How Do I Write A Decent Eroica Fic?
By Margaret Price
While doing the tags for 
schlosseberbach I came across this question more than once. In the two years I have been writing Eroica fic, I have found a general consensus in what current fans like, love, will put up with, or will rake you over the coals about. Here’s what I’ve learned in order of importance, more or less.
1) Learn the series canon. – This is paramount in doing a proper fic. Nothing will get you raked over the coals faster, and jar a reader out of a story quicker, than having a situation that is totally wrong. Dorian being a crack shot, for example. A beta reader familiar with canon is always a plus.
a) Do not confuse canon with fanon. The Belladonna fact sheet is very helpful in this. There is nothing wrong with fanon, just so long as one realizes it is not set in stone.
b) Breaking with canon. – Don’t do it if you can avoid it. Although, at this point in time, if Dorian and the Major end up in bed together one has to break canon. The debate on whether the Major is a “bottom” rages. For me, I don’t care, so long as he stays his bad-tempered self. After Dorian gets him in-between the sheets, he’s not going to suddenly start worrying about matching the curtains with the bedspread. Nor is Dorian going to suddenly start wanting to go to Football games to drink beer and watch the game instead of ogling the players in those adorable tight shorts. (More on this in #3)
c) Character mutilation, torture, and rape – These are touchy subjects. There are a lot of readers squicked out by one or all of them. There are a lot of fics that use this just for shock value. It isn’t unique to the fandom. These can be done, as long as they are handled properly. I did a rape fic that was intended to focus on the violence and ugliness involved rather than using it to shock and/or arouse. If you use them, use caution and expect strong reactions, pro and con. Also, make sure you warn your readers that your fic contains these elements.
d) Magic, the Paranormal, and Aliens – Some years ago there seemed to be a phase where authors included magic and the like in their fics. To me, it suggested that Dorian could only win the Major’s affections by external means. The advent of Harry Potter seems to have curtailed this phenomenon. Yes, I did have the boys encounter an alien in a story, but it was a scifi crossover. (see # 13) My advice—unless you’re doing a crossover in which the elements are canon, don’t include them.2) If you’re not sure about something in canon, by all means ask! -- There are a lot of people out there ready, willing, and able to answer all kinds of off the wall questions. I know. I’ve asked enough of them.
e) Parody and Crack!Fic -- Um, there are no rules for these, actually. Thus is the nature of the beast, wherein enters the off-the-wall humor we all know and love. My favorite part is the lack of the "fourth wall" inwhich the characters speak directly to the readers, as they sometimes do in canon.
3) Don’t take the characters Out Of Character! – Please! We fell in love with them for who they are. Turning Klaus into a Weepy Uke is not delving into his character. Klaus does not do fluffy. The story can be fluff, but the Major? That’s delving into the realm of bad!fic. The only character who bursts into tears at the drop of a hat is James.
4) Angst in moderation. Wangst* on pain of death. -- Seriously. Dorian and Klaus are strong male characters who remain that way no matter what bizarre situation they are thrust into in canon. Dorian only whines to get attention. Klaus never whines, period. He has three basic answers to any situation—Yell at/threaten it, hit it, shoot it. *Wangst = whiny angst
mosellegreen : As for angst vs. comedy, just because the canon is comedy is no reason not to write angst. The characters and situation are perfect for hard-boiled espionage and angsty romance. 5) Writing slash in general. As stated above, you are dealing with men here, not butch women. Think of every guy you’ve ever known; withdrawn, uncommunicative, moody--and multiply it by two. You now have a gay male relationship. For some great info on writing slash from a gay man’s perspective, this site is the place to go. Warning: Contains graphic images to illustrate the…positions.
a) Good sex – A lot of readers seem to prefer the romance elements in a story to graphic, play-by-play, hot weasel sex. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Thing is, PWP can get boring and monotonous. Ending a story with gentle kisses and caresses can be very sexy and have a much greater impact than going on for thirty pages and suddenly slinging the boys into bed.
b) No sex – Yes, it is possible to get away with writing slash with no sex. PG-13 fade-to-black slash can be very erotic and sexy. You don’t need to know what’s going on to know what’s going on, if you know what I mean. You can even get away with writing a story in which there is no implied sex. Nothing says the boy have to end up in bed in EVERY story.6) Ratings – If the Major has a speaking part, the story will usually be PG or PG-13. I slap an R on if there are sexual situations and graphic violence. NC-17 if the sex gets graphic. I find it helpful if an author has given the rating of their story when they post it.
7) Summaries – Not everyone does one, just because not every story is easy to summarize. I like to include them, if only to tantalize the readers.
8) How much information is too much information? – I asked this question a while back. The series is set during the Cold War and many readers were not old enough to remember this time, or weren’t even born yet. When doing a story with a specific timeframe given, I like to throw in some background. My readers say they appreciate it so long as it’s in small doses. Research is very helpful in verifying facts. Obviously, no one at CMX checked to see when the Discovery Channel first aired (1985) when they had James mentioning it in 1979. There are a lot of ways to check one’s facts, including asking those of us who actually remember the 1980s.
9) Dialogue and descriptive text. – I love writing dialogue. There are no two ways about it. Dorian and the Major sniping at one another just makes my day. But make sure you are telling your readers what the heck is going on at the same time. Otherwise you just get a lot of boring back and forth. D said, K said, D said, K said. If you have a lot of information to impart, summarize it into a paragraph or two rather than going on for six pages of dialogue. It will move the story along and keep your readers’ eyes from bleeding.
10) If you don’t speak German, don’t assume what you’ve read in existing Eroica fics is correct. There is a lot of pseudo-German in Eroica fic. If you must put German into your story, get a German speaker to translate it for you.
esda : It doesn't do to translate word by word using a dictionary and it certainly doesn't do to use Babelfish!! a) On the subject of Germany – Titles. There are none and haven’t been for nearly 100 years. They’re a relic of the past having become part of the family name and mean nothing. (reference site here) DO NOT assume they are the same as English titles. You’ll piss off
b) German military – Women were not allowed to serve in positions requiring they carry a gun until 2001. So having a woman assigned to the Alphabet in 1985 is not possible. *Hears the sound of plot bunnies dying horribly.*
Since 1991 women have access to the Militärmusikdienst (öhm... military music service?)
c) Misc. on Germany – Pills do not come in bottles. They have been on blister cards since the 1980s, if not earlier. (Those in the US may know/recall the Tylenol poisoning that started all that.)11) If you’re not British, consider having someone who is look over Dorian’s dialogue for you. Yes, it is THAT different. Spelling isn’t the issue so much as cadence and idioms. I use the American spellings because that’s what I know. Your readers won’t care about that so long as the story flows well. (I have the advantage of having had a mother who was English and another fandom that is set in England.)
riothouse : it’s arse not ass! a) English titles – Yes, they still use them. Dorian is an Earl and should be addressed as Lord Gloria, my lord, or your lordship. NOT your Grace, which is how one addresses a Duke. And NOT as Earl, even though that is how CMX has it. It would be the same as addressing Queen Elizabeth II as “Queen.” No, just no.12) On Language in General -- The random inclusion of "foreign" phrases and such.
13) Crossovers – My first Eroica fic was a Doctor Who crossover. A very helpful essay on Crossovers by Kadorienne is here. Don’t be afraid to do a crossover, but be aware of several things:
a) Not everyone likes crossovers.14) Where to post your Eroica fiction – You can post it here, of course.
b) Not everyone will be familiar with the fandom you are crossing into. Don’t assume your reader knows who Joe Blow, The Hero of Poughkeepsie is.
c) Don’t do it just because you think it might be “cool” to have the characters interact. Not all fandoms will mesh together. If you force it, your story (and readers) will suffer.
castlegloria is exclusively for the posting Eroica fic. There is also the sister community schlosseberbach , or Fried-Potatoes, or the fic archive of Eroicafans.org,or ff.net,or for R and NC-17 there is Aff.net. 15) Observation from the membership of
castlegloria in no particular order. jamjar - Dorian is flamboyant, but he's tough and there are very clear limits to what he will and won't accept from Klaus- standing up to him, lying, whatever, if he wants to protect a piece of art. Also, just because Dorian likes flowers and pretty things does not make him submissive, because he's really not. Klaus aside, Dorian seems to be fairly seme in his relationships- the others we've seen him with are usually more... delicate. Klaus - Even if he does fall in love with Dorian, it doesn't change his personality. He isn't going to change his views on what's aesthetically pleasing, he's not going to start liking lace and flowers. He's still going to be Klaus. Oh! And Klaus is not humourless. It's just that his humour centres around disturbing others. Smiling when he's about to bring down righteous fury on some incompetent. Sending flowers to A's wife, and acting nice to her, because it freaks A out.
whizzy - Eroica is comedy. COMEDY. it's amazing how many authors wrote while in constant denial of that fact. The result is a lot of hard-boiled espionage / schmoopy romance novel fusions, with characters that share little more than names with our darling Major and Earl. ix_tab - Characterisation is key. And the humour I guess, because even in a very serious fic, without a little light heartedness, it's not really Eroica... I would rather read well written banter-y gen fic than mediocre smut...I have found a lot of smut in the Eroica fandom is bleh. Not appealing to me...I can be hard to please though. Since the entire manga is pre-slash, I think that some of the best fic is pre-slash. That being said, I do love LOVE the smut in this fandom, because when it's good it's very, very good. As for angst...I'm an angst-lite person, for Eroica fic. Angst fic doesn't really do it for me. sindeniirelle – (. . .) there are a wide variety of Eroica fic out there--there are plenty of angsty fics, smutty fics, humerous fics, romantic fluffy fics, action/adventure fics....every reader is going to look for something different. I think the one common denominator that most Eroicafen look for is good characterization and writing, other than that, the rest is up to personal taste. Personally, I prefer a long fic with some adventure and fluffy romance to angst, but I know there are many Eroicafen out there who prefer the angst, so whatever YOU want to write, chances are there are Eroicafen out there who are going to enjoy it, as long as it's well written (and judging from the piece you posted before that won't be a problem for you ^_^) mprice – One of the biggest mistakes I have seen fic writers making is changing the characters completely for the "BIG" ending. The "will they or won't they?" element of the series is what has made it work for over 30 years. Although, well written Alternate Universe is fun, too. What if...?