Forum:WT:State of the Fan Fiction Union

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This forum thread is about five “rules,” shall we say, that Solus gave about fan fiction on this wiki in the twenty-fourth edition of the Completely Unofficial Star Wars Fanon Newsletter. The article that is in this thread was written by me, Brandon Rhea, and I’m putting it here so people who need help with their fan fiction works see this if they do not subscribe to the newsletter.

Introduction
There is a user on this wiki unlike any other. Some call her a breath of fresh air, others call her insane. Some say she is honest, while others find her blunt and sarcastic. Either way, she is not afraid to speak her mind, and can be seen as one of Star Wars Fanon’s most notorious critics. She is a person of many names, but she prefers you to call her the Angel of Death. Her true name, however, is Solus, sometimes referred to as Susan Donnam, and she is a regular contributor to both the Force Exile series and the Alternative Star Wars Saga. She recently spoke to the Completely Unofficial Star Wars Fanon Newsletter about the state of fan fiction on the wiki.

One thing Solus will be quick to tell you is that she does not read a lot of fan fiction on this wiki, because she believes the state of it is poor. She finds that reading it would be a waste of time and effort. “This is minutes of my life we’re talking about,” she said, and she could never get them back. In short, and as a rule of thumb, she finds that most are not worth reading. The main reasoning for this is that she finds most people do not know what makes a good story. Many users “think uber people who always win” are able to encompass a good story, but this is not the case.

Powerful characters


Because most users are not aware of what makes a good fan fiction story, and what aspects of fiction are important, Solus laid out five general ideas that all fan fiction writers should take note of. The first, and one of the most important, ideas is that characters cannot be overly powerful, as the “uber people who always win” are not what makes a good story. Users need balanced characters, ones that have weaknesses along with their strengths, as well as motives and dreams, loves and hates. If characters have these fundamental aspects, then the author will have an easier time taking the basic plot, “even if that plot is kind of cliché,” and allow it to fully come alive. This is because the characters can direct it, so long as they do not act out of character simply because the character wants them to do something “cool” or “awesome.”

Character development
For that reason, the second idea Solus gave us was that character development is “everything,” and is absolutely essential for a story. If a story does not have character development, “it becomes a manual, or a history book about things that didn’t happen.” Why is this? Essentially, characters drive plots, and plots are all connected by characters. When characters go through different events and situations, gaining new experiences, they change, even if the changes are minor. The change does not have to be immediate, however, as characters can become rounded throughout a story, “gently and subtly filling him out, like chipping away at a stone until it’s a full statue.”

In the interest of character development, Solus stated a very important aspect of prewriting: “write the characters first.” Their back story should be written, as well as their personality, their strengths, their weaknesses, and everything else that helps created a well-balanced character. Authors should get to know who they are writing about, and think about how they might react to certain situations. If an author knows this, it can be easier to put them into the plot without making them feel forced. These characters can help determine the plot, “if only because they can’t be made to do something if it’s not part of who they are.”

Dialogue


An important, but not necessary, aspect of the characters is their dialogue, which was the third idea Solus presented. As Solus told us, dialogue is not always necessary, because there can be a good story without it. That said, it is very hard to have a story without the spoken word, because dialogue is one of the best ways of getting into someone’s head without having to put all of it into a narrative. While actions can, in many respects, speak louder than words, “words aren’t silent.” You are able to learn about someone through their dialogue, such as where their allegiances are. For example, “You may know someone isn’t exactly good-aligned, but you can make him a trickster by how he words his dialogue.” All of this can be done with good, well-written dialogue.

On the other hand, bad dialogue does not do anything other than tell readers that the writer has a difficult time with it. Bad dialogue tends to be out of character, and while it can still reveal things about the characters it can also come off as feeling forced into the scene simply because the author wanted it to be there. Natural dialogue, which is important, is difficult to achieve, hence why dialogue can often come off as sounding bad. Solus has admitted she has issues with this as well, but she can suggest that authors listen to how people talk around them. This may give readers ideas as to how to write dialogue, and it can sound more natural because it is real. Saying the dialogue out loud can also help with this.

Borrowing from hit films
These three ideas have all been about characters, or aspects of them. That said, while characters are the most important parts of a story, particularly on Star Wars Fanon, there are still other important aspects. For Solus’s fourth idea, she presented one that is a pet peeve of many users on this wiki. This idea is that authors should not take plots from recent hit films, such as some users have done on the wiki after the successes of 2008’s The Dark Knight and 2009’s Star Trek. This is important because users “know it, we can see it, you can try to hide it, but you can’t and we don’t like it.” Solus tends to be irked by crossovers in general, mainly because “they are often so badly done.” Using images from recent hit films is also “generally pretty lame....but it can be done well.”



While it usually is not done well, it can be if the images are not used simply because they were from a recent film. They should “best represent the situation...[as opposed to] trying to tap in on its popularity.” People need to understand that just because they and many others liked the recent popular film does not mean that it “will add brownie points” to their work. The unfortunate reality of this is that people will use these images whether the images fit the situation or not, and the stories will usually become “carbon copies of whatever [the image] portrays as the plot.”

Fighting the power
Solus’s final idea is one that many fan fiction authors tend to ignore, not just on Star Wars Fanon but in fan fiction in general. Solus strongly stated that characters cannot personally form a military force large enough to possibly fight against “the Republic/Sith Empire/Galactic Empire/Black Sun/Trade Federation/[Confederacy of Independent Systems]/Yuuzhan Vong.” When asked why, she displayed her trademark blunt sarcasm and said “because logic called and said you couldn’t.”

In order to amass a force large enough to take on any one of those groups, the opposing faction, over a period of more than one lifetime, would need to have numerous people on their side. Most characters that do this should be insane, and should likely lose and probably die because of their insane plan of action. This can be pulled off if the author takes the time to think and plan it out as opposed to pulling it “out of thin air.” It also should not require people to go up against a group they do not mind anyway, as that would be out of character.

Final thoughts
Solus holds an interesting distinction on this wiki as having become a notorious critic without having actually released any fan fiction content of her own, at least not yet. That said, she clearly knows what she is talking about, and her opinions should not be taken lightly. She has certainly proven herself through her work, especially considering she was voted Best Writer of 2008 in the Fourth Star Wars Fanon Wiki Awards. All fan fiction authors could do with taking her aforementioned ideas into account, as recognizing them can greatly help to improve any fan fiction story.