It was an old classroom with scuffed white walls and well-used desks covered in graffiti. Even the teacher's computer was an old clunky thing that looked like it had less processing power than the average smart phone. The newest thing in the room was the projector on the ceiling pointed at a screen in the front of the room.
Slowly people started to trickle in, but ten minutes later only half the desks were filled. It was silent as everyone tried to look at each other without being caught staring. Just as some of them began to quietly introduce themselves, the harsh clack of high heels coming down the hallway cut them off.
A young black woman wearing a pantsuit walked in, shutting the door behind her before briskly walking to the front of the room, her dreadlocks swinging with each step. She briefly leaned down over the teacher's desk to log on to the computer before standing up straight and looking over the class. Multi-colored eyes and hair gleamed back at her.
The woman offered them a small smile and moved out from behind the desk to stand more fully in front of the class. "My name is Juliet Cooper and I'm your teacher for this class. No need to be too formal, just Juliet is fine. As you probably know since you signed up for this class, this isn't taught by a real teacher, just a volunteer, so I'm pretty new to this. Any suggestions or comments would be really helpful so just shoot me a review or PM and I'll take it into consideration.
"So let's start with what's going to happen in this class. Truthfully, nothing is very planned out, I just have a list of topics that I'll make my way through and talk about when I have inspiration. I'm not going to have everything organized as a 'don't do that, do this.' Sometimes I'll might talk in circles, but I'll eventually get everything out that I have to say about a subject. I would like to mention I'm always open to other suggestions and alternatives for the things I say. I'm not perfect and I don't know everything, so I can be wrong. There is always more to learn, but I'm trying my best. I also have trouble following my own advice sometimes, which I'm sure you'll see soon enough." A few students smiled slightly.
Taking a deep breath, Juliet continued, "There will be swearing in this class, and we will be talking about sensitive topics at times. There will be a warning at the top of every chapter containing a sensitive topic so those who wish to can skip it. At the bottom of this chapter there will be a guide for what chapters are up and what they're about so you can go straight to the ones that interest you. The list will be updated every time a new chapter comes out. I think that covers mostly everything, but are there any questions?"
A girl with unnaturally bright green eyes and red hair flung her hand up. Juliet motioned toward her, "What's your name and question?"
"I'm Rose. I wanted to know if you were going to make fun of people who write bad fanfiction." She asked quickly.
"That's a really good question," Juliet said. "The answer is I'm going to try to avoid making fun of anyone, or insulting anyone. I might sound rude at times, but I'm not mean-spirited. Have you ever thought of the fact that fanfiction has millions of people reading and writing, not for money or because of school or their job, but because they want to? Everyone starts out writing badly, you should see some of my early pieces, but everyone is also constantly improving. Even things that everyone hates on like self-inserts and Mary Sues have their worth, because they tell the writer things about themselves like what they value as important and who they wish they could be. I don't really think there is such a thing as 'bad fanfiction' unless you're purposely trying for it, because every piece of 'bad fanfiction' you write helps you improve and become more self-aware. So I want to try and be as respectful as possible."
Rose mumbled a thank-you and Juliet waited a moment for other questions. It was silent, so she moved back to the computer. In less than a minute she had the projector on and a Word Document up on the screen showing:
Chapter One: Introduction— Just a basic overview of what is going on. Contains list of chapters.
Chapter Two: Titles and Summaries—Why titles and summaries are important, some tips on how to write them, and some things you should never include.
Chapter Three: Reviews— How to give really good reviews, how to give constructive criticism, how to deal with flames, how to respond to reviews in your fanfiction, what not to put in reviews.
"Well, I think that's all for now. I hope to see you all next time." She dismissed the class.