Melrick

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I've noticed a really weird trend in the fan fiction world, and it's utterly baffling to me. I'm talking about the fan fiction reader who doesn't write, themselves, but seems to think that all fan fiction should be tailored specifically to their tastes. They go on public forums and post things like, "Here are the things I hate about fan fiction stories!" and then proceed to make a long list of things they dislike seeing in fan fiction, implying that these things should never be "allowed" in any fan fiction publication. These are the same people who will write reviews saying, "Ew, gross! This is disgusting, why would you even write this?" even when the story was clearly tagged.
I don't get this mindset at all. It's such a weird sort of entitlement.
"How dare these authors spend their valuable time creating stories that they don't get paid for, and then post them online for me to read absolutely for free! They should magically know what I want and write only that! It's such a waste of my time to have to scroll through stories that don't interest me! All these authors I don't like should gtfo because I DESERVE BETTER!"
Here's what I have to say to these readers:
Why do you think you deserve better? Even if the story is the stupidest thing ever written.... It's free. What are you offering in exchange for the author's hard work that's supposed to be so valuable that it will motivate them to want to write something you personally will like? Obviously it's not money, because in most cases, fan fiction readers don't make the "leap" to purchasing original fiction by their favorite authors. They're hard-core freebie-seekers. And it's sure as hell not attention, because fan fiction authors just don't really get much of that either (have you ever calculated the average review per hit ratio? It's abysmal.).
What exactly do these readers think authors get out of writing fan fiction? Are we supposed to magically know that they're reading and enjoying it, and be spiritually fulfilled by the knowledge that some schmuck in Idaho thinks we "write good smut"? Why do they suppose we are doing this, if it's not for attention or money?
Reality check: Most authors are just writing stories to entertain themselves, because anything else would be an exercise in constant disappointment. We share our stories online out of the goodness of our heart because what the hell? It's already written and maybe someone, somewhere will derive some enjoyment from it... Some of us listen to feedback if it's given, but by the time the story gets posted, we've already received our main "payment," because the fun of writing the story was the whole point for us.
Ultimately, we're writing for ourselves, not for the readers. If the readers happen to like it, that's just a nice bonus.
What some people don't seem to realize is that learning to write well is a HUGELY time-consuming endeavor that is very unlikely to ever "pay off." It's a labor of love. The very fact that anyone ever even tries to do it at all is pretty damn impressive, no matter how bad their attempts are.
Let's talk about what it REALLY takes to learn to write well, shall we? Because realistically, this is what you're expecting writers to do FOR FREE when you demand high quality fan fiction.
First, you have to spend literally years learning the nuts and bolts of your language (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc). And just knowing what's correct isn't enough for fiction. You have to understand WHY it's considered correct, keep track of how the language is changing over time to be sure that your knowledge isn't out of date, and learn how to break the rules intelligently for artistic effect (to achieve effects such as unique voice, character dialects, etc.) Even things such as whether words are Germanic or Latin in origin is important (because Germanic words sound 'casual' and Latin words sound 'academic' and 'smart' and that makes a difference for how your work is perceived by the reader).
At the same time, you have to spend years reading and studying anything you can get your hands on. Being well-read from an author's perspective does not mean having read 100 books within your favorite genre. It means having read AND ANALYZED thousands of books, across all genres, both in fiction and nonfiction. It means reading books you don't like to try to figure out why other people like them. It means reading in genres you hate so that you can understand the perspectives of the types of people who may be the villains in your novels someday. You need to have not only read for enjoyment, but studied the structure, voice, use of dialogue, description, etc... Reading as a writer is hard work, and it takes a special kind of person to think of it as 'fun'.
And that's still not the end of it. Even a barely passable writer who has done none of this will at the very least have spent countless hours writing stories that will never see the light of day (expect perhaps in an online forum or critique group, since feedback can help writers get better...) And all of this is just the bare minimum of what is required to write basic commercial-style fiction. If you want to write something more "artistic" you have to go back and study the classics, and also keep track of what's being done in the lit fic world, so that you understand what has already been done and why it was unique or groundbreaking. Getting an MFA doesn't hurt, if this is the route you want to go (though it's by no means mandatory).
Now think about all that for a second. Knowing what is required for "good" writing, what does bitching about bad fan fiction contribute to this process? How does it help authors to write better stories (or even make them WANT to!)? It doesn't.
So let's talk about action steps.
Let's say that you really deeply do want to actually help promote good fan fiction. There are two main ways you can do it:
1) Provide substantive critiques for authors who want them.
Reviews help writers know that someone is enjoying their work, and even bad reviews can help a writer who is actively trying to get better. Hits don't count. Votes don't count. Reviews that say, "I like this, it's great!" don't count. All of these things are nice and will definitely give the writer the warm fuzzies (which is a very nice thing to do!), but it won't help them write better stories.
Here are some examples of what is helpful to a writer who is actively trying to improve:
"Chapter X made me feel ______. I liked it/didn't like it."
"I really liked the way you described _______. It was really beautiful, and did a great job evoking the atmosphere of the scene!"
"Man, that foreshadowing in Chapter 1 was really cool."
"I generally liked it, but this word wasn't used correctly. A better word might be ______."
"The way you wrote Character X's dialogue was really true to the source material. You captured his voice wonderfully."
"I was really interested in _____, but you never followed up on that. I was a little disappointed, because it was a neat idea and I was really looking forward to seeing where you went with that!"
"This line was hilarious/sexy/heart-breaking: _______. Good job!"
2) Support fan fiction authors whose work you enjoy.
Follow their work and read/review when they post something new. Let them know you like their work and want to see more of it. Subscribe to their stories if that's an option. Pay attention to whether they have published original fiction, and if they have... buy it, if you can scrape together the money! And then, tell your friends about their work.
In the end, the only truly reliable way to ensure that good artists continue to create their art is to support their career.

You might want to point out what kind of fandom your story is, or whether it's an original story. This has more information for you that should help you along.

While I normally would consider this a sort of baiting post, I'd like to take the time to address this.
First of all, I want to point out that this site is run and maintained by volunteers. None of us, including our owner and administrators, make one cent from what we do. Revenue generated by our advertising banners, and from the generous donations of those users who wish to help goes into paying the hosting costs for the site, and to pay for the code upgrades necessary to keep things moving smoothly. So, right from the start, the people working to maintain this site do it because we love AFF and what it stands for.
Having said that, we have a clearly written, plain English Terms of Service and Content Guidelines. We make the rules and expectations very clear. Since this is an adult site, we expect that our members, being adults, can read and comprehend those rules. They are few and quite simple. In the event that a member might not understand a rule, we have forums where they can ask us, and we are always happy to explain what we mean by a given rule. The rules are necessary so that the site can continue to exist. We are required to comply with the laws of our domicile, and it is the site's owner and administrators who stand to face the consequences if we don't enforce our rules. Jail time, fines, and lifetime registration as a sex offender are all potential consequences. I would strongly suggest that it is morally repugnant to expect anyone to face those consequences because another person doesn't want to observe clearly stated rules.
I will assure you that we do document infractions, and the methods are in keeping with the nature of the infraction. Given that we are human, it is inevitable that we will make a mistake from time to time. There is no absolute guarantee of infallibility promised, nor is that even remotely possible. If you believe we have warned you, or taken other action that was not correct, you would be better served by emailing us with facts to refute our conclusions.
To address moral standards, by what benchmark do you judge? How do you determine whether you are a more moral person than I, for example? You don't know me, and I don't know you. Therefore, that entire line of reasoning is specious and childish. If you question whether or not any staff member can behave badly with no consequences, we do have oversight at all levels. It is simply impossible for any moderator to apply warnings incorrectly without that error being caught. Moderators are supervised by the administrators, who are long-term staff members, who have written the rules and guidelines, and who insist that those rules and guidelines be implied impartially.
In short, you posture nicely, but you lack sufficient training in logic, or in classical rhetoric and grammar to make this debate sustainable.

We're constantly having people assume that AdultFanFiction is affiliated with FanFiction.net. Let me make this crystal clear for everybody: we are in no way affiliated with FanFiction.net.
"Oh but the names are very similar," you say ignorantly.
Using that logic, stick insects look like sticks, therefore they must be sticks. Sometimes things can look like something else without actually being that thing.
So let me reiterate for the hard of understanding: AdultFanFiction is in no way, shape or form affiliated with FanFiction.net and it never will be.

We're constantly having people assume that AdultFanFiction is affiliated with FanFiction.net. Let me make this crystal clear for everybody: we are in no way affiliated with FanFiction.net.
"Oh but the names are very similar," you say ignorantly.
Using that logic, stick insects look like sticks, therefore they must be sticks. Sometimes things can look like something else without actually being that thing.
So let me reiterate for the hard of understanding: AdultFanFiction is in no way, shape or form affiliated with FanFiction.net and it never will be.

We're constantly having people assume that AdultFanFiction is affiliated with FanFiction.net. Let me make this crystal clear for everybody: we are in no way affiliated with FanFiction.net.
"Oh but the names are very similar," you say ignorantly.
Using that logic, stick insects look like sticks, therefore they must be sticks. Sometimes things can look like something else without actually being that thing.
So let me reiterate for the hard of understanding: AdultFanFiction is in no way, shape or form affiliated with FanFiction.net and it never will be.

Something to keep in mind regarding story codes (also known as 'tags'). When you're uploading your story, you're required to include the appropriate codes (such as m/f, m/m, oral, etc), which get added to the end of the summary field. The potential problem is that the summary field accepts a maximum of 240 characters, so if you have a long summary for your story, you might run out of room to include all of your story codes. The answer is to simply manually type them into the header part of your story, after the title information and before the story begins. AFF has a limit of 600 words for author's notes per chapter, but story codes aren't included in that count, so add all that are appropriate.

First of all, kiddo, you need to be 18 to use this site, which I'm assuming you're not, given how inarticulate your rant is. That is rule number one, and when broken will have your story deleted without notice.
Also, if you plagiarize stories, you get deleted, pronto.
Second of all, the amazing staff on this site works tirelessly to keep this place up and running for us, without pay and in their own time. That is, they all volunteer their time, in between taking care of themselves, their families, their real life shit and real life work.
And just so you know, much of the staff here have been working with computers since they first appeared on the public market, which was probably before you were even born, so the argument that they don't know what they're doing is just laughable.
That being said, they do not monitor content, nor quality (or lack there of) of the work that is posted here.
The only reason they hide stories is when people can't use the tags properly, or other rules about posting, such as excessively long author notes. When stories do not comply with the rules, the staff starts by putting a review on the story, asking for the problem to be fixed, and if that is not met, then they hide the story, and send you an email, stating what needs to be fixed. If you do not fix it, yes, then eventually, the story gets deleted.
So, sweetie, if your story has been deleted, then maybe you should take a breath and consider what you did wrong, instead of putting up a poorly written, angry rant, accusing the staff here of shit that is so untrue that it's utterly laughable.
And maybe you should just wait until you turn 18, and then try again?
And also, this site is completely unaffiliated with any other fan fiction site out there. This is a completely independent site.
One, very happy customer.
(and sorry, DG, I just couldn't leave it. I'm ok with it if you delete this. )
EDIT: oh, and by the way, I just checked out your AO3 site, and FanFiction.net sites… the links you provided work fine. Both of your stories are still up on AFF, so I really don't see what your problem is.

This is basically a laundry list of various resources writers might find useful sometimes.
Anatomy of the Human Body The 1918 edition of the classic Gray's "Anatomy of the Human Body".
Cliche Finder Need to find cliche's involving the word cat, for example? Just type it in and it displays a list of cliches, including things like "not enough room to swing a cat" and "slicker than cat shit on a linoleum floor".
RefDesk This site is brilliant and has links to just about any reference you can think of.
Elizabethan England Life in Elizabethan England.
The Victorian Web Great for finding out about Victorian England.
Dictionary of Victorian London Another good resource.
Medieval Kingdom Generator This could be very handy for writers of fantasy stories who want to realistically populate their kingdom.
Dictonary and Thesaurus An online dictionary and thesaurus.
Erotic Quills Extensive info on how to write erotica.
Grammar and Writing A guide to grammar and writing.
Stabilization of Trauma in the ER This could be handy to anyone wanting to make their character's trip to the emergency room more realistic.
Wikipedia Wikipedia is always a good source of info, although it's usually a good idea to double check the info elsewhere, just to make sure its accurate.
If anyone has others then feel free to add them.

What an incredibly ignorant statement to make. Perhaps you'd like to give us a huge amount of money so we can hire professionals to do it?

Not to mention those of us who volunteer our time to try and moderate this site, to make sure it's viable.
Unless you're willing to put a considerable amount of money or time where your very big mouth is, then you can feel free to go get stuffed.

What an arrogant statement!
You do realise that DG doesn't get paid, don't you? I mean... this isn't a business.
Lazy? Lazy would mean no AFF at all. The archive exists because DG devotes a huge amount of personal time and effort so that we all have somewhere to post our stories, and to read those of others.

What an incredibly ignorant statement to make. Perhaps you'd like to give us a huge amount of money so we can hire professionals to do it?

I'm curius - y'all do understand that we aren't affiliated in any way with FFN?

I'm with you on the horror stories, and beautiful old buildings. Not that there are any around here!
Corner stores in this country have almost died out, rather sadly, although they were always overpriced.

I think you'll find the spelling is "co-write".

Couldn't agree more. It makes me want to punch them through the monitor.

What annoys me is people deciding to go on a gluten-free diet. This annoys me because there is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is even vaguely unhealthy about gluten!

Gluten is a protein that naturally occurs in wheat, oats and barley. Nothing wrong with it at all. Unless you have coeliac disease. This is an autoimmune condition where sufferers are gluten intolerant, to greater or lesser degrees. Coeliac disease suffers have to eliminate gluten from their diet because it can make them very sick, as well as damage their bowel, and even potentially develop cancer.

Coeliac suffers is the reason why gluten-free foods first started, not because gluten is unhealthy. What’s more, Gluten is what makes cakes and bread soft and springy, so to compensate for that, gluten-free foods are often high in fat to improve their texture and make them a bit more palatable.

So if you’re considering whether or not to go on a gluten-free diet just ask yourself one question: “Do I have coeliac disease?” If the answer is no then you have your answer!

What annoys me is people deciding to go on a gluten-free diet. This annoys me because there is absolutely nothing whatsoever that is even vaguely unhealthy about gluten!

Gluten is a protein that naturally occurs in wheat, oats and barley. Nothing wrong with it at all. Unless you have coeliac disease. This is an autoimmune condition where sufferers are gluten intolerant, to greater or lesser degrees. Coeliac disease suffers have to eliminate gluten from their diet because it can make them very sick, as well as damage their bowel, and even potentially develop cancer.

Coeliac suffers is the reason why gluten-free foods first started, not because gluten is unhealthy. What’s more, Gluten is what makes cakes and bread soft and springy, so to compensate for that, gluten-free foods are often high in fat to improve their texture and make them a bit more palatable.

So if you’re considering whether or not to go on a gluten-free diet just ask yourself one question: “Do I have coeliac disease?” If the answer is no then you have your answer!

I learnt to type on a typewriter, but I learnt to touch type thanks to an early version of Makin' Bacon Teaches Typing. That's how I always thought of her, anyway. It actually did a very good job of teaching me to touch type.

I learnt to type on a typewriter, but I learnt to touch type thanks to an early version of Makin' Bacon Teaches Typing. That's how I always thought of her, anyway. It actually did a very good job of teaching me to touch type.

Readers make no sense, lol. Often the ones who take the time to review, aren't in the majority. It struck me today: frequently what repulses us in reality does indeed attract us in fantasy, i.e. incest. At its root, incest is just - so wrong. But when reading fanfiction, without the "realness" of the characters, even I will openly admit that Wincest or Twincest is quite adequate for heating up a frigid day amid this despicable polar vortex thing.
Write for yourself; what you enjoy. Screw the rest.

So, you’ve come across the word ‘tag’ on AFF or other story sites, in situations such as, ‘Always ensure your story includes the appropriate tags’. If your first response is, “What the hell is a tag, and how does it relate to my story?” then this is the FAQ for you!

A ‘tag’, or ‘story code’, will look like these examples: “M/F, M/M, Oral, Anal.” You can find a more complete list of the tags used on AFF here.

If your next response is something like, “Yeah but I wrote a story with a serious plot, and not just mindless sex, so including information like that might give away an important plot point!” I sympathise with you, since it’s a situation that I myself have encountered. There are good reasons for it, though, and not just because it’s AFF policy that you must include all the appropriate tags or risk having your story hidden until you fix it.

You see, everybody has likes and dislikes. If we’re talking non sexual content, some people only read fantasy stories, while others won’t bother with anything other than horror, for example. Sexual content is just the same, perhaps even more rigidly so for many people. A great many will only read stories that have male/male sex, for example, or only female/female sex, and really have no interest whatsoever in reading a story with any other types of sex in it. In fact, they might even be offended by reading about other types of sex. Some people are positively repelled by rape stories, so that’s a tag that people like that will definitely want to see listed before they think about reading it.

If you don’t list your story with the appropriate tags, then, aside from everything else, you risk getting nasty reviews from people that felt tricked into reading your story, or feel angry that they invested time and effort into reading a part of a story they never would have started if they had known what to expect in advance.

So while you might feel that including the tags compromises your story in some way, they are important. Besides, a well written story is still a well written story, and tags will never change that.

So, you’ve come across the word ‘tag’ on AFF or other story sites, in situations such as, ‘Always ensure your story includes the appropriate tags’. If your first response is, “What the hell is a tag, and how does it relate to my story?” then this is the FAQ for you!

A ‘tag’, or ‘story code’, will look like these examples: “M/F, M/M, Oral, Anal.” You can find a more complete list of the tags used on AFF here.

If your next response is something like, “Yeah but I wrote a story with a serious plot, and not just mindless sex, so including information like that might give away an important plot point!” I sympathise with you, since it’s a situation that I myself have encountered. There are good reasons for it, though, and not just because it’s AFF policy that you must include all the appropriate tags or risk having your story hidden until you fix it.

You see, everybody has likes and dislikes. If we’re talking non sexual content, some people only read fantasy stories, while others won’t bother with anything other than horror, for example. Sexual content is just the same, perhaps even more rigidly so for many people. A great many will only read stories that have male/male sex, for example, or only female/female sex, and really have no interest whatsoever in reading a story with any other types of sex in it. In fact, they might even be offended by reading about other types of sex. Some people are positively repelled by rape stories, so that’s a tag that people like that will definitely want to see listed before they think about reading it.

If you don’t list your story with the appropriate tags, then, aside from everything else, you risk getting nasty reviews from people that felt tricked into reading your story, or feel angry that they invested time and effort into reading a part of a story they never would have started if they had known what to expect in advance.

So while you might feel that including the tags compromises your story in some way, they are important. Besides, a well written story is still a well written story, and tags will never change that.