The Softer Side of the Tolkien Purist Community
Firstly, go through and check spelling and grammar. This might sound simple, but I�ve seen more than one story that could have been improved by the use of the spellcheck button. If you don�t have a spellchecker, you can download programs that do from www.download.com. The spellchecker wont solve everything, though. After spellchecking, you�ll want to go through and check the spelling of names and places, for which you can use the books, or Encylopedia of Arda. Then check for homonyms, words such as there and their, which the spellchecker will not pick out for you.
Once you�ve got the basics correct, let the story sit for a bit. Then go through again and rewrite. Say the dialogue out loud; does it sound right? Cut out bits that are unnecessary � elaborate on areas where you feel it needs more explanation. Make sure that you stick to the same POV and tense within each section of work, and denote when you change either tense or POV. This is best done with a simple double return, or a line of dashes. There is no need to state whose POV you are telling the story from � it should be obvious from the story itself.
Now you are ready to pass the story along to a beta-reader. These nice people will go through and check for grammar and spelling errors you missed, as well as give you advice on style, plot, and characters, if you wish. Depending on how much criticism of your work you feel you can take, you might just want to ask for a spelling and grammar check.
When you get the story back from the beta-reader, make any needed changes, remember to put in a disclaimer and any needed authors notes (you may have already done this), and then you�re ready to post!
If you have problems getting FF.net to display your story properly, and if you have Word, you can try saving the file as HTML (Go to File --> Save As). That should fix most problems, although you may have to play around with the file a little bit to get everything to work.
CHOOSING NAMES
CLICHES: WHAT NOT TO DO
PROOFREADING
ON WRITING STYLES
(AND THE USE OF �ELVISH�)
ON �FLAMES� AND CRITICISM
ON PATHOS AND EMOTION
PLOTLINES AND PLOT DEVICES
BETA READERS LIST
CHALLENGES
SIGN GUESTBOOK
VIEW GUESTBOOK
ENCYLOPEDIA OF ARDA