I don't own Harry Potter. Otherwise, I would be drinking a margarita instead for typing in the cold. That's pathetic you know.
RPL Stands For Repeated Plot Line
This is a sample of "Not Another Teen Movie" Mary Sue RPL.
Summary: I suk at sumeries. Not min don't sue!11!!
hLp i nEeD a TittLe pLz
Draco(a/n you no, that HOTTIE!!! i want him, he's all mine! HAHAHAHAH!) could date anee girl in the school, & get them 2 shag with him on he first night. He had done them all, all, except that dead hot Ravenclaw fifth year named Samerila. She was always by herself, she never spoke 2 anyone else, & sat all alone at meal times. She had beautiful chestnut waves that hung delicately over her slim shoulders. She had beautiful dark eyes, so deep they looked like the ocean could fit inside of them. She had prefect, flawless white skin. He watched her closely as always, her body hunched over her food, her slim figure secluded & alone. As always the morning brought the owl mail, & as always Draco received a large mass of sweets from his family, & a comm&ing note from his father, boring him 2 death with the lecture about upholding the Slytherin family honor. He watched her, & she received a letter, Draco noticed that this was the first letter she'd ever received, & watched her closely as she opened it with curiosity. After skimming through a few lines, she stood up, tears streaming from her face, & sprinted out, with her long beautiful hair streaming behind her like rivers of gold. Draco jumped up receiving bunch of stares from the other Sytherin's the table, & ran after her. He found her sobbing uncontrollably by the Quidditch fields. "What's the matter?" he asked, trying 2 look sorry 4 her, but failed, instead he was snearing. Why can't i be nice sounding 4 her? He thought. "Shut up!" She snapped at him, her tearstained face turned 2 him. "u'r hot when u'r all riled up like that." He said. Stupid me stupid me! He thought. i need 2 be tender & kind right now. it's now or never. "What would u care, u'r father's the one who probably did it." "Did what?" "Murdered my entire family!" God, she's hot even if she's crying her eyes out. Draco thought. "i'm sorry, did u get much of an inhairetanse?" "Get away from me! i bet it was u'r father!" "Wait! i'm sorry! Come back!" Samerila's POV Draco grabbed hold of Samerila's arm, in his powerful sixy grip. "Stop! Let go!" she cried. DACO'S POV she was so hot andso sezythat her words killed him. "Wait! Wait! i... i.. love u!" he called. Samies pov Samerila stopped, & turned around. "u what?" she stared in2 his beautiful stormy grey eyes, at his prefect pale face(a/ni wanna die rite now! He's so hot hot hot hot hot!!1), 4 the 1st time ever showed pity & love. "i love u." he said again, & drew her in2 a passionite kiss. "R u sure?" "Do u want me 2 show u?" "Yes, deeper." She whispered, & they slipped under the bleachers 2 be alone. After dinner had past, they finally realized that they had been out there 4 9 hours. After kissing 4 a few more minutes they said good buy, & went 2 their common rooms. When Samerila came in2 her common room, a crowd of girls surrounded her. "Who asked u out? Harry, Sean, or heaven forbid, Malfoy? Nah not Malfoy, that jerk wouldn't go near us, that hottie." "Actually, he did. "Omy gosh! R u serious?" "good 4 u girl!" Cho stomped out & slammed the door behind her.
Wasn't that good! i did so good, Cho's jealous of her, what happen 2 her? Review rite noooo!!!!!111
This is an example of "Not Another Teen Movie" RPL.
This type has lots of similarities to Exchange Student Infatuate, and can be fixed, though it's much harder. In this type, Draco is a jock who's slept with every girl, and he's had his eye on someone from another house for a long time. She's always alone, and finds out something horrible has happened, and Draco lovingly takes her into his arms, and comforts her. This Mary Sue also likes to show up as Hermione and Ginny.
APPEARENCE
As in "Exchange Student Infatuate", the "Not Another Teen Movie" Mary Sue is perfectly beautiful, and makes Draco want to go the deepest on sight of her. But in this type, she is always overly dramatic and wimpy. Give her some faults, but give her a little spirit. James Bond girls don't exist, and neither does James Bond.
NAME
Once again, its usually something weird and unheard of. Give her a normally used name, one that you've seen used on someone like April or Jessica. It can be tricky to do, but you must create a name that sounds normal in order to make your character more realistic.
THE ROMANCE
Okay, you want a tragedy to happen, and Draco to come comfort her. Well, okay, that can be done, but why not do that after they have become boyfriend and girlfriend? It could strengthen their relationship and work in your favor then. Come up with your own plot though- most people wouldn't mind reading Draco romances if there were some difference their plot. The reason I'm writing these is because there is so little difference in the plots of Draco romance stories.
OUT OF CHARACTER-NESS
Once again, Draco would never EVER date someone who isn't a pureblood or Slytherin. Ravenclaw is a maybe, but it is incredibly unrealistic. Draco, like all Slytherin's, is often too proud of himself for his own good. Also, Draco isn't a player. Don't insult his "high prefect blood" like that. He's had one girlfriend in his entire life. To go dating around like a scallywag is a lowly thing in his mind, and Draco is proud not to be going about siring bastard sons. Think of the scandal and the shame that would be put on the Malfoy family! Draco would never risk his family name.
SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF FRIENDS
In this type of RPL, all of a sudden your character has millions of friends, when before she was sitting all alone all the time, secluded and sad. I know that you want to show off that your character has a hot boyfriend, but there can be other ways, or you don't have to show it at all, which is a better thing to do. This sudden appearance of friends to show off to shows that the author is placing herself in the character's place, one of the main characteristics of a Mary Sue.
PAST
Again, her past is often awful, with many dark secrets. You can have her to be the spoiled rich brat, with a pampered life. There's nothing wrong with that. Then the character could go on a journey to becoming a nice, unselfish person. Adding a terrible past can't make a great character on its own. In order for this element to be added in, your character must have a personality already. The audience must like and feel as though they know the character in order for the sad past to work effectively. You feel less pity for a random bum on the street than for your friend who tells you her father just got fired from his job.
SPELLING SHORTCUTS
Why do these strange shortcuts appear with such continual stubbornness? It makes the writing sound like you are in an incredible rush to get it out. Maybe you were typing these in your free time in computer class? I don't know, but it is very hard to read, and makes most not want to go through reading it. It may have a brilliant plot, and beautiful description, but no one will enjoy this because they are busy trying to decode what you've written, and normally will give up before finishing the chapter.
FORMAT
Every time a new person starts speaking, there is a new paragraph. You just have to deal with pushing the return key TWICE before starting a new paragraph, even if it is a great waste of your time.
POV OR, POINT OF VIEW
Changing point of view continually throughout a chapter is distracting, and takes away drastically from your story. Even if you're only changing the point of view from chapter to chapter, it still can be confusing to read. If the changing POV is a necessity, by all means keep it there. But making the reader shift back and forth from one character to another is anti- climatic. The reader spends more time remembering which character they are reading about than what is going on in the story.
THE TITLE
I'm not sure why I am bothering to mention this again. The first impression is the lasting impression. If you can't think up a title, it shows that you probably can't think up a story either. Also, capitalizing random letters in a title is one of the most annoying and difficult things to read. The goal of this is to gain attention I believe, but you're not going to get much positive attention this way. If you make it difficult to read, people are going to give up and move on.
SUMMARY
Never say that you are no good at making summaries, because the naughty little brat in us all giggles and says, "If they can't write a summary then they must not be able to write a story either!"
DISCLAIMERS
Need I mention this again? You need to have a disclaimer! A disclaimer is what makes this all legal! The place for a disclaimer is at the top of every chapter. Not in the summary, but in the story.
AUTHOR NOTES
AAAAAGGGGHHHHH! Just leave them out completely; we all know that you love Tom Felton, because we probably do to! If they are so necessary put them at the end of the chapter!
NOTES ON REVIEWING
So, you're a fan of a story. A lot of "good" reviews are no better than flames. These all are examples from stories I've reviewed:
"i personally...LOVE IT!! please write more! i think hermione and draco are the ultimate couple!i love maloy! so sexy!lol"
update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111
These two reviews are normally made by fairly earnest fans- that are just too lazy to come up with anything to say, orthey are reviewing only because the story has a "ship" that the reader supports. These "shippers" do the most damage to our fandom, and have made the rest of the world look down on us and think of us as slobbering teenagers with sick fantasies. Most of the time, I get the impression that they haven't even looked at the story, and hate it when I get reviews like this.
"I luv it!!please write more soon cant wait 2 read it!!read mine??
This reviewer is self-advertising, the other great motive for reviewing. Most people don't come out and say it like this one did, but a great deal of the time it's an author who wants reviews. Really- most people get mad when you spam them, and they won't think to give you anything more than a flame.
Have you written reviews like this? Reviews steeped in chat room slang to get others sick, that say nothing except that you (might) like the story? When I was new to FanFiction.Net I was guilty of all of these. As an author, I can say from experience -those long reviews that actually say something are more appreciated. If you find grammar/spelling mistakes, let the author know. If you spot a mistake in the plot let the author know. You can still tell the author that you like the story, and the author will probably feel special that people like the story so much that they are willing to do everything in their power to improve it. That is what a true fan here is. If you can't find any problems to point out, tell what you liked about the chapter, tell what you feel are the high points of the story that are holding you to it. This input is valuable to the writer.
ATTENTION BETA READERS! ATTENTION BETA READERS!
Do you want to be recommended in my bio? Find the planted grammar error(s) in the analysis, then e-mail me detailing where you found it(them). If you find the error(s) I will post your e-mail, user name, and any other notes that you want on my bio. Remember, the sample doesn't count!
The rest of you might ask, "What's a beta reader?" A beta reader is like an editor. They read through your stories, fixing grammar and spelling errors and giving you opinions and tips on how to improve your plot. Even I have a beta reader, and believe me, they are a valuable part of becoming a respected writer.
RPL Stands For Repeated Plot Line
This is a sample of "Not Another Teen Movie" Mary Sue RPL.
Summary: I suk at sumeries. Not min don't sue!11!!
hLp i nEeD a TittLe pLz
Draco(a/n you no, that HOTTIE!!! i want him, he's all mine! HAHAHAHAH!) could date anee girl in the school, & get them 2 shag with him on he first night. He had done them all, all, except that dead hot Ravenclaw fifth year named Samerila. She was always by herself, she never spoke 2 anyone else, & sat all alone at meal times. She had beautiful chestnut waves that hung delicately over her slim shoulders. She had beautiful dark eyes, so deep they looked like the ocean could fit inside of them. She had prefect, flawless white skin. He watched her closely as always, her body hunched over her food, her slim figure secluded & alone. As always the morning brought the owl mail, & as always Draco received a large mass of sweets from his family, & a comm&ing note from his father, boring him 2 death with the lecture about upholding the Slytherin family honor. He watched her, & she received a letter, Draco noticed that this was the first letter she'd ever received, & watched her closely as she opened it with curiosity. After skimming through a few lines, she stood up, tears streaming from her face, & sprinted out, with her long beautiful hair streaming behind her like rivers of gold. Draco jumped up receiving bunch of stares from the other Sytherin's the table, & ran after her. He found her sobbing uncontrollably by the Quidditch fields. "What's the matter?" he asked, trying 2 look sorry 4 her, but failed, instead he was snearing. Why can't i be nice sounding 4 her? He thought. "Shut up!" She snapped at him, her tearstained face turned 2 him. "u'r hot when u'r all riled up like that." He said. Stupid me stupid me! He thought. i need 2 be tender & kind right now. it's now or never. "What would u care, u'r father's the one who probably did it." "Did what?" "Murdered my entire family!" God, she's hot even if she's crying her eyes out. Draco thought. "i'm sorry, did u get much of an inhairetanse?" "Get away from me! i bet it was u'r father!" "Wait! i'm sorry! Come back!" Samerila's POV Draco grabbed hold of Samerila's arm, in his powerful sixy grip. "Stop! Let go!" she cried. DACO'S POV she was so hot andso sezythat her words killed him. "Wait! Wait! i... i.. love u!" he called. Samies pov Samerila stopped, & turned around. "u what?" she stared in2 his beautiful stormy grey eyes, at his prefect pale face(a/ni wanna die rite now! He's so hot hot hot hot hot!!1), 4 the 1st time ever showed pity & love. "i love u." he said again, & drew her in2 a passionite kiss. "R u sure?" "Do u want me 2 show u?" "Yes, deeper." She whispered, & they slipped under the bleachers 2 be alone. After dinner had past, they finally realized that they had been out there 4 9 hours. After kissing 4 a few more minutes they said good buy, & went 2 their common rooms. When Samerila came in2 her common room, a crowd of girls surrounded her. "Who asked u out? Harry, Sean, or heaven forbid, Malfoy? Nah not Malfoy, that jerk wouldn't go near us, that hottie." "Actually, he did. "Omy gosh! R u serious?" "good 4 u girl!" Cho stomped out & slammed the door behind her.
Wasn't that good! i did so good, Cho's jealous of her, what happen 2 her? Review rite noooo!!!!!111
This is an example of "Not Another Teen Movie" RPL.
This type has lots of similarities to Exchange Student Infatuate, and can be fixed, though it's much harder. In this type, Draco is a jock who's slept with every girl, and he's had his eye on someone from another house for a long time. She's always alone, and finds out something horrible has happened, and Draco lovingly takes her into his arms, and comforts her. This Mary Sue also likes to show up as Hermione and Ginny.
APPEARENCE
As in "Exchange Student Infatuate", the "Not Another Teen Movie" Mary Sue is perfectly beautiful, and makes Draco want to go the deepest on sight of her. But in this type, she is always overly dramatic and wimpy. Give her some faults, but give her a little spirit. James Bond girls don't exist, and neither does James Bond.
NAME
Once again, its usually something weird and unheard of. Give her a normally used name, one that you've seen used on someone like April or Jessica. It can be tricky to do, but you must create a name that sounds normal in order to make your character more realistic.
THE ROMANCE
Okay, you want a tragedy to happen, and Draco to come comfort her. Well, okay, that can be done, but why not do that after they have become boyfriend and girlfriend? It could strengthen their relationship and work in your favor then. Come up with your own plot though- most people wouldn't mind reading Draco romances if there were some difference their plot. The reason I'm writing these is because there is so little difference in the plots of Draco romance stories.
OUT OF CHARACTER-NESS
Once again, Draco would never EVER date someone who isn't a pureblood or Slytherin. Ravenclaw is a maybe, but it is incredibly unrealistic. Draco, like all Slytherin's, is often too proud of himself for his own good. Also, Draco isn't a player. Don't insult his "high prefect blood" like that. He's had one girlfriend in his entire life. To go dating around like a scallywag is a lowly thing in his mind, and Draco is proud not to be going about siring bastard sons. Think of the scandal and the shame that would be put on the Malfoy family! Draco would never risk his family name.
SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF FRIENDS
In this type of RPL, all of a sudden your character has millions of friends, when before she was sitting all alone all the time, secluded and sad. I know that you want to show off that your character has a hot boyfriend, but there can be other ways, or you don't have to show it at all, which is a better thing to do. This sudden appearance of friends to show off to shows that the author is placing herself in the character's place, one of the main characteristics of a Mary Sue.
PAST
Again, her past is often awful, with many dark secrets. You can have her to be the spoiled rich brat, with a pampered life. There's nothing wrong with that. Then the character could go on a journey to becoming a nice, unselfish person. Adding a terrible past can't make a great character on its own. In order for this element to be added in, your character must have a personality already. The audience must like and feel as though they know the character in order for the sad past to work effectively. You feel less pity for a random bum on the street than for your friend who tells you her father just got fired from his job.
SPELLING SHORTCUTS
Why do these strange shortcuts appear with such continual stubbornness? It makes the writing sound like you are in an incredible rush to get it out. Maybe you were typing these in your free time in computer class? I don't know, but it is very hard to read, and makes most not want to go through reading it. It may have a brilliant plot, and beautiful description, but no one will enjoy this because they are busy trying to decode what you've written, and normally will give up before finishing the chapter.
FORMAT
Every time a new person starts speaking, there is a new paragraph. You just have to deal with pushing the return key TWICE before starting a new paragraph, even if it is a great waste of your time.
POV OR, POINT OF VIEW
Changing point of view continually throughout a chapter is distracting, and takes away drastically from your story. Even if you're only changing the point of view from chapter to chapter, it still can be confusing to read. If the changing POV is a necessity, by all means keep it there. But making the reader shift back and forth from one character to another is anti- climatic. The reader spends more time remembering which character they are reading about than what is going on in the story.
THE TITLE
I'm not sure why I am bothering to mention this again. The first impression is the lasting impression. If you can't think up a title, it shows that you probably can't think up a story either. Also, capitalizing random letters in a title is one of the most annoying and difficult things to read. The goal of this is to gain attention I believe, but you're not going to get much positive attention this way. If you make it difficult to read, people are going to give up and move on.
SUMMARY
Never say that you are no good at making summaries, because the naughty little brat in us all giggles and says, "If they can't write a summary then they must not be able to write a story either!"
DISCLAIMERS
Need I mention this again? You need to have a disclaimer! A disclaimer is what makes this all legal! The place for a disclaimer is at the top of every chapter. Not in the summary, but in the story.
AUTHOR NOTES
AAAAAGGGGHHHHH! Just leave them out completely; we all know that you love Tom Felton, because we probably do to! If they are so necessary put them at the end of the chapter!
NOTES ON REVIEWING
So, you're a fan of a story. A lot of "good" reviews are no better than flames. These all are examples from stories I've reviewed:
"i personally...LOVE IT!! please write more! i think hermione and draco are the ultimate couple!i love maloy! so sexy!lol"
update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111
These two reviews are normally made by fairly earnest fans- that are just too lazy to come up with anything to say, orthey are reviewing only because the story has a "ship" that the reader supports. These "shippers" do the most damage to our fandom, and have made the rest of the world look down on us and think of us as slobbering teenagers with sick fantasies. Most of the time, I get the impression that they haven't even looked at the story, and hate it when I get reviews like this.
"I luv it!!please write more soon cant wait 2 read it!!read mine??
This reviewer is self-advertising, the other great motive for reviewing. Most people don't come out and say it like this one did, but a great deal of the time it's an author who wants reviews. Really- most people get mad when you spam them, and they won't think to give you anything more than a flame.
Have you written reviews like this? Reviews steeped in chat room slang to get others sick, that say nothing except that you (might) like the story? When I was new to FanFiction.Net I was guilty of all of these. As an author, I can say from experience -those long reviews that actually say something are more appreciated. If you find grammar/spelling mistakes, let the author know. If you spot a mistake in the plot let the author know. You can still tell the author that you like the story, and the author will probably feel special that people like the story so much that they are willing to do everything in their power to improve it. That is what a true fan here is. If you can't find any problems to point out, tell what you liked about the chapter, tell what you feel are the high points of the story that are holding you to it. This input is valuable to the writer.
ATTENTION BETA READERS! ATTENTION BETA READERS!
Do you want to be recommended in my bio? Find the planted grammar error(s) in the analysis, then e-mail me detailing where you found it(them). If you find the error(s) I will post your e-mail, user name, and any other notes that you want on my bio. Remember, the sample doesn't count!
The rest of you might ask, "What's a beta reader?" A beta reader is like an editor. They read through your stories, fixing grammar and spelling errors and giving you opinions and tips on how to improve your plot. Even I have a beta reader, and believe me, they are a valuable part of becoming a respected writer.