Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related A Few Odd Questions

I've got a few odd questions that I'm wondering if someone could help answer.

- nfic - What is that line in the sand on this board? I've been part of forums that had a zero tolerance for anything beyond kissing and absolutely no specific descriptions! On a few others, innuendo is ok, but little else. I'm not looking to write nfic, but don't want to cross the line somewhere!

- STAR Labs - When is the first mention of STAR Labs in the series? I was just watching something in season 2 and heard it mentioned, and of course, completely forgot to note it.

- Lois' prior relationships- There was Claude, and Paul. Claude slept with her and stole her story sometime in Lois' early years at the Planet. Paul was someone she was attracted to, but Linda King 'stole' him from her... did they ever date or was it just a crush that Lois had? Does she mention any other relationships?

- Lois' relationship with Lex is mostly fancy dinners, nights at the theater and opera, etc. Other than her one reference for waiting until their wedding, as viewers we don't have much more insight to their relationship?

Thanks

Kate

Hey Toomi8!

1. NFIC - most of these are WAY beyond kissing and/or graphic violence that would get an R rating if movie / TV show. If you need a guide you can probably reach out to Labby or Lauren on the archive and see where the guidelines got moved to. I know it used to be posted there but not sure where it's located now.

2. STAR Labs was mentioned even in the Pilot in passing, however, we didn't actually see it until Season 2 / Season 3 timeframe. It's ever present throughout the series though as it is a huge part of Superman cannon with comics and other version of our favorite superhero.

3. Paul - It appeared from the series they went out at least once or twice to lead her on and he was also going out with Linda. (Ouch). There was mention of Patrick in Irish Eyes are Killing from Season 3 and Joe Malloy her high school boyfriend in It's a Small World After All at the end of Season 3.

4. Most of Lois' relationship with Lex in Season 1 we had very little insight outside of a few dinners and the Fly Hard ep where they're all stuck at the Planet together. From the conversations between her and Clark throughout Season 1 there is a hint of Clark voicing his distrust of Lex Luthor and Lois defending him but outside of that there isn't much to go on but your imagination.

Hope this helps.

Hey Kate,

According to the Archive, nfic is anything that would fall under MPAA's guidelines of above PG-13. At the most, a rating of PG-13 (g-fic) means that the fic To be nfic, the stories
or Those last quotes are respectively definitions of the R and NC-17 ratings, and the Archive also defines G and PG. Hope this helps ya out

I'll have to rewatch the Pilot as I don't remember that at all, though having it there all along makes another fic I'm working on work much easier! I'm not so hot on the rest of the Superman canon beyond the Christopher Reeve movies (and it's been a looooong time since I've seen those) and the Dean Cain version.


Ha! I knew I missed Patrick! I completely forgot about Joe though. I've spent more time in late season 1, season 2 lately. I'll have to rewatch.


Epic. My imagination is delighted.


Thanks! That helps a lot.




Thanks for the link! I knew it had to be here somewhere, I just couldn't find it.

Now, one more question that I can't find an answer for... what's the maximum length for a single chapter to be posted on the boards? Chapter 3 has run away with me. It's currently at 9000 words, 19 pages in Word, and I'm not done. Is that too large for one chapter?

Okay speaking as someone who works mainly in epics I'll answer this. So the sweet spot I've found is right at 20 pages or under single-spaced 12 pt font Calibri or Times New Roman. Anything over that is going to get cut off.

Option A: Split it into more than one chapter

Option B: In the comments of the Chapter add in the cutoff section

Option C: Post in cutoff chapters as 1a, 1b, 1c, etc...

Toomi8, as another who also ends up with runaway chapter word counts (dratted muses yelling in my ear!!!), I've found that 6500 words is about the max I'll post. And I usually stop way before that - unless the pump is overflowing. Page count is tricky - a thirteen-page chapter with 10-point Times New Roman font is seventeen pages at 12-point font. Were I one of your betas, I'd advise you to find a scene break somewhere in the middle of that monster where it makes sense to break it into two separate chapters.

Many times I've built a too-long 8000-word chapter (for example) eight, then broken it in to chapter eight and eight-a. After some more self-editing, I usually expand those out a bit and get two healthy chapters (my eventual average on the two child chapters is between 4600 and 5200 words) that deal with separate aspects of the story. That way you're not worried about chapter length and losing information in a post.

Unlike folk4evernaday, I've never lost the back half of a chapter. I guess I'm not that adventurous, even if my characters are.

Popping in to add: My chapters typically run in the 10-20 page range. My version of Word defaults to Calibri 11pt and I do 1.5 lines spacing to make it easier on my eyes as I reread and edit. I find it impossible to stick to a page or word count min/max. I just end the chapter wherever it seems most natural to do so. And yes, I have had the occasional chapter or one-shot that has run well past 20 pages and have to break it into pieces. I find it easiest to just tack the rest on to a separate post within the original thread in that case. I personally hate the separate 1a, 1b, 1c thing.

DC, I forgot to note that after I get my story in order, I will renumber the chapters to get rid of the 8-a, 8-b, 8-c numbering. I don't much care for the 2a-2b-2c thing either, especially if the sub-parts are very short.

I use single spacing because I'm so used to it, but even in my personal letters (yes, I still write them) I'm now putting a blank line between paragraphs a la fanfic. I use Times New Roman 12pt because, again, it's what I'm used to. Like you, I also end chapters when there's a logical break point and it's time to change scene or POV. I've posted chapters of 3000 words or less because of that. And I try to keep both prologues and epilogues below 2500 words or they look like chapters instead of a setup (the prologue) or the final wrap-up (the epilogue).

There have been times when I'll go back to my older stories and read the feedback posts. It's nice to remind myself that someone liked my story enough to tell me.

I chose this option! Thanks for the suggestion.


Good point on the font. I'm becoming used to writing essays at 12point Times New Roman for page counts, but depending no the prof, the double or single spacing really messes with page count vs word count!


Thanks. I ended up finding good breaks, seemed to be in the 17-22 page range. Eep....


Thanks again. I think my best bet is to not label a chapter until I know what it will look like! I'm not sure I've ever had something run away quite that badly on me before.