What is fanfiction?
How do the members of My Chemical Romance feel about fanfiction?
Where can I find fanfiction to read?
What do the different ratings and categories of fanfic mean?
How can I write fanfiction?
What is a beta reader?
How can I find a beta for my new story?
How do I submit my fanfiction to TIP?
Is there anything I should know before I submit my fanfiction?
How long will it be before my story is posted?
Why does it take so long to post a story?
Can I code my story myself? How?
Did you receive my story/update/chapter/question?
How can I tell if a story has been updated recently or not?
I really love this one story! How can I let the author know?
Will you tell me when this specific story is updated?
A: Fanfiction is the blanket term used to refer to stories written by fans with members of a particular band, movie, TV show, book or actor as characters. All fanfiction posted at TIP features members of My Chemical Romance as characters in stories written by fans of the band.
Q: How do the members of My Chemical Romance feel about fanfiction?
A: In a recent interview, Gerard made some comments about fanfiction: "Fanfiction's scary cause they write that stuff about Spock right?... (giggling)... Is it erotic fiction? Who's got the biggest dong?"
And on the topic of incest fanfiction: "Well, actually, believe it or not, the first fanfiction we heard about was incest fanfiction. Like years ago, there was incest fanfiction... I don't know, we can't control it so, um, at least they're being creative."
We at TIP look at it this way: If any band member ever told us the stories we post offended them, we would take them down in a heartbeat. But they don't seem to be bothered by it, and as long as they're not bothered, neither are we.
Q: Where can I find fanfiction to read?
A: Right here! TIP has one of the largest collections of MCR fanfiction on the internet. At the top of the page, simply choose the menu called "Fanfiction". You can choose to sort the stories by Author, Category, Member, Rating or Title.
If you're interested in fanfiction about TV shows, books, movies and so on, FanFiction.net has a huge collection of stories of all types.
Q: What do the different ratings and categories of fanfic mean?
A: Well, every site is different, and offers different ratings or categories, or interprets them differently. Here at TIP, we offer the following categories:
We also define our ratings in the following way:
Of course, any one fanfic can fit into a few different categories. But a story will always be rated as severely as the most adult scene in the piece. So if the entire story is PG except for one very graphic sex scene, the rating will be NC-17 overall.
Q: How can I write fanfiction?
A: Writing fanfiction is just like writing anything else. You need to flesh out your characters, place them in a setting, and have some kind of action or plot. The only limit is your imagination! You can choose to be realistic, setting the members of MCR in their tour bus and writing a plot that focuses on working on a new album, or you could be completely creative, setting the members of MCR in a futuristic world where Gerard is a vampire. It's really up to you, and there is an audience for all different types of fanfiction stories.
A: A beta reader is someone who reads your story before it's finished and helps you perfect it. They'll check for spelling and grammar, and give you ideas on plot and dialogue when you're stuck. Having someone beta your story can make it infinitely better and more polished.
Q: How can I find a beta for my new story?
A: A great resource for beta readers is the TIP Forums. Go to the Forum tab to access the TIP Forums. If you're not already registered, register, and then find the forum called "You Said You'd Read Me Like A Book." Make a post explaining a bit what your story is about and ask for betas. Someone is sure to respond.
Q: How do I submit my fanfiction to TIP?
A: Simply go to the menu at the top of the site, select the tab labeled "Fanfiction" and scroll down to where it reads "Submissions". All the instructions can be found there.
Q: Is there anything I should know before I submit my fanfiction?
A: YES. Please, for the love of God, use your spell check. Check to make sure you followed the basic rules of grammar. Make sure you've formatted your story to some extent, so that it has paragraph breaks and isn't one large block of text. Many readers (especially at TIP, where the general quality is so high) will not read stories that have poor spelling or grammar, or have no formatting. The fanfic coders will not edit your story for you.
Also, please be sure to submit your story with all the required information. Stories with no title, author, status, category, pairings, rating or description will not be posted.
Q: How long will it be before my story is posted?
A: Anna always updates the fanfiction on Sundays. If you submit your fanfiction by Friday, it should go up with the Sunday updates. However, if you submit it on a Saturday or Sunday, it won't go up until the next week.
Q: Why does it take so long to post a story?
A: Every time a story is submitted, it must be coded (formatted with HTML for posting on a website). Here at TIP we have some very dedicated fanfic coders. Still, it's a very time consuming process. Also, adding the fanfiction itself is time consuming, and each update takes about four hours to add and index. Because of this, the turnover time between receiving your submission and posting it will generally be about a week.
Q: Can I code my story myself? How?
A: YES! We would love it if you would. It saves us a ton of time and effort, and really isn't so difficult. Just go to the menu at the top of this page, select the tab that reads "Fanfiction", then select "Submissions" and finally "Coding". All the instructions can be found there. Works which are already coded generally go up in the middle of the week, and so people may be able to read your stories sooner if you code your own.
Q: Did you receive my story/update/chapter/question?
A: Probably. As you might imagine, we at TIP are very busy making sure the site stays active and updates frequently. Please don't contact us to ask if we've received your story, update or chapter. Wait until Sunday, when the fanfiction updates happen. If you don't see your story after that set of updates, check the Email you sent us to be sure you included all the required information in your submission. If you did, and can think of no other reason why your story might not be posted, contact us. Otherwise, assume we received your story and everything was fine. If there's a problem with your story or your coding, we'll contact you.
Q: How can I tell if a story has been updated recently or not?
A: When an unfinished story is added, its status will be listed as "Unfinished mm/dd/yy". The date will be the date the story was added. Thereafter, each time the story is updated, its status will be listed as "Updated mm/dd/yy", with the date being the date it was updated. A story whose status is still listed as "Unfinished" hasn't been updated since it was added.
Q: I really love this one story! How can I let the author know?
A: Some authors include their Email addresses with their stories in order to be able to receive feedback. For the ones that don't, the best way to contact them would probably be the TIP Forum. Simply go to the menu at the top of the site and select the tab that reads "Forum". If you're not registered, sign up for a username and password. Then check the forum entitled "You Said You'd Read Me Like A Book" to see if anyone has posted a topic about the story you like. If not, make your own! Many of the authors whose work is posted on TIP frequent the Forum.
Q: Will you tell me when this specific story is updated?
A: No. With TIP growing every day, we don't have time to send out individual notifications. If you can get ahold of the author, they might be willing to contact you when a new update is posted, but otherwise you're on your own. The best thing to do is sign up for the TIP Mailing List by choosing the menu tab that reads "Mailing List". You'll be notified each time the site is updated, including when new fanfiction updates are posted. No stories will be mentioned by name, but the number of updated stories will be. If you'd rather not sign up for the list, just check back every Sunday when the new fanfiction is usually posted.