Hey guys! I've been a part of the Gakuen Alice (GA) fandom since 2012 (although I've been a guest on this site sine 2008). That gives me 2-6 years on this site depending on how you see it. I know that's not a long time, but I feel as though I've become a big part of the GA archive over the years - I almost feel like I have an obligation to keep the GA fandom rich and bright with fanfics. Call me crazy! ;D
Just a note: I say 'I' because the people who decided to act on the GA fandom decided on one person to write this intro and I volunteered. This isn't just a single person - this is many people.
Anywho~ the reason I'm making this post is because recently, my fellow GA authors/readers and I have been worried and stressed over this slump that the GA archive has fallen into. I've decided to finally voice our thoughts to try and help revive this fandom as, like I said before, I feel as though I have an obligation to this archive. Here are our worries and thoughts:
How many times have you seen the 'rich boy meets nerdy girl' cliché? Or the 'Mikan's in the dark abyss of life and won't allow anyone to help her'? 'Mikan/Natsume is actually rich but dresses up to appear poor and nerdy'?
Recently, the story quality hasn't been that of what it used to be. Think of the famous authors on here - My Hopeless Romantic, JC- zala, Shiori90210, Ducky-san, keaRy anCe. That's the old GA fandom. Now, it's full of repetitive clichés that have little sense of writing dos and don'ts. The major problems include:
1) Lack of description. DESCRIBE, DESCRIBE, DESCRIBE! What are the character's reactions physically? Emotionally? What are their mental processes? How do they feel about the situation? What's the scenery? All of these are necessities in a successful story. Try to incorporate these when writing and when rereading to edit; think of them again and again!
2) Characters. Many of the writers of the GA archive are younger as the show attracts a younger audience. When you're 12 trying to write a story wherein Mikan and the crew are 16 or older, you need to write them as if they were 16 year olds. Older people process situations differently and react differently than younger people. They're more mature and have an idea of their ideals and morals which guide them through their life. Instead of reacting to a scary situation by running away, they may stay and fight in order to maintain their ideal of "Fight for what you believe in" or "Never run or hide from your problems; it only prolongs the outcome". When writing, try to keep in mind the basic fundamentals of your character's age group. If you don't know, ask someone of that age or who has been that age. It makes a huge difference in your story overall!
3) Tone. A lot of the time, writer's tone changes throughout the story. That's fine. But when it suddenly goes from a mature, logic voice of the story and changes to something more goofy and unreasonable within the chapter, that's not okay. Tone changes based on situations but the underlying tone is always the same. The only way that the underlying tone should change is when the narrator - when in first person POV (I, me, we) - has a transformation. IE: Natsume going from hating the world to accepting people's differences. The tone would change from bitter and condescending to something akin to forgiveness and understanding. Natsume would still act Natsume-ish, but his tone - the story's tone - would change in the slightest. Underlying tone can only change through the course of the story, so don't keep switching it throughout every chapter.
4) Bad Habits. One bad habit that many of you have is writing a character profile in the first chapter (and sometimes in all of the following) before the chapter begins. Sometimes, there'll be some who don't have a direct profile but still summarize the characters in one go. How many times have you seen:
Mikan Sakura
Age: 17
Likes: Hotaru and howalon
Dislikes: Natsume and school
Appearance: Brown, long hair, brown eyes, short, heart-shaped face, school uniform
Reading these summaries are rather boring and dampen the story in a sense. Try to incorporate the character's features throughout the chapter in portions. IE: "Stop that!" Mikan shouted, amber eyes alight in determination. OR "Natsume's raven bangs fell over his eyes, concealing the inner turmoil they would surely proclaim." DO NOT DO "Natsume had short raven hair, red eyes and a tanned face. He usually wore earrings lining his ear and a scowl on his lips." This falls under the concept 'Show Don't Tell'. Don't say, "He was skinny," go further in debt by writing, "The man's clothes hung limply around the bony frame of his body. He presented me a drawn smile, causing his entire face to morph into a withdrawn mask."
Another bad habit is grammar, spelling and capitalization. Many forget periods, causing run-ons, or they add too many periods resulting in fragments. Same goes for commas which are oddly placed. Read the story aloud and figure out where you want a pause. That's where commas are required. Otherwise, don't use them! Unless they fall under the select cases where you need a comma of course. For capitalization, all people, places and names need to be capitalized as well as anything following a period. There's no reason for anyone to be spelling words wrong! There's a spell check tool on FF and in word; use it!
5) Narratives. GA writers commonly use a childish tone. Narratives should be professional - formal. To some, it may seem funny; but to those who are more mature, it gets tedious and annoying. If you're writing on FanFiction to improve your writing, write more formally - don't use phrases that degrade the story with their childish antics.
6) Japanese. Refrain from using Japanese within the story. Writing legit Japanese phrases can cause confusion and many people don't know the language as well as you and thus, don't understand the sentence and its context. The only acceptable phrase to use is honestly baka. It's such a common term and especially in GA so everyone usually knows it. Otherwise, it loses us, the readers.
Now for some definitions to help ya'll better understand sentences and punctuation:
Clause is a group of related words that does not contain a subject-verb relationship. Also called "phrases". There are two types of clauses:
Dependent Clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb. It does not express a complete thought so it is not a sentence and can't stand alone. The cat playing with the ball
Independent Clause is a clause that can stand by itself; also known as a simple sentence. The cat playing with the ball is named Whiskers.
Simple Sentence is a sentence consisting of only one clause, with a single subject and clause. He was upset.
Compound Sentence is a sentence of two or more independent clauses joined by a comma or conjunction (and, but, or, etc). I finished my homework and now I can watch TV.
Comma is a punctuation mark (,) indicating a pause between parts of a sentence. It is also used to separate items in a list. Almost instantly, he rushed over to her.
Period is used to show the end of a sentence. The deed was done.
Semi-colon is a punctuation mark (;) indicating a pause, typically between two main clauses/phrases, that is more pronounced than that indicated by a comma. It usually unites two sentences into one or creates a compound sentence. He was a boy of fourteen years; his sister still called him the babe of the family.
Colon is a punctuation mark (:) indicating a list of items or that a writer is separating two clauses of which the second expands or illustrates the first. "You need to get: flour, eggs, paper towels, chips and apples."
Dash (-) is a 'super-comma'. She was depressed, afraid - lonely.
Run-on is when two more independent clauses are united with incorrect punctuation and/or conjunctions. There were no more seats left, we had to sit in the back. Correction: There were no more seats left. We had to sit in the back. OR There were no more seats left; we had to sit in the back.
Fragments fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clauses. Basically an unfinished thought/dependent clause. Addressing the crowd - The candidate addressing the crowd - While the candidate addressed the crowd.
This isn't an issue with just the authors, however.
Readers, authors rely on you for input! That's why there's a review option - that's why we post our stories! When you don't review at all or simply review 'Update soon!', THAT'S NOT HELPFUL. It doesn't help any of us in improving which is the ultimate goal of FanFiction. Please, please, please, help us all by reviewing your thoughts, opinions, predictions. If you like the story, do the author a favor for creating something you like: help them improve.
We have created a community, Writing Whims, for the sole purpose of reviving the GA fandom. It's full of stories that we think should be used as models - stories which those who are lost can learn from. Our staff consists of authors who we believe are capable of answering questions and giving admirable advice so please, feel free to PM any and all of them, asking questions upon questions.
If you feel as though you'd like to be a part of Writing Whims staff, PM this account and we will send you an invite! Otherwise, please, check out the community and refer to it when you have writers block, want to remember how to punctuate dialogue, or if you're simply bored.
The GA archive is practically dead in the sense of reviewers and writers. Let's work together to help bring back the old GA; let's create a fandom that you can proudly boast of plentiful, insightful reviews that were hard earned!
Now, I know some may take offense from this. I really, honestly hope you don't take this too personally! I wrote this not to degrade anyone or hurt anyone's feelings. I wrote it to bring back the GA archive that I love and admire. If you want that too, then follow this story. I will be posting new 'lessons' so to speak as often as I can. If you're an author, it'll contain tips to improve your story as well as writing rules such as Dialogue Punctuation. If you're a reader, it'll tell you things that authors want you to look for in their story and how your reviews can help more than ever! In a sense, my goal is to beta the GA archive via this story. If you don't understand a topic or have further questions or recommendations as to what I should teach next, PM or review.
1) Review your thoughts on this post and our goals.
2) Follow if you find this act beneficial.
3) Follow and refer to Writing Whims, the community we created.
4) Grow!
The future of the GA archive is in all of your hands - what will you do?
Sincerely,
Save GA