#fosff

With the launch of our new site, a lot of changes are still taking place, especially with our social media sites like Twitter, Livejournal and Facebook. But we are in the midst of changing those. For now, read about the opening of the site here on the front page news article of our new site!

  Thank you! ♥ I thought that they were just switching servers though. I didn't know they were wiping it completely clean. D: I don't have a facebook, so I couldn't reach their account on there. It's kinda sad for the people who've only posted and updated on fosff are gonna lose all of their stories and hit counts, but I hope it all works out okay this time.

Getting started in the fanfiction world is actually pretty easy and doesn't require much work, just an interest in something, the ability to write and the imagination.

I’m sure you already have a fandom in mind that you want to write about. Whatever it is, make sure you know it well and the characters. Then devise a plot, a setting and any possible extra original characters (OCs) of your imagination that you might want to add on. 

However, be sure that OCs are absolutely needed. Usually made-up characters that are not originally apart of the canon world you're writing for, don’t always make a story better. For some readers OCs are even frowned upon in certain fandoms for a number of reasons. But don’t let that deter you because you should always write for yourself and not for others.

A good starting point is to create a plot for your story. All it takes is an idea and usually just brainstorming can help with that. Try asking yourself plenty of ‘what-if’ questions. For example, it could be: 

What if so-and-so hadn't died? 

What if so-and-so and so-and-so had gotten married/ended up together?

What if so-and-so was put into this situation? 

What if this happen to so-and-so instead of so-and-so?

What if this scene didn't happen? 

What if this so-and-so did this instead of that?

What if the story took place in another time period? Or another world?

What if so-and-so were turned into an elf, vampire, demon, human, dragon, etc.? Would they still be the same person? What about the other characters? How much would the plot change?

As you can see, asking yourself questions is very helpful because you'll get several ideas for a plot. It can even give you a better understanding of the details as well. Whatever your idea for a story is, you can then begin to write it. Don’t focus too much on being perfect with your writing, in particular the grammar and spelling. It’s important that you get the writing done first and then later you can focus on correcting those mistakes.

After you are done with a few chapters of your story or your entire story, revise and proofread it to make sure that there are no spelling mistakes, grammar errors or inconsistencies (like plot holes, out of characterization, etc). It really does help if you read it out loud to yourself. You can even put it through a grammar checker to double check. But what many writers find really helpful is to get a beta reader, which is someone who will look over your work for you to help improve it. 

I also suggest that you check out writer's guides specifically written for fanfiction writers because they do help to make sure that your story is good. And it doesn't hurt to check out the forums too, where people rant about their fanfiction pet peeves. It's a helpful way for fanfic writers to get into the readers’ mind and know what they dislike seeing when they read fanfiction. You can use that knowledge to make your story much more appealing to them.

For example in a fanfiction pet peeve forum I’ve read about how most readers don’t like it when they see the summary for a fanfic containing any of these things: 

"I suck at summaries", "The title says it all" or no summary at all. It gives the readers the impression that the story itself is lacking. If the writer didn't put any effort into writing the summary, than why would they as a reader bother with the story? 

The summary is very important because it's the first thing readers will see and if there isn't one then they won't bother with the story. They want to know what they’re getting into first. That’s one of the reasons why all books contain blurbs on the back of them. It’s gives the readers a general idea of what it’s about without revealing too much. 

There’s three key components for a summary: who is the main character, the primary conflict they face and what’s at stake. If you’re struggling with this bit than take a look at your favorite books for examples. Or look for writing guides about blurbs since there’s plenty of free advice in the internet that anyone can  search.

Once you’ve got your story out of the way, the next step is to post it online for people to read. That's also known as publishing your work. There are numerous websites specifically meant to publish fanfiction and many of them are completely free. Majority of the people go to Fanfiction.Net because it's the largest and most well known fanfiction site. 

However, many don't like it because the terrible quality of fanfiction on it and so many will search for a better website. For example, on Lunaescence Archives, they moderated the stories, which means they make sure that each and every story posted there is written well (with minimal spelling mistakes and grammar issues) because they care about the quality and not quantity of fanfiction on their website.

Here are some other fanfiction sites:

AdultFanFiction

Archive of Our Own (also referred as AO3)

Asianfanfics

Commaful

FanFiction

FicWad

Ghosts of the Vanguard

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Lunaescence Archives

There's one place in the internet that is my home, my sanctuary, my haven, my hideaway, my oasis, whatever I call it it's a special place for me. This place allows me to relax, enjoy all that I love with wonderful people that share the same interest and allows me to escape reality when things get ugly. Everyone has a place that they go to when they just want to be themselves, to escape and have a moment of peace. Some do it by throwing themselves into books, by playing video games, by drawing, and so on. I do that by writing and reading fanfiction because sometimes I can't get enough of my favorite fandom. Ever since I found this place I've grown so attach to it and I want to share it with others or at least, let it be known.

The community, a place of peace and happiness is Lunaescence Archives. It is a moderated archive dedicated to quality anime, manga, TV show, books, movies, cartoons, comics, and gaming fan fiction. All the stories in this archive have been screened for spelling, grammar, and more. The writers that post their stories don't need to be perfect, but the site does recognize the importance of good writing. All authors featured on the site are talented and gifted writers, each with their own unique style and genre. Also, in addition to fanfiction they also welcome authors of original prose and poetry. 

The moderators are responsible for checking and approving stories and chapters, and for validating authors who have proven themselves to be good writers. Basically that means that every time you submit a chapter, there are people who read and check for minor grammar and spelling mistakes before it goes up on the site. And after a while, you can request to become a validate author which gives you the privilege of posting any story or as many chapters you want at once, without having to wait for it to be checked by the mod. When you're a validated author that means that you've proven to the mods that you're a good writer because you read over your stories/chapters and make sure that they are grammar and spell checked yourself. 

It's unlike those other fanfiction sites (i.e. fanfiction.net, quizilla, mibba, mediaminer.org, etc.) that contain absolutely horrible stories with terrible spelling, format, grammar and so on. You'll always find decent and excellently written fanfiction on Luna. Another great thing is that the mods are all polite, helpful, and they actually communicate with the users on the site unlike Fanfiction.net mods where they don't do anything or talk to you when you ask them about things or problems that happen. For example; On Luna, if you wanted to request a new category or characters to be added, you would do so by going onto the forum. The mods are quick to respond and they get the request done so you're free of waiting weeks or months to finally post up your story. 

I've been on the website for quite a few years and during my time there my writing has improve so much and I continue to be a better writer. I use to focus only on fanfiction but now I'm spreading onto other areas, like writing my own original stories. Heck, I'm in the process of starting my own novel and I've actually gone farther then I have ever before, especially with the other times I've tried working on a novel. 

When it comes to characters point of view it shouldn't matter their gender. What matters the most is their personality, their background, their education, their age, their culture and their place in society. I find that if you think of them as their own person and not as puppets they can become believable. Focus on how they would react to situations and when it comes to romance, it will all fit into place because what they say, react and do is realistic to them. This would make any and every character different and unique when you see them as their own person and not just gender. 

For example: You have a character name Max, he's quite, a little shy and has a hard time opening up to people. Maybe it's because he doesn't trust people until he gets to know them more (or he thinks that they'll judge him if he shows them his true personality or something). But when meeting a female love interest he wouldn't automatically open up to her. That would make him out of character if he did that, let alone to any other characters. And/or he wouldn't also be all up in a characters face if he's got a crush or is in love with them. He's mature, in his mid to late 20s and he acts and does thing according to his personality, age, how he was raised, learned, and so on.  

It would be the same with a female character as well. They might haven been raised different, have a slightly different personality and so on. But if they have a similar aspect, such as being shy like Max is, they too wouldn't open up to people the first time they meet someone or their love interest. They would want to get to know someone more and when they do that is when they would open up themselves. 

As you can see, knowing your character's thoughts, personality, life, etc is all that matters and not their gender. It's insulting to read stories or people complaining about not knowing how to write the opposite gender or stereotyping them. For example, all the males are thinking of sex and females 24/7 or females always focusing on girly things and their looks. Sure the females care about how they look but not all of them spend countless hours in the bathroom every day getting ready or worrying about getting wet in the rain or getting dirty or something.  

Some of them don't even focus on that unless there's a really good reason why they have to look their best on a certain day or so. As for the guys, they aren't always thinking about sex, maybe once in a while something catches their attention and interest like a celebrity or someone they meet. But mostly they think about their jobs, school work, hanging out with their friends and talking about stuff like their lives or the stupid things they heard or saw or play video games.

No one is alike and your gender doesn't rule you or at least it shouldn't. If a girl likes hockey and is passionate about it unlike her other females, she wouldn't let that stop her from going to a game. Or even joining a team to play it. The same with a guy, if he always wanted to be a dancer, he would go after his dream.

Again, males are not that much different from females. They too like to hang out with friends, talk about stuff and/or play video games. Hang out in the mall, check out stores or go to the movies. Even do things that interest them like going to the beach, checking out the museum, go to the games of whatever sport they like if they're a fan of it, etc.