:: Rules  

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AUDIENCE RATING SYSTEM

  • All fics on this site have been tagged with a rating of either G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17. This corresponds to the system that we have for rating movies in the USA.

  • A G-rated fic is suitable for all audiences.

  • An R-rated fic implies that you should proceed with caution if you are under 17 years of age.

  • An NC-17 rating implies that if you are under the age of 17, you may not read the fic. Reasons for high ratings include language, violence, gore, sexuality, and intense themes.

  • Unfortunately, we have no way to monitor the ages of the people who frequent this site, and thus are forced to leave readers to their own recognizance.

  • The staff of The Construct disclaim all responsibility for people under the age of 17 who choose to read R and NC-17 rated stories.

 

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BENDING THE RULES

  • Companion Fics [CF]

    • 18 Nov 2004 - Updated by Xjaymanx

    • Regarding Scottishlass' fic "Serenity" and Centaur's companion fic "The Morning After", I have a tiny disagreement with Centaur's note to "get the original author's permission before you write a companion fic". After all, no one can really stop you. Besides, I doubt that any of us authors have truly obtained the Wachowski's or Warner Brothers' permission in writing our fics.

    • Hence, our use of disclaimers. Please review our Submission Guidelines. As the Goddesses admit: "But yes, fanfiction is more or less illegal, so if you wish, slap a disclaimer on your fic." This includes companion fics.

    • However, if you do decide to write and submit your companion fic to this site, exercising courtesy to the original author is very much appreciated.

  • Role-Writing Fics [RWF]

    • 17 Nov 2004 - Updated by Xjaymanx

    • Based on my fond memories of The Hardline, I'm also toying with the notion of introducing Role-Writing Fics [RWF] in its own category, subject to the same spelling, grammar and stylistic standards, plus some additional as-of-yet-undetermined criteria.

    • I coined the term RWF as a full-fic version of the Role-Playing Game [RPG]. Without the restrictions of boards, pieces, charts, points, or dice, the RWF involved multiple writers, a designated fic director, a decent plot, and the power of human imagination.

    • Looking back, some of my best on-the-fly dramatic writing was born in an RWF.

  • Works In Progress [WIP]

    • 15 Nov 2004 - Updated by Xjaymanx

    • Contrary to the Goddesses' Version 1.0 guidelines below, I'm currently juggling the notion of accepting Works In Progress [WIP] in its own category, subject to the same spelling, grammar and stylistic standards, plus some additional as-of-yet-undetermined criteria.

    • Clearly, such works would have to exceed an arbitrary standard of excellence, with a style or weight or revelation worthy of The Construct. After all, there are some damn good fics out there that provoke the mind or stir the soul, despite the unfortunate perhaps unavoidable status of being incomplete.

    • In fact, that this fanfic site exists reflects the unending WIP of the infinite Matrix universe.

 

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

  • So. You found our Matrix fanfic haven and now you want in, eh?

    • Good for you. The submission guidelines for The Construct are on this page. But before you read those, here are the ground rules:

    • This site is run by Rae, MTS, and Centaur. We wanted to become goddesses of the universe, but that didn't work out so we struck a deal and settled for goddesses of this website. But we're qualified goddesses. No, we're not Pulitzer winners or poet laureates, but we do know how to write.

    • And we are frustrated by the fact that there's no good Matrix archive online anymore. We want a place where people can come and easily find what they're looking for; a library of everyone's wonderfully fanfic-ized ideas. So we want your fics.

    • But there are rules (come on, we're goddesses, we have to assert our authority somehow). Please read this before submitting -- it will only take you a minute.

  • SUBMISSION GUIDELINES, TERMS OF USE, AND GENERAL STUFF YOU'LL WANT TO KNOW

    • 1) Our goal is to produce an archive of only high-quality Matrix fanfiction. Therefore, we will not post every story submitted to us. However, unless your submission breaks guideline number 3 (see below), we will not flat-out reject it. If you're going to take the time to try to write a good fic, we'll take the time to tell you why it still needs work. If your submission is rejected, it will be returned to you with brief comments from the three of us. We encourage you to use our comments to rework your piece, and then to re-submit.

    • 2) If we ask you to rework your fic and re-submit, whining and moaning about it won't make us change our minds. In fact, it will just annoy us, and we really don't want fics by annoying authors on our site. You do the math. If we say rework and re-submit, then that's what it's going to take to get your story archived.

    • 3) Lists, outtakes, and MSTs (Mystery Science Theatre skits) are not fanfiction, so we don't want them. Don't even try. We don't care if God herself thought your MST was hysterical -- it will not be posted on this site.

    • 4) Completed fics only. We don't want to deal with harassment because you ended chapter 3 in a monstrous cliffhanger and then abandoned your story. If you want help with your work-in-progress or if you really want to post it somewhere, we will hopefully set up a messageboard where you can do just that. But works-in-progress will not be archived. Give it to us when it's done.

    • 5) You are asked to write a summary for your fic, but we reserve the right to edit. Your summary must SUMMARIZE your fic. We have no defined summary length -- just make it reasonable. We don't want fic-length summaries; short and sweet is good. Please include an appropriate rating (G->NC-17) with your summary. Author notes belong in the story header, not in the summary. Rae will come after you with a spork if your summary includes the phrase "plz r&r" or any variation thereof.

    • 6) Rae, Centaur, and MTS can all appreciate a good, sexy piece of Erotica, but we expect you to take the time to write such scenes with as much care as you would any other scene. We're pleased to post good NC-17 fics, but we're not interested in juvenile material-to-whack-off-to. MTS will come after you with a spork if the phrase "creamy thighs" appears in any context. A note about rape fics: many of our favorite characters are often interpreted to have come from troubled pasts. Of course, we encourage you to write realistically. However, scenes of rape or sexual abuse should never be written with the intent to arouse. Period. If we think your rape fic is inappropriate, we will tell you so, and we will not post it. If you think that we're stifling your artistry, that's too bad. In real life, women don't get raped and then think, afterwards, about how hot the sex was and how much they enjoyed it. We believe that to pretend that rape is ever enjoyable is to spit in the faces of rape victims everywhere. End of story.

    • 7) And since we're on the topic of spork attacks: Centaur will come after you with a spork if you don't start a new paragraph each time somebody speaks. And spellcheck was invented for a reason, people. If your story has obviously not been run through this most basic of processes, we'll let you know (everyone forgets things, even goddesses) and then delete your story from our inbox until we have the resubmitted version. Trying to wade through obvious errors will make it harder for us to judge your work based on it's actual content, so we'd rather read it later, when our first impression can be a good one. On the same note: if you know that grammar is not your strong point, or that English isn't your primary language, a beta reader will help you. Much as we'd love to, the goddesses can't thoroughly beta-read every submitted fic. We just don't have that much time. We've set up a section of The Hardline for the purpose of matching writers with beta-readers.

    • 8) Please, please, for the love of Trinity, spell key names and words properly. For reference: Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, Tank, Switch, Apoc, Dozer, Cypher, Mouse, Nebuchadnezzar, Choi, Dujour, Agent Smith, Agent Brown, Agent Jones, Niobe. NOT: Triniti, Morphius, Morfius, Apok, Apoch, Cyprus, Cipher, Tanks, Nebakanazzer, Troy, Niobi. Don't laugh, we've seen all of those happen, and it frustrates us greatly.

    • 9) The goddesses don't like plagiarism. If there is legitimate reason to believe you attempted to pass off somebody else's work as your own, the piece in question will be taken down until the issue is resolved.

    • 10) There is some information that we require to be included at the beginning of each fic. Some of this information is just stuff that needs to be there. The rest of it is stuff that we need so we can know where to put your fic. It won't take you long to do, but it makes our lives easier. Consider it the small cost of the archive. Your heading should include:

      • TITLE:

      • AUTHOR:

      • RATING: (see the Audience Rating System above)

      • SUMMARY: (see Rae's Article on Summaries below)

      • SPOILERS: This applies only if you have read a major spoiler about true The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions content and are choosing to use that spoiler information in your story. Not everybody wants to know what's in the sequels before they come out. Minor spoilers (for example, the introduction of a ship captain named Niobe) don't need to be marked. But if you're going to, perhaps, detail a major plot hook from one of the sequels, you need to warn that you're doing so. Especially because Centaur is trying to avoid spoilers and she gets annoyed when she stumbles across things she doesn't want to see.

      • CATEGORIES: This tells us where to archive your story on the site. Choose up to two of Action, Agent, Alternate Universe, Crossover, Drama, Humor, Original Character, Romance. Novella and Adult are freebie categories -- if your fic belongs in one of those places we'll put it there in addition to your two other categories. We reserve the right to edit category selection if a chosen category seems blatantly inappropriate to the content of the story.

      • AUTHOR'S NOTES: Optional. Just please don't apologize for your fic. It's your art. We want to read it. So no apologies!!!

      • DISCLAIMER: Again, optional. We have a big one on the site that covers everything. But yes, fanfiction is more or less illegal, so if you wish, slap a disclaimer on your fic.

    • 11) Submit your works in either text (.txt) or .html format to: Construct303@yahoo.com

    • Happy writing and all that cheesy stuff,

    • Centaur, Rae and MTS, your friendly neighborhood Goddesses of The Construct.

 

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THE ZEN OF SUMMARY

  • THE ZEN OF SUMMARY (or the art of saying what you must, and omitting the rest)

    • An opinionated rant by Rae

    • Summary. The word strikes fear in the heart of every good fanfiction author; after all, the success of your story may hinge on a few short sentences. If this sounds over dramatic to you, then read on, because this article is for you. Sadly, many authors have yet to realize how important a good summary is. Unless you’re prolific and successful enough to have a recognized name within your fandom, the summary of your story is your only weapon against being lost in the crowd. Most of your target readers are busy people who know what they like, and what they don’t want to waste their time on. A good summary will determine whether or not a potential reader takes the time to read your story, or ignore it completely, without ever following the link to the actual text.

  • Separate the Author’s Notes from the Summary.

    • The most important thing to remember when summarizing a story is what you are summarizing. Your summary should never double as your author’s notes, ever. Consider this summary: (Note, all examples are actual summaries taken from Fanfiction.Net, but from another fandom, to help prevent identification and embarrassment)

      • “Don't have one yet. Going to be the sequel to Things Change, probably need to read that one first. Rating is just to be safe.”

    • Now, unless I’ve read “Things Change,” and remember it fondly, what about this summary compels me to read this story? The author has shown a considerable amount of apathy in neglecting to summarize his/her work, which makes me question how much time has been spent writing this story. Also, because the rating referred to is PG, mentioning it is superfluous.

    • Always refrain from mentioning unnecessary things such as ratings; that this is your first story; and most importantly, never mention that you want reviews! These things can have an important place in your author’s notes, but never in your summary. Look at it this way - you have a limited amount of space with which to capture your potential reader’s attention. Asking for reviews is a moot point unless you’ve enticed someone to first read your story. Also, I have a particular dislike for the phrase, “Plz. R&R,” which I know is shared by others. Using cute abbreviations in your summary makes me worry that you’ve also used them in your story. Be aware that readers make judgments on the quality of your writing based on the writing used in your summary. This brings me to my second point:

  • Use the same quality of writing in your summary as in your story.

      • “Okay, this is my first fic so please don't flame me! I am not good at summeries, but just R&R! please! ^_^just to tell you my chapters are really short but I spend a lot of hard work on them.^_^”

    • So, what does this summary tell you? Not much about the actual story, to be sure, but there are also some very obvious spelling and grammatical errors. If you are ever unsure about the spelling of a word in your summary, copy/paste it into your word processing program and run a quick spell check. Nine times out of ten, an author who makes simple grammatical mistakes in their summary will make the same mistakes in their story. If you are that tenth author who was just half asleep when they finally posted their opus, don’t let a poor summary deter readers! Re-read what you’ve typed into that little box or email, and make certain that it makes sense!

    • Now that I’ve addressed a couple of basics of what makes a bad summary, what makes a good summary?

  • Find a balance between revealing too much and too little.

    • Use suspense to entice your readers.

      • “When a young female assassin shatters the peace of a Crystal Tokyo night, no one is safe from the aftershock...”

      • “His mission: To kill her. His weakness: Her. A black chess pawn cannot play against another black pawn.....or can it?”

    • Interested? These authors have chosen to leave much of their stories to the imagination, but have done a fairly good job of making you wonder about it. Curiosity can be a powerful draw, but be warned that some readers like a bit more information before committing to that mouse click that delivers your story to them. Unless it will spoil a surprise, it usually is to your advantage to provide some information on characters, setting, timeline and context. Sadly, it’s nearly impossible to find a good example of this. Using the second summary as a guide, and applying it to The Matrix fandom, here’s how I might re-write it.

      • “Neo’s mission: to kill her. His only weakness? The same woman he’s been ordered to destroy. A pawn cannot turn against it’s own queen. . .or can it?”

    • I find a summary like this to be far more interesting. It preserves the suspense of the original summary, but adds just enough context to make a reader even more curious. Many readers dislike Original Character fics, or only read fics written about a certain character. Nearly every reader prefers to know ahead of time if you’ve chosen to write about someone they particularly dislike, and many will assume that if you haven’t specified, it isn’t worth their time. Although you may lose a small number of readers who dislike the character you’ve chosen to write about, chances are that you’ll attract a far greater number of readers than you’ve lost. Also, a reader who is driven away by the fact that the story focuses on Neo will probably not finish the story once he or she has discovered that for themselves. The flip side of this strategy is that it is also possible to disclose too much information.

      • “Rei falls in love with a young lord from Jupiter, they go to a ball together and the two of them finally tell each other the way they feel. Then the ball is attacked by a woman who calls herself Queen Mau.”

    • This author has already spoiled their story for me, so it’s probably one that I’d pass over. A good rule of thumb is to mention character and context (unless your story is specifically ambiguous about either of these things) but to leave out plot details. The above summary could be slimmed down to something like this.

      • “Rei is falling for a young lord from Jupiter, but will the romance be cut short by a poorly timed attack from the mysterious Queen Mau?”

    • By removing a few of the details from the summary, readers will be allowed to discover more of the romance as it happens, but the gist of the summary is still there. We still know who the main characters are, and that the story focuses on a romance.

    • Now that I’ve explained what goes on in a readers head while reading your summary, here are a couple more examples, this time fictional ones, using The Matrix fandom:

      • “Switch and Apoc get trapped inside the construct when there is an electrical failure on the Neb. They discuss why Switch is so cold and end up falling in love. Not my best work.”

    • First of all, strip away the excess information, story spoilers, and the self depreciation. Insulting your own story will never attract more readers.

      • “Switch and Apoc get trapped inside the construct. They discuss why Switch is so cold.”

    • Better, but it needs more suspense, and it needs more finesse. Write it as if you were telling the story itself.

      • “Switch and Apoc are trapped inside the construct, cut off from the outside world, and forced to rely only upon each other. Apoc may be more than capable as a fighter, but he is about to face his greatest challenge yet - a discussion of Switch’s emotions.”

    • Here’s another example:

      • “My first story ever! Trinity and Neo go for a walk in the park! They’re so cute! Anyway, things are great until Agent Smith (Grr) interrupts.”

    • First of all, cut the cute attitude and author asides. Remember that your writing style should be consistent with your story. This summary makes me envision a story that begins with, “Once upon a time in the magical land of Matrix.”

      • “Trinity and Neo go for a walk in the park. Things are great until Agent Smith interrupts.”

    • Much better than the first summary, but this summary, unlike the example using Switch and Apoc, needs more information. Why are Neo and Trinity going for a walk in the first place, and what sort of interruption is Smith? Here are three radically different ways this could go.

      • “Trying to put their recent problems aside, Trinity and Neo escape for a walk in the park. Things are finally starting to look up for their relationship when Agent Smith interrupts with a very interesting revelation about Trinity that could end the romance forever.”

      • “Tired of constant vigilance, and feeling a bit reckless, Trinity and Neo go for a walk in the park. What began as a harmless diversion turns deadly when Agent Smith interrupts their day off.”

      • “Celebrating the end of the war, Trinity and Neo go for a walk in the park built in their honor. Enjoying their first glimpse of the sun, they are startled to learn that a message has been received by Zion - from Agent Smith.”

    • All three of these summaries use the same basic information - Agent Smith interrupting Trinity and Neo’s walk in the park - but the added details greatly alter what the summary describes. The first adds an emotional context, the second adds the element of danger, and the third changes the story’s timeline.

    • I hope that this guide has helped you re-think how you write summaries. Many good Matrix fics are greatly disadvantaged by a poor summary, a trend which I would like to see changed. Don’t spend ten hours on the story and ten seconds on the summary, or all your hard work may go to waste!

 

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COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

  • The Matrix Copyright 1999-2003 - Time Warner Entertainment Co., L.P. and/or its Affiliates.

  • Original Content Copyright 2002-2004 - The Construct. Reproduction of material from any The Construct pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. The views represented on The Construct are those of the Authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication. Certain materials relating to the media covered within this online publication may be the copyright property of their respective studios / production companies / publishing companies.