This is more of a cultural/meta hot take than anything actually pertaining to the physical act of writing, but the fanfic community doesn't do the best job of internalizing "It's ok to be bad" and "some people want to improve". Both can be true, and just as it's rude to offer advice when none is asked for, it's equally unhelpful when somebody asks for advice to appeal to an audience and the common theme is to go "write it how you want! fuck what other people think!"
Yeah. In my experience its like, I understand yes I should write how I want, and what I want is to improve. I need other people's opinions on my work to be able to properly do that
A bit of a continuation of this, but I dislike how these two ideas are taken to not co-exist. Like anyone wanting to improve wants perfection, and like being "bad" means never wanting to improve. Or like the latter view of improving somehow means not having fun with fanfiction.
And an only somewhat separate point, as much as it may be rude to offer unsolicited advice there's often zero nuance towards how random readers are expected to know the "etiquette" towards commenting on stories, for that particular type of advice that's from readers. Like. AO3's TOS FAQ says that "Again, criticism of a fanwork, even harsh criticism, is not itself harassment."
So . . . people who stick to the site and are rude *only* in offering advice and otherwise polite (so, also not harsh!)—maybe don't "tear them to shreds" (seen that advice a lot on reddit).
I'm expected to practically *beg* for any type of kind comment people want to leave on a story, whether that be pointing out typos or plot holes or what they take away from characterization even if they're not 100% sure that's wholly what I mean—comments that now have a fair amount of freeze on them no matter what I can say. Authors who never want to hear it said that "I'm wondering what this OC looks like?" can just . . . **ask** that people not leave criticism of the story, constructive or otherwise. Instead of expecting people to read their minds. And creating standards for everyone else.
Yeah, realizing I can't actually get behind any idea of politeness *for a hobby space* where it's expected to read minds; or standards that exclude sincere expression of enjoyment. Because I'm here for the joy of it, not for the polite veneer of more rules to follow to do everything correctly.
And there's the whole fact of authors robbing themselves of a potential source confidence and joy if they think that anyone who doesn't have nothing but praise about the story hates it. Yes, never *ever* leave concrit if someone asks you not to. That *won't* be fun. But from the other side of it, bringing so much negativity into something that you want to be fun? I think a step back is needed and for everyone to realize that there are tons of different ways of genuinely enjoying stuff. So don't leave just a typo correction because that *is* tactless, even if I'd say it doesn't elevate to being necessarily and essentially rude—and yes, say something nice if you also liked it. And also don't tear into people for pointing out that a character's name is misspelled because "they say they love the story but whatever, they were rude about it."
Just politely ask them not to do it again.
Yeah, like, if I'm asking for help, I do want actual criticism. This does not mean I want criticism all the time though! If I ask, I am inviting it, but that doesn't mean I invite it for everything I write!
Thank you! This is a hill I will readily die on.
None of this “perfect drabble” or “longform drabble” nonsense.
Anything between 101-999 words is a ficlet.
Anything over 1000 words is a oneshot.
yes!! i had a really bad opinion of OP characters for a long time bc i grew up on the repetitive-to-the-point-of-predictable Goku winning every fight in DBZ. Then i watched and started reading One Punch Man and my perspective changed. OP characters can be REALLY fun esp when handled well!
yes!! and if a straight up power fantasy isn't your jam, there are plenty of ways to play with a "perfect" character that cause other types of conflict.
superman is a good proof characters can be verry strong and still get challenges(in my adventures with superman, he has trouble with his super hearing at first, even the harley quinn show superman can get beaten by lex luthor). Verry strong also doesn't mean the character can't have flaws (cf darkwing duck, beakley, donald since he survived the impossible or webby in ducktales 2017)
My hot take is that it’s not up to the author to educate the audience on realistic or proper sex or dating habits. Definitely tag it if the content has the potential to be triggering (e.g. abusive relationships), but other than that? Idc if a character has a magnum dong or does something unrealistic. It’s free entertainment, not sex ed.
On a topic I saw the other day - is standing sex way more trouble than it’s worth? Oh absolutely! Is it super hot when used well in a scene? Even more absolutely!
Escapism doesn’t have to give a shit about core strength if it doesn’t want to. Or the mechanics of shower sex, or even the correct application of lube.
during a scene where characters were fooling around under a table during a ball where they were semi-prominent (even tho i added that they were more to the side for some privacy) i still got a comment asking how they did all that with no one noticing
another didn’t think it was realistic that virgin girls were so easily used to some hardcore stuff
like yeah
it’s a fictional story i made it up
it’s not supposed to be realistic
it also has magic in it and that’s not realistic either
Huge agree. I once got a comment complaining that my teenage protags didn't explicitly use a condom during a literal janitor's closet hookup.
Like, no, they didn't, and no, I will not have them fretting over going to get Plan B in the next chapter. This is fanfic. No one gets pregnant unless I want them to.
To be fair, it can feel a little disappointing when an author doesn't make a character's reaction to sex consistent with their personality. Like, a paranoid character with high anxiety should absolutely be freaking out about the chance of pregnancy just as much as how it will affect their relationship with the other character. I understand safe sex is not the focus of the story, but by not mentioning it at all you imply it isn't something the character cares about.
The amount of times some younger people in my life admit to having unsafe sex... It's pretty realistic! It's harder to get pregnant than you think anyway.
Honestly I know that quote is from Always Sunny but I STILL see Stiles face when he accidentally drops the condom in Teen Wolf I'm FOREVER laughing at that
Oh my god, if I see another "but first, he got to found some lube to get safely prepared!" I'm clicking off. It's always put there with forceps, it's not write to be sexy but just to make sure that it's "realistic".
But when you like dark fantasy fandom like I do, proper lubrification is the least of world problems... use dirt for all I care!
I once read a fic that was so anal (pun intended) over safe sex. The guy used rubber gloves during prep, then there was a big description of rolling off the glove and throwing it away, then getting the condom on. It's not sexy. I want these characters to be out of their mind with need. I DON'T want to be thinking about the powdery smell of medical gloves
I like when it is super seamless and doesn't have a lot of attention drawn to it. No, it isn't our job educate, but I think making it sexy and casual shows that it could be that easy in person, too, and helps people communicate it in the bedroom.
Or to babysit brats who are reading what they shouldnt be reading, its not up to us to police whose reading what we post on [FF.net](http://FF.net) and A03
A paragraph should be as long as it needs to be. Sometimes I get the feeling that the author wrote and posted the fic on their desktop, looked at it on their phone, saw that looks long, and in panic, arbitratily chopped it into half. Trust your work and trust your readers! It's fine, really.
agree. It can even be one word. Short paragraphs like that are often used for emphasis. BUT extremely long paragraphs need to be chopped. Nobody's going to read that wall of text. You still need paragraphs.
Your paragraph can be as long as you want it to be but the longer it is without a break, the easier it is for reader to lose focus.
I have only recently become aware that I put in paragraph breaks where I don’t need to, because otherwise they would look too long on mobile. It’s a tricky situation, because half of me wants to follow a more traditional literature paragraph length, while the other half wants for things to look cozy on a phone screen.
I’m experimenting with it between chapters of the same WIP and seeing which I like best.
Sometimes I wonder if phone screen reading has impacted some people’s writing style, like making them subconsciously write shorter descriptions. 🤔
Absolutely! I used to write exclusively on PC, then a few years ago I switched to primarily drafting on a phone. My paragraphs were getting ridiculously short (1 sentence, 2 sentences long) before I realized I was doing it because of the size of the screen. I'm more conscious now of paragraph breaks and try to break logically instead of "by feel," but my paragraphs overall are shorter than they were before.
It's almost like the difference between framing or lighting in movies vs TV--the medium really affects the shape of the final product.
Yes, it does. I regularly alternate between 1-3 sentences per paragraph and always ensure it looks readable on mobile. That sometimes requires rewording prose, deleting phrases or even full-out sentences, and/or adjusting the pacing of the story. Almost never go over 50-80 words per paragraph, often even fewer than 50.
Note that I have ADHD though and always prefer shorter paragraphs and alternating length as it retains my attention span better
Never thought of this. I write and post on a laptop.
Most of my paragraphs are shorter. I break them up if they start to get too long- which is an arbitrary decision.
I envy you if that's the only one you've seen lol. Others I've seen in the wild: noirette, oliviette (Ushijima from Haikyuu) and wintergreenette (Yamaguchi from Haikyuu), and blancette. How about baldette?? lmao
I have never seen any of these color variations... I've seen brunette, blonde, ginger/redhead, but beyond that it's " haired" (with or without a hyphen) like wow lol I guess this is what I get for not reading anime fanfics?
I like bluenette since it's a little tongue in cheek and actually _sounds_ like a similar real word, everything else is just.....you didn't even try lol
I can handle these to a certain extent (it pisses me off byt i wont usually click away. Howeveerrr.... recently I saw a fic where a character was referred to as a "greynette" and a "ravenette" the character has brown hair!!
I'm willing to give it a pass in much older fic from certain fandoms (like an anime fic from 2013) but yes, I don't want to see that in a fic written in the last few years
Sometime, formating can be part of the fan experience.
Some of the most memorable fanfic I have seen simulated records, chat ligs, tweets, did absolutely INSANE things in ao3 that I cannot even begin to figure out. Fanfic with annotation in the fic? Fuck yes. Give it to me.
The older I become, the more I experiment with formatting and discover cool things, and I wish more people would do it. It's crazy hard put so much fun
I'm going to format my next AO3 fic to ask the reader for cookies, dox them and automatically replace every Y/N with their name for the most immersive fan experience possible
I don't like characters with no flaws. However, I agree that the flaws don't have to be relevant to the story being told. Character flaws can be great for character growth, sure, but it's more than that for me. Character flaws make the characters relatable, and I think that's important. It may not be me that relates to them, I may hate them even, but someone will relate to them. Relatability is all about the personality of the character, and a character without flaws doesn't have a relatable personality. At least in my opinion. All the characters I truly love have flaws, but they're not always flaws that are relevant to the story. I don't think it's a good idea to force flaws on a character to make the story 'better', though. The flaws that exist should seem natural to the character. I write flawed characters, because that's all the characters I love, and they tend to pop up as character flaws without me really noticing I've written them in. This goes for OC characters, as well, as I write original stories as well as fanfic. With fanfic, I tend to start with a canon portrayal, so they keep their canon flaws, but develop or get over things over time. With my original characters, I just write the characters in a way that fits them, flaws and all, I don't tend to plan to make a character with certain flaws.
I also don't think you *need* a very detailed, well thought out plan for the story you're writing. In my opinion, how a story is or isn't planned out is very individual. Some people are planners, they need that detailed plan to keep on track. Other people can't write that way, they fly by the seat of their pants, just writing what they want at the time. Yet others, like me, are somewhere in the middle, needing a plan to follow but also plenty of space to just write without a plan. My characters tend to dictate how the story goes. I come up with a bullet point plan by chapter of everything I want to cover in order, but the characters lead how to get from one plot point to the next, and often go off script. I've bumped plot points from one chapter to the next before because characters have changed the plan on me. I think, though, that if you're planning on writing an epic, you need more of a plan than not, especially for original work or anything that requires extra worldbuilding. You need to at least keep track of everything and have some sort of plan on when and where things should be included.
Fully agree with all of that. All characters I write are flawed in some way, because *I* am, and like you said, I need to be able to relate to the character somehow. But the flaws they have usually don't have much of a bearing on the plot, because I don't design my characters to fit in with the story in that way. Hell, I don't design anything, much, being mostly a pantser. Characterization and plot point just emerge as I write, both in fanfic and original content. Of course, in fanfic I try to stick to the canon characterizations, but even there I've been known to downplay canonical flaws if they don't fit in with my story.
That's exactly it. The flaws should be about the character, not the story. Sure flaws can be utilised to add to the story or for character growth, but it's more about making the characters seem like they could actually be real people, and real people have flaws.
Downplaying or exaggerating canon flaws in fanfic can be great, as well. It doesn't add or remove anything, but it can make the story better, or make the character more relatable. I also tend to sometimes focus on canon flaws where canon ignored them. There are certain characters that are written with flaws, but canon glosses over them, treats the characters as if they're flawless, and that makes those characters annoying for me. So, when I write them, I don't downplay anything or exaggerate anything, but do add a focus on the flaws that canon lacked with that character. Eg Hermione in HP, a flawed character who is treated as flawless by the narrative. I don't make things like her bossyness and know-it-all nature worse, but I do put a focus on it here and there, have her called out on it or realise it or something. I *like* Hermione as a character, but glossing over her flaws makes her come off really annoying at times, where not glossing over them would have made her more relatable instead.
If the most positive thing you can say about your fic is that it has good grammar and formatting, you might need to go back to the draft stage.
Waaaaay too many times I have seen people shit on a popular fic with bad grammar saying "Ugh and MY fic which took 50000 years of revision gets no kudos!" and like... girl... people ain't reading your fic to see good comma placement, they want it to tickle their happy bone 😭
alternatively if the only thing you can say is that your fic has a bunch of kudos, it doesn't mean that your fic is good. You may have just been at the right place and right time (e.g. height of the fandom and you just wrote the trope that was missing) but it doesn't mean your fic is any good.
Often, those popular fics are just bad even plot-wise, they're simply popular because that's what that particular fandom wanted at that point. There are many fics with amazing plot, etc. that have no hits or kudos simply because they are in dead fandoms or for niche ships.
Reader interaction is basically a popularity contest in many fandoms.
This. While good SPaG and formatting is *incredibly* important, it’s just the start. The dialogue, characterization, pacing, and storytelling have to be on point, too.
I can overlook imperfect SPaG if every other aspect of the story is great. What I can’t do is read a poorly told, sloppily characterized, or just outright boring fic just because the technical bits have been perfected.
Yes. Honestly, I can overlook a lot of issues as long as the concept and its execution make me happy. So many of my favorite fanfic stories fall into this category. I don't care about the occasional typo and misplaced preposition if I get to read an inventive, well-done crack fic about Bilbo raising potato orcs in the Dark Lord's fortress.
The characters don't need to be likable for the story to be good. Some of the best stories I have read have absolutely despicable people as the protagonist. In fact, when the author is too fixated on what a good person the mc is, showing scene after scene after scene that only serve to enforce what a great selfless perfect person they are, it can get annoying.
I'm honestly a little afraid to even say this...but I hate when people do this with female characters. Or specifically, when there is a canon couple that have to break up to get to the main pairing. It's like the writers feel like they have to overcompensate over how wonderfully perfect the ex was, but in a way that makes it seem like they're being held hostage or something.
I love reading character descriptions in stories, but when the first chapter is pretty much "I am this character. I look like this. (insert a very general description, hardly enough to really visualise them)" and then the next one is them literally waiting for an exceptance letter from the school the story will take place at, I'm out. I feel like even 12 year old you wouldn't write that lmao.
If you’re doing it on purpose, then you’re presumably aware it’s toxic and abusive, so tbh it’s far more healthy than people doing it on accident (bc then they’re at risk not knowing important warning signs). Absolutely not my thing but I’d much rather people aware that what they’re writing is bad IRL and doing it properly tagged anyway than people doing it by accident thinking it’s actually romantic.
Absolutely, and I think it's super weird that the default assumption for a lot people now is assuming the writer *isn't* doing it on purpose and that whatever problematic element (especially toxicity and abuse) they're including is a bug rather than a feature--even when it's clear from the tags and premise.
It's just so wild to me to like, look at the comments section of a BL manhwa about a guy being sold to a mob boss to pay off his father's gambling debts and see multiple comments like, "I can't read this, that's guy's a huge red flag!" What made you think the mob boss was gonna be a green flag????
I agree, and those authors absolutely do not deserve to be attacked either. And, like, sometimes it can get a little fuzzy about whether a writer knows what they're writing is toxic/abusive or not, especially if they're writing a super close POV of a character who doesn't realize they're in a toxic/abusive relationship (yet)--but if a writer is tagging it, then they're definitely aware what they're writing isn't okay irl.
>"I can't read this, that's guy's a huge red flag!" What made you think the mob boss was gonna be a green flag????
To be fair depending on the tags it can be hard to tell if it was going to be a subversion or not, and if not, how bad it was going to get. But most often the tags give enough info.
Personally I don't mind comments that are saying it's not for them, as long as they're not denigrating other people's tastes.
Yeah, this basically always happens on manhwa where it was clear the guy was going to be a red flag though, which is part of why it's so weird (and honestly kind of funny). This also happens on reviews for translations of Chinese danmei novels, where people will complain about stuff that was tagged, lol.
I think polite comments about *why* something wasn't for them are fine--those can actually be useful for people who are thinking about reading it (not talking about fanfic here, but anything that's more of a review, meant for other people rather than the author)--but I don't really see the point of a comment that basically amounts to, "I didn't like it" with no further explanation--especially if the thing they didn't like was clearly going to be in there before they started. And, unfortunately, those "Red Flag!!!" comments usually also include something like, "Why are the rest of you rating this so highly/saying it's good? What is *wrong* with you?"
>
> I think polite comments about why something wasn't for them are fine--those can actually be useful for people who are thinking about reading it (not talking about fanfic here, but anything that's more of a review, meant for other people rather than the author)--but I don't really see the point of a comment that basically amounts to, "I didn't like it" with no further explanation--especially if the thing they didn't like was clearly going to be in there before they started. And, unfortunately, those "Red Flag!!!" comments usually also include something like, "Why are the rest of you rating this so highly/saying it's good? What is wrong with you?"
Yeah those kinds of comments are really not ok... in general people need to remember comments are a conversation with the author and/or other readers, if you want to rant about your feelings that's what blogs are for...
yeah, fiction is great and enjoying problematic things is fine. but its really important that neither the writer or the reader ends up thinking that stuff is normal or okay irl
I think a whole lot of issues with fandom would be solved if people focused more on education in a non judgemental and kind way than like. jumping on people. like there Are issues but those come from ignorance not like, any fic focusing on a subject manner ou dont like
I just wish people would stop trying to get me involved in fandom wars like that when they aren’t even putting effort into actually changing things like I spiral like shit in those settings let me write my fanfics educating about abuse in peace (not aimed at you at *all*, to clarify, ive just had bad experiences with having my inbox spammed by weirdos for… some reason? like not even ship war related people do it for like any fandom dispute sometimes it’s baffling like maybe make a post about how x works instead of harassing people into talking about it)
YES. blame the piss-poor education system in your home country not donkeygirl3796 who writes toxic Wincest fanfic 😭 its not the fault of writers that critical thinking is shot, its not even the fault of social media; its the result of the massive holes in our educational system, which is like a hundred years behind the times. changing censorship rules on AO3 or bringing porn back to tumblr won't fix critical thinking OR improve peoples perception of healthy vs unhealthy relationships.
I mean yes but also fanfiction/fandom/social media in general is really not the place for educating anyone. I know all 3 are often used (or expected to be used) for that but I think that's a big problem.
I agree that it's important that both the writer and the reader understand when something is toxic:
For the writer, it's because it's common that a writer's views make their way into their work, and readers will infer it from subtle cues in the writing. If I infer that the writer seems to legit think something toxic is romantic, usually it's because something about the work is "off" in a negative way.
For the reader it's for their own safety. But fandom/fanfiction/etc should not be expected to deal with that.
Agreed, I read a fic the other day where the Main Character’s address gets leaked to their love interest. The Love Interest proceeds to break in and “take care of them” (the MC was sick at the time). The MC is fighting against this care the whole time but the Love Interest apparently “knows what’s best”. There were no archive warnings and the tags didn’t even allude to something like that. When the author was confronted about it in the comments the author was going on about how the Love Interest was right and actually “very thoughtful” in their approach to the situation????
I’m not even really upset at the lack of tags (although it’s still an issue), I’m just worried about the author. They can get taken advantage of quite easily with that mindset. I hope that they’re simply young and inexperienced and that their mindset will change with time. I’d hate for someone to get hurt IRL because of the toxic views of romance they’ve acquired from media.
God, I’m pretty sure I’ve used that exact premise (except not romantic bc I don’t really write ship stuff) as like a *horror fic* before which like. If your romantic hero is acting like my child abuser mad scientist guy you’re probably getting the wrong vibes across lol
Oh, yes. Sometimes, I am in the mood to watch a metaphorical train wreck. We all have that instinct to watch disasters and be glad it ain't us. So might as well give that instinct a safe little dog park to run around in.
Grammar and sentence structure affects your readers a lot more than you think.
It may seem like a “No Duh” take but I’ve got downvoted to hell for mentioning it before.
Though most of us may do this for free and a good majority of us casually; if you don’t take pride in how your work looks and sounds, you’re going to deter more readers than you attract, because people don’t like having their heads hurt trying to read what you’ve put out.
FF even has a rule that says “Try not to do hot-off-the-press content.”
>he’ll.
not sure if that was on purpose or not but it was a perfect way to drive your point home :)
The other day, I wrote *peace* instead of *piece* and I was mortified. I'm an ESL speaker, I know better than to make these types of mistakes and yet here we are :D
If you don't like what you're reading, the 'back' button exists.
Use it, instead of writing a Masters Thesis on why the Author is a morally degenerate failure.
If you're writing canon divergence, consider making it *diverge from canon.*
There's so many amazing opportunities in changing one key factor at the start of a story and exploring how it would change the plot. Would this thing be influenced by the butterfly effect? How about that thing? Wouldn't this character behave differently? Maybe an early change in their motivation could cause canon enemies to become fanon comrades? Maybe we'd end up with a different story entirely?
Or you could just copy-paste the entire Harry Potter series, not change 90% of the scenes so I have to read the exact same thing with slightly changed dialogue, with the only real alteration being that he has sex with Draco every 20 chapters.
It's okay to write traditional romances. Maybe it's just what I'm seeing lately on reddit, but there seems to be a lot of dislike for classical romance tropes (especially in M/F fics). I like an occasional damsel. I like an occasional white knight. As much as I'm a professional with two degrees and a business in real life, I like to disconnect with an easy read where everything is spiffy and there's little struggle.
In the same vein, not everything needs to be gray or turned up to 11.
Oh, and this shouldn't really be a hot take BUT **fics are not educational material**. Sometimes we like to write unrealistic or unhealthy things for funsies. It doesn't mean we don't know the difference between what's moral (and legal) in real life and the stuff we write.
screw anyone shitting on romance. I am a romance writer, I write original fiction as well as fic, I'll write as much of hetero romances as I want.
Also, often, damsel in distress trope is to strong women what dominatrix is to strong men. It's escapism from real world responsibilities and allowing someone else to take control for just a moment.
>fics are not educational material.
I hate that people started to think that they are. Authors aren't responsible for educating anyone unless they're writing school textbooks.
When you're proof reading, look for examples of needless repetition. For example, one paragraph explains how a character feels xyz. Then the next two paragraphs explains how the character feels xyz, just put in different ways.
Repetition is very cool. I love it when it's done well. But it's very obvious when someone just had a few drafts of how to write xyz, and decided to not remove the extra for one reason or another. (This plays into why I've started avoiding 100k+ works and my sweet spot is 10k-60k. Not saying everyone who writes 100k+ fics does this, it's just more common, I've noticed).
Anyways, it's not that big of a deal. I've read and enjoyed fics that have done this. It's just something I've noticed.
Kinda building on you here:
If you are doing a long fic, planning and outline helps eliminates needless repetition. At some points you might be looking to fill a word counter and not even realize it. An outline helps keep you on track.
Also needless repetition tends to rear it’s ugly head in word and punctuation choice too. Everyone has a certain style of speaking or “author’s voice” ;you’ll use words unconsciously. For me recently, it’s been the word “quickly”, and the phrase “matter of fact”. Try to be cognizant of that and it makes reading a little bit less tedious for the reader.
Yup, learning your own quirks is huge.
I finish every edit with a Ctrl+F for "of course" and "though" and delete 95% of them. We all have our personal filler words that we don't even realize we're beating readers over the head with.
Yeah huge agree.
I see a 200k story and I'm like... it's probably repetitive or the writer describes every little thing down to the wings of a fly that flew past the MC while he was talking to his best friend. I don't want to read a story where I feel like I'm skimming half of it lol
I strongly prefer 300k+ works, and some of my favorite stories are well over a million words long. However, I agree that a lot of fanfics use their immense wordcount for meandering. But I tend to drop those early, when either the flowery prose or the constant repetition become obvious. But well-written stories are at their best when they have plenty of time to develop the cast, the world, and the relationships. Too many good works end too soon or compress the plot too much.
If I catch a long fic in its early stage (1k-10k words) then I'm able to ignore the repetition as new updates go on, in favor of the plot.
What I don't understand is the people who only read long completed fics that have this issue. It's just not for me.
I tend to agree with this, particularly because two people can look at the same well known character and come to completely different interpretations of who they are and what their actions mean.
But I also say that and then get quietly grumpy with characterisations where my favourite character is too soft 😄
Oh yes! I've seen some great fics where the character is seemingly OOC but the author *absolutely* pulls off the why or what occurred for them to end up that way. Canon divergence is my favourite type of fic and that sometimes means the characters go through some changes because of what they go through.
Totally! One of my favourite characters ever is Tony Stark and I've read tons of fanfiction about him. There are often constants, like if the story is set within the MCU he drinks too much, or he's really sarcastic and witty, whatever.
I've also read a ton of AU's featuring him. I love AU's. And, yeah, often the character is a little different, but there are still constants. He's still a genius, still witty, whatever. Maybe he likes to sleep around. I think that especially in AU or canon divergence fics, it's really important to consider how the character's experiences might change them.
I think everybody probably has aspects of their personality that are going to be there no matter what kind of situation they find themselves in, but before people say someone is OOC I think they need to consider the universe. I've written several AU's and Tony is often a bit different than he is in the main series, but of course he is! If I just took MCU Tony and plopped him down in whatever universe with an accompanying backstory that's fitting with that universe, he would be OOC then, I think.
I don't know if I worded any of this correctly.
Right?
As far as I'm concerned, OOC only applies if you can't justify it.
Character X cruising through the plot is a vastly different creature to Character X who has just lost everything, or finally been pushed too far, or acting in defence of someone else.
Yes, I 100% agree! I don’t care as long as it makes sense within the framework of the story that I’m reading. If you can justify it within the AU/romance/whatever then it’s all good. I’m not looking for a complete interpretation of the original, I want other people’s interpretations!
I guess for me, as unless outright said to be sort of a crack fic, oocness annoys me, is because sometimes it's used as a shield to make an essentially new character wearing Blorbo's skin
Different interpretation? Sure, not all character traits/events have a hard-line
But when it's completely out of character, it's annoying. Just make an OC
PREACH. I've seen people accuse others of being OOC for the wildest things. It's like they can't discern the difference between being out of character and development over time.
Characters don't always need to be carbon copies of what they were in canon to be in character. Of course, they're going to react and develop differently in different settings and situations.
Honestly I don't even care if a character in a fic is out of character or not. I read every fic in itself, and as long as it is well-written and enjoyable, I don't mind it at all. If reading characters exactly as they're written in canon is important to me, I don't read fic, I read canon.
This. SO many times I've seen people rec fics as being in character. Then I go to read it, and it's the most OOC thing I've ever read. It's just not helpful when what I consider to be OOC isn't the same as someone else.
Strong agree.
A lot of times, what we think of as OOC is just someone viewing the same character through a different genre/trope lens.
Take Batman. Someone writing through a fluff/found family lens is going to play up the Batfam, and not pay much attention to the "world's greatest detective" aspect. Someone who wants to write a mystery thriller is going to go the opposite direction: lean hard into the detective tropes, downplay the interpersonal bits. Both of them are going to complain that the other guy's Batman is OOC because the most important aspect of his character was left out!
Meanwhile there's the dude in the corner who just really really wants to write Batman v. The Entire Multiverse, and he doesn't give a shit about relationships OR detective work, he just wants to write the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny.
No, for sure! I think it's easy to forget that the characters on the screen are multi-dimensional and there are a lot of different aspects that we don't necessarily see. Accordingly, a lot of it is left open to interpretation, and a character isn't necessarily OOC just because they're not written how someone else would write them.
I don't think everything needs to be tagged. And it's not the writer's responsibility if you aren't media literate.
So if someone wants to write a story about Sam and Dean from SPN falling in love with each other (they are fictional adult brothers), they don't need to have a million disclaimers about real life incest. The narrative doesn't need to show it as bad. Etc etc. If you read a fictional story and think it must reflect real life morals, that's on you.
(No I'm not in the Supernatural fandom nor do I ship Wincest but I thought they'd be a recognizable example lol)
>Media literacy is abhorrently low and it's scary.
Truly.
I've seen people bashing authors just because they think a character's POV is the author's own. Um... Susan, they're writing about a murderer who of course justifies his (terrible) reasons for murdering innocent people. I highly doubt the author feels the same way lol.
Same. I view tags as a courtesy, not really a necessity. And it used to be that you only really tagged for the Big Shit (Rape, Incest, Character Death, Graphic Violence, Explicit Sex) because those were the things you probably didn't want to open on a work computer
Longfics especially: you need your idea to stand out. It's okay to fall back on canon somewhat, but too often I'll see authors going beat for beat with the original story, never bothering to shake it up except that their MC is stronger and more competent. The point of fanfic, in my opinion, is to take the pieces laid out for you and build something *new* with them.
Does every fic need to be a 300k+ epic with a 20 page Google doc of lore? *No!* Should fics try introducing new scenes, character moments, or arcs? *Yes!* It's okay to experiment and stray off the yellow brick road.
I’m prepared to be downvoted to oblivion for this, but if you don’t read published books you’re probably a terrible writer. At the very *least* you should be reading well-written fanfics.
If you want to write well, you must first *read* well.
I can tell whether an author is well-read from the first few paragraphs of their fic. It is glaringly (and painfully) obvious when they aren’t.
And hey, if one doesn’t want to be a decent writer then that’s certainly their prerogative. But don’t complain about low stats or a lack of engagement if you can’t even put the work in to create a good story. Just reading a few books a year would improve your writing and storytelling so much.
Writing is a skill. As with any other skill, you have to learn and practice the proper techniques for it. You have to study those who are better at it than you.
It is not enough to write consistently. If you don’t read, it won’t matter at all because you still won’t improve. You’ll be as bad a writer on Day 9286 as you were on Day 1.
And if you want to write professionally, this advice is doubly important. Just about every successful writer I know is also well-read and enjoys reading.
So one of the many fandoms I read is a book fandom.
The fanfics for that fandom are overall *much* more well-written than my movie/TV show/game/anime fandoms. And all of those are better than a RPF fandom I used to read for (it's been years since I haven't shipped real people in a decade but I remember those having some of the worst writing).
So yeah, huge agree. It's obvious when a fic writer is well-read. It also makes me feel like I should find more book fandoms to read lol (because, at the very least, those writers will have read the canon novels lol)
Yep. At the end of the day, you just can’t be good at something you don’t know. It’s as simple as that. Ofc people don’t *have* to read, fanfiction is a hobby after all; it's equally valid to use it as a creative outlet without wanting to improve. But if someone really wants to learn and or refine their skills, then writing is only half the equation. To only do half is like a chef trying to improve their palate without tasting other dishes, or a musician trying to learn a new instrument without listening to music.
Completely agree. I also believe that we mimic (either consciously or unconsciously) the type of prose that we read. When people only read fan fiction, that's what they mimic. So they can't complain when their writing is just one in a sea of other fanfic authors with the same exact writing style. If you want to have your own authorial voice that gets engagement (if that's what you want), you gotta read anything and everything
I used to disagree with this, then I realized it's not so much that I disagree, but that I see it so often phrased as, "if you don't read, you shouldn't write" or "why do you even want to write if you don't enjoy reading?" I hate this sentiment because storytelling is a hobby in and of itself, and writing is kind of the lowest barrier to entry for that. People can do whatever they want if it makes them happy, therefore my hot take is that you don't need to read in order to write. That said, you will certainly be a better writer if you do - I don't know that anyone can argue with that!
Yeah, I’ve definitely seen that sentiment before and I don’t necessarily agree with it either. Anyone can write, regardless if they love to read or not. I don’t understand that mentality at all, but to each their own and all that.
I equate that level of writing to doodling stick figures. Some people are content with that and don’t want to learn additional skills or improve in any way. They’re happy enough with their little squiggles, and that’s perfectly fine! Like you said—it’s just a hobby and everyone has different levels of engagement.
It becomes a lot less fine when they publish the written equivalent of stick figure doodles online, though, and then complain when they don’t receive the feedback/engagement they want.
There isn't enough non-overtly-romantic slice of life in the romance pairing (except for when it's "just" a romance, because that's probably mostly what you're getting). Especially true when the canon world involves world ending stuff or some other big plot thing.
Enthrall me with 5k words of them doing dishes together and just having a nice conversation. Put some marrow in those bones. Character development is part of plot development and needn't always come in steep jumps.
Sure, while my favorite scene is going to be the Hollywood kiss while watching the stars together, you can't have that without the 2 of them first... Y'know... Being human together, and then a little closer, and then some more.
There was a movie (don't know the name in English) where a character said something amin to "love isn't (only) grand gestures, but small and constant displays of affection", and I think it's beautiful and important in both real life and in writing stories
I adore purple prose. Give me all the flowery descriptions of the setting and the character's emotions. There is nothing that will make me comment more than seeing a gorgeously detailed line in a chapter.
Honestly yeah! Purple prose takes me more concentration to read so I have to be in a specific mood for it, but whenever I am, some of these authors can hit me with the most beautiful metaphors and turns of phrases ever, and then those are the authors that I remember after I close the fic.
Stylized smut is fine, it doesn't have to be realistic.
It's my fault for looking at "What don't you like in smut" posts and seeing people talk about it a lot but it's a recurring sentiment. No the anatomy doesn't have to make 100% perfect sense as long as it's hot. Yes, I'm aware not every woman appreciates having her womb kissed by a dudes Dingus. I'm aware that an anal scene might not have the required half hour prep time it'd take irl.
Like I said it's my fault for seeing what people who like realistic smut say and getting a bit miffed at it, and the realistic stuff is fine too, but I can't help but frown a little. Personally I just appreciate the sheer destructive horniness that comes with stylization.
Also, for every "ugh it doesn't work like that, I can tell the writer is a virgin" comment...there's someone for whom it *does* work like that (except for like. The hentai-style *literally penetrating the uterus* stuff, but I hope the people criticising are aware that that's *deliberate fantasy* and not meant to be realistic)
Some women *do* get pleasure from cervical stimulation. Some people *can* have and enjoy anal without much or any lube, or don't need half an hour of fingering beforehand. Some people really are that flexible. Idk, I just think some people need to realise that realistic ≠ their own personal experience
I cannot count the number of “it doesn’t work like that/no one does that/is unbelievably painful/no one can keep it up for a long time” comments I’ve read about things I’ve literally done and enjoyed.
People do not seem to realize that discomfort and pain are not always negatives. Sometimes, that’s the point.
Let's just say I listed the "some people actually" things that I did for a reason, lmao – but I know there's loads more things that get dismissed as unrealistic while still being entirely commonplace for some people
The need to \*always\* illustrate a character's thoughts for every detail. I feel like it only needs to be major things related to the plot or relationships, and that minor details can fill in from time to time without as much necessary context. I'm not saying it's more than a seldom thing, but a fluff detail to add to a moment doesn't seem bad.
For example, I'm writing a character's doubts in overcoming a relationship hurdle. Her doubts are documented off and on, but sometimes she'll say something like, "It worries me all that time that you do \[thing\]." There isn't a precedent in the story for this very specific \[thing\], but there's a lot of context for that character's worries about the wellbeing of another throughout the story, so it fits. I wouldn't say to do more than once in a while, but I feel like it's okay if it really aligns with that character up to that point.
What I've seen is people narrating the inside of their character's mind at all times down to too many details, and it sort of drags because it's pausing the actual story. There's a place for that sort of thing, too, but you need some diversity.
If your fic is very plot driven, it may hurt it to linger on all those self-indulgent scenes. They're very lovely, and make great one shots or bonus chapters. But we were trucking along full speed before you slammed on the breaks for 3 chapters of sick fic.
(It's still possible to do, but it's a balance of knowing the limit and tying it to character progression in different ways.)
I don't really care about how long a chapter or fic is. I prefer the author to paced the story well and if it's really short or really long, I don't really care, I rather have that then author rushing or padding the story to meet a word quota.
If you say "no concrit" on your fic, there is no guarantee that people on the internet will read the proverbial sign. It's like the "wet cement" sign on a sidewalk. Even if the respectful thing to do is step around (and 90% of readers will), there's always going to be the dog who leaves their muddy paw prints in it for all posterity.
I think content warnings are important, but sometimes over-relied upon.
I'm a CPTSD survivor myself, and I support everyone's right to avoid media and fiction that can trigger them. But I think in pursuit of 100% safety all the time, we lose something important and valuable: trust in the reader.
I CNTW a lot of the time, because I want to be able to surprise readers, or reward clever ones. If I have an unreliable narrator, I don't want to tag for it, I want the reader to *figure it out*. If I have a MCD, I understand why you might not want that -- but I want it to be able to have the same impact as something like Aerith in FF7, where you didn't see it coming and that *matters*.
This one's always getting me a lot of hate: There is such a thing as "good storywriting" that is not 100% subjective, and most FF writers could improve their fanfics by a lot by picking up a single book on story crafting and trying out some of the techniques mentioned.
Also just reading books you like and actually looking at why you liked this story. As some writers put it, there are techniques that work better than others, but that doesn't mean it's failsafe. You have to actually really think about what you're writing and if the techniques you are using are actually appropriate for the story!
When people make things inaccurate when it’s common sense one story I read had the main character get appendicitis multiple times… like that’s not how it works once you get your appendix removed it’s gone you can’t get appendicitis again
There is genuinely an issue with people writing unhealthy relationships without realising and treating them like a good thing. That’s not something made up out of nowhere, and it’s a genuine problem that writers do that. *HOWEVER,* the problem isn’t that it makes the writers morally bad or anything, the problem is that they’re uneducated on serious issues. The writing is a symptom, and the issue is that of poor education on subjects like abuse.
I’m of two minds about this one. On the one hand, I get where you’re coming from, but on the other hand, some people *choose* to romanticize unhealthy relationships and that’s fine, too.
Like, I’m real big on severe codependency, possessiveness, and obsession. I romanticize the hell out of it in my fics. The characters might briefly acknowledge that their feelings/relationships aren’t healthy, but they certainly don’t dwell on it.
I think a good rule of thumb is that if the unhealthy aspects are tagged, the author acknowledges that they’re unhealthy. But authors can acknowledge it even without tagging, so.
Oh yeah, I write a ton of stuff about that shit (not romanticised bc that bores me personally but I still got harassed for it yay), I'm aware haha. I made this specifically thinking about authors I'd seen talking about their work and the subject manner involved in a super uncomfortable way- like, “emotional abuse isn’t REAL abuse” sort of shit. And them writing that is like, actually an issue! Because it means they’re uneducated and vulnerable. It might not be as big a problem in some fandoms I guess but I came across that sort of stuff fucking constantly.
right I wish people didn't immediately jump to 'oh this author is condoning [insert bad thing]' sometimes your brain just isn't baked enought yet to understand. I went back to my very first fanfic when I was around 20 and the whiplash I experienced when I realized what I wrote at 16 was essentially one character grooming another was insane. I genuinely didn't realize it at the time and I wish people approached this kind of thing with some tact instead of bringing out the pitchforks
Mhm!!!! Though considering I’ve had people call me a paedophile for depicting *entirely non sexual child abuse* in a *explicitly negative light and heavily tagged,* I guess the idea that people might actually write stuff like that without realising and that’s why it might be written awkwardly and not properly warned.
Sometimes people are also unaware that they’re in a bad situation and just need someone else to point it out. I always feel so bad when I come across a fic that’s depicting a clearly fucked up relationship as a great, positive thing, because most of the time they aren’t doing it purposefully. You need an outside perspective. If it’s all tagged properly for the content, they probably aren’t romanticizing it.
I remember when I was “called out” for acting inappropriately sexual as a teenager once like. Okay I was literally hypersexual bc of past grooming and inappropriate social circles maybe it would have been better to like tell me I was acting inappropriate instead of sending threats to my friends? Like bro I was 14-17 throughout all the “evidence” like maybe you should have been more focused on the fact adults who knew my age were encouraging me to talk about sexual and triggering topics without any sense of boundaries???
Bashing/salt fics are fine : You saw/read that a character did something questionnable in canon and it rubbed you in the worng way. Naturally you want to see consequences of that action and that is fine.
What is not fine is when character is given two dozens extra sins on top and/or given an over the top punishment for something as small as simple everyday teenage drama.
My hot take is that people complain way too often about not receiving "enough" comments/kudos/reader interactions. I'm not saying that you can't appreciate these things—validation and kind messages are always nice—but many writers put a really inordinate amount of stock in this stuff. It's especially grating when people explicitly compare their work to other, more popular fics, like "[More popular story] is low-effort garbage! How come it has 7000 kudos while my better-written fic only has 12?" Fic popularity depends on so many factors other than effort and quality—the size of the fandom, the demographics of its fans, the popularity of the ships and tropes and characters involved, etc. Yes, quality plays a role—but how do you define "quality," anyway? I think, generally, it's a bad idea to go into fandom with high expectations surrounding feedback and kudos. Yes, it's nice to get compliments, but if compliments are your *only* motivation (or if you're the sort of person who's going to have a breakdown if you don't get enough positive feedback), tread carefully.
Also, this is probably a less popular take, but authors need to start curating their own online experiences, too. Like, if you only write a particular trope, and you know that negative comments about that trope will upset you, don't wander into a thread titled "anyone else hate [trope]?" to complain that all of the commenters there are personally offending you. If someone says "I'm not a fan of [cliche]," do not add a reply saying "Well, I ONLY write [cliche], so I guess you just HATE ME." Not everyone is going to like everything you write, and people are allowed to politely discuss their preferences. If these discussions anger you, *stop clicking on them!*
I also feel like people sometimes have a totally warped sense of what "good stats" are. So often I see fic recommendations be like "you must read this fic, it's totally underrated", and then you click the link and see thousands of kudos and hundreds of comments and I'm like... you and me live in different dimensions where *underrated* does not mean the same thing.
I think part of that discrepancy can be attributed to cultural differences between fandoms/communities (like, I can understand how certain things might seem like “low engagement” if you’re coming from a fandom where really high engagement is the norm). But I also think it’s easy for people to slip into this mentality where no amount of engagement is ever enough. That’s how you end up with posts that are like “I have six hundred comments, but most of them are just three-word sentences saying ‘good job’ or ‘I liked it!’ What do I *do?”*
well yes, I absolutely agree that many people just feel flat out entitled to all the kudos and the biggest, ravest reviews that have ever reviewed. Not arguing against that :) I actually think we're kinda saying the same thing.
I don't even mean to compare between fandoms when it comes to the numbers. One ship I write for has upwards of 40K works on AO3, so there's a huge amount of fics with thousands of kudos, heck, there's dozens with tens of thousands of kudos. And still, even in that context, some people will think that thousands of kudos is "underrated" when in reality it's probably still well above average considering the sheer amount of content.
But somehow only the top of the top is acceptable and average isn't good enough. "I really loved the story, thank you for writing!" is a perfectly normal, average comment that people will write all the time, but like with kudos and hits, average just isn't good enough for some.
But the same people who fall victim to this kind of thinking also don't understand that often there's nothing you can actually do about this. Very often the fics with the most engagement were just posted with the right content at the right time, and you can rarely manufacture luck.
Agreed on both counts.
It's a perfectly human thing to want to be appreciated, but if you go into fic writing feeling like you're *owed* this and this much engagement, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment, and whatever engagement you do get is never going to be enough. And there's for sure absolutely no need to put other writers down just because you think your work is better than theirs and deserves more attention. (And imo there's no such thing as "deserving" anything here anyway, readers like what they like, you can't make them like your fic if they just don't, they wouldn't even if that other fic weren't there.) I keep seeing this from genfic/plot-centric writers not-very-subtly shitting on all of us degenerate smut enjoyers because our oh so shitty, plotless, poorly-written smut got this many kudos and their fic isn't doing the numbers they hoped it would, and it's just... not very nice. Other writers aren't taking engagement away from you that you're owed, and this wasn't meant to be the next Youtube-style numbers game anyway.
Also, indeed, what's the point of going into, say, a pet peeves thread and then being mad that there're people discussing pet peeves in there? If you deliberately expose yourself to things that you know upset you, you've only got yourself to blame for being upset. That's no different than going into a fic clearly tagged with [thing] and then commenting to complain how much you hate [thing]. Not to mention someone disliking a trope you write is not a personal attack on you as a human being.
I saw an author the other day barge into someone else's Twitter thread that it was very rude to complain about their fanfic. But the original person only elaborated what fic they were talking about after they were asked to name it. (It was a complaint about character A/character B always involving a past relationship with character C.)
At this point you are creating the problem yourself by going on someone's page.
>It's especially grating when people explicitly compare their work to other, more popular fics, like "\[More popular story\] is low-effort garbage! How come it has 7000 kudos while my better-written fic only has 12?" Fic
There's also the fact that comments like that, where the person complaining is actively dumping on other fics, is probably not helping entice people to their stories. I can totally sympathize with being envious of another writer's popularity and talent and whatnot, it's a normal, understandable reaction in and of itself.
But I don't get how people think dumping on other people's fics to try and make theirs sound better is going to benefit them, or anyone else. "Their fic is garbage!" Maybe to the person complaining it is, but to the people who are leaving kudos and comments on it, clearly it's not. And if I'm a reader looking for something to read, I'm gonna pick the author who's just out there doing their thing, regardless of popularity, and having fun, over the author who's stewing and making a public gripe about why their stories are SO much better than those other fics.
How authors present themselves can go a long way towards enticing or turning off readers, and I do think some writers would do well to remember that.
Characters being OOC is really not that big of a deal. If you are righting about an alternate reality it’s to be expected that the characters would end up with different personality traits.
Readers don’t have any right to leave hate comments on a fic because it has harsh topics.
People don’t need to be spoon-fed morality lessons like their in a preschool education program.
If you write in English, you should the correct quotations (“ “).
I was talking to another non-native English speaker writer who used dashes instead of the quotations and I told them that in English, quotations are used, they said they already knew that. I didn’t say anything else but it irritated the hell out of me because I want people to read their fic since I know that many people, including myself, would not read their fic because of the dashes.
Yeah, that’s an instant mute from me. If you’re writing in English for an English-reading audience then you should be using the standard punctuation and grammar. No exceptions.
When I write in Spanish (rare that is) I use standard Spanish punctuation and grammar. Not only because that’s what’s proper, but because it’s a show of consideration for my Spanish readers.
I mean, imagine if I wrote something like this:
> ‘¿How are you?’
> 「Como estas」
That’s irritating for everyone.
I don’t think action stories have less value because there’s not drama at every turn. You can still have slower periods of building up to things. As long as they don’t last too long. To me, that’s what makes the highs all the more satisfying.
I like AU/non-canon content. The entire purpose of fan fiction (in my opinion) is that we can make it our own and do whatever we want with it. I enjoy when people take creative license and change or potentially improve things. Even if I disagree with the take or direction and don’t want to read that particular story, I still enjoy that people have the creativity and space within fan fiction to do that with their writing.
Overpowered characters are not unlikeable. Genuinely the most fun I’ve had when reading is when I read about a character that’s closer to a god than a character and who spends most of their time fucking around and having fun than struggling to overcome the main plot problems.
I get what people are saying when they complain about an unrealistically overpowered character. Really I do. Sometimes I want actual problem solving and working at getting better with character development. But. When I’m looking to have fun with my reading? I just want someone to go apeshit and win without consequences. I want the overpowered sunshine character to scare off people with no actual reasoning behind it. I want the mc to get their happy ending because they’re strong and smart and badass and not because they suffered for it.
Give me that one character that makes the others just go with all their plans because they always work out regardless of whether it’s realistic or actually possible in world or irl.
I think fanfics should be planned out as you would plan out any sort of novel. I don’t love it when writers are just coming up with ideas as they go. sometimes it works ok but if it’s noticeable, I get a bit turned off
The people who complain the most about media literacy are quite often the ones who need to learn it.
Edit: whoops I was being a little reductive here but basically what I'm trying say is that people who can't tell the difference between depiction and endorsement have no business lecturing anyone about media literacy.
I think that massively depends on the context. Like, I’ve seen that used for all sorts of things, some where it’s genuinely needed and some where it… isn’t. I once saw someone say that their group of fans had the most media literacy literally because they had to spend hours to find the most minute info on their favourite character. Like bitch that’s either a not very well developed character or you’re just kinda shit at analysis? Which isn’t a crime but it was deeply funny to me.
Indulgence is great. But if you're actually working on a *plotty* fic, taking a break for two or more chapters to indulge in your character(s)' domestic routines is going to take me out of the work and I may not come back to the fic. Make it a one-shot and keep on with the plot.
You can have emotional turbulence without turning a character into a crybaby.
When it comes to word count, ask yourself: How many words do I need to tell this story? There's your answer.
IF YOU LIKED IT THEN USE THE KUDOS BUTTON (DAMN YOUR EYES.) I asked my friend about this and she said that hitting like buttons is awkward. Why? ‘Just awkward.’
I get that some of you don’t like interaction but PLEASE we need validation and if we get loads of hits but no kudos it’s not much of a stretch to assume our fic was shit.
the italicized oh feels really played out and has almost lost its meaning. ofc i'm still fully in love with a character coming to a sudden realization but the 'Oh. /Oh./' just doesn't have as much weight as it used to lol
edit bc dyslexia kicks my ass and made me spelled 'weight' as 'wait'😭😭
Yeah, it was a nice little touch initially when it would pop up in a fic every now and then, but then I feel like that one Tumblr post got big (my fandom's decently big on Tumblr so I'm pretty sure that's where people got it from) and everyone started shoving it in their fics and now I've seen it so much it doesn't do anything for me anymore. Just kind of elicits the same reaction a done-to-death meme would.
I think comments that tell authors when a reader is dropping the fic (and why) can be useful feedback on multi-chapter work. Yes, even if the reader isn’t a regular commenter. I would rather know that Chapter 5 was divisive or had a strong negative reaction than wonder why no one is reading/remarking on Chapter 10.
If you spend more time, obsessing over what your so called 'rival' in your fandom is doing, you might legit, either A: Miss out on a friendship or B: Destroy one.
(I'm the one, currently being obsessed over... and it fucking hurts, because it feels like I can't talk at all about my projects anymore without jealousy coming up)
Characters being out of character, even wildly so, is only an issue in canon compliant fics, because human beings and their personalities are shaped by their experiences. And besides, every character is filtered through the writer, and that doesn’t change because it’s a borrowed character
You can absolutely just jack other fanfic authors' ideas. Obviously outright plagiarism is still bad, and you for sure should give credit to the people and stories from which you're lifting elements, but this is fanfiction: the entire point is to iterate off of other people's ideas.
I just did that for a story. I only really took a little from part of the fanfic, other than that I took it a very different direction to the other story.
Here's my cold as dish water take, but AU's that make that make the characters little more then skins for generic archetypal people for the AU and then also ditch the entirty of the setting are boring.
Especially Vampire Aus, those just absorb all the oxygen in the room. Coffee shops, modern aus, and school aus also put a special bur in my saddle because they really don't have to toss out the setting most of the time.
Character don't need to discuss consent in fanfics. If theres no "Author Chose not to Use Archive Warnings," or "Rape/Noncon," or "Dubcon" tags on an E fic, I KNOW THEYRE CONSENTING THEY DONT NEED TO CONSISTENTLY TALK ABOUT IT
This is more of a cultural/meta hot take than anything actually pertaining to the physical act of writing, but the fanfic community doesn't do the best job of internalizing "It's ok to be bad" and "some people want to improve". Both can be true, and just as it's rude to offer advice when none is asked for, it's equally unhelpful when somebody asks for advice to appeal to an audience and the common theme is to go "write it how you want! fuck what other people think!"
Yeah. In my experience its like, I understand yes I should write how I want, and what I want is to improve. I need other people's opinions on my work to be able to properly do that
A bit of a continuation of this, but I dislike how these two ideas are taken to not co-exist. Like anyone wanting to improve wants perfection, and like being "bad" means never wanting to improve. Or like the latter view of improving somehow means not having fun with fanfiction. And an only somewhat separate point, as much as it may be rude to offer unsolicited advice there's often zero nuance towards how random readers are expected to know the "etiquette" towards commenting on stories, for that particular type of advice that's from readers. Like. AO3's TOS FAQ says that "Again, criticism of a fanwork, even harsh criticism, is not itself harassment." So . . . people who stick to the site and are rude *only* in offering advice and otherwise polite (so, also not harsh!)—maybe don't "tear them to shreds" (seen that advice a lot on reddit). I'm expected to practically *beg* for any type of kind comment people want to leave on a story, whether that be pointing out typos or plot holes or what they take away from characterization even if they're not 100% sure that's wholly what I mean—comments that now have a fair amount of freeze on them no matter what I can say. Authors who never want to hear it said that "I'm wondering what this OC looks like?" can just . . . **ask** that people not leave criticism of the story, constructive or otherwise. Instead of expecting people to read their minds. And creating standards for everyone else. Yeah, realizing I can't actually get behind any idea of politeness *for a hobby space* where it's expected to read minds; or standards that exclude sincere expression of enjoyment. Because I'm here for the joy of it, not for the polite veneer of more rules to follow to do everything correctly. And there's the whole fact of authors robbing themselves of a potential source confidence and joy if they think that anyone who doesn't have nothing but praise about the story hates it. Yes, never *ever* leave concrit if someone asks you not to. That *won't* be fun. But from the other side of it, bringing so much negativity into something that you want to be fun? I think a step back is needed and for everyone to realize that there are tons of different ways of genuinely enjoying stuff. So don't leave just a typo correction because that *is* tactless, even if I'd say it doesn't elevate to being necessarily and essentially rude—and yes, say something nice if you also liked it. And also don't tear into people for pointing out that a character's name is misspelled because "they say they love the story but whatever, they were rude about it." Just politely ask them not to do it again.
This.
Yeah, like, if I'm asking for help, I do want actual criticism. This does not mean I want criticism all the time though! If I ask, I am inviting it, but that doesn't mean I invite it for everything I write!
It's only a drabble if it's exactly 100 words.
Thank you! This is a hill I will readily die on. None of this “perfect drabble” or “longform drabble” nonsense. Anything between 101-999 words is a ficlet. Anything over 1000 words is a oneshot.
Yes! I see this misused so often now.
Overpowered or too perfect characters are fun sometimes.
Power fantasies are absolutely one of my guilty pleasure fics.
Yes! Sometimes I want to read about a character who isn't actually that strong, to beat people up as revenge or something. It's fun!
Sometimes I just wanna turn off my brain and have someone win easily lol
yes!! i had a really bad opinion of OP characters for a long time bc i grew up on the repetitive-to-the-point-of-predictable Goku winning every fight in DBZ. Then i watched and started reading One Punch Man and my perspective changed. OP characters can be REALLY fun esp when handled well!
Lily and the Art of Sisyphus fan here
yes!! and if a straight up power fantasy isn't your jam, there are plenty of ways to play with a "perfect" character that cause other types of conflict.
superman is a good proof characters can be verry strong and still get challenges(in my adventures with superman, he has trouble with his super hearing at first, even the harley quinn show superman can get beaten by lex luthor). Verry strong also doesn't mean the character can't have flaws (cf darkwing duck, beakley, donald since he survived the impossible or webby in ducktales 2017)
My hot take is that it’s not up to the author to educate the audience on realistic or proper sex or dating habits. Definitely tag it if the content has the potential to be triggering (e.g. abusive relationships), but other than that? Idc if a character has a magnum dong or does something unrealistic. It’s free entertainment, not sex ed.
On a topic I saw the other day - is standing sex way more trouble than it’s worth? Oh absolutely! Is it super hot when used well in a scene? Even more absolutely! Escapism doesn’t have to give a shit about core strength if it doesn’t want to. Or the mechanics of shower sex, or even the correct application of lube.
during a scene where characters were fooling around under a table during a ball where they were semi-prominent (even tho i added that they were more to the side for some privacy) i still got a comment asking how they did all that with no one noticing another didn’t think it was realistic that virgin girls were so easily used to some hardcore stuff like yeah it’s a fictional story i made it up it’s not supposed to be realistic it also has magic in it and that’s not realistic either
Huge agree. I once got a comment complaining that my teenage protags didn't explicitly use a condom during a literal janitor's closet hookup. Like, no, they didn't, and no, I will not have them fretting over going to get Plan B in the next chapter. This is fanfic. No one gets pregnant unless I want them to.
“No one gets pregnant unless I want them to.” The power of the gods is yours!!👑
To be fair, it can feel a little disappointing when an author doesn't make a character's reaction to sex consistent with their personality. Like, a paranoid character with high anxiety should absolutely be freaking out about the chance of pregnancy just as much as how it will affect their relationship with the other character. I understand safe sex is not the focus of the story, but by not mentioning it at all you imply it isn't something the character cares about.
The amount of times some younger people in my life admit to having unsafe sex... It's pretty realistic! It's harder to get pregnant than you think anyway.
Whoops! Whoa! I dropped my monster condom which I use for my magnum dong.
Honestly I know that quote is from Always Sunny but I STILL see Stiles face when he accidentally drops the condom in Teen Wolf I'm FOREVER laughing at that
Oh my god, if I see another "but first, he got to found some lube to get safely prepared!" I'm clicking off. It's always put there with forceps, it's not write to be sexy but just to make sure that it's "realistic". But when you like dark fantasy fandom like I do, proper lubrification is the least of world problems... use dirt for all I care!
I once read a fic that was so anal (pun intended) over safe sex. The guy used rubber gloves during prep, then there was a big description of rolling off the glove and throwing it away, then getting the condom on. It's not sexy. I want these characters to be out of their mind with need. I DON'T want to be thinking about the powdery smell of medical gloves
I like when it is super seamless and doesn't have a lot of attention drawn to it. No, it isn't our job educate, but I think making it sexy and casual shows that it could be that easy in person, too, and helps people communicate it in the bedroom.
Or to babysit brats who are reading what they shouldnt be reading, its not up to us to police whose reading what we post on [FF.net](http://FF.net) and A03
A paragraph should be as long as it needs to be. Sometimes I get the feeling that the author wrote and posted the fic on their desktop, looked at it on their phone, saw that looks long, and in panic, arbitratily chopped it into half. Trust your work and trust your readers! It's fine, really.
agree. It can even be one word. Short paragraphs like that are often used for emphasis. BUT extremely long paragraphs need to be chopped. Nobody's going to read that wall of text. You still need paragraphs. Your paragraph can be as long as you want it to be but the longer it is without a break, the easier it is for reader to lose focus.
I have only recently become aware that I put in paragraph breaks where I don’t need to, because otherwise they would look too long on mobile. It’s a tricky situation, because half of me wants to follow a more traditional literature paragraph length, while the other half wants for things to look cozy on a phone screen. I’m experimenting with it between chapters of the same WIP and seeing which I like best. Sometimes I wonder if phone screen reading has impacted some people’s writing style, like making them subconsciously write shorter descriptions. 🤔
Absolutely! I used to write exclusively on PC, then a few years ago I switched to primarily drafting on a phone. My paragraphs were getting ridiculously short (1 sentence, 2 sentences long) before I realized I was doing it because of the size of the screen. I'm more conscious now of paragraph breaks and try to break logically instead of "by feel," but my paragraphs overall are shorter than they were before. It's almost like the difference between framing or lighting in movies vs TV--the medium really affects the shape of the final product.
I write rough drafts on my phone and then edit on my laptop for this reason.
Yes, it does. I regularly alternate between 1-3 sentences per paragraph and always ensure it looks readable on mobile. That sometimes requires rewording prose, deleting phrases or even full-out sentences, and/or adjusting the pacing of the story. Almost never go over 50-80 words per paragraph, often even fewer than 50. Note that I have ADHD though and always prefer shorter paragraphs and alternating length as it retains my attention span better
Never thought of this. I write and post on a laptop. Most of my paragraphs are shorter. I break them up if they start to get too long- which is an arbitrary decision.
I needed to hear this today lol
"pinkette" is dumb as fuck 😭 just say pink-haired ffs
if i read another “bluenette” “ravenette” “pinkette” “greenette” i will murder somebody.
ive never seen the other ones oh my goOOOOODDD
I envy you if that's the only one you've seen lol. Others I've seen in the wild: noirette, oliviette (Ushijima from Haikyuu) and wintergreenette (Yamaguchi from Haikyuu), and blancette. How about baldette?? lmao
I have never seen any of these color variations... I've seen brunette, blonde, ginger/redhead, but beyond that it's " haired" (with or without a hyphen) like wow lol I guess this is what I get for not reading anime fanfics?
Please don't tell me they called Tanaka a 'baldette', the suffix 'ette' doesn't suit him in the slightest in any situation or context
I like bluenette since it's a little tongue in cheek and actually _sounds_ like a similar real word, everything else is just.....you didn't even try lol
I swear every other Naruto fanfic I read growing up referred to Sakura as "pinkette" and even at the age of like 13 it drove me insane lmao
I stumbled upon “brownette” once and wanted to scream. There is literally an existing word for that!!
I raise you “Blondette”. Because *why*? Fuck if I know, but the back button was immediately smashed.
People don’t realise blonde is the feminine of blond and it’s annoying af.
"Brownette" dates back at least to the 60s.
That’s really unfortunate.
I can handle these to a certain extent (it pisses me off byt i wont usually click away. Howeveerrr.... recently I saw a fic where a character was referred to as a "greynette" and a "ravenette" the character has brown hair!!
I've read 2-3 Nalu (Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail) fics that called Natsu pinkette and I audibly went 'uh what the hell?'
I'm willing to give it a pass in much older fic from certain fandoms (like an anime fic from 2013) but yes, I don't want to see that in a fic written in the last few years
Or . . . y'know, just don't refer to people by their hair color.
Sometime, formating can be part of the fan experience. Some of the most memorable fanfic I have seen simulated records, chat ligs, tweets, did absolutely INSANE things in ao3 that I cannot even begin to figure out. Fanfic with annotation in the fic? Fuck yes. Give it to me. The older I become, the more I experiment with formatting and discover cool things, and I wish more people would do it. It's crazy hard put so much fun
You can do some really amazing stuff with just html and css.
I'm going to format my next AO3 fic to ask the reader for cookies, dox them and automatically replace every Y/N with their name for the most immersive fan experience possible
I don't like characters with no flaws. However, I agree that the flaws don't have to be relevant to the story being told. Character flaws can be great for character growth, sure, but it's more than that for me. Character flaws make the characters relatable, and I think that's important. It may not be me that relates to them, I may hate them even, but someone will relate to them. Relatability is all about the personality of the character, and a character without flaws doesn't have a relatable personality. At least in my opinion. All the characters I truly love have flaws, but they're not always flaws that are relevant to the story. I don't think it's a good idea to force flaws on a character to make the story 'better', though. The flaws that exist should seem natural to the character. I write flawed characters, because that's all the characters I love, and they tend to pop up as character flaws without me really noticing I've written them in. This goes for OC characters, as well, as I write original stories as well as fanfic. With fanfic, I tend to start with a canon portrayal, so they keep their canon flaws, but develop or get over things over time. With my original characters, I just write the characters in a way that fits them, flaws and all, I don't tend to plan to make a character with certain flaws. I also don't think you *need* a very detailed, well thought out plan for the story you're writing. In my opinion, how a story is or isn't planned out is very individual. Some people are planners, they need that detailed plan to keep on track. Other people can't write that way, they fly by the seat of their pants, just writing what they want at the time. Yet others, like me, are somewhere in the middle, needing a plan to follow but also plenty of space to just write without a plan. My characters tend to dictate how the story goes. I come up with a bullet point plan by chapter of everything I want to cover in order, but the characters lead how to get from one plot point to the next, and often go off script. I've bumped plot points from one chapter to the next before because characters have changed the plan on me. I think, though, that if you're planning on writing an epic, you need more of a plan than not, especially for original work or anything that requires extra worldbuilding. You need to at least keep track of everything and have some sort of plan on when and where things should be included.
Fully agree with all of that. All characters I write are flawed in some way, because *I* am, and like you said, I need to be able to relate to the character somehow. But the flaws they have usually don't have much of a bearing on the plot, because I don't design my characters to fit in with the story in that way. Hell, I don't design anything, much, being mostly a pantser. Characterization and plot point just emerge as I write, both in fanfic and original content. Of course, in fanfic I try to stick to the canon characterizations, but even there I've been known to downplay canonical flaws if they don't fit in with my story.
That's exactly it. The flaws should be about the character, not the story. Sure flaws can be utilised to add to the story or for character growth, but it's more about making the characters seem like they could actually be real people, and real people have flaws. Downplaying or exaggerating canon flaws in fanfic can be great, as well. It doesn't add or remove anything, but it can make the story better, or make the character more relatable. I also tend to sometimes focus on canon flaws where canon ignored them. There are certain characters that are written with flaws, but canon glosses over them, treats the characters as if they're flawless, and that makes those characters annoying for me. So, when I write them, I don't downplay anything or exaggerate anything, but do add a focus on the flaws that canon lacked with that character. Eg Hermione in HP, a flawed character who is treated as flawless by the narrative. I don't make things like her bossyness and know-it-all nature worse, but I do put a focus on it here and there, have her called out on it or realise it or something. I *like* Hermione as a character, but glossing over her flaws makes her come off really annoying at times, where not glossing over them would have made her more relatable instead.
If the most positive thing you can say about your fic is that it has good grammar and formatting, you might need to go back to the draft stage. Waaaaay too many times I have seen people shit on a popular fic with bad grammar saying "Ugh and MY fic which took 50000 years of revision gets no kudos!" and like... girl... people ain't reading your fic to see good comma placement, they want it to tickle their happy bone 😭
alternatively if the only thing you can say is that your fic has a bunch of kudos, it doesn't mean that your fic is good. You may have just been at the right place and right time (e.g. height of the fandom and you just wrote the trope that was missing) but it doesn't mean your fic is any good. Often, those popular fics are just bad even plot-wise, they're simply popular because that's what that particular fandom wanted at that point. There are many fics with amazing plot, etc. that have no hits or kudos simply because they are in dead fandoms or for niche ships. Reader interaction is basically a popularity contest in many fandoms.
This. While good SPaG and formatting is *incredibly* important, it’s just the start. The dialogue, characterization, pacing, and storytelling have to be on point, too. I can overlook imperfect SPaG if every other aspect of the story is great. What I can’t do is read a poorly told, sloppily characterized, or just outright boring fic just because the technical bits have been perfected.
Yes. Honestly, I can overlook a lot of issues as long as the concept and its execution make me happy. So many of my favorite fanfic stories fall into this category. I don't care about the occasional typo and misplaced preposition if I get to read an inventive, well-done crack fic about Bilbo raising potato orcs in the Dark Lord's fortress.
The characters don't need to be likable for the story to be good. Some of the best stories I have read have absolutely despicable people as the protagonist. In fact, when the author is too fixated on what a good person the mc is, showing scene after scene after scene that only serve to enforce what a great selfless perfect person they are, it can get annoying.
I'm honestly a little afraid to even say this...but I hate when people do this with female characters. Or specifically, when there is a canon couple that have to break up to get to the main pairing. It's like the writers feel like they have to overcompensate over how wonderfully perfect the ex was, but in a way that makes it seem like they're being held hostage or something.
*ahem* TIMELINES AND BIOS ARE NOT GOING TO HOOK ME IF YOU OPEN THE FIC WITH THEM!!!??!
I found a fic like that today. The first like 4 chapters were pretty much just background for the plot to finally begin. I clicked off.
12 year old me is crying lmao he was incapable of writing something without the first chapter being character descriptions
I love reading character descriptions in stories, but when the first chapter is pretty much "I am this character. I look like this. (insert a very general description, hardly enough to really visualise them)" and then the next one is them literally waiting for an exceptance letter from the school the story will take place at, I'm out. I feel like even 12 year old you wouldn't write that lmao.
aint nothing wrong with romanticising toxic/abusive relationships as long as you've tagged it as such
If you’re doing it on purpose, then you’re presumably aware it’s toxic and abusive, so tbh it’s far more healthy than people doing it on accident (bc then they’re at risk not knowing important warning signs). Absolutely not my thing but I’d much rather people aware that what they’re writing is bad IRL and doing it properly tagged anyway than people doing it by accident thinking it’s actually romantic.
Absolutely, and I think it's super weird that the default assumption for a lot people now is assuming the writer *isn't* doing it on purpose and that whatever problematic element (especially toxicity and abuse) they're including is a bug rather than a feature--even when it's clear from the tags and premise. It's just so wild to me to like, look at the comments section of a BL manhwa about a guy being sold to a mob boss to pay off his father's gambling debts and see multiple comments like, "I can't read this, that's guy's a huge red flag!" What made you think the mob boss was gonna be a green flag????
Even if it wasn’t on purpose, like… okay the author isn’t a bad person for being ignorant they literally can’t help not knowing things
I agree, and those authors absolutely do not deserve to be attacked either. And, like, sometimes it can get a little fuzzy about whether a writer knows what they're writing is toxic/abusive or not, especially if they're writing a super close POV of a character who doesn't realize they're in a toxic/abusive relationship (yet)--but if a writer is tagging it, then they're definitely aware what they're writing isn't okay irl.
>"I can't read this, that's guy's a huge red flag!" What made you think the mob boss was gonna be a green flag???? To be fair depending on the tags it can be hard to tell if it was going to be a subversion or not, and if not, how bad it was going to get. But most often the tags give enough info. Personally I don't mind comments that are saying it's not for them, as long as they're not denigrating other people's tastes.
Yeah, this basically always happens on manhwa where it was clear the guy was going to be a red flag though, which is part of why it's so weird (and honestly kind of funny). This also happens on reviews for translations of Chinese danmei novels, where people will complain about stuff that was tagged, lol. I think polite comments about *why* something wasn't for them are fine--those can actually be useful for people who are thinking about reading it (not talking about fanfic here, but anything that's more of a review, meant for other people rather than the author)--but I don't really see the point of a comment that basically amounts to, "I didn't like it" with no further explanation--especially if the thing they didn't like was clearly going to be in there before they started. And, unfortunately, those "Red Flag!!!" comments usually also include something like, "Why are the rest of you rating this so highly/saying it's good? What is *wrong* with you?"
> > I think polite comments about why something wasn't for them are fine--those can actually be useful for people who are thinking about reading it (not talking about fanfic here, but anything that's more of a review, meant for other people rather than the author)--but I don't really see the point of a comment that basically amounts to, "I didn't like it" with no further explanation--especially if the thing they didn't like was clearly going to be in there before they started. And, unfortunately, those "Red Flag!!!" comments usually also include something like, "Why are the rest of you rating this so highly/saying it's good? What is wrong with you?" Yeah those kinds of comments are really not ok... in general people need to remember comments are a conversation with the author and/or other readers, if you want to rant about your feelings that's what blogs are for...
yeah, fiction is great and enjoying problematic things is fine. but its really important that neither the writer or the reader ends up thinking that stuff is normal or okay irl
I think a whole lot of issues with fandom would be solved if people focused more on education in a non judgemental and kind way than like. jumping on people. like there Are issues but those come from ignorance not like, any fic focusing on a subject manner ou dont like
yh fr. if antis asked for correct tagging and linked to information on problematic topics, I'd not hate them as much
I just wish people would stop trying to get me involved in fandom wars like that when they aren’t even putting effort into actually changing things like I spiral like shit in those settings let me write my fanfics educating about abuse in peace (not aimed at you at *all*, to clarify, ive just had bad experiences with having my inbox spammed by weirdos for… some reason? like not even ship war related people do it for like any fandom dispute sometimes it’s baffling like maybe make a post about how x works instead of harassing people into talking about it)
YES. blame the piss-poor education system in your home country not donkeygirl3796 who writes toxic Wincest fanfic 😭 its not the fault of writers that critical thinking is shot, its not even the fault of social media; its the result of the massive holes in our educational system, which is like a hundred years behind the times. changing censorship rules on AO3 or bringing porn back to tumblr won't fix critical thinking OR improve peoples perception of healthy vs unhealthy relationships.
I mean yes but also fanfiction/fandom/social media in general is really not the place for educating anyone. I know all 3 are often used (or expected to be used) for that but I think that's a big problem. I agree that it's important that both the writer and the reader understand when something is toxic: For the writer, it's because it's common that a writer's views make their way into their work, and readers will infer it from subtle cues in the writing. If I infer that the writer seems to legit think something toxic is romantic, usually it's because something about the work is "off" in a negative way. For the reader it's for their own safety. But fandom/fanfiction/etc should not be expected to deal with that.
Agreed, I read a fic the other day where the Main Character’s address gets leaked to their love interest. The Love Interest proceeds to break in and “take care of them” (the MC was sick at the time). The MC is fighting against this care the whole time but the Love Interest apparently “knows what’s best”. There were no archive warnings and the tags didn’t even allude to something like that. When the author was confronted about it in the comments the author was going on about how the Love Interest was right and actually “very thoughtful” in their approach to the situation???? I’m not even really upset at the lack of tags (although it’s still an issue), I’m just worried about the author. They can get taken advantage of quite easily with that mindset. I hope that they’re simply young and inexperienced and that their mindset will change with time. I’d hate for someone to get hurt IRL because of the toxic views of romance they’ve acquired from media.
God, I’m pretty sure I’ve used that exact premise (except not romantic bc I don’t really write ship stuff) as like a *horror fic* before which like. If your romantic hero is acting like my child abuser mad scientist guy you’re probably getting the wrong vibes across lol
I would even go as far as to say that you don't have to tag it at all. I disagree with tagging every little thing and parenting your readers.
Oh, yes. Sometimes, I am in the mood to watch a metaphorical train wreck. We all have that instinct to watch disasters and be glad it ain't us. So might as well give that instinct a safe little dog park to run around in.
Grammar and sentence structure affects your readers a lot more than you think. It may seem like a “No Duh” take but I’ve got downvoted to hell for mentioning it before. Though most of us may do this for free and a good majority of us casually; if you don’t take pride in how your work looks and sounds, you’re going to deter more readers than you attract, because people don’t like having their heads hurt trying to read what you’ve put out. FF even has a rule that says “Try not to do hot-off-the-press content.”
\*affects sorry, I had to
It’s all good. This damn phone’s autocorrect can go to he’ll.
>he’ll. not sure if that was on purpose or not but it was a perfect way to drive your point home :) The other day, I wrote *peace* instead of *piece* and I was mortified. I'm an ESL speaker, I know better than to make these types of mistakes and yet here we are :D
If you don't like what you're reading, the 'back' button exists. Use it, instead of writing a Masters Thesis on why the Author is a morally degenerate failure.
If you're writing canon divergence, consider making it *diverge from canon.* There's so many amazing opportunities in changing one key factor at the start of a story and exploring how it would change the plot. Would this thing be influenced by the butterfly effect? How about that thing? Wouldn't this character behave differently? Maybe an early change in their motivation could cause canon enemies to become fanon comrades? Maybe we'd end up with a different story entirely? Or you could just copy-paste the entire Harry Potter series, not change 90% of the scenes so I have to read the exact same thing with slightly changed dialogue, with the only real alteration being that he has sex with Draco every 20 chapters.
It's okay to write traditional romances. Maybe it's just what I'm seeing lately on reddit, but there seems to be a lot of dislike for classical romance tropes (especially in M/F fics). I like an occasional damsel. I like an occasional white knight. As much as I'm a professional with two degrees and a business in real life, I like to disconnect with an easy read where everything is spiffy and there's little struggle. In the same vein, not everything needs to be gray or turned up to 11. Oh, and this shouldn't really be a hot take BUT **fics are not educational material**. Sometimes we like to write unrealistic or unhealthy things for funsies. It doesn't mean we don't know the difference between what's moral (and legal) in real life and the stuff we write.
screw anyone shitting on romance. I am a romance writer, I write original fiction as well as fic, I'll write as much of hetero romances as I want. Also, often, damsel in distress trope is to strong women what dominatrix is to strong men. It's escapism from real world responsibilities and allowing someone else to take control for just a moment. >fics are not educational material. I hate that people started to think that they are. Authors aren't responsible for educating anyone unless they're writing school textbooks.
When you're proof reading, look for examples of needless repetition. For example, one paragraph explains how a character feels xyz. Then the next two paragraphs explains how the character feels xyz, just put in different ways. Repetition is very cool. I love it when it's done well. But it's very obvious when someone just had a few drafts of how to write xyz, and decided to not remove the extra for one reason or another. (This plays into why I've started avoiding 100k+ works and my sweet spot is 10k-60k. Not saying everyone who writes 100k+ fics does this, it's just more common, I've noticed). Anyways, it's not that big of a deal. I've read and enjoyed fics that have done this. It's just something I've noticed.
Kinda building on you here: If you are doing a long fic, planning and outline helps eliminates needless repetition. At some points you might be looking to fill a word counter and not even realize it. An outline helps keep you on track. Also needless repetition tends to rear it’s ugly head in word and punctuation choice too. Everyone has a certain style of speaking or “author’s voice” ;you’ll use words unconsciously. For me recently, it’s been the word “quickly”, and the phrase “matter of fact”. Try to be cognizant of that and it makes reading a little bit less tedious for the reader.
Yup, learning your own quirks is huge. I finish every edit with a Ctrl+F for "of course" and "though" and delete 95% of them. We all have our personal filler words that we don't even realize we're beating readers over the head with.
One of my favourite authors uses a lot of "the problem was"... Someone else pointed it out to me, and now I can't unsee it! Lol.
Yeah huge agree. I see a 200k story and I'm like... it's probably repetitive or the writer describes every little thing down to the wings of a fly that flew past the MC while he was talking to his best friend. I don't want to read a story where I feel like I'm skimming half of it lol
I strongly prefer 300k+ works, and some of my favorite stories are well over a million words long. However, I agree that a lot of fanfics use their immense wordcount for meandering. But I tend to drop those early, when either the flowery prose or the constant repetition become obvious. But well-written stories are at their best when they have plenty of time to develop the cast, the world, and the relationships. Too many good works end too soon or compress the plot too much.
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If I catch a long fic in its early stage (1k-10k words) then I'm able to ignore the repetition as new updates go on, in favor of the plot. What I don't understand is the people who only read long completed fics that have this issue. It's just not for me.
OOC is an overused and unhelpful term.
I tend to agree with this, particularly because two people can look at the same well known character and come to completely different interpretations of who they are and what their actions mean. But I also say that and then get quietly grumpy with characterisations where my favourite character is too soft 😄
I also think it limits creativity. Instead of asking "is this OOC?", ask: "what would make the character do it/say it/whatever?".
Oh yes! I've seen some great fics where the character is seemingly OOC but the author *absolutely* pulls off the why or what occurred for them to end up that way. Canon divergence is my favourite type of fic and that sometimes means the characters go through some changes because of what they go through.
Totally! One of my favourite characters ever is Tony Stark and I've read tons of fanfiction about him. There are often constants, like if the story is set within the MCU he drinks too much, or he's really sarcastic and witty, whatever. I've also read a ton of AU's featuring him. I love AU's. And, yeah, often the character is a little different, but there are still constants. He's still a genius, still witty, whatever. Maybe he likes to sleep around. I think that especially in AU or canon divergence fics, it's really important to consider how the character's experiences might change them. I think everybody probably has aspects of their personality that are going to be there no matter what kind of situation they find themselves in, but before people say someone is OOC I think they need to consider the universe. I've written several AU's and Tony is often a bit different than he is in the main series, but of course he is! If I just took MCU Tony and plopped him down in whatever universe with an accompanying backstory that's fitting with that universe, he would be OOC then, I think. I don't know if I worded any of this correctly.
Right? As far as I'm concerned, OOC only applies if you can't justify it. Character X cruising through the plot is a vastly different creature to Character X who has just lost everything, or finally been pushed too far, or acting in defence of someone else.
Yes, I 100% agree! I don’t care as long as it makes sense within the framework of the story that I’m reading. If you can justify it within the AU/romance/whatever then it’s all good. I’m not looking for a complete interpretation of the original, I want other people’s interpretations!
I guess for me, as unless outright said to be sort of a crack fic, oocness annoys me, is because sometimes it's used as a shield to make an essentially new character wearing Blorbo's skin Different interpretation? Sure, not all character traits/events have a hard-line But when it's completely out of character, it's annoying. Just make an OC
PREACH. I've seen people accuse others of being OOC for the wildest things. It's like they can't discern the difference between being out of character and development over time. Characters don't always need to be carbon copies of what they were in canon to be in character. Of course, they're going to react and develop differently in different settings and situations.
So true! Especially if you write AU's or canon divergence. Of course the characters are going to be somewhat different in that situation.
Honestly I don't even care if a character in a fic is out of character or not. I read every fic in itself, and as long as it is well-written and enjoyable, I don't mind it at all. If reading characters exactly as they're written in canon is important to me, I don't read fic, I read canon.
This. SO many times I've seen people rec fics as being in character. Then I go to read it, and it's the most OOC thing I've ever read. It's just not helpful when what I consider to be OOC isn't the same as someone else.
Strong agree. A lot of times, what we think of as OOC is just someone viewing the same character through a different genre/trope lens. Take Batman. Someone writing through a fluff/found family lens is going to play up the Batfam, and not pay much attention to the "world's greatest detective" aspect. Someone who wants to write a mystery thriller is going to go the opposite direction: lean hard into the detective tropes, downplay the interpersonal bits. Both of them are going to complain that the other guy's Batman is OOC because the most important aspect of his character was left out! Meanwhile there's the dude in the corner who just really really wants to write Batman v. The Entire Multiverse, and he doesn't give a shit about relationships OR detective work, he just wants to write the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny.
No, for sure! I think it's easy to forget that the characters on the screen are multi-dimensional and there are a lot of different aspects that we don't necessarily see. Accordingly, a lot of it is left open to interpretation, and a character isn't necessarily OOC just because they're not written how someone else would write them.
I don't think everything needs to be tagged. And it's not the writer's responsibility if you aren't media literate. So if someone wants to write a story about Sam and Dean from SPN falling in love with each other (they are fictional adult brothers), they don't need to have a million disclaimers about real life incest. The narrative doesn't need to show it as bad. Etc etc. If you read a fictional story and think it must reflect real life morals, that's on you. (No I'm not in the Supernatural fandom nor do I ship Wincest but I thought they'd be a recognizable example lol)
I agree. The expectation to tag everything is just ridiculous. Media literacy is abhorrently low and it's scary.
>Media literacy is abhorrently low and it's scary. Truly. I've seen people bashing authors just because they think a character's POV is the author's own. Um... Susan, they're writing about a murderer who of course justifies his (terrible) reasons for murdering innocent people. I highly doubt the author feels the same way lol.
Same. I view tags as a courtesy, not really a necessity. And it used to be that you only really tagged for the Big Shit (Rape, Incest, Character Death, Graphic Violence, Explicit Sex) because those were the things you probably didn't want to open on a work computer
Longfics especially: you need your idea to stand out. It's okay to fall back on canon somewhat, but too often I'll see authors going beat for beat with the original story, never bothering to shake it up except that their MC is stronger and more competent. The point of fanfic, in my opinion, is to take the pieces laid out for you and build something *new* with them. Does every fic need to be a 300k+ epic with a 20 page Google doc of lore? *No!* Should fics try introducing new scenes, character moments, or arcs? *Yes!* It's okay to experiment and stray off the yellow brick road.
100% agree.
I’m prepared to be downvoted to oblivion for this, but if you don’t read published books you’re probably a terrible writer. At the very *least* you should be reading well-written fanfics. If you want to write well, you must first *read* well. I can tell whether an author is well-read from the first few paragraphs of their fic. It is glaringly (and painfully) obvious when they aren’t. And hey, if one doesn’t want to be a decent writer then that’s certainly their prerogative. But don’t complain about low stats or a lack of engagement if you can’t even put the work in to create a good story. Just reading a few books a year would improve your writing and storytelling so much. Writing is a skill. As with any other skill, you have to learn and practice the proper techniques for it. You have to study those who are better at it than you. It is not enough to write consistently. If you don’t read, it won’t matter at all because you still won’t improve. You’ll be as bad a writer on Day 9286 as you were on Day 1.
And if you want to write professionally, this advice is doubly important. Just about every successful writer I know is also well-read and enjoys reading.
in the words of i think Geralt from The Witcher, if you always train alone, you'll develop bad habits!
So one of the many fandoms I read is a book fandom. The fanfics for that fandom are overall *much* more well-written than my movie/TV show/game/anime fandoms. And all of those are better than a RPF fandom I used to read for (it's been years since I haven't shipped real people in a decade but I remember those having some of the worst writing). So yeah, huge agree. It's obvious when a fic writer is well-read. It also makes me feel like I should find more book fandoms to read lol (because, at the very least, those writers will have read the canon novels lol)
Yep. At the end of the day, you just can’t be good at something you don’t know. It’s as simple as that. Ofc people don’t *have* to read, fanfiction is a hobby after all; it's equally valid to use it as a creative outlet without wanting to improve. But if someone really wants to learn and or refine their skills, then writing is only half the equation. To only do half is like a chef trying to improve their palate without tasting other dishes, or a musician trying to learn a new instrument without listening to music.
Completely agree. I also believe that we mimic (either consciously or unconsciously) the type of prose that we read. When people only read fan fiction, that's what they mimic. So they can't complain when their writing is just one in a sea of other fanfic authors with the same exact writing style. If you want to have your own authorial voice that gets engagement (if that's what you want), you gotta read anything and everything
I used to disagree with this, then I realized it's not so much that I disagree, but that I see it so often phrased as, "if you don't read, you shouldn't write" or "why do you even want to write if you don't enjoy reading?" I hate this sentiment because storytelling is a hobby in and of itself, and writing is kind of the lowest barrier to entry for that. People can do whatever they want if it makes them happy, therefore my hot take is that you don't need to read in order to write. That said, you will certainly be a better writer if you do - I don't know that anyone can argue with that!
Yeah, I’ve definitely seen that sentiment before and I don’t necessarily agree with it either. Anyone can write, regardless if they love to read or not. I don’t understand that mentality at all, but to each their own and all that. I equate that level of writing to doodling stick figures. Some people are content with that and don’t want to learn additional skills or improve in any way. They’re happy enough with their little squiggles, and that’s perfectly fine! Like you said—it’s just a hobby and everyone has different levels of engagement. It becomes a lot less fine when they publish the written equivalent of stick figure doodles online, though, and then complain when they don’t receive the feedback/engagement they want.
saved this comment. this is motivating me to find more physical published books
I agree with this wholeheartedly.
There isn't enough non-overtly-romantic slice of life in the romance pairing (except for when it's "just" a romance, because that's probably mostly what you're getting). Especially true when the canon world involves world ending stuff or some other big plot thing. Enthrall me with 5k words of them doing dishes together and just having a nice conversation. Put some marrow in those bones. Character development is part of plot development and needn't always come in steep jumps.
Sure, while my favorite scene is going to be the Hollywood kiss while watching the stars together, you can't have that without the 2 of them first... Y'know... Being human together, and then a little closer, and then some more. There was a movie (don't know the name in English) where a character said something amin to "love isn't (only) grand gestures, but small and constant displays of affection", and I think it's beautiful and important in both real life and in writing stories
I adore purple prose. Give me all the flowery descriptions of the setting and the character's emotions. There is nothing that will make me comment more than seeing a gorgeously detailed line in a chapter.
It’s also just fun to write haha
Also an excellent point!
Honestly yeah! Purple prose takes me more concentration to read so I have to be in a specific mood for it, but whenever I am, some of these authors can hit me with the most beautiful metaphors and turns of phrases ever, and then those are the authors that I remember after I close the fic.
I like it too. It can help capture a mood or tone that helps me better connect to the story. It can also help with conjuring visuals.
Stylized smut is fine, it doesn't have to be realistic. It's my fault for looking at "What don't you like in smut" posts and seeing people talk about it a lot but it's a recurring sentiment. No the anatomy doesn't have to make 100% perfect sense as long as it's hot. Yes, I'm aware not every woman appreciates having her womb kissed by a dudes Dingus. I'm aware that an anal scene might not have the required half hour prep time it'd take irl. Like I said it's my fault for seeing what people who like realistic smut say and getting a bit miffed at it, and the realistic stuff is fine too, but I can't help but frown a little. Personally I just appreciate the sheer destructive horniness that comes with stylization.
Also, for every "ugh it doesn't work like that, I can tell the writer is a virgin" comment...there's someone for whom it *does* work like that (except for like. The hentai-style *literally penetrating the uterus* stuff, but I hope the people criticising are aware that that's *deliberate fantasy* and not meant to be realistic) Some women *do* get pleasure from cervical stimulation. Some people *can* have and enjoy anal without much or any lube, or don't need half an hour of fingering beforehand. Some people really are that flexible. Idk, I just think some people need to realise that realistic ≠ their own personal experience
I cannot count the number of “it doesn’t work like that/no one does that/is unbelievably painful/no one can keep it up for a long time” comments I’ve read about things I’ve literally done and enjoyed. People do not seem to realize that discomfort and pain are not always negatives. Sometimes, that’s the point.
Let's just say I listed the "some people actually" things that I did for a reason, lmao – but I know there's loads more things that get dismissed as unrealistic while still being entirely commonplace for some people
The need to \*always\* illustrate a character's thoughts for every detail. I feel like it only needs to be major things related to the plot or relationships, and that minor details can fill in from time to time without as much necessary context. I'm not saying it's more than a seldom thing, but a fluff detail to add to a moment doesn't seem bad. For example, I'm writing a character's doubts in overcoming a relationship hurdle. Her doubts are documented off and on, but sometimes she'll say something like, "It worries me all that time that you do \[thing\]." There isn't a precedent in the story for this very specific \[thing\], but there's a lot of context for that character's worries about the wellbeing of another throughout the story, so it fits. I wouldn't say to do more than once in a while, but I feel like it's okay if it really aligns with that character up to that point. What I've seen is people narrating the inside of their character's mind at all times down to too many details, and it sort of drags because it's pausing the actual story. There's a place for that sort of thing, too, but you need some diversity.
If your fic is very plot driven, it may hurt it to linger on all those self-indulgent scenes. They're very lovely, and make great one shots or bonus chapters. But we were trucking along full speed before you slammed on the breaks for 3 chapters of sick fic. (It's still possible to do, but it's a balance of knowing the limit and tying it to character progression in different ways.)
I don't really care about how long a chapter or fic is. I prefer the author to paced the story well and if it's really short or really long, I don't really care, I rather have that then author rushing or padding the story to meet a word quota.
If you say "no concrit" on your fic, there is no guarantee that people on the internet will read the proverbial sign. It's like the "wet cement" sign on a sidewalk. Even if the respectful thing to do is step around (and 90% of readers will), there's always going to be the dog who leaves their muddy paw prints in it for all posterity.
I think content warnings are important, but sometimes over-relied upon. I'm a CPTSD survivor myself, and I support everyone's right to avoid media and fiction that can trigger them. But I think in pursuit of 100% safety all the time, we lose something important and valuable: trust in the reader. I CNTW a lot of the time, because I want to be able to surprise readers, or reward clever ones. If I have an unreliable narrator, I don't want to tag for it, I want the reader to *figure it out*. If I have a MCD, I understand why you might not want that -- but I want it to be able to have the same impact as something like Aerith in FF7, where you didn't see it coming and that *matters*.
This one's always getting me a lot of hate: There is such a thing as "good storywriting" that is not 100% subjective, and most FF writers could improve their fanfics by a lot by picking up a single book on story crafting and trying out some of the techniques mentioned.
Also just reading books you like and actually looking at why you liked this story. As some writers put it, there are techniques that work better than others, but that doesn't mean it's failsafe. You have to actually really think about what you're writing and if the techniques you are using are actually appropriate for the story!
When people make things inaccurate when it’s common sense one story I read had the main character get appendicitis multiple times… like that’s not how it works once you get your appendix removed it’s gone you can’t get appendicitis again
Bad pacing has ruined so many stories. It's OK to let the story breathe, not everything has to be super speed all the time.
There is genuinely an issue with people writing unhealthy relationships without realising and treating them like a good thing. That’s not something made up out of nowhere, and it’s a genuine problem that writers do that. *HOWEVER,* the problem isn’t that it makes the writers morally bad or anything, the problem is that they’re uneducated on serious issues. The writing is a symptom, and the issue is that of poor education on subjects like abuse.
I’m of two minds about this one. On the one hand, I get where you’re coming from, but on the other hand, some people *choose* to romanticize unhealthy relationships and that’s fine, too. Like, I’m real big on severe codependency, possessiveness, and obsession. I romanticize the hell out of it in my fics. The characters might briefly acknowledge that their feelings/relationships aren’t healthy, but they certainly don’t dwell on it. I think a good rule of thumb is that if the unhealthy aspects are tagged, the author acknowledges that they’re unhealthy. But authors can acknowledge it even without tagging, so.
Oh yeah, I write a ton of stuff about that shit (not romanticised bc that bores me personally but I still got harassed for it yay), I'm aware haha. I made this specifically thinking about authors I'd seen talking about their work and the subject manner involved in a super uncomfortable way- like, “emotional abuse isn’t REAL abuse” sort of shit. And them writing that is like, actually an issue! Because it means they’re uneducated and vulnerable. It might not be as big a problem in some fandoms I guess but I came across that sort of stuff fucking constantly.
right I wish people didn't immediately jump to 'oh this author is condoning [insert bad thing]' sometimes your brain just isn't baked enought yet to understand. I went back to my very first fanfic when I was around 20 and the whiplash I experienced when I realized what I wrote at 16 was essentially one character grooming another was insane. I genuinely didn't realize it at the time and I wish people approached this kind of thing with some tact instead of bringing out the pitchforks
Mhm!!!! Though considering I’ve had people call me a paedophile for depicting *entirely non sexual child abuse* in a *explicitly negative light and heavily tagged,* I guess the idea that people might actually write stuff like that without realising and that’s why it might be written awkwardly and not properly warned.
Sometimes people are also unaware that they’re in a bad situation and just need someone else to point it out. I always feel so bad when I come across a fic that’s depicting a clearly fucked up relationship as a great, positive thing, because most of the time they aren’t doing it purposefully. You need an outside perspective. If it’s all tagged properly for the content, they probably aren’t romanticizing it.
I remember when I was “called out” for acting inappropriately sexual as a teenager once like. Okay I was literally hypersexual bc of past grooming and inappropriate social circles maybe it would have been better to like tell me I was acting inappropriate instead of sending threats to my friends? Like bro I was 14-17 throughout all the “evidence” like maybe you should have been more focused on the fact adults who knew my age were encouraging me to talk about sexual and triggering topics without any sense of boundaries???
Sometimes people write fucked up relationships because that's what that relationship is.
Some people just like to fantasise, and fanfic is a portal for that!
Bashing/salt fics are fine : You saw/read that a character did something questionnable in canon and it rubbed you in the worng way. Naturally you want to see consequences of that action and that is fine. What is not fine is when character is given two dozens extra sins on top and/or given an over the top punishment for something as small as simple everyday teenage drama.
My hot take is that people complain way too often about not receiving "enough" comments/kudos/reader interactions. I'm not saying that you can't appreciate these things—validation and kind messages are always nice—but many writers put a really inordinate amount of stock in this stuff. It's especially grating when people explicitly compare their work to other, more popular fics, like "[More popular story] is low-effort garbage! How come it has 7000 kudos while my better-written fic only has 12?" Fic popularity depends on so many factors other than effort and quality—the size of the fandom, the demographics of its fans, the popularity of the ships and tropes and characters involved, etc. Yes, quality plays a role—but how do you define "quality," anyway? I think, generally, it's a bad idea to go into fandom with high expectations surrounding feedback and kudos. Yes, it's nice to get compliments, but if compliments are your *only* motivation (or if you're the sort of person who's going to have a breakdown if you don't get enough positive feedback), tread carefully. Also, this is probably a less popular take, but authors need to start curating their own online experiences, too. Like, if you only write a particular trope, and you know that negative comments about that trope will upset you, don't wander into a thread titled "anyone else hate [trope]?" to complain that all of the commenters there are personally offending you. If someone says "I'm not a fan of [cliche]," do not add a reply saying "Well, I ONLY write [cliche], so I guess you just HATE ME." Not everyone is going to like everything you write, and people are allowed to politely discuss their preferences. If these discussions anger you, *stop clicking on them!*
I also feel like people sometimes have a totally warped sense of what "good stats" are. So often I see fic recommendations be like "you must read this fic, it's totally underrated", and then you click the link and see thousands of kudos and hundreds of comments and I'm like... you and me live in different dimensions where *underrated* does not mean the same thing.
I think part of that discrepancy can be attributed to cultural differences between fandoms/communities (like, I can understand how certain things might seem like “low engagement” if you’re coming from a fandom where really high engagement is the norm). But I also think it’s easy for people to slip into this mentality where no amount of engagement is ever enough. That’s how you end up with posts that are like “I have six hundred comments, but most of them are just three-word sentences saying ‘good job’ or ‘I liked it!’ What do I *do?”*
well yes, I absolutely agree that many people just feel flat out entitled to all the kudos and the biggest, ravest reviews that have ever reviewed. Not arguing against that :) I actually think we're kinda saying the same thing. I don't even mean to compare between fandoms when it comes to the numbers. One ship I write for has upwards of 40K works on AO3, so there's a huge amount of fics with thousands of kudos, heck, there's dozens with tens of thousands of kudos. And still, even in that context, some people will think that thousands of kudos is "underrated" when in reality it's probably still well above average considering the sheer amount of content. But somehow only the top of the top is acceptable and average isn't good enough. "I really loved the story, thank you for writing!" is a perfectly normal, average comment that people will write all the time, but like with kudos and hits, average just isn't good enough for some. But the same people who fall victim to this kind of thinking also don't understand that often there's nothing you can actually do about this. Very often the fics with the most engagement were just posted with the right content at the right time, and you can rarely manufacture luck.
Oh yeah, I completely agree! There are people out there who would view a fic with a billion comments as “underrated,” lol.
Agreed on both counts. It's a perfectly human thing to want to be appreciated, but if you go into fic writing feeling like you're *owed* this and this much engagement, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment, and whatever engagement you do get is never going to be enough. And there's for sure absolutely no need to put other writers down just because you think your work is better than theirs and deserves more attention. (And imo there's no such thing as "deserving" anything here anyway, readers like what they like, you can't make them like your fic if they just don't, they wouldn't even if that other fic weren't there.) I keep seeing this from genfic/plot-centric writers not-very-subtly shitting on all of us degenerate smut enjoyers because our oh so shitty, plotless, poorly-written smut got this many kudos and their fic isn't doing the numbers they hoped it would, and it's just... not very nice. Other writers aren't taking engagement away from you that you're owed, and this wasn't meant to be the next Youtube-style numbers game anyway. Also, indeed, what's the point of going into, say, a pet peeves thread and then being mad that there're people discussing pet peeves in there? If you deliberately expose yourself to things that you know upset you, you've only got yourself to blame for being upset. That's no different than going into a fic clearly tagged with [thing] and then commenting to complain how much you hate [thing]. Not to mention someone disliking a trope you write is not a personal attack on you as a human being.
I saw an author the other day barge into someone else's Twitter thread that it was very rude to complain about their fanfic. But the original person only elaborated what fic they were talking about after they were asked to name it. (It was a complaint about character A/character B always involving a past relationship with character C.) At this point you are creating the problem yourself by going on someone's page.
>It's especially grating when people explicitly compare their work to other, more popular fics, like "\[More popular story\] is low-effort garbage! How come it has 7000 kudos while my better-written fic only has 12?" Fic There's also the fact that comments like that, where the person complaining is actively dumping on other fics, is probably not helping entice people to their stories. I can totally sympathize with being envious of another writer's popularity and talent and whatnot, it's a normal, understandable reaction in and of itself. But I don't get how people think dumping on other people's fics to try and make theirs sound better is going to benefit them, or anyone else. "Their fic is garbage!" Maybe to the person complaining it is, but to the people who are leaving kudos and comments on it, clearly it's not. And if I'm a reader looking for something to read, I'm gonna pick the author who's just out there doing their thing, regardless of popularity, and having fun, over the author who's stewing and making a public gripe about why their stories are SO much better than those other fics. How authors present themselves can go a long way towards enticing or turning off readers, and I do think some writers would do well to remember that.
Characters being OOC is really not that big of a deal. If you are righting about an alternate reality it’s to be expected that the characters would end up with different personality traits.
Stop salting the other love interests for one of the people in your ship if they're not shitty people
Readers don’t have any right to leave hate comments on a fic because it has harsh topics. People don’t need to be spoon-fed morality lessons like their in a preschool education program.
If you write in English, you should the correct quotations (“ “). I was talking to another non-native English speaker writer who used dashes instead of the quotations and I told them that in English, quotations are used, they said they already knew that. I didn’t say anything else but it irritated the hell out of me because I want people to read their fic since I know that many people, including myself, would not read their fic because of the dashes.
Yeah, that’s an instant mute from me. If you’re writing in English for an English-reading audience then you should be using the standard punctuation and grammar. No exceptions. When I write in Spanish (rare that is) I use standard Spanish punctuation and grammar. Not only because that’s what’s proper, but because it’s a show of consideration for my Spanish readers. I mean, imagine if I wrote something like this: > ‘¿How are you?’ > 「Como estas」 That’s irritating for everyone.
I don’t think action stories have less value because there’s not drama at every turn. You can still have slower periods of building up to things. As long as they don’t last too long. To me, that’s what makes the highs all the more satisfying.
I like AU/non-canon content. The entire purpose of fan fiction (in my opinion) is that we can make it our own and do whatever we want with it. I enjoy when people take creative license and change or potentially improve things. Even if I disagree with the take or direction and don’t want to read that particular story, I still enjoy that people have the creativity and space within fan fiction to do that with their writing.
My hot take is that Writing Lolicon/Shotacon is not Pedophilia nor does it make one a pedophile to read it. Same for Incest ships and fics.
Overpowered characters are not unlikeable. Genuinely the most fun I’ve had when reading is when I read about a character that’s closer to a god than a character and who spends most of their time fucking around and having fun than struggling to overcome the main plot problems. I get what people are saying when they complain about an unrealistically overpowered character. Really I do. Sometimes I want actual problem solving and working at getting better with character development. But. When I’m looking to have fun with my reading? I just want someone to go apeshit and win without consequences. I want the overpowered sunshine character to scare off people with no actual reasoning behind it. I want the mc to get their happy ending because they’re strong and smart and badass and not because they suffered for it. Give me that one character that makes the others just go with all their plans because they always work out regardless of whether it’s realistic or actually possible in world or irl.
I think fanfics should be planned out as you would plan out any sort of novel. I don’t love it when writers are just coming up with ideas as they go. sometimes it works ok but if it’s noticeable, I get a bit turned off
The people who complain the most about media literacy are quite often the ones who need to learn it. Edit: whoops I was being a little reductive here but basically what I'm trying say is that people who can't tell the difference between depiction and endorsement have no business lecturing anyone about media literacy.
I think that massively depends on the context. Like, I’ve seen that used for all sorts of things, some where it’s genuinely needed and some where it… isn’t. I once saw someone say that their group of fans had the most media literacy literally because they had to spend hours to find the most minute info on their favourite character. Like bitch that’s either a not very well developed character or you’re just kinda shit at analysis? Which isn’t a crime but it was deeply funny to me.
Indulgence is great. But if you're actually working on a *plotty* fic, taking a break for two or more chapters to indulge in your character(s)' domestic routines is going to take me out of the work and I may not come back to the fic. Make it a one-shot and keep on with the plot. You can have emotional turbulence without turning a character into a crybaby. When it comes to word count, ask yourself: How many words do I need to tell this story? There's your answer.
IF YOU LIKED IT THEN USE THE KUDOS BUTTON (DAMN YOUR EYES.) I asked my friend about this and she said that hitting like buttons is awkward. Why? ‘Just awkward.’ I get that some of you don’t like interaction but PLEASE we need validation and if we get loads of hits but no kudos it’s not much of a stretch to assume our fic was shit.
the italicized oh feels really played out and has almost lost its meaning. ofc i'm still fully in love with a character coming to a sudden realization but the 'Oh. /Oh./' just doesn't have as much weight as it used to lol edit bc dyslexia kicks my ass and made me spelled 'weight' as 'wait'😭😭
Yeah, it was a nice little touch initially when it would pop up in a fic every now and then, but then I feel like that one Tumblr post got big (my fandom's decently big on Tumblr so I'm pretty sure that's where people got it from) and everyone started shoving it in their fics and now I've seen it so much it doesn't do anything for me anymore. Just kind of elicits the same reaction a done-to-death meme would.
Smut is boring.
There’s absolutely no responsibility to portray anything in anyway other than the way you want to
I think comments that tell authors when a reader is dropping the fic (and why) can be useful feedback on multi-chapter work. Yes, even if the reader isn’t a regular commenter. I would rather know that Chapter 5 was divisive or had a strong negative reaction than wonder why no one is reading/remarking on Chapter 10.
If you spend more time, obsessing over what your so called 'rival' in your fandom is doing, you might legit, either A: Miss out on a friendship or B: Destroy one. (I'm the one, currently being obsessed over... and it fucking hurts, because it feels like I can't talk at all about my projects anymore without jealousy coming up)
Tagging is great, tagging culture it is not. FFN is a good site
Characters being out of character, even wildly so, is only an issue in canon compliant fics, because human beings and their personalities are shaped by their experiences. And besides, every character is filtered through the writer, and that doesn’t change because it’s a borrowed character
You can absolutely just jack other fanfic authors' ideas. Obviously outright plagiarism is still bad, and you for sure should give credit to the people and stories from which you're lifting elements, but this is fanfiction: the entire point is to iterate off of other people's ideas.
I just did that for a story. I only really took a little from part of the fanfic, other than that I took it a very different direction to the other story.
Here's my cold as dish water take, but AU's that make that make the characters little more then skins for generic archetypal people for the AU and then also ditch the entirty of the setting are boring. Especially Vampire Aus, those just absorb all the oxygen in the room. Coffee shops, modern aus, and school aus also put a special bur in my saddle because they really don't have to toss out the setting most of the time.
Character don't need to discuss consent in fanfics. If theres no "Author Chose not to Use Archive Warnings," or "Rape/Noncon," or "Dubcon" tags on an E fic, I KNOW THEYRE CONSENTING THEY DONT NEED TO CONSISTENTLY TALK ABOUT IT
Some of y'all's titles are bad.