Archive Watching There and Back Again Fanfiction
The Ultimate Guide To Fanfiction and Fanfiction Sites
Ah, the mystery of fanfiction! A whirlwind of adventures, stories, and craziness that leaves anyone in a daze. I have been reading and writing fanfiction nether various pseudonyms for ~7 years now. I've tried every site from newer fanfiction sites similar Commaful to niche fanfiction archives to the tried and true archives similar Fanfiction.cyberspace and AO3. In this article, I'k going to go over everything about fanfiction from the basic "What is fanfiction" to in-depth reviews of all the various fanfic websites.
I've even tried sites that aren't tradition fanfiction sites but are character oriented, like CharacterHub and Toyhouse, designed for sharing characters and fan characters.
Hither'south the TL;DR for those of you who don't want to read the entire affair:
- There is slap-up fanfiction for pretty much whatsoever you're fanatical about and if at that place isn't YOU can outset the fandom! Look upwardly any show, movie, or actor and y'all'll probably notice something!
- Commaful and Archive of Our Own (AO3) are my two favorite places to share and read fanfiction (for very different reasons). AO3 because of its huge library and incredible search engine to find the best fanfics. Commaful for its gorgeous visuals (I tin can use gifs to help my fics come to life). Yous have to try it to experience the magic.
- Fanfiction tin can be a lot of romance, sex, and "ships" (ships are when the author puts 2 characters into a romantic relationship), just doesn't take to exist. There is not bad fanfiction for everyone.
What is Fanfiction?
In its simplest course, fanfiction is when somebody takes a character, universe, or story from a different scenario to create their own story. These characters and scenarios are commonly pulled from novels, Boob tube shows, movies, and even real life (looking at you Justin Bieber and Harry Styles fanfiction writers!)
Do you know who the guy with the red sword thing above is? Unless you live under a rock, you probably know what Star Wars is and that the homo's name is Kylo Ren. If yous don't know who he is, hither's what yous need to know.
Imagine that you simply watched the film and yous beloved the character. After the movie, you accept all of these "what if" scenarios running through your head. What if Kylo killed this guy instead of that guy? What if he has a love interest?
If you write these scenarios out, the result is fanfiction!
With fanfiction, the possibilities are endless! Y'all tin put Harry Potter characters in Star Wars. Y'all can re-write scenes of movies that you don't similar. You tin re-write honey interests. You tin can add your own characters to the Hogwarts universe. Y'all tin can add together yourself to your favorite novel. You tin can take your favorite character dress upward as a chicken. Yous get the point.
Permit's try your hand at a few lite and short pieces of fanfiction:
A story featuring Harry Potter and the Avengers from AO3
Super short Star Wars fanfic'south get-go affiliate in commaful's special fic format:
These stories are on the shorter side and don't feature annihilation graphic. After the side by side section, I'll exist going over different types of fanfiction stories. But offset, here are the elevation fanfic sites where y'all can share your fanfic and also discover the all-time fanfiction.
Superlative Fanfiction Websites
When it comes to sharing your work, you lot have a lot of options between many different fanfiction sites and fanfiction apps! I'm going to go over all the major options (all of which I accept tried) to both share fanfiction pieces and also finding the best fanfiction. I'm listing them in the gild of my personal preference. Different people have different preferences, only here are my preferences and reviews:
ane. Archive Of Our Own (AO3)
This is my fanfiction site of choice. I utilize this for all my long form fanfiction reading. The search allows me to pinpoint the Verbal type of story I similar to read and filter out tags I don't want. AO3 can have some very very extremely content and I try to make sure I don't read those. Nigh other fiction athenaeum do prevent stories that are over-the-superlative violent or sexual, but AO3 allows pretty much everything. For nigh of the fandoms I like, AO3 has a more active community than other sites.
Pros:
- Very agile and huge library of stories
- Very sophisticated search that makes finding stories very easy
- You can find just almost anything because AO3 censors very little
- High quality, long form stories. I find most stories here are higher quality than most other sites
Cons:
- No messaging system
- Can exist complicated to utilise
- You tin can't sign upwards immediately, you have to asking an invite
Verdict: I recommend AO3 for writers and readers with some experience with fanfiction already. Its extensive library and powerful search engine make it overall a killer pick for those who know what they're doing.
2. Commaful
I was initially skeptical of this picayune site, but afterwards spending some time on information technology, I now post regularly and interact regularly as one of my favorite fanfic sites. The stories are very different than almost fanfiction and more attainable than nearly sites. My friends won don't even read fanfics are reading some of my creations on there. The site provides a different flavour of fanfics that is new and refreshing. It's also amazing for shorter works and one shots. You really have to endeavour information technology to experience the magic.
Pros:
- Gorgeous reading format that even non-fanfic readers love. Some really skilful and quality fanfiction
- Great chat organisation and customs tools
- Very positive and encouraging community
- Easy for completely new writers to get followers (more tools to reach audiences)
Cons:
- smaller library of content
- creating tin take some time to go used to given its innovative format
- many fandoms aren't super popular yet, merely you can start it (they provide you resources if you achieve out)
Verdict: I recommend Commaful to people who are getting into fanfiction or people who observe themselves with busy schedules and still want to read and write.
three. Fanfiction.net
I wrote on this site for a couple of years and found a lot of people moving over to AO3. The customs on here feels nicer than AO3. The site is a chip easier to navigate than AO3 and reminds me a fleck of quondam school forums.
Pros:
- big library of content! some fandoms are more popular/agile here than on AO3
- it has messaging. nothing super fancy, but information technology gets the job done.
Cons:
- this could be a pro or con, but you lot won't detect more than hardcore stuff on here.
Verdict: I'd recommend checking both AO3 and fanfiction.cyberspace for the fandoms you're interested in to see which archive is more active in your fandom. Overall, I like AO3 improve, but fanfiction.net is a chip simpler to navigate (at the cost of more avant-garde features)
4. Tumblr
Tumblr isn't simply for fanfiction, but it's smashing for sharing fanfiction as well equally promoting fanfiction works yous've posted elsewhere. Use the search functionality to locate the types of works you're interested in. Use tags to help get your works discovered within your fan communities.
Pros:
- lots of community features, chatting, etc.
- broad audience of readers in every fandom, engage with all things from fan art to gifs to fanfiction
Cons:
- not designed for fanfiction
- stories get pushed down your feed pretty quickly (older posts die apace)
Verdict: I'd mostly recommend posting somewhere else and promoting the works to Tumblr. Tumblr is a great place to get conversations going about the works.
v. Wattpad
In my experience, I've found Wattpad to have a ton of fanfiction well-nigh Harry Styles, Ane Direction, and Justin Bieber (all teenage pop stars). A lot of teen fic and loftier school stories. I've found search to exist a bit hard to utilize. Overall, huge international audition on Wattpad and a young audience then for certain fandoms that focus on these younger audiences, Wattpad is the master identify to postal service.
Pros:
- a lot of teen fics and teen writers
- bones messaging system and community tools
- large base of content (from original content to fanfiction)
Cons:
- hard to search
- not much diversity
- lower quality of writing
Verdict: I recommend browsing through some fanfiction on Wattpad. If you don't similar what you run into, y'all probably won't find much more than. If you like what you see, most of the fics at that place are probably exactly what you want. It's mostly teen fan fics and so if you similar the genre, you lot'll exist at home.
six. Quotev
This used to be a much bigger hub equally a fanfiction site when I was writing on information technology. I eventually migrated most of my works off it when I found that the other sites were bigger. After re-visiting information technology today, it looks like the site is more used for quizzes and roleplaying now, though fanfiction is still a office of it.
Pros:
- large community of passionate fans
- slap-up conversation tools and forum features
Cons:
- less fanfic activity now
- small library of works to choose from
Verdict: Quotev seems like a nice identify to roleplay for inspiration. There is also less competition for stories and plenty of people looking to read, so at that place may exist some opportunity to share some interesting posts. Creepypasta is very popular there so if you are writing Creepypasta fanfiction, this is the place to be.
7. Kindle Worlds
I've only used this in passing. I call up the merely reason to apply this is to try to make money. Admittedly, didn't spend a ton of time here, nor did I make money, but I call up people can brand adept coin hither if they put in the time and endeavour.
Pros:
- y'all can make coin!
Cons:
- non much of a base or customs
Verdict: If y'all want to feed yourself, look no further! But sure fandoms qualify.
8. deviantArt
DeviantArt is known for its amazing fan art and illustration community. I used to browse this every solar day just because everything here is so beautiful. There is as well a lot of fanfiction and fan comics existence posted. I shared some works here and they got some decent readership. I recollect it depends on the fandoms, and then definitely expect at the fandoms before trying this out.
Pros:
- very visual site, so a lot of the fanfiction works are very very creative
- lots of tools on the site to fashion your posts, add together images, etc.
- prissy looking profiles, blog updates, messaging
Cons:
- non designed specifically for fanfiction
Verdict: DeviantArt is 1 of the most fun sites for me. I honey browsing because of its fan art, fan comics, and more. The talent hither is astonishing and it'south nice to also be able to share my fanfiction. It's a fun community to be around, even if it'due south not designed for fanfics.
There are other more than niche athenaeum and smaller sites that are new, merely for the purposes of this article, I decided to focus on the more notable places to post.
As mentioned earlier, there are besides other types of fan cosmos sites that aren't tradition fanfiction, like CharacterHub for characters and Webtoons for comics.
Types Of Fanfiction
Now that you empathise the websites for fanfiction and what fanfiction is, here are the types of fanfiction y'all'll come across. These are unremarkably seen as tags on the websites. You should expect at these tags and description before reading the story to get an idea of what y'all're getting into.
A/A (Action/Risk): a lot of fighting, battles, typically plot driven stories.
Adult: usually graphic and sexual. You must exist eighteen+ to read
Angst: typically very dark, involves torment of the characters, depression, and sadness.
AU (alternate universe): stories where characters are put into different worlds than their normal universe
BDSM (Bondage Domination Sadism Masochism): these stories vary in severity so beware. tend to be sexual and involves submissive sexual scenarios
Crossover: when multiple universes collide. It could be taking characters and putting them in other universes. Could exist a merging of settings.
F/F: involves romance between two female person characters
Fluff: stories that are typically short and sweet. usually some slight degree of romance but nothing graphic. usually just fun and happy
H/C (Injure/Comfort): Some pain (like malaise) followed by comforting and resolution
M/F: involves romance between and male person and female
M/M: involves romance between male and male
Oneshot: Most fanfiction stories accept multiple parts. Oneshots are non divide into multiple chapters and are usually shorter. Information technology'due south the full story right there and you're done!
OOC (Out of Graphic symbol): the character may behave out of character or carry in a way not consistent with the original source
OC (Original Grapheme): The story includes a character created by the writer
Slash: homosexual human relationship story
Slow Burn: stories where the characters very slowly fall into a romantic or sexual relationship
Smut: fanfiction porn. graphic sex is involved
Again, brand sure to look out for these tags and notes earlier reading a story and then that you know what to wait and don't end upwards reading something you're uncomfortable with.
You lot should also make sure you lot tag your stories appropriately as well and so that readers know what to look.
Writing Fanfiction
The showtime time I wrote fanfiction, I was extremely nervous, so I know EXACTLY how y'all feel.
The most common (and in my stance, the best advice) is to, only exercise it. Just write it. Whatsoever you are fantasizing most or thinking about, just put it on paper.
A friend of mine put it best:
"You lot aren't creating annihilation. The characters are just doing their thing and you're spectating and documenting information technology."
This statement may audio ridiculous, but the more than I write, the more I detect that it is true. We have an intuition almost how characters should behave and the personas they stand for.
Just past starting to write, often times the characters only come up to life and put themselves to piece of work.
Get-go with what y'all're comfortable with
I unremarkably recommend beginners write their first story nigh something they're comfy with. Accept the character that y'all trust the near and a scene that you've played through in your head a few times, and just endeavor putting it into a story.
I like to write these drafts in a Word document to start because it makes me feel less pressure level, like I don't have to publish if I don't take to.
Just write. Don't worry near the nitty gritty
Focus on the plot, the actions, the feelings, the setting, and all the things that are happening. I used to get stuck all the time fixing sentence structure, correcting grammer, or figuring out the exact way to say something. Don't think as well much. Worry most that in editing, because that's what it is for. Ane you get into a country of writing, the ideas will come to you. If you go along stopping, yous'll never achieve that mental state.
Read it out loud and edit
Reading your story out loud to yourself is the all-time style to edit. I take hold of dozens of mistakes during this process. I get to relish what I wrote every bit well as fix up any wording or grammer errors. If you accept a beta reader (basically somebody who test reads your story before you release it), this is also a great place to become the beta reader involved.
Afterward that, I publish it publicly and share the stories on social media to my followers! Comments and reviews always make my 24-hour interval (hint: if you lot observe a adept fanfiction piece, comment and review)! I've had 100k+ people read my fics at this point and have won the Commaful weekly top story honors several times. It still makes my solar day every time somebody compliments my work!
Last thing: Have fun!
Equally you can see, fanfiction can involve a lot of work and effort. It's very easy to get lost in the hard work and forget why you got started writing.
The internet can be a tough place. While almost of the comments I get accept been positive, the negative comments and proper name-calling still go me every time. The comments tin criticize just about anything, no matter how trivial and shallow.
I won't prevarication. Even though I don't run into it much, it does get to me. Just remember why yous got into writing and sharing fanfiction. Considering you dear writing. You honey these characters. And I promise you that somebody else will dear your piece of work too. Don't let a few haters discourage you lot.
Every day I get to alive in the worlds that I love, transform the characters I obsess nearly, and entertain people from effectually the earth. If that isn't crawly, I don't know what is!
If this slice inspired you to write your fanfiction, delight post links to them in the comments below! I want to come across them!
*EDIT* a number of you have reached out request for my profile data on Commaful and AO3. I like to continue those accounts private, but if you annotate your account username below, I volition follow you! I'k no longer active on well-nigh other sites.
Source: https://medium.com/@joannasmith008/fanfiction-428029544a12