Writing fouls · 2:15am May 10th, 2016
Sup guys and gals! If there's one thing that's certain, it's that this site has a lot of bad stories. Sure, there are loads of good stories, but there's been a few common things I've noticed these bad stories seem to have in common. Of course, as time goes on, the site's idea of what makes a story good is ever-changing. These fouls of which many people are guilty, however, have stood the test of time as being examples of either bad writing or poor planning on the author's part.
- Having your OC date a member of the main cast for no reason. There are, of course, ways that you could make this work. Many great authors on the website have found that secret formula. But this point refers specifically to a story where your OC (or human if you want) is plopped into Ponyville and immediately hits it off with one of the main cast members. Aside from this being incredibly unrealistic, it's simply lazy on the writer's part to not try and make their relationship grow slowly from a strictly platonic one into that of a romantic one. Bonus points if a story does that, but with one of the princesses.
- Your human character immediately deciding he wants to stay in Equestria. This is the kind of decision that would spark loads of inner turmoil, and would be literally impossible for anyone to make right away. Unless everyone in your family is dead but you, and you have zero friends of course. But then, that makes your character have an edgy as hell backstory just to serve as a springboard for committing this grievous foul. If you're writing an HiE story, it's very hard to actually get a character to say "I don't want to go back to Earth" unless you're very far into the story, or if the story takes place a while after the human appeared in Equestria.
- Making your OC very powerful just because. Yes, this includes making him/her into a new Element of Harmony. This Element is typically "Love". Ignoring how cheesy and stupid that is, making your OC into an Element of Harmony immediately makes them a mary sue, no matter how you try to swing it. The same goes for if you decide that your character is just as skilled, if not more so, than Twilight Sparkle when it comes to magic, Rainbow Dash when it comes to flying, and whatever the earth pony equivalent would be. That is poor writing at its finest.
- Having your OC start a harem with the main characters. This sort of ties in with the first thing I wrote, but this is even worse. All this is is wish fulfillment, and there's no way to defend yourself from that claim. It simply is.
- Writing very short chapters. Certain stories can work with this, such as stories that are nothing but letters between characters, or perhaps a collection of short stories. But if you're trying to write a very serious chapter-based story, and your chapters are all less than a thousand words, then it's very clear you're not putting much effort at all into your story.
- Writing 'fix-fics'. If there's one huge thing that I and a few of the nicer mods on the site have agreed upon, it's that writing a fix-fic is essentially just throwing a temper tantrum about the latest episode, but in story format instead of blog format. Just because you disagree with how an episode was written does not mean you have to write a story that basically reads as "LOL THIS IS HOW I WOULDA DONE IT GUYZZZZ"
- Writing a 'Cupcakes' story. It's 2016. Just... no.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this little list. If you have anything to add, just do so in the comments below!
Fix-it Fics piss me off to no end. It becomes a mouth piece for the writer, which is such a shitty thing to read. If someone writes a review or something where they write down what they would've preferred happening, then that's fine. When I'm reading a fanfic where the writer thinks they can do better, all I hear is whining and bitching on the other side. It's not a proper outlet for your disappointment for something.
What about giving your OC an 80's hair metal name, like Shadow Slash or something?
I thought Roseluck was the new Hitler?
3934118 Nah man, she's the opposite!
Personally, I would add very fast pony acceptance of your non pony OC to this. They've proven to be xenophobic as hell, and it pisses me off when a human comes and they are okay with it despite none of them knowing anything about what a human is
Yeah, fix fics are the worst. I'm not going name names, but I saw one a few days ago that just ticked me off. it was more of a blog post in a story like you said. Ugh.
I think what bugs me most about fix fics is that the basic idea of rewriting an episode to show how events could have been handled differently, in of itself, really isn't a bad one. In fact, it could be a great exercise in finding creative ways to look at how characters might respond differently to events due to only minor changes in certain parts of the episode. The basic idea actually holds a lot of potential, even for episodes that you enjoy. Which is why it's so disappointing that they're almost always just about the "wronged" character acting as a mouthpiece for the author to rant at the characters who "wronged" them.
Honestly, my problem with fix fics is similar to my problems with a lot of the episodes that people seem to like writing them about: they're wasted potential. They took what could have been a really fun premise and just horribly botch the execution.