Hello everyone, I am Derpy

I've tried original work and have failed

Now I cut my teeth on fanfics you see?

I want to be sure my writing is nailed

Before I am original again

Perhaps in the future I'll write a book

Now here I am to save myself from pain

Please be kind and feel free to take a look.

Critics, I ask that you be gentle to me

I know I'm not perfect in any case

Do not troll my amaturish story

For I am learning to gain writing base.

I sit here with this keyboard as my toy

Despite future faults I'll have, please enjoy.

Update: I took down Pokeknights because it didn't satisfy me. It was a first fic and I think I was too demanding for feedback. I'll put it back up once I let it sit and edit it.

Greetings my children, it's Derpy again. Out of sheer intellectual curiousity, I've decided to look up the reasons why OC fanfiction (a type I make quite often) has been given such a bad reputation. During my research, I have found many cringe-worthy fanfics like the notoriously bad "My Immortal" (if truth be told, I find this to be hillarious). I found the root of the problem stems from self-indulgent young people. So, for all you up-and-coming OC authors between the ages of 12 and 16, I suggest that you listen to Aunty Slowpoke here. I have a whole list of rules for you to follow.

1. Beware Wish-Fullfillment Fantasy-

I whole-heartedly understand the need for personal fantasies. I myself am guilty of writing said types of fantasy when I was your age. However, these were stories I never shared outside my close family and friends (seriously, one of my books was 703 pages long) because I knew I'd get a pat on the back for writing. The people on the internet aren't going to be so nice. For the sake of your own ego, keep your fantasies to yourself.

2. Mary Sues/Gary Stus=Ick!-

For those of you who don't know what these are, Mary Sues/Gary Stus are perfect characters with absolutely no flaws (you can find better elaborations of this across the internet). These characters are infuriating to most people (except me who thinks they're funny) so beware of that. To prevent these dreaded OCs from popping up, sit down and physically talk to them. Interview the character and see what kind of flaws they have. If you become bored or annoyed with trying to find dirt on this character, throw him or her out and start from scratch. Better yet, ask a friend to interview this character and see if he or she becomes annoyed with it. Good friends don't let friends write Mary Sues/Gary Stus. Another good thing to do is take Mary Sue/Gary Stu litmus tests.

3. Cliches! They're Hackneyed!-

I'm not saying all fantasy cliches are bad. In the right hands, a perfectly cliched story can still be good as long as the characters are likable. However, with fanfiction, I find that Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters and fantasy cliches go hand and hand. Why not switch things up a bit? For example, what if the character thinks they're a prophesized chosen one, but it was actually their best friend or rival the whole time? What if the bad guy is right and it's the main character doing all the wrong things? What if your character had a perfectly normal up-bringing, but slowly goes insane because of all the pressure being put on him or her to save the world? Now there's some food for thought.

4. Does It Have To Be Romance?-

This can kind of go under wish-fullfillment, but it needs to be specifically addressed. I would say that a good 98% of fanfiction is a romance of some sort. OC romance has been considered the worst of them all. The reason behind this is because romance is a very visceral genre; it doesn't require much thought and is mostly all feelings. The trouble with that is that it is the writer's job to be smarter than the reader while still being subtle. I'm not saying that romance is bad, I just think that it should be more of a sub-plot than a main one (if it is a subplot, there had better be a good reason for it). Instead, why not have it be a satire, an allegory, a mystery, or a good-old-fashioned, wholesome friendship? It is the job of a writer to leave their stories up for interpretation. It's more fun for the reader to interpret something beyond "OMG! Draco is soooooo hot!!!!!11111111111"'

5. Read itt oaut LOUAD!!!111111111-

I completely understand that not everybody is a grammar or spelling nazi like yours truly, but I have seen the silliest spelling mistakes in OC fanfics. Even though I am good with grammar and spelling, I'll make mistakes time and again. Spell check is a good feature, but it won't catch every mistake. Reading it out loud also helps you find stupid or unnessesary dialogue that can be changed or omitted. Some of you may be screaming that you don't have spell check, but the internet is your spell check. Don't tell me that you don't have internet either because how else is your fanfiction getting on here? Ghosts? If you're still unsure about your spelling and grammar, get a beta-reader. They will tell you everything you need to correct (FYI: most of them hate text language, so be wary of that). To sum up here, it's okay to make mistakes; that's why the back-space key is your friend.

6. My, the Background Looks Like Cardboard Today-

A dreaded trademark of the sue-fic is the extensive descriptions of how she looks and/or what she is wearing. Most people who read fan-fics have imaginations, so they can decide for themselves what the characters look like. Characters need little description with appearence. However, I notice that where OC fics have in character description, they lack in background. Give your readers a picture of the location rather than your character. People find beautiful scenery more appealing than beautiful people. However, you don't want to describe the background in excess either. In fact describing anything excessively bores the reader. To avoid being boring, find a happy medium.

7. It's the Little People Who... Um... Exist?-

Secondary characters are important! In a lot of OC fics, secondary characters are often tossed aside to make room for the main character and his/her love interest(s). Remember secondary characters are people too and they play important roles in your character's life. If the secondary characters are from the original story, keep their personalities intact. Don't change them because you really like/ didn't like them. Like and dislike are subjective terms and well-written characters are never black and white. So enough with making Hermoine a "dumb prep cheerleader" or a "cool gothic girl who secretly had vampires for parents".

8. WAAAAAAH! I Stubbed My Toe!-

People think angst is obnoxious! I understand that young people get into writing because of loneliness or bullying (I too am guilty of this). I also understand that said young people are angry at their situation and the people that wronged them. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that few people online will actually care about your problems or sympathize with you. If you have to let your feelings out in writing, keep it to yourself or on a live journal or something. The point here is that if you add your personal problems into your fic, you're just asking for more abuse.

9. Like a Pheonix-

In the world of writing, not everyone is going to like your work. This is true for fanfiction and original fiction, and you will have to deal with haters. Now keep in mind that not every flamer is a troll who has no life and some are legitimately smart. Rather than fighting or ignoring the flames, let yourself get burned. In order to be a good writer, you have to accept the fact that nothing you'll write will be perfect. With this humility in mind, you listen to what your flamers have to say. Contact your flamers and see what else needs to be changed. If they're polite, they'll point out more flaws. Sometimes, you'll even have to scrap the whole story and start anew. That's okay though, lots of renowned writers have scrapped their stories in the past. After all, good writers rise from the ashes of their failures and become much wiser.

10. Do Your Homework!-

The number one thing that angers readers the most is when you make changes to the source material. You may not think little details count, but flamers are looking out specifically for little details. Do not use the excuse "I don't care if it's like this! This is the way I want it!" Yeah, well, you didn't write the original story, did you? You can't make changes to stories that don't belong to you! It has to take place in a setting that makes sense, with technology that makes sense, and with characters that make sense! I mean, think about the future things you'll have to write! Do you think your college professor is going to accept a research paper on how Thomas Edison invented the cell phone because that's the way you want it? No! He's going to laugh and flunk you if he doesn't get an aneurysm based on how stupid that is! So please, be nice and don't give us aneurysms because of changes you made to the source material.

Well little writers, that sums up all the rules you have to follow to make a good fic. To quote a common proverb among authors, "There is no good writing; there is only good re-writing." Feel free to copy and paste these rules if you want and keep writing! Derp!