What's a fanfic award and how do you get into it?

[LittlefootAndAliTogether]

I've been aiming at it.  I've got a season 2 fanfic and a fanfic for 6 LBT movies.  I'm starting to try and think of new ideas and get MORE.  I know, you're probably thinking "Oh no, LittlefootAndAliTogether is coming out with MORE fanfics!  I'm heading to the Mysterious Beyond to go get eaten by a Sharptooth!".  

I've been aiming at the fanfic award as I've been feeling pretty glum and am often thinking of giving up on IT (I used to practice and study a lot but after being not hired for a long period of time, despite multiple applications, I'm guessing the market is dead and that they only want people with experience, which I don't have, and am thinking of going into writing.  

Hence why I"m SO obsessed with opinions of my fanfics and stuff.   I know I wrote about 400 pages of Rikki-tikki-tavi fics, ones that I will publish (copyright has been expired on the Jungle Book stuff for quite some time and I know it's legal as people have done Jane Eyre sequels and even other Rikki-tikki-tavi sequels and Jungle Book sequels.)  Anyway, despite having it up on fanifc.net for months, I only lately got a comment, and they liked it.  

My parents actually think I'm better at writing than programming.  Hence, I was trying to gauge my wondering if maybe I wasn't meant to go into IT but writing but so far, I've been ignored a lot, except by Ducky123, Nahala, Littlefoot fan 1990, and a few others, on my fanfics.  

I'm glad that I learned that I should use different words than "said" all the time.  

I have improved my writing style has improved a lot from what it once was.  I cringe when I look at my first fanfic: a sequel to Happy Feet (that was about 150 pages and was done before the actual one did come around, and was edited to finish and started on a Happy Feet 3 by the time Happy Feet 2 came out in theaters.) now.  It was so poorly written, but I was only 18.  I do note that I was a lot more humorous then, but losing two people you knew in high school over the summer with them going about a month apart, having to struggle through college, wondering why I'm not getting hired despite the fact that I should qualify for these jobs I'm applying for, and worrying about political issues, and having to put up with the annoyances of my mother (yes, she annoys my Dad and brother too.  In fact, my brother blocked her on FB because she can be really annoying.) , having left me feeling rather more serious and the old me is possibly lost for good.  (On the other hand, I was too goofy and maybe some of it was for the best.)

My next fanfic after that was some attempts at Star Wars movies where I had Luke Skywalker marry Ahsoka Tano (who, as you mighta guessed, was Chomper's predecessor to my obsession with a cartoon character where everyone disagreed about their fate with me) , have Sidious return and be in a clone body of Luke's that he got from the hand that Vader cut off of Luke, and wreck chaos and later have Jacen Solo and Luke and Ahsoka's son be the new Sith after Sidious and his apprentice Trion are defeated and sneakily take over the Jedi Order from within and create a Jedi Civil War and also secretly be aiding the Yuzzhan Vong in that war.  However, that kinda fell apart (especially as Episode VII actually is coming out.)

I am working on a Fox and the Hound III and a Brave II and also a prequel to HBND that explains more of Frollo's past and a Lion King III also.  

I also have a Brave LBT that's like Brave, except that Cera got tired of Topps and accidentally turned him into a Spinosaurus with a special Tree Star that she got from a female Rainbow Face.  

I haven't totally given up on my degree, it's just that I'm wondering if I should build my own projects or something as I don't think they're gonna notice me otherwise.  

Anyway, I cannot just be a cashier or whatnot as I'm not too much of a people person (at least in person.  I might give a big "We must reclaim our freedom from Big Government" speech if I actually got an audience or "Chomper must not go bad because...." speech, but, that aside, I might be able to work with a group, but dealing with customers, especially lots of them, some who can be a real pain in the tush, might be hard for someone who's a major introvert.  

I can't really do sales, can't do cashier, can't drive at the moment so trucking and delivery are out, so, at least around here, it seems I'm SCREWED!  

[DarkHououmon]

If you're looking to getting published, the one thing you need to remember is that it is hard. You may submit manuscripts in to publishers and constantly get rejected. You will have to prepare for failure and just deal with it and keep moving forward. Just keep submitting to different publishers until you find someone who will take your story.

Also, edit edit edit. If your stories keep getting rejected, look at the stories themselves. Find things that need to be changed, and change them. Change plot lines. Change the writing. Try to make it more presentable. If something doesn't work, try something else. Again, prepare to fail time and again, but if you want to publish a story, keep on trying. All writers meet failure at some point.

The market for writing certainly isn't dead. It is normal to get rejected a lot with writing. That's why you just have to keep trying. And no, rejection has nothing to do with your beliefs; it has other factors instead. I could go into more detail, but I'd have to consult a friend of mine, who used to work in the publishing business.

As for feedback, if you aren't getting too much, or not as much as you hope, try to think of why that is. Go over your work and think of there's something in there that's not working. Are your characters too one-dimensional? Is the story too cliche? Is it not suspenseful enough? Is it not flowing well? Try to ask for critique from a few people and heed their advice and try to improve more.

[rhombus]

As for you question about the fanfiction award, when it get close to time for the GOF awards (usually around August, I believe) then the call will come for prospective writers to submit their fanfictions for consideration.  As last year's post indicated:

1) Everyone who wants his or her fanfiction to be part of the awards must enter their fanfiction before August 25, 2014. You may enter up to 5 of your fanfictions, but can only have 1 fanfiction award in your signature (from this year, 2014). Fanfiction must include the following criteria (subject to change):

    The fanfiction has to include at least 1 of the main characters from The Land Before Time. It would not be an LBT fanfiction otherwise. Preferably, this character has maintain his or her actual characteristics (so Littlefoot would not be some kind of dictator out to murder everyone).
    Fanfiction has to be either a script, poetry or prose. It can consist of several chapters or just a shorter story, but the minimum length required is 1 full page in Microsoft word (Calibri 11, or Times New Roman 12). If you do not own Microsoft Word, ask me to copy your fanfiction to see if it is eligible.
    The fanfiction should have been updated or created between the last fanfiction award (aug 3, 2013) and now (aug 11, 2014) and should be posted on the Gang of Five as a full story or as a link to fanfiction sites. It does not have to be finished.

The dates will be different this year (obviously) but the same basic format would probably apply.  After your work has been submitted then the voters can vote on your works.  Last year's awards rules can be found here if you want to see what the fanfiction awards are like.

[LittlefootAndAliTogether]

Good, then I've got time to make up for all the bad publicity I've gotten.  Though, I'll admit, I may end up editing some of mine at the last minute if Journey of the Heart comes out right in the final round.  (Heck LBT 14 might be the last one they ever make.  That's my fear anyway.)

I mean, a lot of our fanfics might be altered if the voting goes right into the new movie debate.  Hence, we might have to allow for a change of rules that allows for editing or whatnot.  I mean, we haven't had a LBT movie come out during the awards since Wisdom of Friends and the TV Series, which was in 2008.

[Nahla]

About the awards, each person is only able to accept one fanfic award a year. So even if all your fics get votes you don't get awards for all of them.

You only need one vote to get an award. If everyone submits a fic and all get least one vote, everyone gets an award. I won a fanfic award, I just keep forgetting to put it in my signature with only 2 votes even though everyone else had much more votes then me.


And about your fics themselves, I'll be honest with you.

They are uninteresting.

I've never been a fan of fan sequels (not including sequels to an original fic of course) those who try and pass off as LBT 14,15 etc. It just gets confusing as hell if other people make a 14, 15 etc. And gets even more confusing if they do indeed bring out a sequel of that number like they are LBT14.

You should stop naming your fics things like that, it's just confusing and those titles are normally for the cannon movies, and fanfiction is NOT canon and therefore should not be named like one.

You also need to stop updating so much, yes regular updating is good but not 5 chapters a day, I tried to follow one of your fics but I could not keep up with 5 chapters a day so gave up and no longer bother. I have other responsibilities to  worry about then trying to keep up on a fanfiction.

Slow down, give people a chance to catch up and read, if you want reviews/comments you must be patient people will give you reviews if they want.

Every fanfic writer loves reviews but you can't expect or demand them and frankly  I don't have time to review every fanfic I read right away myself, I normally go back and add my review later but sometimes I do forget, reviewing fanfiction is not the highest thing on my to-do lists.

Try original plots, don't re-write movies. Like you're wanting to write an LBT Brave I would not recommend that, be original instead of pretty much stealing the plot of a well known movie. I learned that lesson myself when I attempted a LBT Lion King it just does not work out.

I'm sure the fanfic writers on here will gladly give you tips, myself included. If you ask respectfully and won't be offended when we tell you what you're doing wrong.

And that's one more thing, if you post your works be prepared for criticism. If you can't handle criticism and only want positive feedback all the time, you might want to re-think about posting fanfiction, it's not for you in that case. The fanfiction community is full of criticism but it is not all flat out nasty, that is called flaming. Criticism and Flaming are different things.

You could also try some writing classes, if they have some in your area. Where I live they have computer writing lessons in most libraries expect the ones in really small farming towns.

[LittlefootAndAliTogether]

I admit, if I can only accept 1, I might combine my two favorite ones, "The Time of Choosing" and "The Heart Whispers" (Not yours) .  into one, as it had been one, but they were getting really big.  Maybe I should only update one chapter, unless it's pretty small, a day per fanfic.  

I do notice that my "The Threehorn Gathering" seems to be quite popular for some reason.  


I'm having a nightmare with Time of Choosing and The Heart Whispers, as the main villain for both, "The Fanged Flattooth", is hard to swallow as a villain more powerful than the dreaded Sharptooth from film 1 who's about half the size of Littlefoot is hard to swallow that he'd be able to put up such a fight and actually come close to beating Littlefoot and Ali both all by himself.  

Speaking of Ali, maybe I should do another one with her.   After all, I need to establish that there was "something there" between Littlefoot and Ali so that my "Time of Choosing" sounds more plausible.  I've just had a new idea.  But what to put as a plotline?  Something original.  

Littlefoot can't get them lost in the Mysterious Beyond this time as Ali would have NEVER let herself go on a walk with him in "Time of Choosing" if he had gotten them lost or ran into bad luck, as he tends to do in my fanfics at times, in mine.  

However, it would only be "gee, I think Ali is an ok girl and maybe dating her isn't a bad idea" feeling that later, as years apart come, will grow stronger, especially on Littlefoot's side.  

Thanks Nahla, this thread had just given me a new idea to fix something lacking from one of my fanfics.

Perhaps I can introduce Perrin (Petrie's girlfriend) in this one too.   I do know that if Littlefoot is going to spend the rest of his adult life with Ali, he'd better get to know her more than just three encounters, and he'd need a longer encounter than just a day or two, to get them to want anything more than a friendship.   While gunshot romances can happen, they sometimes tend to end with someone dead in real life situation (ok, that was a joke) where that happens.  

Hmmm, maybe I could bring Mo into this.