I enjoy fanfic. I like reading it. I write it. Aside from being
an enjoyable way to get the story you want for your favorite characters
when a TV show's head writers refuse to give it to you, it's a great
writing exercise for people who are honing their craft as writers.
Don't laugh -- if you can plot out ten different ways your favorite
couple can end up together, then you can certainly pitch several
different stories to a person considering you for a writing job
later on.
And when you have writer's block? Fanfic can make
the time pass a bit more easily.
But I have one deep, burning pet peeve with fanfic,
and that is writers who can't spell the names of the characters
in their stories.
I mean, it's 2007, for crying out loud. If you're
writing fanfic, you have Internet access to post it. So how hard
is it to go to the official site of the show or movie you're writing
about and look up the spellings of the characters' names?
For instance, if you are going to write a "Grey's
Anatomy" fic, please reference the following:
Shepherd -- not Sheppard, not Shephard, not Shepperd
Cristina -- not Christina
Addie -- not Addy or Addi (this is much debated,
but I have a copy of the script in which the nickname is used for
the first time (thanks, eBay!) -- and it's Addie -- so that's how
you spell it as far as I'm concerned.)
Sloan -- not Sloane (okay, this one is not entirely
due to laziness since abc.com has it spelled incorrectly on the
Mark Sloan biography link, but spelled correctly in the text of
Eric Dane's bio and on the "message pad" they use in the
character's biography as well as on the ABC Media site. Nice proofreading,
folks. But still -- it's without the "e.")
Isobel or Izzie -- not Isabel, not Isabelle, not
Izzy
And if you want to reference a character that appeared
in an episode, there are endless fansites out there for almost every
show on TV that give detailed lists of who guest starred when in
what role. If all else fails, check out IMDB.com, which may not
always have spot-on information, but hey, it's better than nothing.
They almost always include listings of the guest characters from
episodes, so if you wanted to say reference Derek's sister Nancy,
you'd know her name was spelled N-A-N-C-Y rather than N-A-N-C-I.
And… if you're going to quote a line of dialogue,
make sure you check it.
For instance, the most misquoted line of "Grey's
Anatomy" dialogue found in fanfic?
"No anesthesia this time."
In the episode "Thanks for the Memories,"
what Derek actually says to Addison is "No anesthesia in sight."
This is a reference to an earlier conversation where the recently
reconciled couple agrees it's time to return to a sexual relationship
by ripping the stitches, no anesthesia. The misquote doesn't even
make sense unless you think Derek and Addison have, in the past,
had sex while using anesthesia (of course, I'm of the mind that
a sane woman would need anesthesia to have sex with McDrippy, but
that's another fangirl rant entirely.) This clip is online and downloadable
-- if you're going to write about it, don't assume you know the
dialogue -- go watch it.
Yes, I know -- it's scary that I actually know
all that and don't have to go look it up. But sometimes, I read
fanfic and I wonder if people even pay attention to the shows that
they're writing about. So I'm just saying, if you're going to take
the time to write it and you want me to take the time to read it,
then take another minute and just make sure you have the dang names
spelled right. (E.D. this rant was impassioned until "dang."
HA@!)
Okay, now I'm going to go act like someone who
has WAY more of a life than this implies. (E.D. See, now this
person is freaking Dipped!)
