A Brief Introduction to the Author:

Welcome, fellow authors, to my profile.

As you hopefully realized, I am known as Jangling Bacon. That is not my real name, sadly. I would put it up, but

For those of you nosy people who actually want to know something about me, I gave you a little chart.

Name: "A writer is supposed to have anonymity." (Joss Whedon) For a more specific answer...

Age: "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." (Mark Twain) Maybe someday when the Internet becomes trustworthy...nah.

Gender: "A man does not die of love or his liver or even of old age; he dies of being a man." (Miguel de Unamuno) This means I am a guy, okay?

Race: "The majority of my blood is Asian." (Tiger Woods).

And one final quote before you read the relevant section of my profile.

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."

--Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Story News

Wildcat 1.1: Born Wild--On Hiatus

Animation: The Sequel--In progress. I haven't written any fanfics for seven months...

How to Find the Good Fanfictions

A tutorial in how to avoid the rubbish of FFN.

To avoid confusion, I will refer to Percy Jackson

1. The Title--this is the most important part of a story. A good title can grab readers. A bad one can scare them off. A good title will have wit, reference or something similarly clever. A bad title will state the plot or point of the fic.

An example of a bad title: "Percy and Annabeth Finally Get Together"

An example of a better title: "Things Just Happen"

2. The Summary--a summary is meant to be the trap itself. The title may be the bait, this is the steel claw. A good summary could have many things: a quote, an idiom, an excerpt from the fic or just something that sounds nice. A bad summary is quite obvious. The grammar will be atrocious (or at least rusty). The spelling as well. It may say "summary inside," "please don't flame," or "this is my first fanfiction, ok?" Obviously, not all summaries like this are bad and vice versa, but that goes for all of these hints.

An example of a bad summary: "percy and annabeth finally become boyfriend and girlfriend. full summary inside. pls dont flame, this is my first fanfic kk?"

An example of a better summary: "They've danced around it long enough. They try to avoid talking about it, but some things just happen."

3. The Word Count--make NO mistake: there are some amazing drabbles, one-shots, etc that are works of art. On the other hand, there are some fics whose chapters are pathetically short. If a fanfic has fifteen chapters and seven hundred words, the author better have an excuse.

An example of a bad word count: Chapters: 7 - Words: 300

An example of a better word count: Chapters 7 - Words 14,000

4. The Pairing--possibly the most unpredictable of all these. It could just be a crack pairing and be hilariously funny, but chances are, it isn't. Nico/Percy was mentioned in the books, at least. Nico/Bianca/Annabeth/Piper/Jason/Percy was most definitely NOT.

An example of a bad pairing: Atlas, Mrs. O'Leary

An example of a good pairing: Annabeth C., Percy J.

These are not always accurate. If it's a good author, this may not apply to them. However, the majority of fanfics can be easily sorted with this simple mental filter.

Template for Writing a Good Review

1. Open with a compliment--if you find a mistake, you don't want to get off on the wrong foot by pointing it out right away

2. Comment on a part that you enjoyed--Different than a compliment. A compliment would be more general than this. This is a specific passage or character.

3. Be publicly personal--This is optional. If you noticed a reference to canon or their other universe, laugh with them! If you have communicated with the author, make an inside joke.

4. Bring attention to a flaw in grammar, plot or synchronization with canon--Also optional. If there was a mistake or someone seemed out of character, this is where you point it out.

5. Suggest something--If there is something that you think would be funny or make the story better, let the author know! We love to hear feedback and how to make our stories improve.

6. Close with another compliment--Make it concluding and general

Example of a Good Review:

Another great piece of work! I loved the part where Logan sent Jamie to the Danger Room. I did notice that you accidentally wrote she instead of he, though. It made me think of your other fic where Gambit mistook Sam for a girl's name! It would be really cool if you added him. As always, you never fail to disappoint!

Your partner in crime,

Starstruck Gravy

Template for Writing a Brief Review

1. Open with a compliment--Unless the story is atrocious, with terrible grammar and a rude author, there is no excuse for being impolite.

2. Give them a suggestion or point out a flaw--Same as before, and still polite

3. Close with a compliment--Make it obvious that this is the end

Example of a Brief Review:

Terrific writing! You still have that tendency to switch tenses I noticed, though. That still could never take away from your good work!

-Starstruck Gravy

If you use this template to review on every story you read, you'll make a lot of friends!

Quotes

“There's a time and place for everything, and I believe it’s called 'fan fiction'.”
― Joss Whedon

“Fanfiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don't do it for money. That's not what it's about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the satisfaction. They're fans, but they're not silent, couchbound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.”
― Lev Grossman

“Fanfiction isn't copying - it's a celebration. One long party, from the first capital letter to the last full stop!”
― Jasper Fforde