To the writes of Fan-fiction, THANK YOU for all your hard work and for taking the time to share your story’s with us all.

Now I like books and due to the number of books I have some of my friends joke that I am do my best to create L-Space in my small house.

I read mostly for fun a I read a mix of mostly science fiction, fantasy and some horror.

I think that the best stories are those that keep you up, way past your bed time; story in which you lose yourself, stories which you wish did not have to end.

“It is said that a reader lives a thousand lives before he dies and a non-reader just one."(1)

Web Links

Fan-fiction net will no longer let me post live links onto my profile page, to use the link's that I have posted you need to copy and paste them and then remove the spaces.

Research

Avia Venefica is a very good place to find information on a wide range esoteric wisdom from varying cultures (examples include Native American, Celtic) http : // www . whats - your - sign . com / signs . html

Rune Meaning for Elder Futhark", a runic alphabet http: // www . sunnyway . com / runes / meanings . html

Odyssey adventures in archaeology can be used to help you find magical locations to use in your stories

http: // www . odyssey adventures . ca / articles / stone-circles / orcadian _ stonecircle _ orcadian . htm

The Theoi Project, is a site that exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art to provide a comprehensive, reference guide to the gods (theoi), spirits (daimones), fabulous creatures (theres) and heroes of ancient Greek mythology and religion.

http: // www . theoi . com/

Hero of Camelot is a full of good information on every major aspect of the Legend of King Arthur.

www . hero of Camelot . com or http: // www . heroofcamelot . com / welcome

The Hero Cycle in Arthurian Literature is an essay that can be found at http : // www . lotsofessays . com / viewpaper / 1708687 . html this is a good location to use for research and this essay is good guide to the classic Heroic story arc .

The White Goddess http: // www . thewhitegoddess . co . uk / about_us / index.asp

The White Goddess, is an online resource for Pagans, Wiccans and Witches, providing in depth information on a varied range of areas.

Recommendations:

There is a writer, no an Author call James Galloway (aka Fel) who releases his stories, on the internet. They vary in genres and including fantasy and sci-fi. his story are good, very good, if there were published as books I would find space for them on my book cases, Fel's stories are well thought out and well written the strength of his work is that Fel is a story teller you will lose yourself in his words and worlds and Fel story's will keep you up way past your bed time.

Fel's work it can be found at search Worlds of Fel - Weavespinner . net

http: // www . weavespinner . net / Worlds _ of _ Fel . htm

http: // forums . sennadar . com / index . php

Their is one of Fel's stories call “Kit” That I think those who like Zootopia will find interesting. The story of Kit is set in world roughly like modern day America and like Zootopia all of the people are anthropomorphic animals. The central character Kit Vulpin is a fox who has been disowned, he son of an "old money" family and the story starts with Kit falling in love.

Now the reasons that I enjoy this story is how well developed the characters are.

Christopher Nuttall is an Author his books and story's are well worth reading and can be found at

http: // www . chrishanger . net / Index . html

Some of his early works are free to download and read and most are very well written his books are a mix of alternate History and cross-time travel, science fictions and fantasy go take a look you will not be disappointed.

Owl Eyes https: // www . owleyes . org / text Free books to read old story but still you will find some of them worth reading

story idea why not research mythology or folktales

https: // www . worldoftales . com /

Example in Germanic and Norse mythology: Wayland the Smith was a legendary master blacksmith who forged The Swords of Wayland now you could put a Harry Potter spin on this and make Wayland a goblin smith make one of the Swords of Wayland the Sword of Gryffindor

Use Wiki’s search for Wikipedia Example: Misty Lackey Valdemar stories

http: // en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Velgarth.

http: // Valdemar . wikia . com / wiki / Main_Page

Reviews

There is an old saying, you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time (and reviews are like that) I like good story’s, and having read so many book over the years, I would hope by now, I would know what makes a good story.

You can tell a good story from the story teller’s hard work, and people who write fan fiction love to write, so my advice to you as a writer is write for yourself and the joy of writing, and remember to ignore a review that flame for no good reason.

As a reviewer, I will always try to be fair to you and your story, As I do understand the hard work you put into your work, as I find writing so very hard myself, so if you wish to ask me about the review that I have given you, please send me a message and I will get back to you.

How to give good criticism

It has occurred to me that a lot of people do not know how to give feedback in a constructive manner. The method that I am laying out is (in my experience) the one which is most likely to get the other person to listen to you and take what you are saying on board. It is called the feedback sandwich.

Step1: Say something nice about the writing. This can be something small. It does not necessarily have to be about the work itself, but it should acknowledge that you recognize the effort that has gone into it. Writers are often sensitive about their work, so it eases them into accepting the negative comments that are sure to follow.

Step 2: Give your constructive criticism. This should explain clearly what you didn't like about the work and the reasons behind it. Backing it up with evidence is also helpful. By doing it this way, you enable the writer to see exactly what you are talking about, and to be able to examine the work objectively. They may not change what has happened or agree with you, but they are far more likely to accept what you say and respect your opinion.

Step 3: End on a positive note. Again this does not have to be something big. It can be a note on improvements in the writing, or again an acknowledgement of the effort. But by ending on a positive you are reminding the writer that they are not entirely hopeless, and giving them confidence to make improvements. You do not want to discourage a person from writing, but should aid them in how to become a good writer!

This is a list of what not to do when giving feedback. It is by no means complete, but it lists several things which are all too easy to fall into doing.

1) Do not use sarcasm. Sarcasm is both insulting and patronizing. It means the person is likely to disregard your comments, as the reviewer is not able to be calm and logical when presenting facts.

2) Do not insult the person. That's kind of obvious, but I thought I would say it anyway.

3) If you are pointing out grammar or spelling errors, which there are most likely going to be, it is best to make sure your review is grammatically correct. The person is not likely to take you seriously if it's not.

4) Try not to criticize the story as a whole. This can be difficult if the story plot is a bad one ;) but it is best to try and stick to specific dislikes, and to focus on small areas. The writer is going to be more receptive that way.

5) Try not to be anonymous with your feedback. The writer may want to be able to respond to your arguments. This may not always be possible as the reviewer may not necessarily have an account, but it is helpful!

6) Do not use foul language. This makes the review seem aggressive. It may not be meant that way, but it automatically gives that impression.

As for the writer. It is best to remember that whatever the reviewer says, they are taking the time to review, and they did take the time to read the story which should be appreciated. Do not take offence to criticism, because most of the time, it is kindly meant and often the criticism is helpful in developing you as a writer. (A)

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."

(A) Copy with permission from the Profile Page cap red fan fiction net /u/1125829/cap-red)

Back to me

I know that some times a story is not going to be finished so if you are not going to finish a story could you please let us know your story summary.

Now something I do dislike is what I call review fishing and writer who say I not going to write/post any more of my story unless I get X reviews.

At the end of the day, you should write for yourself not to get reviews because as long as you are find enjoyment in writing and storytelling you cannot go wrong and this will then come across in your writing.

Place to find a good read for free

Http: // www . Wattpad . com / stories

https: // www. smashwords . com /

Project Gutenberg it’s a great place for research and also to find books that are out of print and it also free.

http: // www . Guttenberg . org / wiki / Main_Page

Baen Library is a good place to read books for free

http: // www . baen . com / library

Why has Fan-fiction net has taken your story down: This is because fan-fiction net has Legal Liability for the type of content that has be posted, as the host its legal liability. this is why the rating on fan fiction net caps out at teen.

If you wish to post a more adult story then why not create your own YAHOO GROUP and then LINK this group to your profile page on Fan-fiction net. This way you can write and publish the story you wish, the way you wish to write it, but remember if it's going to be an adult rated story then say so by writing a disclaimer example Do not read this story if you are under the age of XYZ.

Help for Writers

To find out all about Beta Readers take a look at the profile of David305 id: 227103

/u/227103/David305

Remember if you are playing in some one sand box always reference who sand box it is use a disclaimer

Creative writing study guides. (The Good Study Guide by Andy Northedge) will help you to structure you work.

Most good bookshop should be able to recommend which type of Study Guide are the best for you to help you learning how to structure your creative writing as well as teach you how to create story boards and plot out lines

Write about what you know,

Example if you been some were on holiday use these location in your story.

Why because local knowledge lets you add depth to your writing.

Take notes and photography’s

Do not use story note to move the story or plot forward keep information about the story in the text of the story.

Note taking lets you record information about a location and any ideas by look at your notes and photos later on you refresh your memory when you sit down to writing about a location your using.

When writing you should try to interest the largest number of reader possible, this will then generate more feedback which in turn will help to make you writing better.

Some subject will put reader's off so if you think a large number of reader's will dislike something or find something offence, think twice before writing about it, but remember tackling a difficult subjects can result in a great story.

Research is king, always try to find three different sources for the same information.

That way you will know the information’s right

Always recorded where you got your information from, this known as a bibliography which is the academic name for writing down where you found your references.

Try to build up both empathy & interest in your characters remember character driven story do this.

Create character reference cards

Try to set things up before you need them in your story.

If a character uses a special sword/power/ability, have him find it three or more chapters before he uses it.

Using to many flashbacks can spoil a story if you do not use them correctly. It is very hard to use flashbacks so and good flashback stories are very rare as a result of this.

Sometimes, what happens off-screen is more impressive than what happens onscreen. Just remember to include several hints as to what occurred.

Remember the rule of the hero

The Hero must be challenged for ever power the Hero has the enemy will have a greater power
Example from star wars Luke can use the force, so the Empire has the Death Star. The rule of the hero helps you to keep plot options open because a Hero need to faces both adversity and difficulty to be Hero plus it makes interesting reading.

Where a Hero get to much power or money early on it kill your plot because the Hero then can use his power or his wealth to win story over.

An example from Harry Potter

Harry is left more money than he could would spend in 100 life time

(Remember 1000 galleons in canon paid for the twins to setup of their shop WWW and the most important tool wizard use is his wand which only costs 7 galleons.)

So Harry been smart thinks "I know what I will do, I will put bounty on Valdemar, say 1,000,000, galleons dead, plus 100,000 per death eater killed",

Your story is now over you just kill off your plot, So please remember to much wealth can kill your story off, because the Hero will throw money at the problem until it go away.

(But you can turn this round and use it as an interesting plot hook the best example of this I found is

Most Wanted: Peter Pettigrew By: BlightPhoenix

Do not post a story until you have written at least 5-6 chapters or a round half the story done (whichever is less), and even then only post one chapter at a time. (Why do this because this buys you a safety margin should your muse decide to hide or if real life has to come first.)

I would suggest that it is a good idea to try to update regular say once per week or twice per month or even monthly by doing this you set yourself a dead line to work to and your readers then start looking forward to their regular story update which in turn will help to hold the readers interest in your story.

Chapters that are less than a thousand words long rarely work try to write at least two pages of A4 unless there's a specific reason otherwise.

Use the return button to separate descriptive passages and people talking. (Why this is due to the fact that large blocks of text can be difficult to read.) When writing dialog between you central characters’ when you’re done written it.

Self beta, reading your story out aloud to yourself and recorded yourself do this them play this back to yourself if it sounds correct i.e. like two people taking them it is most likely is correct also reading your story out loud to your self can help you to spot errors.

Keep your tenses correct, because accidentally switching between past, present and future in a single paragraph will destroys your credibility as a writer.

Always check your spelling. (But remember spell checking software can make mistakes too) Correct Grammar, Correct Word Usage, Punctuation, Spelling- & Canon Spelling are what you should aim for.

Do not post a new chapter for 24 hours after writing it before posting read it this is good trick to help stop any error you have made and to spot any edits you need to make it's a way of self-beta-in you own work.

Think about writing short story a very good way to learn to write stories.

Example of this in Potter fan-fiction are Regrets by NadzxthexMarauder, The Sea King by Doghead Thirteen & A Crime Fitting the Punishment or Dumbledore's Monster by Diresquirrel

When writing a very long story write it like an episode of a TV show one chapter been one episode or turn your story into a trilogy.

Combine project example if you are a student & your English class has a creative writing project well think about writing a Fan-fiction story, free feedback & homework you enjoy.

Study other fan-fiction writers by reading there story you will see what people like to read & by doing it will help you to learn how to write better. (Search for story by using the Filter function by favourites or by follows)

the basic law of writing a heroic story is Hero has to display idealism, courage, and morality

Back up your stories/work by e-mail it to your self

“The basic law of writing any story: correct, reasonable, and right choices are anathema. People must screw up. Spanners must be relentlessly thrown into the works. Fate, ignorance, and stupidity dance round the Maypole throughout any tale well told. When the dust settles, and everyone is laughing, kissing, or dead, the story is over.” (3)

To Help out with JKR Harry Potter

Some of the most interesting write up about the Harry Potter book's and the sub plot within them, can be found on the profile's of muggledad, gphoenix51, ARedHair, distorted-me, sprinter1988 & Kalen Darkmoon all are well worth look at.

One of the best thought out Harry Potter story for why did Dumbledore make Harry stay with the Dursley is

Black Sun Rising By: Mortaegus

/s/10596224/1/Black-Sun-Rising

Harry Potter Rants By: tkepner

Well worth reading lots of observations about Harry Potter and plot hooks and ideas Marriage Contracts, Lordships, Copyright, billionaire Harry, and so forth. Harry Potter Rants By: tkepner Story- id: 11917130

Mad thoughts

What is the role of a Curse-Breaker, we know in canon it is a profession at the wizard's bank Gringotts, in which a wizard or witch disables or counters curses in ancient tombs or other historical sites, in order to bring back gold to Gringotts and it has been speculated that Curse-Breakers are almost the equivalent of muggle archaeologists.

But I think there more to it than this. Now magic and magical curse are real in world of Harry Potter.

So for example “The curse of the pharaohs” would be real a curse which is believed to be cast upon any person who disturbs the mummy of an Ancient Egyptian person. Now this ancient curse will not stop muggle archaeologist from opening the tombs and getting them-selves cursed after all magic is not real.

So to protect the “International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy” I think Gringotts Curse Breakers go in tombs and disarm the curse before a muggle archaeologists get them selves curse, which could then result in breaking the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy think about the news about the death of Howard Carter and later his sponsor Lord Carnarvon due to the curse of Tutankhamen.

In payment for doing this job. Gringotts get to take some of the gold and any magical valuables from the tomb but leave the rest for the muggles archaeologists for the goblins just to take from the tombs this would be stealing and we know what goblins think of thieves.

On Plagiarism

I like to offer up something I found very usefully. This is a copy of an essay by Mercedes Lackey on this subject.

Plagiarism: a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work

It's about time to discuss this topic. As you can see from the dictionary definition above, "plagiarism" has a very specific meaning. This is very important, because it has a legal implication. Plagiarism is actionable under civil law. It can get you into trouble if you plagiarize someone else's essay in school.
People tend to use this term incorrectly all the time. In some very few legal cases, authors have proved in court that someone else plagiarized their work, by proving substantial portions of it were lifted, unchanged, from their own work. When most people refer to "plagiarizing" however, they are generally saying that someone used someone else's ideas.

Now, you will almost never hear a professional author accusing another of this. The reason is simple; first, you cannot put a patent or a copyright or a statement of ownership on an idea. Second, every professional writer knows that no two authors will take the same idea and do the same thing with it. And again, with the exception of a handful of legal cases and an incredibly original idea (and I can personally think of only one, Art Buchwald's case against the producers of COMING TO AMERICA) it simply is wildly unlikely that any professional would bother with pilfering someone else's work. Why should we? Ideas occur all the time to us. The trick is not in coming up with ideas, but with figuring out which are the most marketable.

Now, how does it happen that authors have similar topics? There are many ways. First, and the simplest—-coming from the same source. Fantasy authors are all getting their inspiration from the same mythopoeic well— the huge backlog of myth, fable, and legends from history. Science fiction authors are usually looking at scientific papers and discoveries of today as well as projecting from current events to speculate on what will happen tomorrow. Historical novelists are, of course, bound by what actually happened in history. And so on. Second, influence and tribute. Authors are influenced by what they enjoy reading, and often pay tribute to that by showing that influence in their own work.

Nevertheless, a professional author will be careful to avoid the charge of being a copycat by bringing something original to the party.
Let's take, for instance, Elves. Now, Elves in literature go back— well, probably as long as there has been writing. However, nowadays, when you say "Elf" most people think of Tolkien's Elves. Was Tolkien’s the first to write about Elves? Hardly. Before him, George MacDonald, before him, Lord Dunsany, and before him, a very long history of legend and lore. So Tolkien’s brought his own original take to the table; the Sylvan and High Elves of Middle Earth. When Poul Anderson wrote about Elves, he went back to the Nordic version, the tough, cold creatures of Norse myth. When I wrote about them, I used the Seleighe and Unseleighe Sidhe of Celtic tradition, but tied them into the modern world— then I used a different sort of Elf, cruel, selfish, and powerful for the ELVENBANE books— then yet another, Elves without magic, for the "Obsidian Mountain" trilogy. They're all Elves. They all have pointed ears and are immortal. Yet they are all distinct. And it should be obvious that there's no copying going on.

Now, suppose someone else, drawing on the tradition of non-human servitor races that goes back to Prester John and the stories of what could be found in the mysterious East, creates a world that includes a race of lizard-servants. Unless that person makes them semi-sentient and shy, as in Andre Norton's WITCH WORLD books, space-suited, beefy and bellicose, as in E.E. Smith's LENSMAN series, or clever, incredibly helpful, and more fashion-obsessed than Carson Daly, as in my VALDEMAR series, nobody with any brains or common sense is going to whinge about copycatting. And in fact, another writer could base his new creation on any of those, bring some new idea or twist to the tale, and it would still be clear that there wasn't any copycatting going on, only the synchronicity of similar sources.

Furthermore, a professional author wouldn't care. I know this seems incredible to some of you, but the plain fact is that the ideas are not what is important. It's what you do with them. How many writers have come up with the idea of a school for young magic-users? Probably dozens, possibly hundreds; nevertheless, it was Jo Rowling who put the whole package together in such a way that she has captured the hearts of the world, and do you know what the rest of us professionals are saying? (Well, aside from, "Gee, I wish I could come up with something like that...") We're saying, "Good for you, Jo! Love the books! Write faster!" My Tayledras are based on the mythic tradition of the secretive, magical, and powerful Forest People— it's a tradition that goes back to the legend of the God Tyr, who bartered his eye to the Forest Spirits for the magic knife to defend his downs-dwelling, sheep-herding people from the Great Wolves (you can read a very neat version of the story in Rudyard Kipling's book, PUCK OF POOK'S HILL as I recall, though it might be in the sequel, REWARDS AND FAIRIES). But if someone came along with a New York Times bestselling series with similar characters, I would just admire and try to figure out what it was that made that series so successful. How many Arthurian books have there been? And yet, there are only two that achieved wild and unbelievable success—T.H. White's THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING and Marion Zimmer Bradley's MISTS OF AVALON. And the rest of us sit back and study, study, study, hoping to catch the lightning in a bottle ourselves some day. The one thing we do not do is whinge and m* about how "x stole my idea." Because, as I said before, a real, professional author knows that it is not the idea that is important, it is what you do with it.

You can't plagiarize ideas, only text. And a real, professional writer would throw themselves over a cliff before they did that— because the one thing we take pride in is our words. Our own voice. So to take someone else's would mean we couldn't come up with any of our own. Not a chance.

Misty Tulsa, Oklahoma June 2004 (2)

Bibliography

(1) Quotation from Black Bond, Chapter 19 by: Centaur Princess (Fanfiction.net) which referenced George R. R. Martin's work (True words & a Great story)

(2) Mercedes Lackey Essay June 2004 www . Mercedes lackey . com / features _ plagiarism . html (without spaces)

(3) Quote found on Aealket profile fan-fiction net) Quoting Brooke McEldowney on 9 Dec, 2011 in the comic Pibgorn

PS yes I am dyslexic