LAST EDITED ON Jun-20-01 AT 11:42 PM (EDT)

>Now, six years after my original start in fanfic, I've found that most people
>who post online seem to think that little things like style, spelling, and
>grammar don't really matter, since it's not like they're getting paid to do it
>or anything. There are a lot of authors who DO care about those things, and
>I'm always thrilled when I find something I can actually judge on the merits
>of the story without having to decode a fundamental incoherency, but it
>becomes hit-or-miss (at best) in even getting THAT out of it.

I've gotta agree with this. Most net.authors seem to lack even the ability to use spellcheck in MS Word or similar programs. I've found fics that have a great plot, good characters and a compelling storyline, but are ruined by bad spelling and grammer. I'm not innocent of this, as some of my earlier fics were much like this, but surely you can't write for so long and not learn from your mistakes. I've been writting fanfiction for three years, and I've improved to the point that I'm no longer flamed for bad spelling.

I read a lot. Books, magazines and fanfiction are all part of my favorite hobby, and I hate people that expect the reader to try and make their way through stories that can have almost five words mispelled per sentence. Authors, for the sake of your fans, please remember this.

Matrix Dragon
"At least EPU doesn't have spelling problems."