This guide gives a brief overview on how to create a fan-fiction, or fanfic, and upload it to Fable Fanon. You may wish to have this open in a separate tab in your browser to easily refer back to it.
If you have any questions, or wish for additions to the guide, please leave a message on the guide's talk page.
Guide version: 1.6
- More Fable Fanon Guides:
- Infobox how-to
How to Start[]
It is a good idea to plan your fanfic out a bit beforehand. You don't necessarily need to write it all down before adding it to the wiki, but you should have a general idea of what the story is going to be about.
Series Hub[]
If you are planning a full story with new characters and places combining to a central plotline, you will want to create a central hub for your story. This is the Series Hub, or Series Main Page. We advise you to log in and create a username if you are creating a new series, so that all works can be attributed to your username.
- If you just want to create some new characters, places, factions, creatures, or random items without having a story to put them in, or create a concept around which you want to build your fanon, you can do that as well, and do not need to be logged in to do so. (If you are not logged in, these may be attributed to your IP address.) See the Story Elements and Creating Concepts sections for more information.
To create a new Series Main Page, ensure you are logged in, then click the Add a Page button in the Contribute menu, or click here.
- Enter the name of your series in the text box.
- Ensure that Layout Templates is selected, and click the Add a Page button at the bottom of the popup box. (If this option does not appear, skip to Step 3)
- Select Fanfic Series Main Page from the Preloadable Templates.
- If you receive a message Welcome back! We've restored some changes you had not published., click on Delete my changes and start a new edit
Next you can fill in the infobox about your series. The steps to do so will depend on whether you are working in Visual or Source mode. The first time you create a page from the preloadable templates, you will be in Source mode.
- If the first entry on the page is "
{{Infobox series
" then you are in Source mode. If the first entry on the page is "" then you are in Visual mode.
- Source mode
- Fill in the parameters of the Infobox series as listed. Leave blank anything that cannot be filled in at this time; you can come back to do it later.
- In the Continuity section, delete the continuity that does not apply to your series. See this page for more details on continuity.
IMPORTANT: Continuity must be added, or your series will not be listed in the fanfic listings. - If you have an image to add, see Adding Images, later in this guide.
- In the Continuity section, delete the continuity that does not apply to your series. See this page for more details on continuity.
- Continue to fill in the page as directed. Delete anything that you will not be using, and feel free to add anything else you think is neccessary. See Help:Editing for general wiki editing tips.
- Visual mode
- Click on the Template icon and go to edit.
- Fill in the parameters as listed. Leave blank anything that cannot be filled in at this time; you can come back to do it later.
- In the Continuity section, delete the continuity that does not apply to your series. See this page for more details on continuity.
IMPORTANT: Continuity must be specified, or your series will not be listed in the fanfic listings. - If you have an image to add, see Adding Images, later in this guide.
- In the Continuity section, delete the continuity that does not apply to your series. See this page for more details on continuity.
- Once you have filled in the parameters, click OK.
- Continue to fill in the page as directed. Delete anything that you will not be using, and feel free to add anything else you think is neccessary. See Help:Editing for general wiki editing tips.
Once your page is complete, click Preview to see how it will be presented, then Publish to save it to the wiki.
Adding an Author[]
You will want to make sure people know who the fanfic belongs to. To do this, click Add an author attribution, which will have appeared in the infobox created in the top right corner of the page.
- If this has not appeared, you will need to refresh the infobox with a nullsave. To do this, edit the page, and Publish without making any changes. See the Infobox how-to for more details.
- If you are in Visual mode, you will need to switch to Source mode. Select Source at the top of the edit window. You will see
{{Creator| Enter your username here }}
- Add your username where it says
Enter your username here
. Make sure to enter it exactly as it appears in the top right corner of the screen.- Note: The rest of the page should not be edited.
- Click Publish.
- You should see the following page:
< Your series name
Your username |
Where your username is clickable, and will take you to your user page.
Click on the link above your username to return to your Series Hub.
Categories[]
You will want a place that lists every page relating to your fanfic. This is a category. At the bottom of your Series Hub is the Categories box, which should contain five entries.
The first one is Fanfiction, which lists all the fanfiction on the site.
IMPORTANT: Your fanfiction will not be listed here until you have specified a continuity.
The second is the Series A to Z, which lists all fanfic series hubs alphabetically.
The third category will be based on the continuity you selected during creation – either Expanded universe or Alternate universe.
Author Category[]
The fourth category is your username. This lists everything on the site created by you. If this is your first time here, you will need to create this category so that it can be found through the site listings.
Click on your Author category, then click Create next to the category name.
- If the Create a Page popup appears, choose Create a Blank Page.
Copy and paste the text below into the blank box:
{{Creator category}} [[Category:Authors A to Z]]
Click Save Page or Publish, then find your Series Hub in the listings to return there.
Series Category[]
The fifth category on your Series Hub is the name of your series. This will list everything relating to your fanfic.
Click on your Series category, then click Create on the page that appears.
- If the Create a Page popup appears, choose Create a Blank Page.
Copy and paste one of the below into the blank box, depending on the continuity of your series:
- Extended Continuity, Expanded Universe
{{EU series category}}
- Alternative Continuity, Alternate Universe
{{AU series category}}
Every page that you create about your series can be added to the category by using the Add category button at the bottom of the pages. All pages that are created using the preloadable templates will automatically be added to the category.
Creating Chapters[]
The chapters will be where your story is told. If you have a plot line, it is advisable to create the chapters of your story before creating pages for characters, locations, and so on. If you do not have a plot line, you may be interested in creating a concept instead.
To create a new Chapter, ensure you are logged in if it is part of your Series, then click the Add a Page button in the Contribute menu, or click here.
- Enter the name of your chapter in the text box.
- Ensure that Layout Templates is selected, and click the Add a Page button at the bottom of the popup box. (If this option does not appear, skip to Step 3)
- Select Chapter from the Preloadable Templates.
- If you receive a message Welcome back! We've restored some changes you had not published., click on Delete my changes and start a new edit
- Fill in the basic details of the chapter in the infobox, either by editing the template (in Visual) or under
{{Infobox chapter
(in Source). The first time you create a page from the preloadable templates, you will be in Source mode.- For the series parameter, enter the name of your series as it appears on your Series Hub. By filling in this parameter, your chapters will be automatically attributed to your series and added to your series category.
- If you have an image to add, see Adding Images, later in this guide.
- Leave blank anything that cannot be filled in at this time; you can come back to do it later.
- Once the infobox is complete, start writing your story!
Make sure that your chapter has some length, good writing, and proper spelling and grammar. In a fanfic chapter, we say "See you later.", not "c u l8tr". Keep that in mind, because nobody talks with abbreviated words in a story. Remember uppercase letters and full stops / periods, too; more people will be attracted to your fanfic if it looks nice.
Creating Concepts[]
Sometimes you may have an idea for a concept, but not necessarily a full story or narrative based around it. This may include events in history, or other background lore of the Fable world. Concepts are presented in a more encyclopdic or historical style, instead of the prose narrative of a story. If you are interested in writing a story, you may want to start with a chapter instead.
To create a new Concept, click the Add a Page button in the Contribute menu, or click here.
- Enter the name of your concept in the text box.
- Ensure that Layout Templates is selected, and click the Add a Page button at the bottom of the popup box. (If this option does not appear, skip to Step 3)
- Select Concept from the Preloadable Templates.
- If you receive a message Welcome back! We've restored some changes you had not published., click on Delete my changes and start a new edit
- Fill in the basic details of the concept in the infobox, either by editing the template (in Visual) or under
{{Infobox concept
(in Source). The first time you create a page from the preloadable templates, you will be in Source mode.- If you have an image to add, see Adding Images, later in this guide.
- Leave blank anything that cannot be filled in at this time; you can come back to do it later.
- Once the infobox is complete, start writing your concept!
Make sure that your concept has some detail, good writing, and proper spelling and grammar. Remember that a concept should be written in an encyclopedic style; there are unlikely to be many conversations or dialogue here. A good guidance for a concept article would be to look at the style in which articles are written at Fable Wiki.
Story Elements[]
Once you have some chapters under your belt, you may like to flesh out your world. These story elements add background and immersion to the stories which they are part of. You may also like to create elements before you have a story to put them into.
There are Preloadable Templates for characters, factions, enemies, items, and for three different types of location, that can be reached from the Layout Templates button on Add a Page. Enter your character, location, enemy, item or faction name in the initial text box, then select Layout Templates to reach the options. Select the one you would like to use, then fill in the infobox template parameters ( or {{Infobox .......
). See the instructions above and the see Infobox how-to for filling in infoboxes. When you create a page from the preloadable templates, you will be in Source mode.
- By filling in the series parameter, your characters, locations and factions will be automatically attributed to your series and added to your series category.
If you are creating elements without a series to attribute them to, enter the series parameter as None and please fill in the creator parameter, where you can enter your username (if logged in) or your IP address (if not). You may also like to fill in the appears parameter to add the name of a chapter or concept which your character, location, enemy, item or faction appears in. If you would like to make your story element free to use by anyone, you can enter the usage parameter as free.
For more information about the infoboxes, see Infobox how-to.
Adding Images[]
To upload an image to Fable Fanon, please use Special:Upload. Remember to select a licensing option from the drop-down menu.
To add an uploaded image to a page, type [[File:Image name.xxx|---px|left <or> right]], where Image name.xxx is the picture's filename, ---px is the size of the image in pixels, and left/right is the placement on the page.
Examples[]
[[File:Image Placeholder.png|40px|left]]
[[File:Fable Fanon Background.jpg|150px|right]]
Notes[]
- Images in infoboxes should be no bigger than 200px, and do not need the right or left command
- A list of the images on this wiki can be found at Special:FileList
- Images can be uploaded at Special:Upload
- Please remember to add a licensing tag to any uploaded image
- For more about images, please see Help:Images
Standards[]
First of all, try not to start a fanfic and then forget about it. Fanfic pages should be of good quality and follow standard practices of spelling, punctuation and grammar. They should also have good sentence structure and a style that fits with the wiki's Manual of Style.
Ratings[]
It is a good idea to give your fanfic a rating so that readers know the recommended age or maturity of the content. Bear in mind that the Fable games themselves are rated 16 or M. Mature content includes: strong language, strong violence, strong sexual situations and graphic details.
When can I edit someone else's content?[]
You may edit someone else's content if you are fixing spelling or grammatical errors, categorizing the page, reverting vandalism, creating a disambiguation page, or altering prose to read more smoothly. However, if the author of the content feels your changes are unnecessary, then they can revert them.
You may not add, delete, or otherwise alter the storyline or plot on a page without direct permission from the author. The only caveat to this is when a user has created a character, location or faction specifically for free use, in which case they should be credited as the original creator of the content when used in your own works.
In the majority of cases, the author should assume good faith before accusing a user of making impermissible edits on their page(s). Instead, you should assume that the user was only trying to help, and if they did make an impermissible edit, then it can be reverted and the user can be informed politely. If the edit was made in bad faith, contact an administrator and revert the content in question.
See also[]
With adaptations from guides at w:c:swfanon and w:c:avatar