Okay, last night I was facing someone on FCOL, and he mentioned he was writing a fiction story for captian's log. I asked him what the guidlines for the fiction were, and he told me that it could be anything as long as it didn't contradict anything else.
So I'm wondering: what is the best way to check that a fictional story is not contradictory? I know that there are "holes" in the SFU history that need to be filled (what happened to this ship after it was crippled, what did this captain do after he was demoted, Ect.). Is there any list of these? If not, would it be possible to put the basis for a story here so people could point out if it would contradict any established history?
1. The other forum has a major section on fiction writing. You can review this easily enough even without ever registering or posting.
2. The website has a huge section on input guide stuff.
3. Unfortunately, "not contradicting anything" pretty much requires you to check it against "everything" but few authors have "everything" even if they have 9-90% of everything so what you do is write up a one-page "this is what my story will be about" and send it to me and Petrick and we'll let you know.
4. There are a million stories in SFU of which we have told less than 100. You'd do far better to write a new story than try to finish somebody else's story with somebody else's characters. That can be done, but it's hard to get the characters "right".
There's a whole topic about this over on the other board. I know you don't post there, but if you read/lurk you should be able to find it no problem. Drill down into the tree for topic "Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Captain's Log: New Fiction: Advice to authors"
Remember: Anything that you write has to get by Jean (spelling / grammer) and then get by Petrick (tactics / military proceedure) before it goes to SVC. If it makes it that far, take your ego and put it in a box and hide it in the back of your closet for safe keeping. SVC has been known to come across as a big, hairy, ego-eating monster. He's really a Teddy-bear, but one doesn't always see that via hastily drafted e-mail replies.
Garth L. Getgen
Master Sgt, US Air Force, Retired -- 1981-2007 -- 1W091A
I've written several 'unofficial' stories just for fun. A lot of people seemed to really enjoy them and I recieved a bunch of emails saying I should submit one. So...I did that tonight. Don't know if the good folks at ADB need a story or if they'll like the one I sent but I figured 'nothing ventured nothing gained'.
I read David's story yesterday, and had it read by others last night (who confirmed my initial analysis). The story is fun to read (the first page or two had me!), and would make a good episode of Star Trek, but cannot be published in Captain's Log because I just cannot stand to publish stories that anyone who understands military operations would shoot holes in. The whole thing describes military operations that no one who actually went to military command school would ever try to conduct. (There is also a major plot point based on a rules violation, and two plot devices which are so overworked that we no longer allow their use.) We have saved it in a file with similar "fun to read stories that don't make sense" and may, someday, publish them all in a paperback book. David's writing is good and I hope he will submit other stories that do not contain fatal military flaws.
Steve has provided me with some very detailed feedback and I appreciate him taking the time in several emails to do so. That in itself is encouraging. So, I'm taking the initial premise that was enjoyed and changing the elements that don't work well. The aim is to offer a quality submission.
