I've talked to some of you, and if I didn't, it wasn't on purpose so don't be mad at me. Anyways, I've talked to some, and have asked them their opinion on what's making everyone so mad. I got tons of feedback, and have compiled a list of what I, among others think makes a great fan fiction article.
1. Length. Despite what your girlfriend says, length is in fact important. A short article isn't going to catch anyone's attention. Also, if your like me, your computer is slow. If I wait three minutes to read an article that only takes two minutes to read. It's quite annoying. This has been one of the most frequent complaints on this site is that Long, well though out articles are getting pushed out by two or three sentenced articles. A good way to fix this problem is to include lots of information. If you’re doing a fan cast, tell people why you like the actor, what you saw them in that made you think of them for the part. Also, saying because they’re tall and look like them, doesn't really count. People want things to discuss, and debate upon. The characters of the person you want them to play, show why they would do so well at it. If you have an idea for a story, but don't know how to go about it, e-mail someone and ask for his or her opinion, anyone can e-mail me. I'm always down to help, as are many others on this site. Lee, Anil, Scarface, Shaman, Hawk and many others are all people I have turned to for guidance and I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping someone out. Posting articles just to ask for help causes our small section of CBM to fill rather quickly, and seems to make a lot of people mad. This is a fun place; lets try to keep it that way. Also, posting pictures and not even telling who the actor, or character is. Well, what's the point? Sure, we've seen that guys face. But we have no idea where, or who he is. Sure, that character looks familiar but we don't remember which comic he was in. These are common sense key points.
2. Pictures. Now, I know that everyone on here doesn't automatically know how to post pictures. Here are step-by-step directions, the CBM way. If anyone has an easier way. Feel free to add it in the comment section.
Step 1. Go to any search engine. Yahoo, Google, Photobucket, whatever. Find the picture you want, right click on it, and save it to your computer.
Step 2. Under new article, and in between the teaser section and the content section. There will be a blue link titled Embed Images/Image management. Click on it.
Steps 3,4, and 5. Click upload pictures. Click Browse, and find your picture.
Step 6. Double click it.
Step 7. Once you have all your pictures, click upload.
Step 8. The next screen will have all the names of your pictures on the left, and the embed codes on the right. Simply copy the code, and paste it into the content section of your article. It is as simple as that.
Pictures are a great way to compare and contrast. If no one knows who the actor or actress is, how can they say, oh yeah, he'd do great for the part? Plus, people just really like pictures. Try to make them neat, the same size, maybe add some decoration. I know a lot of you are like "this is a lot of work!" But, it's not. It's artistic integrity. What you are doing, whether writing, drawing, or posting fan casts like I do. It's still art.
For Example:
“ Deadpool. Since Ryan Reynolds is kind of an iffy actor at the moment. I’d like to throw in my two cents and nominate Ben Foster to take over the role.
The first reason being he is built relatively close to the character, which is a strong point, but also his film career alone shows that he would own this role.
Alpha Dog.
30 Days of Night.
X 3.
3:10 to Yuma.
Pandorum.
The Punisher.
If you’ve seen any number of these movies, you know as well as I do how diverse Ben Foster is as an actor, and he deeply he delves into playing his characters. Also being no stranger to comic book movies, he’s also become a fan favorite for many roles, which he would also be good for.”
See the description? Now, I know this wasn’t honestly the best I could do. But, come on people I’m typing a lot here. Anyways here’s a picture to show what I’m talking about.
Not the best example, but you get what I'm talking about.
Also, putting huge oversize ridiculous pictures in the teaser section of your article so that it takes up the entire fan fic section. Is a No. The picture will be removed.
3. Grammar. Now, I know everyone on CBM doesn't speak English, and that is understandable, there is a spell check though, and if the word is underlined, it's probably spelled wrong, or used incorrectly. Now, I don't know how your computer works with spell check. But with mine, all you have to do is right click on the underlined word and it pops up with new suggestions. Another way to fix this problem is to type your article on a program, (Word, Notepad, etc.) Spell check and Grammar check both come standard in these programs.
4. Caps Locks and brightly colored text. This stuff hurts people’s eyes. It's very hard to focus on, and most don't want to read it. If you want to do it that way, that's your choice. But don't expect tons of positive results.
5. Random, slightly pointless articles. If you want to waste time promoting Bob Dole for Mr. Fantastic, or the fat lady from American Idol as Ms. Marvel than go for it. But, very few people on this site want their space used up for that kind of article and will not be too happy.
6. Making sure you’ve done your research. As of late, it seems to me that more often than not, people cast people for roles that they have absolutely no place for.
Some examples I’ve seen:
DJ Qualls for Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy Olsen is a short red headed kid running around taking photos. He has freckles, and is slightly nerdy but is still likable. DJ Qualls is a tall brown haired guy with no freckles and is totally nerdy, and probably couldn’t run while even holding a camera, and isn’t likable at all.
Batista being cast as Jimmy Olsen; Batista isn’t even an actor first off. Second, Bane is a highly intelligent individual with an amazing history and a lot of talking premise. To use Batista would insult years of writing. As the body, fine, but cast someone to talk.
Will Smith as Captain America? Sam Worthington as Captain America?
Anyways, Just make sure you know what you’re talking about. Comicvine.com is an amazing place for all sorts of history on characters or just marvel.com/universe for that matter.
7. Fan Fic that isn’t actually your Fan Fic. If you find a fan made poster, video, drawing, cast, etc. on Google, or Myspace, or Youtube or anywhere. Don’t post it in Fan Fic, if it’s not your, put it in features and say look at this cool idea. It doesn’t fit in the Fan fic section unless the person who made it put it there because it’s not fan fic it’s, “I thought this was cool, look.”
8. Fan Fiction. Post the finished, or a long part of the story. Two paragraphs isn't a story, and no one is going to want to read it. When someone says Fan Fic: Mousekepunisheer by Joslezio85. People expect a long story, full of details and plots, and character confrontation. If the whole story consisted of, Punisher joined the Mouseketeers and than shot the producer and ran away with Britney Spears. I'm not sure I'd be welcome on the site anymore. In short, make it worth reading and people will usually like it.
Now, like I said this is art in every form. Our Fan Fiction section has a broad array of artists, which is what every single one of you are; whether it's writing, fan casting, drawing, designing your own superhuman attire. It's all art, and everyone should treat themselves and everyone else as artists by showing the due respect, and helping to keep our small chunk of this amazing site clean, and respectable.
Well that's about it. If there's anything I didn't touch on. Feel free to add it in the comment section. Let's keep it friendly and clean though. I don't want to delete my own article for all the fighting in the comment section. Now remember, these aren't rules, just guidelines to help, and keep this place fun for everyone to enjoy. Also, if anyone on the site needs help. Feel free to e-mail me. I check my e-mail regularly and will get back to you a.s.a.p.
Thank you for your time, and I bid you a due.