Young Writers Society

(It's a Star Wars fanfic, BTW)

But please, I need advice. I don't read a lot of fanfic, and frankly, most of the stuff online isn't very good, so it would be a waste of time for me to read "widely in my genre." At least, that's my personal opinion. (Please don't start a debate on my personal opinion, heh.) I do read the stuff that actually gets PUBLISHED though, so yeah...I realize that's a bit hypocritical, but whatever. I have other things to read too.

ANYWAY,
I wanted to ask you guys,
What are the most annoying things about fanfic?
What to YOU like to see in a FanFic?
Any tips for researching the (vast) Star Wars universe? (I.E., How do I get the facts right?)

And then, anything else you want to say would be appreciated.

Thanks,
~ED

If you read widely in your genre, you'd already have an idea of the answers to your first two questions.

For the third question, Wookieepedia.

The published Star Wars novels are considered canon, by the way; they're not fanfiction, and they're specifically commissioned works.

While some fanfic does get published, it usually has to spin off wildly from the original (Ie- 50 Shades of Grey was originally Twilight fanfic) to make it to market. As Kyll said, the Star Wars tie ins (or, any other tie ins) are commissioned.

Also, a lot of published works are bad. Or mediocre. Every genre has its crop of never-should've-left-the-author's-hands manuscripts. You read them to find out what not to do, while hunting for the holy grail of good fic.

There's a surprisingly high amount of pretty well-written fic, if you know where to look. Granted I've never been much around the SW fandom, but I hope you've taken a look at what's on AO3 and poked around Star Wars-based communities on LJ. Also of possible interest, the TVTropes SW FicRecs list. Might help with getting a better feel for it, since as Rosey and Kyll above have said, knowing what you're going for is always good :P

That said, let me get to your questions.

Annoying things in fic are a lot like the ones in published stuff (uninteresting/contrived plots, mediocre writing, asking for too much suspension of disbelief, plotholes, etc...) with added to that things linked to being a derivative piece: there's nothing quite so rage-inducing as characters being written behaving in a way that's completely off to their canon characterization just because the writer thinks "they're better than way" or being used as little more than a mouthpiece for the author or a cardboard designated villain. I also get annoyed when it cheapens issues tackled in the original or makes light of them, for example re: sexism or disabilities. Character bashing also gets annoying fast. Another thing is character decay - that thing where the fic starts great and then five chapters in you're wondering what exactly happened because the character is slowly shedding all characteristics and becoming pretty much an original character that's kept the name.

What I look for in fic is mostly characterization. I like it when the writer gets the characters and explores the dynamics of their relationships with others, or their reactions to things that might not have been visible in the original media due to time/setting/whatever constraints. I like it when it takes problematic elements and fixes them, or deals with consequences we can't always see in canon. Also good use of character thematics or arcs, and seeing the consequences of their personal arcs.

Re: research, seconding Kyll's Wookiepedia link. Good site.

Okay thanks. (BTW I love wookiepedia ;p)
Anyway I guess my SW story is more of a canon really?
(It could exist right along the main series without interfering with major characters/and or events...too much that is )

Anyway I guess my SW story is more of a canon really?

No. Canon is anything that the creator(s) has written or made known about a fictional universe. Fanfiction by nature is not canon.

Yours would be in-continuity, versus alternate-continuity.