Welcome to part two, day two of the guidelines! Hopefully everyone has now gone into the process of looking for a beta, etc. etc. Or, y'know, adding words like "Quidditch" and "Muggle" and "Hogwarts" into your MS Word's spellchecker dictionary so that you won't be tempted to ignore all words with the squiggly red underline automatically when you write your fic.
Now, speaking of canon terms, we come to the next section of the essay, which is pretty much everything else you will need to know to get your fic accepted on this fic archive. Keep in mind that the Fire and Ice Archive is NOT very picky in screening submitted fics, despite what all of you might think. Really, all we ask for here is acceptable spelling/grammar and proper capitalization and spelling of canon terms and names.
General Canon
This is the basic stuff. The stuff that everyone who's carefully read the books at least once should know. And those who haven't... why the hell are you writing fanfiction? No, the movies are NOT canon. Harry does NOT equal Daniel Radcliffe. Hermione CERTAINLY does not equal Emma Watson. However, even the movies come closer to canon than a great portions of the fics that I see.
For one thing, Daniel Radcliffe et al are at least British, and far too many fics have the tendency to clone Hogwarts into an American high school, and London to whichever big city the author lives closest to. We'll cover that later.
The most important thing about general canon in fanfic is getting terminology and names correct. Honestly now, anyone who has read the books should be able to spell McGonagall, considering how many times her name appears. No one's requiring you to mention Blaise Zabini in your fic. Therefore, writing anything along the lines of Blaze Zamboni means that it's an automatic out. If you care enough about canon to write about Blaise Zabini at all, you'd better care enough to spell his name right.
Same goes for canon terminology. Muggle is capitalized. Spells are italicized and capitalized if it's the incantation. Again, follow the format that JKR uses in the books. Considering how consistent things are in that respect, this should not be beyond the scope of possibility for anyone to read over the books and make note of the formatting and spelling. Barring that, the HP Lexicon is a wonderful source of information in this regard. Bookmark it.
This means that I won't ever be seeing "Weasely's Wizaring Wheezes" instead of "Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes" in fics, right?
Well. I can hope.
Now that everyone knows that the Zabini rule is sacred, one of the commandments of this fic archive, let's go into general canon and why Hogwarts is NOT an American high school.
For one thing, Hogwarts is in the UK. Just because they speak English across the pond doesn't mean that everything else is the same. There are different terms for various things (i.e. "trolley" instead of "shopping cart", "lift" instead of "elevator", etc.), and certainly, there's very different slang. Americanisms were already covered in the previous chapter, so I won't repeat it here.
However, seriously, please keep in mind that Hogwarts is like any strict boarding school. People go to dormitories at set hours. People go to classes and meals on time. Uniforms are worn in classes and sporting events. Sneaking around after-hours and nicking food from the kitchens is not likely the norm. And shagging in the open-air, very high up, very unfurnished Astronomy Tower, where anyone flying overhead can see? Please.
Also, let's get some basic facts straight about characters and canon.
Draco is not a blond version of Harry.
Ginny is neither perfect nor the succubus queen of darkness.
Harry is not perfect, or even particularly suave with girls. Sure, Romilda Vane might've had a thing for him, but chances are, most females won't be squeeing and throwing themselves at him. (Though the ones who do seem a bit unhinged anyway, usually. Some are sending hate mail to Cho Chang's actress because she stole "their man". Yeah, padded room for a few fandomites to go, please. Anyway, I digress.)
For that matter, neither is Hermione. She is also not Pureblood or an heir of anything but a bunch of analytical brainy genes from her very Muggle dentist parents.
Ron is not a clown.
Snape is not dashingly handsome and suave.
American exchange students are unlikely to come to Hogwarts. Ever. JKR stated that there won't be any American students in Hogwarts. I'm sure America has its own Magical academies.
There is no Hot Topic in Britain.
"Merlin" is not the only exclamation/oath ever to be used, and Muggleborns are NOT likely to say it. In fact, they probably grew up saying things like "Oh my God" or "Bloody Hell" or even "Shit!"
Remember that by JKR's time line, HBP took place in the 1996-1997 school year. Therefore, let us NOT have any canon characters listening to or singing or aware of such bands as Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte, Evanescence, etc. Furthermore, electronics do not work in Hogwarts. See GoF regarding Rita Skeeter.
Also remember that if McGonagall can scold Parvati for wearing a butterfly clip in her hair, there would be all manners of smiting for anyone who had the audacity to wear random piercings and fishnets to class. Think detention with Filch for the rest of their school careers.
Oh, and for the love of God, Hogwarts students are NOT Wiccan. Easter and Christmas are hardly Wiccan holidays to celebrate, are they?
One last thing: Lucius/Narcissa, Molly/Arthur, Bellatrix/Rodolphus, Frank/Alice, James/Lily and Andromeda/Ted are MARRIED couples. Deal with it. And for the purposes of this fic archive, Draco/Ginny is the way to go as well. Next person to submit a Draco/Hermione fic to this site might get ridiculed. Or fed to the crocodiles. We'll see.
Now that all of this is clear... everyone should know what it takes to write an acceptable HP fic for this site.
We'll go into what makes a fic score in the "Exceeds Expectations" or "Outstanding" ranges rather than just "Acceptable" in the next section.
Now, speaking of canon terms, we come to the next section of the essay, which is pretty much everything else you will need to know to get your fic accepted on this fic archive. Keep in mind that the Fire and Ice Archive is NOT very picky in screening submitted fics, despite what all of you might think. Really, all we ask for here is acceptable spelling/grammar and proper capitalization and spelling of canon terms and names.
General Canon
This is the basic stuff. The stuff that everyone who's carefully read the books at least once should know. And those who haven't... why the hell are you writing fanfiction? No, the movies are NOT canon. Harry does NOT equal Daniel Radcliffe. Hermione CERTAINLY does not equal Emma Watson. However, even the movies come closer to canon than a great portions of the fics that I see.
For one thing, Daniel Radcliffe et al are at least British, and far too many fics have the tendency to clone Hogwarts into an American high school, and London to whichever big city the author lives closest to. We'll cover that later.
The most important thing about general canon in fanfic is getting terminology and names correct. Honestly now, anyone who has read the books should be able to spell McGonagall, considering how many times her name appears. No one's requiring you to mention Blaise Zabini in your fic. Therefore, writing anything along the lines of Blaze Zamboni means that it's an automatic out. If you care enough about canon to write about Blaise Zabini at all, you'd better care enough to spell his name right.
Same goes for canon terminology. Muggle is capitalized. Spells are italicized and capitalized if it's the incantation. Again, follow the format that JKR uses in the books. Considering how consistent things are in that respect, this should not be beyond the scope of possibility for anyone to read over the books and make note of the formatting and spelling. Barring that, the HP Lexicon is a wonderful source of information in this regard. Bookmark it.
This means that I won't ever be seeing "Weasely's Wizaring Wheezes" instead of "Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes" in fics, right?
Well. I can hope.
Now that everyone knows that the Zabini rule is sacred, one of the commandments of this fic archive, let's go into general canon and why Hogwarts is NOT an American high school.
For one thing, Hogwarts is in the UK. Just because they speak English across the pond doesn't mean that everything else is the same. There are different terms for various things (i.e. "trolley" instead of "shopping cart", "lift" instead of "elevator", etc.), and certainly, there's very different slang. Americanisms were already covered in the previous chapter, so I won't repeat it here.
However, seriously, please keep in mind that Hogwarts is like any strict boarding school. People go to dormitories at set hours. People go to classes and meals on time. Uniforms are worn in classes and sporting events. Sneaking around after-hours and nicking food from the kitchens is not likely the norm. And shagging in the open-air, very high up, very unfurnished Astronomy Tower, where anyone flying overhead can see? Please.
Also, let's get some basic facts straight about characters and canon.
Draco is not a blond version of Harry.
Ginny is neither perfect nor the succubus queen of darkness.
Harry is not perfect, or even particularly suave with girls. Sure, Romilda Vane might've had a thing for him, but chances are, most females won't be squeeing and throwing themselves at him. (Though the ones who do seem a bit unhinged anyway, usually. Some are sending hate mail to Cho Chang's actress because she stole "their man". Yeah, padded room for a few fandomites to go, please. Anyway, I digress.)
For that matter, neither is Hermione. She is also not Pureblood or an heir of anything but a bunch of analytical brainy genes from her very Muggle dentist parents.
Ron is not a clown.
Snape is not dashingly handsome and suave.
American exchange students are unlikely to come to Hogwarts. Ever. JKR stated that there won't be any American students in Hogwarts. I'm sure America has its own Magical academies.
There is no Hot Topic in Britain.
"Merlin" is not the only exclamation/oath ever to be used, and Muggleborns are NOT likely to say it. In fact, they probably grew up saying things like "Oh my God" or "Bloody Hell" or even "Shit!"
Remember that by JKR's time line, HBP took place in the 1996-1997 school year. Therefore, let us NOT have any canon characters listening to or singing or aware of such bands as Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte, Evanescence, etc. Furthermore, electronics do not work in Hogwarts. See GoF regarding Rita Skeeter.
Also remember that if McGonagall can scold Parvati for wearing a butterfly clip in her hair, there would be all manners of smiting for anyone who had the audacity to wear random piercings and fishnets to class. Think detention with Filch for the rest of their school careers.
Oh, and for the love of God, Hogwarts students are NOT Wiccan. Easter and Christmas are hardly Wiccan holidays to celebrate, are they?
One last thing: Lucius/Narcissa, Molly/Arthur, Bellatrix/Rodolphus, Frank/Alice, James/Lily and Andromeda/Ted are MARRIED couples. Deal with it. And for the purposes of this fic archive, Draco/Ginny is the way to go as well. Next person to submit a Draco/Hermione fic to this site might get ridiculed. Or fed to the crocodiles. We'll see.
Now that all of this is clear... everyone should know what it takes to write an acceptable HP fic for this site.
We'll go into what makes a fic score in the "Exceeds Expectations" or "Outstanding" ranges rather than just "Acceptable" in the next section.
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