Disclaimers

Disclaimers are a tool that most authors use. They’re warnings, signals if you will, to prepare us for the story we are going to read. They are also frequently used to avoid plagiarism issues with others.

EX: Disclaimer: No characters except my OC belong to me.

These types of disclaimers are good to use. They help you avoid a lawsuit. I suggest that authors do use this at the beginning of your story: like in the foreword section.

Although disclaimers are good to use, some of them make you want to jump off a plane… without the parachute. An example of this type of disclaimer is:

Disclaimer: English is not my first language. Pardon my grammar.

… I don’t even know where to begin.

Firstly, this disclaimer is completely, totally, 157% overused. How so? Go to the homepage of AsianFanfics and click on a story. There’s a 63% chance (based off of no real evidence, I just randomly typed in that number) that you’ll see the aforementioned “disclaimer” somewhere in the foreword.

Secondly, (to my authors who do use this disclaimer) do you really think that this is a valid excuse for your horrible grammar? Do you really think that with that pretty little disclaimer that your readers will turn a blind eye on how you need to practice better English? No. It doesn’t. I understand that a lot of the writers on AsianFanfics aren’t from an English speaking country and English is really not their first language and all, but there are ways to make sure that your story is accurately proofread with RESPECTIBLE grammar. How so?

1. BETA READER!!! There are really nice, grammatically correct people out there that won’t mind proofreading your work. Heck, some people will do it for free. All you need to do is LOOK FOR ONE! There are some shops (CLICK THIS FOR THE SHOP THAT I RECOMMEND) on AsianFanfics that offer their services for Beta Reading. Or you can just ask your readers for help. And if you’re really desperate, you can even ask me (though there’s a good chance that I’ll decline tbh).
2. Type our story in a program (such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, etc.) that *gasp* have a proofreading feature BUILT IN! I personally use Microsoft Word when I type up any document because it shows me all of my mistakes with a conveniently colored squiggly line beneath said mistake. (WARNING: That still doesn’t exempt you from proofreading it on your own or sending it to a Beta Reader for further proofreading.)
3. There is no number 3. I just added this one for my own amusement.

So as I was saying (or is it typing?) before I got off topic, disclaimers can be your best friend or worst enemy. It all depends how you use them. I, myself, have created a simple checklist for all authors to use when considering what kind of disclaimer to use in their story.

          - Is this disclaimer relevant to my story?

          - Will this disclaimer help me avoid plagiarism issues (or any lawsuit for that matter)?

          - Do I ABSOLUTELY, 100% need this disclaimer?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to ALL of these questions, then your disclaimer is good to go. And if you’re still confused as to how and when to use disclaimers, here are some rules:

1. NEVER use more than two disclaimers in your foreword. Any more and you’re kind of telling you’re future readers that there’s a lot of problems with your story.
2. No disclaimers should EVER be over two sentences. Too many sentences in one disclaimer and you are, again, informing your future readers of all of the problems with your story.
3. NEVER EVER EVER use the disclaimer “English is not my first language, blah, blah, blah…” If you do, I will hunt you down…
4. If you want to warn your readers something about a particular chapter, put it at the beginning of said chapter. But be brief and try not to give anything away.
5. Don’t go disclaimer happy and put up disclaimers everywhere. Just… don’t.
6. And finally, the most important rule of all. Disclaimers are not author notes. They are warnings for your readers. They are NOT places where you put your opinions or elaborate on what you ate for dinner last night. Those things go in your AUTHOR”S NOTE.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I like disclaimers. I really do. They’re simple to use, effective (most of the time anyway), and can be funny (at times). But when using disclaimers, it’s important to be moderate. Don’t use too many disclaimers. If you can, don’t put any up at all. I hate it when I click on a story that seems interesting, scroll down a bit, and see a disclaimer about English not being their first language. It turns me off from a story. And unless I really like the story or the idol you’re using in your story, there’s an exceptionally good chance that I won’t bother reading it AT ALL.

Because there's nothing better than ending your chapter with a little bit of HunHan. :)

RANDOM FACT: When I first showed my mom a picture of Luhan, she said "Oh, is she your friend? She's pretty." Um mom... Luhan's a guy. And I wish he was my friend. *sobs*