'If something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into the writing.'
Enrique Jardiel Poncela
All writers, whether great or small, need to put in some research at times. Now, elsewhere in the fanfic section, there are plenty of links useful for this research scattered here, there and everywhere. But they can be hard to find.
So, we thought it might be useful to draw them all together into one easily recognisable place.
Links below have been supplied by a variety of dedicated fic-writers and readers. More will be added to the list over time, as they are recommended, so keep checking back!
GRAMMAR: The basics - can't write without it.
Arduinna's Chrestomathy - a personal favourite of mine. This site is absolutely fantastic for anyone struggling with proper grammar and structure for their fic-writing, and is full of useful fic-writing hints and tips. If you go nowhere else, visit this site. Read and learn!
Common Mechanical Pitfalls
Buffy Slanguage - because, duh.
Aka for all characters - character details from the show, useful for keeping your characters, well, in character.
Spike's glossary - what it says on the tin
http://www.geocities.com/lapassiondu...ire/grindstone - guide to writing historical fanfiction.
http://littlecalamity.tripod.com/Text/Dictionary.html - fanfic glossary
http://www.ifrance.com/fanficcafe/fa...c_lexique.html - same here but in French.
http://www.englishchick.com/badfic/ - Bad Fanfic! No Biscuit! Apart from glossary you can find there a list of the most common fanfic errors and sex tips for writers.
From http://www.writing4success.com/tipsheet22.htm#article - advice on writing fight scenes
http://www.livejournal.com/users/tightropegirl/?skip=20 - Interesting link to a professional writer who wrote, and still writes, fanfic.
http://wordsmiths.net/Essays/slashessay.htm - Melina Clark's "Slash: Another View" essay talks about gender roles in slash and is well worth a read through here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_fiction - Wikipedia's encyclopedic look at Slash and its origins, history, and evolution.
http://www.tiedtothetracks.com/storytelling/ - Sara Donati/Rosina Lippi's Weblog "Storytelling"
especially:
http://www.tiedtothetracks.com/story...nes/index.html - her "On Writing Sex Scenes" series of articles.
On Writing Penises - with a title like that, you need a description?

Dictionary.com
http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-ca...6313.htmlstory - on the rules of TV.
Doug Marland's Ten Rules for TV writing:
Spoiler:
Workshop: Finish That Epic! - valuable advice for anyone taking on a large project such as VS or novel-length story.
Brit-speak and related links
so you want to write fanfictions on the internets
All your characters sound the same, and they're not a hive mind - a really interesting article on how to give original characters unique voices.
Scriptwriting Guidelines - useful for anyone attempting to write in that format.
Beta links:
http://www.redssoulmates.com/beta-readers.htm This might direct you to the main page, just click on Fanfiction and choose Beta-Reader.
The Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary here: http://fireflychinese.home.att.net/
A dictionary of British slang - surely a must for anyone attempting to write Giles, Spike et al.
All About Homonyms - more help with spelling and grammar
Crafting the Hook: a pragmatic writer's guide to snaring reader interest: http://minisinoo.livejournal.com/340525.html
A fan fiction glossary: http://www.subreality.com/glossary/terms.htm for new reader/writers and old ones.
learnenglish.org.uk chock full of grammatical information and advice for novice writers.
Tips for Writing Better Fanfiction - this one is gold. Anyone serious about writing should take a look.
If you're looking for a quote or paraphrase then you could do worse than wikiquote. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page or for something a little more colourful, why not try urbandictionary.com

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