Here you can view all the Lessons that have been posted on the main page before. I didn't want the new page to take forever downloading, so if you missed something, or if you'd like to review a lesson that looked helpful, here's the place to do it:

Lesson One
Keepin' 'Em Real: Original Characters

Okay, to start things off, I'm going to cite my opinions on original characters, which have become the center of lots of various opinions. Some people think they are the bane of Power Ranger fanfiction. Others think they're the best way to personalize your work, and make an impression on the world of fanfiction in general. Here's my opinion (and it's only that, so you have every right to disagree).

For starters, it's almost necessary to add original characters to fanfiction. On the show, only the Power Rangers themselves get the spotlight, along with a handful of friends like Bulk and Skull, Ernie, and so on. If a fic is going to explore the Power Rangers' daily lives, it may be necessary to make up characters such as Kat's brother, T.J.'s sister, Leo and Mike's grandmother, and Tommy's biological parents. Family members tend to deepen the characterization of mainstays, making the fic more powerful and the Rangers more real.

The problem develops when an original character becomes a mainstay. That is to say, when an author invents a character to become one of the main characters. More often than not, an author will make up a Power Ranger, and add him/her to the team. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this phenomenon, and I've done it myself (in fact, I had the hubris to feature her in my biggest PR project).

Unlike original family members, or even new villains, additional Rangers have become the subject of lots of debate. Like I said, some hate them, and some love them. But, no matter what the inclination of the reader is, I think a well-written additional Ranger will be well accepted, even by the most brutal of critics. The goal is to make this new character as real as possible.

The first trap authors fall into is making the new character the spotlight of the entire series (assuming this is a series). I concede that the first fic in which a new character is presented almost necessarily focuses on that person. However, that doesn't mean from that point on, this new character is the sun in the series, and all the familiar characters are simply planets revolving around him/her. Also, I've learned that quite a few people find it offensive when this new character takes over for a canon, beloved Ranger. This could mean taking that person's powers, or just replacing their role (as in, making this new person the leader, or having a Ranger dump his/her established love interest to pursue a relationship with the new Ranger). To put it frankly, no matter how well you write a fic, chances are readers in general will never feel as strongly for this new character as they do for the real Rangers. After all, if they didn't like the Power Rangers, they wouldn't be reading fanfics about them. So, readers will likely resent new characters if they feel the canon Rangers are being overlooked or abandoned. A good question to ask yourself is: Can this story proceed even without my new Ranger? Like I said, occasionally this new Ranger will have to be the star, but if he/she is the focus of every fic in the series, and the established Rangers take a backseat, this may be a turn-off for readers who identify with Saban's actual characters (I know I'm not the first person to bring up this subject, but it's important enough to be repeated).

Okay, now let's say you've avoided this first trap. You've decided you want to make a new Ranger, but you won't make him/her the star of the series from that point on. Just like on the show, the new Ranger will be introduced, and will just become one of the guys. Great, but you're still not out of the woods yet. Remember, the goal is to make the character as real as possible. That means you have to develop that character's personality.

You should have an idea of what this character will be like before he steps into the Juice Bar for the first time (let's assume that it's a he, to ease the matter of gender-neutral pronouns). What kind of activities does he enjoy? Which family members does he live with? What are his strengths? And most importantly, what are his weaknesses? I've found that authors do in fact work out an origin of the new Ranger, but what he isn't good at seems to be overlooked. We all know no one's perfect. Some people are shy. Some are proud. Some lack confidence. Others have bad tempers. Still others are selfish. A key to making this character real is making him as human as possible. All characters have things they are good at, and things they are bad at. If not, then they aren't human.

Now, here's a hint that works for me, but other people don't like. I know some people automatically disregard fanfics written about a new Ranger who seems remarkably like the author. Readers assume "Okay, the author just wants to be part of the action, so he has written himself into the script." I don't think that's a fair judgment. In fact, if done right, I think characters based on the author are the most authentic of all.

You're probably thinking I'm nuts now, but step back and consider this: your goal is to make the new Ranger as real as possible, and whom do you know better than yourself? You know what you're good at, what you're bad at, what your dreams are, and what your nightmares are. You are a real human being. Therefore, a character honestly based on you will necessarily be human.

Take, for example, hobbies. Everyone knows that almost all the Power Rangers seem to have this overwhelming love of martial arts. Perhaps, when making a character, you decide you want him to also love martial arts. Okay, but what if you don't love martial arts? What if you don't have any experience with it? If this is the case, the scenes involving this new character practicing will probably not be as natural and believable as you'd like them to be, simply because you don't have the knowledge of that sport.

Now, instead of martial arts, maybe you decide on... ping pong, a sport you love. On the surface, ping pong is a bit boring. But if you have a love for the sport, as well as an understanding of the strategies used and the rules of the game, you can make a scene involving a ping pong match dynamite! You can integrate your own love of the sport into the fic by having your original character mirror those feelings. Then, they are real feelings being described, and the scene becomes more natural... and the character more real.

The same holds for family relationships. If you're an only child, and all the people you are close to are also only children, it may be difficult to write a genuine relationship between your new Ranger and his eight siblings. Perhaps, then, the new Ranger should be an only child too, and you can reflect on the relationship between the character and his parents, or perhaps the independence that comes from not having siblings around. Again, if you write what you know you can't go wrong.

I understand that inventing a character that is You, with all your strengths and weaknesses, is not easy to do. In fact, it's embarrassing. But, you don't have to include all the little quirks that make you an individual. We don't need to know that you have frequent conversations with your cats or take showers with your underwear on. Also, we don't need to explicitly know that the character is You at all. I have created several original characters, nintegrating my own traits and interests into most of them. A little bit here, aa little bit there. And, sometimes I take quirks from family members and close friends... other people I know quite well. Just to demonstrate, Renee Ryan's effusive personality and speech style is mirrored after my sister, a person I know very well. As for Alexis, she is based on my best friend from junior high school (and so is a good deal of her family situation). That's why she likes ice-skating so much. So technically, none of my original characters are totally from my imagination. They are montages of the people that matter most to me, and that's why they matter to me as fictional characters.

For emphasis, I'll repeat... your goal is to make the characters REAL. So to write as realistically as possible, write about what you know. If you know about scuba-diving, then write it. If you have an undying passion for horror movies, star-gazing, photography, or Olde English poetry, include that into the personality scheme of the new character. Make your characters jump out at the reader as genuine.

If you succeed, and your new character becomes a working member of the team, complete with his quirks, people will overlook the dismissive "Well, I'm tired of all the Silver/Purple/Orange Rangers out there." Even if readers don't generally like new Rangers, often they'll give a fic a try. I personally am not terribly fond of new Rangers, but I do start reading fics about them when I have the time. If the fic looks like this new Ranger is going to be a God amongst men, who will steal the hearts of all the women, is admired and adored by all his teammates, who has mastered every known martial art, and can do no wrong... I don't bother going further. I'm just not interested in reading The Adventures of Earth's Single Perfect Power Ranger.

If you're interested in seeing what not to do, I suggest you read Joe Rovang's brilliant parody "The Neon Gray Ranger: Damn, What a Man!" It's only two pages long, and hilariously funny. This kind of character would only succeed in a parody. Check out Joe's page, and in between belly laughs, see if there are any traits of your Ranger that are uncomfortably similar to this one.

Now I will defend myself from infuriated readers by making my overarching statements less absolute. I know the rules I've stated above don't apply to every author and all fanfics. I didn't say that all fanfic series that focus on an original Ranger are bad, or that the only way to succeed is to write yourself into the roll. I can come up with many examples of fanfic series with prominent original characters that I think are outstanding. Also, I can think of several original characters that take on a greater responsibility than the rest of the team for some reason or another. This advice is more for the inexperienced author than anyone else. If you're very skilled at creative writing, then by all means, write a fic breaking these rules. It may still turn out great. And the plot is obviously very important to the strength of the story. Still, if you're new at fiction, and you're trying something different, be wary of writing in characters that appear one-dimensional. Character development is always key, especially in unfamiliar characters.

So, in summary, just remember these two mottos. If you do, then my job here is done:

Here's a sample of an exchange between two characters:

	"I can't hold out," the Black Power Ranger said, falling to his 
knees.  Tanya grabbed his dropped Power Ax and fired on the 
nearby monsters.  Once she had beaten them back, Tanya lowered herself 
to her knees in front of Adam, and grasped his shoulders.
	"Adam, don't do this to yourself," she said, "Hurry up and break 
the morph!"
	"Can't focus..."
	"Adam?" she said, watching her boyfriend begin to shake,
"Adam, no!"

	"I... I can't... hold out..." the Black Power Ranger gasped, falling 
to his knees.  Tanya quickly grabbed his forsaken Power Ax, and 
let loose the flaming fury of the Cosmic Cannon on the nearby creatures.  
Once it appeared she had won them a few moments, Tanya lowered herself to 
her knees in front of Adam, and held his shoulders tightly.
	"Adam, don't do this to yourself," she pleaded, "Hurry up and break 
the morph!"
	Adam began convulsing.  "Can't... focus..."
	"Adam?!" she cried in panic, watching her boyfriend quake in pain,
 "Adam, NO!!"

Getting the picture?

Okay, here's another passage that lacks embellishment. In this case, since emotions aren't clearly portrayed, the entire tone of the scene is unclear and open to interpretation:

	"Andros?" Ashley asked, turning back to look at the Red Ranger, 
"Are you going to be okay?"
	Andros smiled.  "Yeah.  I can handle it."

	"Andros?" Ashley queried, turning back to gaze at the Red Ranger, 
"Are you going to be okay?"
	Andros smiled mischievously.  "Yeah.  I can handle it."

	"Andros?" Ashley whispered timidly, turning back to face the 
Red Ranger, "Are you going to be okay?"
	Andros smiled wanly.  "Yeah.  I can handle it."

See the distinction?

Just to beat the proverbial dead horse, here are some other ways of "smiling":

	Andros smiled weakly
	Andros smiled conspiratorially 
	Andros smiled in amusement
	Andros smiled gleefully
	Andros smiled darkly
	Andros smiled proudly
	Andros smiled with relief
	Andros smiled wickedly
	Andros smiled assuredly
	Andros smiled playfully
	Andros smiled longingly
	Andros smiled mockingly

In conclusion, make sure that every passage you write is clear as crystal. Make the emotions leap out at the reader. You can portray a character as furious without explicitly saying "so-and-so was furious." You can use words like "glare" or "glower" instead of "look," or "growl" instead of "say" to get the message across. The best way to master this writing style is to read other people's work, or to use the thesaurus. Find out other ways of saying what you want to be said, that are more powerful words in and of themselves. Expand your vocabulary, learning all the verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that could really improve the presentation of your work. The changes made are overtly subtle, but the overall difference in the fic is quite dramatic. Trust me.

Lesson Three
With Your Mind's Eye

Because fanfiction is transmitted through the word rather than the image, a writer can't stick to the level of detail given on a show. The Rangers simply talk back and forth. Rather, there must be a lot of space used for description. At least, that's what I think, and that's the lesson for this session. What do I mean by description? Yes, part of it is taking the time to describe scenery. I know it interrupts the action of the story, but it's necessary. Let's take an example. Say... you're introducing a new scene. In this case, it's Venus Island (as in from my VE series). Here's one way to say it:

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean is Venus Island.  It's a 
tropical island, with a mountain in the center, surrounded by jungle 
which meets the sand by the shore.

Yeah, I guess that's enough to get the gist of it, but let's add some style to it. Here's one description I borrowed/stole from my friend Nancy Shaw:

	Tranquil silver moonlight shone down on the Pacific Ocean. 
The endless rushing sound of waves against shore only added to the 
relaxed peacefulness. Few souls knew of this place.  Being an enchanted 
isle, it did not show itself to just any casual passer-by; but at night, 
when no eyes but the seagulls' were watching, it shimmered into 
existence there in the middle of the sleeping ocean.
That particular little corner of paradise was known as Venus Island. 
The lush, fertile island poked out of the rolling waves of the ocean, some
several hundred miles off the coast of California. It was the offspring of 
a magically created volcano that had lost it's zing centuries ago, but the 
small mountain remained, encircled by a ring of flourishing jungle, and a 
wide band of pale golden sand holding back the sea. The jagged summit of 
the gray mountain towered above it all, and perched in the crater at the 
very peak-- seemingly tiny in the sky-- was the luxurious city of Ambrosia.

Nan's description of the island is absolutely magical! You can feel the ethereal quality of the island in the language, and not only is the appearance of the island described, but also its sounds and even a snip of its history. Yes, it takes some work to get this kind of description in a fiction, but with a bit of effort, reading a fic could be just like watching a movie. Actually, I think writings can convey even more than just an image. See? A photo of Venus Island couldn't get the sounds in there, right? So take advantage of the power of the written word.

Okay, you're probably wondering how to write fics with this kind of detail. Here's my recommendation: know exactly what the object being described looks like. If you have an image in your mind, it's a lot easier to translate that visual image into words.

For example, pretend you've created a new villain for the Power Rangers to fight. On things like this, one of the most important things needed to make a character real is to give him ample description. Yes, develop personality and abilities, but don't neglect appearance. You can even try drawing a character before writing him in. Of course, some are better at drawing than others (I'm actually on the weak end myself), but it could be a very, very basic drawing. You can create an image to be the template for all the subsequent descriptions of that character.

There... that covers long-winded description. But, there's a lot more to description than big paragraphs. Adverbs and adjectives can be a writer's best friends.

I've touched on this before, but word choice is a huge deal, and can really impact on the writing. Adverbs are little helpers that highlight how an action is performed (most end in -ly, like "quickly" or "steadily"). Adjectives describe nouns (like "shiny," color words, ect.). I'm not going to go into huge detail on this again, but remember those adverbs and adjectives! If you don't have any in a sentence, then I'm willing to bet that sentence is bland.

There's another device that poets use frequently, and I take advantage of when I can. It's a slightly different kind of description, more complex than simply adding adjectives and adverbs. Instead, comparisons are drawn. The two main types are similes and metaphors.

A simile is a comparison using the words "like" or "as," and a metaphor is a direct association. If you say "Her lips were like rose petals," then you're using a simile. If you say "Her lips were rose petals," then you're using a metaphor.

So think about those two statements. What does it mean to be compared to rose petals? What are rose petals like? They're bright, soft, and delicate, for starters. So this is a really dense description. To equal this without using a simile or metaphor, you'd have to say "Her lips were bright, soft, and delicate," and that doesn't really equal it, since there are other attributes to a rose petal that are more difficult to put into words. Similes and metaphors are outstanding ways to romanticize description (not necessarily lovey-dovey, but just being powerful and emotion-invoking). I tend to use them most in describing the appearances as well as actions of people. Just because there aren't any lists in this section yet, I'll put a couple common similes:

He moved through the night like a fox.
	Her hair shimmered in the low light like a raven's wing.

Moving like a fox includes many attributes, such as stealth, silence, speed, grace, and even a sense of hunting. Hair like a raven's wing is not only black, but it's soft, sleek, and free. See how much description you can throw in with so few words?

In conclusion, try to make images out of words, that can leap out at the reader and make a truly lasting impression. It's a hard skill to master. In fact, I don't think it can be mastered. It's the kind of skill that is constantly honed, but doesn't achieve perfection. Still, if you're conscious of the visualization you are trying to capture, then you'll definitely fair better than if you're writing blind, so to speak.

See the world of your story in your mind's eye. Then, all you have to do is put it into words.

Lesson Four
Learning to Dance

This lesson is geared to everyone who A) feels like they can't write fanfic, and B) those who are disappointed in their work. I'll let you in on a secret: when I first started reading fics on the web, I was very intimidated by the incredible quality of authors like Ellen Brand and Akiko. Their stories had such developed plots, great description, believable dialogue, and just some kind of... mysterious quality that made we really want to read them! And then, I looked at my stuff. I tried... really I did... but it just didn't have that "special something" that separates an okay fic from a great fic. However, as I wrote more and more stories, and picked up pointers from other authors, and read more great fics, I slowly improved in my writing. When I compare my first fics to the stuff I'm writing now, I realize I'm a completely different author! And as I continue to write, my own personal style continues to evolve.

No, I'm not suggesting that my fanfics are now great. I don't have an objective outlook (since I treasure everything I write), so I'd rather avoid rating my own stuff. But, I can safely say that I've vastly improved in all aspects. No, I didn't take some special writing class, and I didn't pray for inspiration. No Muse communicates ideas to me... although I'm not sure if this holds for everyone :). Then, what's the big secret to fanfic writing success? Well, you're probably going to beat yourself over the head for not knowing, but here it is:

Wow, that was a surprise! And it's true! Alexander Pope, the great Neo-Classical British poet who coined such famous quotables as "A little learning is a dangerous thing," believed it. Trust me, none of the great writers just woke up one day and was blessed with magnificent skill. Nope, it took patience, effort, sweat, tears, and LOTS of paper and/or disk space. So be patient with yourself. If you don't think you can write fanfic... I'll bet you money that you can! Sure, your first piece may not win a prize, but you'll learn the subtleties that really make fanfic great. Don't be shy now!

Each fanfic you write is a stepping stone. You write more fics, you've placed more steps at your feet, slowly helping you reach your goal of becoming an acclaimed fanfic writer.

Lesson Five
Nobody's Perfect... BUT: Spelling

Okay, before I write anything let me say this: Nobody's perfect, and neither are anyone's fanfics. There are always semantic and spelling errors that miraculously manage to evade even the most conscientious writers. Still, I think it's worth the trouble to keep fics as free from errors as possible. Why? It's simple: lots of errors make fanfics difficult to understand, and difficult to enjoy. A few mistakes are unavoidable, but when there is a huge amount of crazy spellings for relatively simple English words, reading the fic can exhaust anyone's patience. Also, having many errors relates the thought that the author didn't care enough about the story to take it seriously, so why should the reader?

While a mistake every here and there is understandable, it really gets to me when the same word is either spelled in tons of different ways, or it is consistently misspelled in a single manner. Here are some words that are spelled incorrectly so often, many may not even know the correct spelling!

Words Commonly Misspelled:

	Unfortunately (the E remains)
	Their  (an exception to that I before E rule)
	Villain (A before I, instead of vice versa)
	Deceive ("I before E, except after C...")
	Suspicion (it's a C, not an S)
	Traveled (I do this all the time, but there's only one L in "American" English)
	Enthusiastic (I've seen some wacky spellings of this one)
	Exhaustion (there's an H)
	Surprise (two R's)
	Suppose (two P's)
	Lightning (Lightening means to grow lighter)
	Interrupted (two R's)

Don't feel bad if you've habitually misspelled any of these words. In fact, if you read some of my older stuff, I've used "travelled" more often than the correct form. Still, the goal in writing (I think) is to constantly improve. Get in the habit of spelling correctly if possible.

Now, I understand that people misspell words at times that they know how to spell, but maybe by making this list, I can draw your attention to where your mistakes may lie. Still, even the most cautious typist will make errors. That's what the spell-check is for! Most word processors have it, and actually spell-checking is a requirement for most fanfic archives. If you don't have a spell-check yourself (which is unlikely, but possible), perhaps you can look up words that you're not sure how to spell with a dictionary, or just e-mail the fic to a friend that does have a spell-check so they can proofread it. Actually, having a proofreader is a great way to get feedback before even posting the fic, and it's a practice that's highly recommended. You can find a partner, and trade fics back and forth for honest feedback and careful error screening.

Unfortunately, even the best spell-check won't help you with the names of places and people. It's hard at times to figure out how to spell the names of people like "Astronema", but there really are set spellings. If you're not sure, you can read other people's work to see how it's spelled, watch the credits of the show, or use closed-captioning (I'm stealing this idea from JRL, by the way). Still, if you just don't know, and you can't find a reliable answer, just be consistent. If you spell Karone three different ways in a fic, it's really annoying. Just pick a spelling, and stick with it.

Okay, here's something else that I find commonly underused: apostrophes. Yeah, often we can figure out what you mean without them, but can you imagine what a sentence would look like without them? How would be discern "ill" from "I'll" if they're both at the beginning of a sentence? Or "well" and "we'll"? How about "its" and "it's"? It's true that you can most often tell from context, but why make it more difficult for your reader to understand what's going on? Having to mentally correct numerous mistakes can be very trying, and people don't read fanfics to flex their editorial muscles. It shouldn't be a strenuous exercise.

And the final common mistake that I see regularly is the transposed letter thing. This is entirely caused by people typing too quickly, and not noticing that they typed "hte" instead of "the", or "waht" instead of "what". My big mistake in this regard (and those who get lots of e-mail from me will notice it) is that I say "dont'" instead of "don't", so I'm guilty too. Obviously, everyone realizes that we know how the words are really spelled, since this most often happens with the most common words that have become automatic when we type. We've got to watch out for mistakes like this, because they really make the typist look careless... and who wants to be careless?

Okay, I'm done rambling. Just keep an eye out for careless mistakes, and take a few extra minutes to run a spell-check. If you've got Word 97 or above, then all misspelled words are even underlined in red, so it's even EASIER to notice mistakes. Stories that are properly spelled and punctuated appear more professional. Also, the story is easier to follow for the reader, and that should be everyone's goal.