 Kaj-Nrig 2009-07-15 . chapter 3I'm surprised that in four years of writing, you still haven't learned the intricacies of writing the English language. (Though to be fair, writing fanfiction is probably only a hobby of yours, and so it comes as no surprise that you wouldn't worry too much about the technicalities of it. Still, though, it couldn't hurt to put a bit more effort into making it presentable. It's like wearing a business suit to a formal ball - sure, you look decent, but you should be decked out in a nice tux.)
Anyway.
First chapter:
You use it as a teaser? That's... pointless, to be honest. I don't really understand why you felt the need to present a "teaser" of your fic... as part of your fic.
It's also a bit redundant to tell us, the reader, that Tifa is the main character. After all, you ARE the one telling the story. Once the story actually starts, we'll be able to figure that out for ourselves. And telling us beforehand that Tifa doesn't have a crush on Cloud seems a bit... like you're spoiling us. You know? No need to tell us beforehand when we can figure it out along the way. (But that's a minor detail.)
Another issue I had was the whole "Don't like don't read" bit. It's not wrong in itself, but I just hate the idea of telling anyone to shoo if they don't like a certain pairing/idea/genre/etc. Should be more like, "This story is so great that it'll change your perception of certain pairing/idea/genre/etc."
There were so many grammar and spelling errors, too. They got extremely annoying, especially the verb tenses. You have them completely mixed around. It's incredible to see that someone does this, then did that, then finally had done something else.
But the biggest issue is simply that you devoted an entire chapter of a fic... to a teaser... of that same fic.
Second chapter:
...really? Did you REALLY devote an entire chapter to an author's note? REALLY?
Did you read the guidelines at all? Did you miss the one about how author's notes shouldn't take up an entire chapter because that's just idiotic wasting of time and care?
And you got "a great idea"? That statement makes me want to slap you. Seriously. Have some sort of modesty. "Oh, my idea is so great and no one else has EVER come up with an idea that's in any way similar to mine!" Come on.
That's mostly all I have to say about that. Besides the whole "spoiling the reader" bit again.
Third chapter:
So your third chapter is a prologue? Your third chapter is your prologue.
Which is separated into three parts... ie chapters.
And this prologue is the first part of two parts.
So we've got three parts to a part of a story. Those three parts are also three chapters of a prologue which is also a third chapter.
Do you see where I'm going with this? Why not, instead of wasting those first two chapters on a teaser and an author's note, split the three parts... chapters... of your prologue... third chapter... whatever. Why not make your first two chapters be the first two parts of this prologue? That way, everything works out much better - first chapter = first prologue, second = second prologue, third = third prologue. You could throw your little "author's note chapter" into one of those chapters.
It's ridiculous the way you've got it structured right now.
But onto the chapter itself.
Your writing is... erratic. It goes from present tense to past tense to past perfect to future tense so often that I'm amazed you could read it yourself. Unless, of course, you didn't. That would certainly explain why it has so many errors in it. If you can't find the effort to proofread it yourself, then find someone (preferably someone who knows something about the English language) to do it for you and spot your mistakes, because they really do so, so much damage to your story.
But.
All that said, the concept itself is pretty interesting. I'm liking how you've made very minute changes to the story, and I'm liking even more how you've set out to tell us just how those minute changes alter the entirety of the storyline. You're one of the few unskilled writers (to put it bluntly) to actually take into account what minute changes will do to a story. Too often, I see the whole "Tifa loves Aerith watch as their relationship blooms throughout the course of the game" nonsense where they love each other... and nothing else is different. Each character still acts the same way as they originally do. The story plays out in exactly the same way. The only difference is that, hey, the two chicks are hot for each other. So again, you get props for actually taking the changes you made to the next level and seeing how they affect the storyline.
I'm not sure how it'll play out, but with some massive reworking and some comb-throughs to fix technical errors, your fic should be on a far better track than it currently is.
But that's my opinion. Take it with a grain of salt, and good luck on finishing it. |