FAQ and new rules will be "stickied" at the top for easy access and awareness.



HOW DO I POST A NEW STORY?

First, go to Fan Fiction and click Post New Thread. Type in your title and chose the 'era' tag by pressing the arrow beside no prefix. Next write or copy and paste your story (or the first chapter) in the body. It's that simple.

Many writers like to use something like the following to give their readers more information about their story:

Title:
Author(s):
Timeframe:
Characters:
Genre:
Keywords:
Summary:
Notes:



WHY ARE SOME POSTS CUT OFF AND WHY DO SOME LINKS DON'T WORK?

Relatively long story short, in March 2012 we moved hosts. When we moved, posts got truncated after 10,000 characters and all our page addresses were changed. Our volunteers are working on fixing both issues, but there have been many setbacks.



HOW DO I GET READERS/COMMENTS ON MY STORY?

We've made a whole post with tips that is further down this thread, click HERE to go to that post.


We hope this answers any initial questions. Please check out the Fanfic FAQ or PM us if you have further questions.

Thank you,

Bri and Mav


Note - We've opened this thread to replies, if someone is more comfortable asking a question here rather than via PM, that is fine.

 

Prefix and Tagging system:


As mentioned above, each story must have a 'era prefix' also known as tags. Below you will find a quick explanation of each tag so you can reference this list. This list can also be found in the FAQ and in this thread, where you will find many examples and can ask questions.

Beyond Legends - Stories that take place in what is now known as Legends- the former Expanded Universe. If your story takes place after Return of the Jedi and in the timeline of the Legends Expanded Universe or with those characters, Beyond Legends is what you want to tag.

Beyond the Saga - Stories that take place beyond the entire series of movies. So for right now, anything that takes place after Episode 9 and not part of the Legends timeline would use this tag.

Any AUs that have nothing to do with Legends continuity or characters, but takes place after Episode 9, use this tag.​

Before Legends - Stories that take place prior to The Phantom Menace in what is now known as Legends, the previous Expanded Universe, including games. If your story takes place in that timeline or with those characters, Before Legends is the tag you want to use.

Before the Saga - Stories taking place before the series of movies. If your story is a prequel to The Phantom Menace but has nothing to do with happenings in the Legends EU, you would use this tag.

Any AUs that have nothing to do with Legends continuity or characters but take place before TPM, use this tag.​

Saga - This tag will remain for stories that sweep through different parts of the Saga, as well as for older fics that might not get changed.

Saga- PT - Stories that take place from The Phantom Menace up to A New Hope
Saga - OT -Stories that take place from A New Hope up to The Force Awakens
Saga - ST - Stories that take place from The Force Awakens through Episode 9​

Saga -Legends - For any story that takes place within the Saga, but is part of the Legends continuity. Stories that are a part of the Legends timeline or with major characters who exist within the previous Expanded Universe. (Example: A story about Mara Jade as the Emperor's Hand, would be under this tag)​

Any AUs that take place without Legends continuity or characters and take place within the Saga should go in the most appropriate Saga tag.​

-- As is the case now, if your story does not fit firmly into one of these categories, choose what you think is best. Whichever tag the vast majority of the story takes place or with the vast majority of characters, chose that prefix.


Tags

You can make your story easier to find with tags. Tags include things such as timeline, characters, genre and relationship. The tags are added to your story post and then people can search for tags to find stories that match that criteria.

Example: If you want to find a story about Luke that is angsty, you could search both of those tags and find stories that meet those criteria.

You can find the post that fully explains the tags and has a complete list HERE

 

One of the most often posted things from new users is asking how to get readers. While this is addressed in the FAQ and a few other places, we decided to make a tip guide and post it here so it is easier to find for new users. (This post is linked in the first post of this thread as well.)


How do I get readers/comments on my story?

None of the tips that follow are rules -you won't get a message from the mods if you don't do these things- but they are the things that we've noticed help people get readers here on these forums.

Oldbies Top Tip: Get to know people!
Post in the social thread, participate in discussions, participate in challenges. The more people see you around, the more likely they are to check out your story.

Do unto others... If you want people to review your stories, you should review stories.
Don't just post "Great story!" and nothing else, but comment on what you liked, favorite lines, how it made you feel, things along those lines. Meaningful comments make people see that you really took the time to read and they'll be more likely to give you the same.

Challenge yourself: When a writing challenge comes up, join in! A lot of people tend to read other stories in the challenge if they participated.

Start small: While epicly long stories are great, we sometimes need something smaller to get to know you. If you have a shorter story, start with that and build an audience. It's lets people know the kind of writer you are without having to commit a huge amount of time right off.

What is the story? We want to know! Let people know what they are getting into. In the subject bar, tell us who the main characters are and maybe a genre. In the first post let us know those things and what we should expect from the story: timeline, genre, characters, maybe even a summary. You can see an example of a good way to do this in the FAQ.

Format is a BIG deal: If your story is just a big wall of text, people will most likely click and then run away. Make sure to have a space between paragraphs and dialogue, otherwise it's just too hard to read.
While length of posts that are most popular is debated, it seems that most people like shorter posts. 2,500 words tends to be the top end of what people like.

A chapter a day keeps the reviewers away. If you leave at least a week between updates on a story, people are more likely to review. There are a lot of stories here and people can't always comment right away. Giving people time to comment or time to catch up can increase the number of people who comment.

Final Tip: Be patient!
It can sometimes take awhile to get reviewers, but keep posting, keep participating and they will come.

 

It sounds like you would want the "Saga - PT" prefix as it it for anything that deals with events from "The Phantom Menace" to just before "A New Hope". I hope that helps!

 

This is a matter for the press conference thread. I just want to say that we never intended our "quick fix" to be used this long (under the same logic, I never liked the fact that 'pre-TFA' fics had to be labeled OT). We were under the impression that we were going to have the update LOOOONG before this point.

 

EP is right, it has to be hosted on the web with something that allows hotlinking. If you have a picture you want to use that's on your computer you'll need to upload it to photobucket, flicker, or some other photo hosting site.

Also, if you don't want to use the code, you can use the real text version. In the row of buttons above the box where you type your reply there's a little button that looks like a tree (in the same row as Bold, Italic, Underline, etc.). Click on that and it will ask you for a URL, you can just paste it in there and then get your picture. Some people find the code easier, some find using the buttons, which ever works for you is fine.