Improfanfic - Rules and Information

What is Improfanfic?
Wow! Where do I sign up?
I'm worried about the quality of my part. What should I do?
Can I add a new story?
I have another improvisational fanfic site. Will you link to me?
I want to submit fanart, a side story ("omake"), or something similar.
Who manages Improfanfic?
What are the rules for the message board and chat?
If I submit my work to Improfanfic, who owns it?
I have a question that's not covered here.

For a more friendly introduction, check out Imprology!

What is Improfanfic?

Improfanfic is Improvisational Fanfiction.

"Fanfiction" (often abbreviated as "fanfic") is fan-written fiction: a new story, with the same characters or universe as an existing story. There's Star Trek fanfiction, Xena fanfiction, and even Friends fanfiction. Improfanfic's main focus is on anime - Japanese animation - and its style of storytelling. (Anime has a distinctive artistic style, and covers many genres of fiction. For more information on anime, consult the Anime Web Turnpike.)

Improvisational fanfiction is written by groups of people. A new part of each story is posted regularly, written by a different author. People take turns building onto the story, and as a result, we get quite a bit of new writing every week! Robust in style and spanning genres, sometimes wild and crazy or controlled and high-quality, there's a little something for everyone here. Improfanfic has original stories, fanfiction (mainly based on anime/manga/video games), and silly "chibi" (little) impros that skirt the bounds of sanity.

The Improfanfic community pools their collective brain cells together to explore the art of writing at its cutting edge - communicating by message board, mailing lists, and chat to work as a team.

[ Back to Top ]

Wow! Where do I sign up?

To write for an Improfanfic, simply go to its page and click on the link that says "Sign up!". If the queue is closed, you'll soon be able to find out about how long it will be until it reopens. Queues are considered filled once they have eight to ten people, and will reopen for signups when there are three or four people left.

Each Improfanfic has a particular administrator assigned to it. Once you've filled out the form, that admin will e-mail you back within a day, welcoming you to the queue. Here are some rules to remember:

Parts are due before 11:59 PM U.S. Central Time on the day listed on the Impro's page - no later.
There are several types of impros, and the time available for writing will vary. It will be listed on the Impro's page. Optional extensions are available for most Impros, but if you need one, you must let the administrator know in advance.
We'll e-mail you when it's your turn to write, but try to avoid planning to write on precise dates. Writing times will vary, due to extensions and skips.

Acceptable formats for Impro parts are 80-column ASCII Text or HTML only! We cannot accept submissions in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. 80-column text can be saved from Microsoft Word by using 10-point Courier, setting your page width to around 6 inches, and choosing "Save as MS-DOS Text with Line Breaks". Some word processors may use non-standard punctuation, often called "Smart Quotes". This will cause problems with quotes, apostrophes, ellipses, etc., and is not acceptable. If your word processing software has this feature, please turn it off.

The administrators are not responsible for reformatting a poorly formatted part. If a part has formatting problems, an administrator may choose to require that a reformatted version be submitted within one day. HTML parts may have associated images/media, but please let the administrator know in advance, so that arrangements can be made for correct delivery and posting. All HTML parts with media must also have a pure-text equivalent provided, to allow for low bandwidth, printing, or posting to the FanFiction Mailing List (FFML).

It is possible for a part to be removed ("pulled") from the archive, or a rewrite required, but this is extremely rare. If a story segment flat-out contradicts existing facts in the story, or has other aspects that make it entirely too difficult to work with, the administrator for that story has the option of withdrawing the part. This is strongly discouraged, and if this rule is invoked, the decision will involve community discussion. We try to use this rule as little as possible, and never take the decision lightly.

[ Back to Top ]

I'm worried about the quality of my part. What should I do?

Don't panic - we're here to have fun, not produce publication-quality fiction. Chat, the message board, and any related mailing lists are great resources. Also, feel free to ask any admin.

[ Back to Top ]

Can I add a new story?

We used to solicit new stories in regular "Starter Sweepstakes". We're currently concentrating on completing existing stories, however.

[ Back to Top ]

I have another improvisational fanfic site. Will you link to me?

Absolutely. Just e-mail a description of your site to james@improfanfic.com, along with the URL.

[ Back to Top ]

I want to submit fanart, a side story ("omake"), or something similar.

Thank you very much! Please e-mail the file to the admin of the Impro in question. We do reserve the right to resize very large (150K+) images.

[ Back to Top ]

Who manages Improfanfic?

Ardweden - administrator
Chamelaeon - administrator
Lawrence Chu - administrator
James (james@improfanfic.com) - lead administrator
Twoflower - founder

[ Back to Top ]

What are the rules for the message board and chat?

The message board's rules are simple: stay on topic, and don't be rude. Off-topic threads will generally be locked by the admins, and flames or outright spam will be deleted. Chat is a dangerous and complicated world - see the chat page for much more information.

[ Back to Top ]

If I submit my work to Improfanfic, who owns it?

Here are the details:

All creative works submitted as part of the normal Improfanfic submissions process and posted to these pages are considered shared property of Improfanfic itself. This allows future authors to develop and utilize creative elements you've created in their upcoming story parts, for example, without worrying about copyright issues (since any created work is copyrighted to the original creator, but you also grant Improfanfic license to allow others to create derivative works). You are obliged not to put Improfanfic at legal risk by selling EXCLUSIVE rights to materials you have not created, such as characters from previous parts of a story; shared rights which accomodate Improfanfic's right to continue to exhibit the materials may be acceptable, but please contact the administrators with your exact plans before launching such an endeavor, just to be safe.

PLEASE NOTE: A) This is a license for DERIVED works; that means that Improfanfic will not directly use images you've spent hours working on and slap them on a t-shirt. However, the characters and other creative concepts involved which are shared property are fair game. B) Non-fanfiction based starters are a special case scenario; because they are 100% creatively owned by the original author, said authors are free to exploit them outside Improfanfic without difficulties, as long as they use no derived materials that were made from that starter (e.g. characters and stories post-#1).

PROFIT-ORIENTED USE OF IMPROFANFIC MATERIALS: Note A from above is important; Improfanfic may have special derivations of the commonly owned materials made for profit reasons (e.g. Lumi-chan t-shirts, "Work with me, Daisuke!" bumper stickers, and so on). These promotional items will always carry the Improfanfic brand, and any profits made on them will first be allocated to site upkeep and volunteer compensation. We don't intend to exploit your creative work excessively for profitable gain; the goal here is to allow for sale of Improfanfic brand goods to Impro fans as an expression of the community's creativity. We will not directly copy drawn artwork, and written work will only be paraphrased or quoted if required. Obviously, no for-profit use will be made of materials considered "fanfiction" based, such as Dan Hibiki or Ranma 1/2.

Submission of materials to Improfanfic implies consent to these legal terms.

[ Back to Top ]

I have a question that's not covered here.

Please don't hesitate to e-mail us at james@improfanfic.com.

	Rules and Information
What is Improfanfic? Wow! Where do I sign up? I'm worried about the quality of my part. What should I do? Can I add a new story? I have another improvisational fanfic site. Will you link to me? I want to submit fanart, a side story ("omake"), or something similar. Who manages Improfanfic? What are the rules for the message board and chat? If I submit my work to Improfanfic, who owns it? I have a question that's not covered here. For a more friendly introduction, check out Imprology! What is Improfanfic? Improfanfic is Improvisational Fanfiction. "Fanfiction" (often abbreviated as "fanfic") is fan-written fiction: a new story, with the same characters or universe as an existing story. There's Star Trek fanfiction, Xena fanfiction, and even Friends fanfiction. Improfanfic's main focus is on anime - Japanese animation - and its style of storytelling. (Anime has a distinctive artistic style, and covers many genres of fiction. For more information on anime, consult the Anime Web Turnpike.) Improvisational fanfiction is written by groups of people. A new part of each story is posted regularly, written by a different author. People take turns building onto the story, and as a result, we get quite a bit of new writing every week! Robust in style and spanning genres, sometimes wild and crazy or controlled and high-quality, there's a little something for everyone here. Improfanfic has original stories, fanfiction (mainly based on anime/manga/video games), and silly "chibi" (little) impros that skirt the bounds of sanity. The Improfanfic community pools their collective brain cells together to explore the art of writing at its cutting edge - communicating by message board, mailing lists, and chat to work as a team. [ Back to Top ] Wow! Where do I sign up? To write for an Improfanfic, simply go to its page and click on the link that says "Sign up!". If the queue is closed, you'll soon be able to find out about how long it will be until it reopens. Queues are considered filled once they have eight to ten people, and will reopen for signups when there are three or four people left. Each Improfanfic has a particular administrator assigned to it. Once you've filled out the form, that admin will e-mail you back within a day, welcoming you to the queue. Here are some rules to remember: Parts are due before 11:59 PM U.S. Central Time on the day listed on the Impro's page - no later. There are several types of impros, and the time available for writing will vary. It will be listed on the Impro's page. Optional extensions are available for most Impros, but if you need one, you must let the administrator know in advance. We'll e-mail you when it's your turn to write, but try to avoid planning to write on precise dates. Writing times will vary, due to extensions and skips. Acceptable formats for Impro parts are 80-column ASCII Text or HTML only! We cannot accept submissions in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. 80-column text can be saved from Microsoft Word by using 10-point Courier, setting your page width to around 6 inches, and choosing "Save as MS-DOS Text with Line Breaks". Some word processors may use non-standard punctuation, often called "Smart Quotes". This will cause problems with quotes, apostrophes, ellipses, etc., and is not acceptable. If your word processing software has this feature, please turn it off. The administrators are not responsible for reformatting a poorly formatted part. If a part has formatting problems, an administrator may choose to require that a reformatted version be submitted within one day. HTML parts may have associated images/media, but please let the administrator know in advance, so that arrangements can be made for correct delivery and posting. All HTML parts with media must also have a pure-text equivalent provided, to allow for low bandwidth, printing, or posting to the FanFiction Mailing List (FFML). It is possible for a part to be removed ("pulled") from the archive, or a rewrite required, but this is extremely rare. If a story segment flat-out contradicts existing facts in the story, or has other aspects that make it entirely too difficult to work with, the administrator for that story has the option of withdrawing the part. This is strongly discouraged, and if this rule is invoked, the decision will involve community discussion. We try to use this rule as little as possible, and never take the decision lightly. [ Back to Top ] I'm worried about the quality of my part. What should I do? Don't panic - we're here to have fun, not produce publication-quality fiction. Chat, the message board, and any related mailing lists are great resources. Also, feel free to ask any admin. [ Back to Top ] Can I add a new story? We used to solicit new stories in regular "Starter Sweepstakes". We're currently concentrating on completing existing stories, however. [ Back to Top ] I have another improvisational fanfic site. Will you link to me? Absolutely. Just e-mail a description of your site to james@improfanfic.com, along with the URL. [ Back to Top ] I want to submit fanart, a side story ("omake"), or something similar. Thank you very much! Please e-mail the file to the admin of the Impro in question. We do reserve the right to resize very large (150K+) images. [ Back to Top ] Who manages Improfanfic? Ardweden - administrator Chamelaeon - administrator Lawrence Chu - administrator James (james@improfanfic.com) - lead administrator Twoflower - founder [ Back to Top ] What are the rules for the message board and chat? The message board's rules are simple: stay on topic, and don't be rude. Off-topic threads will generally be locked by the admins, and flames or outright spam will be deleted. Chat is a dangerous and complicated world - see the chat page for much more information. [ Back to Top ] If I submit my work to Improfanfic, who owns it? Here are the details: All creative works submitted as part of the normal Improfanfic submissions process and posted to these pages are considered shared property of Improfanfic itself. This allows future authors to develop and utilize creative elements you've created in their upcoming story parts, for example, without worrying about copyright issues (since any created work is copyrighted to the original creator, but you also grant Improfanfic license to allow others to create derivative works). You are obliged not to put Improfanfic at legal risk by selling EXCLUSIVE rights to materials you have not created, such as characters from previous parts of a story; shared rights which accomodate Improfanfic's right to continue to exhibit the materials may be acceptable, but please contact the administrators with your exact plans before launching such an endeavor, just to be safe. PLEASE NOTE: A) This is a license for DERIVED works; that means that Improfanfic will not directly use images you've spent hours working on and slap them on a t-shirt. However, the characters and other creative concepts involved which are shared property are fair game. B) Non-fanfiction based starters are a special case scenario; because they are 100% creatively owned by the original author, said authors are free to exploit them outside Improfanfic without difficulties, as long as they use no derived materials that were made from that starter (e.g. characters and stories post-#1). PROFIT-ORIENTED USE OF IMPROFANFIC MATERIALS: Note A from above is important; Improfanfic may have special derivations of the commonly owned materials made for profit reasons (e.g. Lumi-chan t-shirts, "Work with me, Daisuke!" bumper stickers, and so on). These promotional items will always carry the Improfanfic brand, and any profits made on them will first be allocated to site upkeep and volunteer compensation. We don't intend to exploit your creative work excessively for profitable gain; the goal here is to allow for sale of Improfanfic brand goods to Impro fans as an expression of the community's creativity. We will not directly copy drawn artwork, and written work will only be paraphrased or quoted if required. Obviously, no for-profit use will be made of materials considered "fanfiction" based, such as Dan Hibiki or Ranma 1/2. Submission of materials to Improfanfic implies consent to these legal terms. [ Back to Top ] I have a question that's not covered here. Please don't hesitate to e-mail us at james@improfanfic.com.