I deleted my old profile. I'm going to lurk here now. And stuff. Those three story things I've got? Crap. The HP one will not be finished. Ever. My writing has improved bunches since I wrote those, but I need to leave them there to remember, y'know. If I write fanfiction again, I'll put some up. You can read my original stuff on my deviantART account. I will also critique any story I come across that I think can be helped and is worth improvement. I'm real good at reading and critiquing, but not so hot at writing it myself. Funny, huh? I really love reading though, and appreciate it when people take the time and effort to make an excellent story for others to enjoy. Thank you, writers, you give my spare time a purpose.

Some notes for all who wish to write (competently in my eyes):

1) Do not write "(Character)'s POV" - It's perfectly fine to write in first person point of view, but writing whose point of view it is takes away some of the confusion that's enjoyable at the beginning of a story. There are many, many ways to write into the first three or four paragraphs whose eyes we're looking through, whether through looking at a mirror and describing the speaker, or having someone call his or her name. Really, please, prefacing a section with whose point of view it is is the mark of an amateur. Don't take this to mean it's not okay to switch point of views either. Please! Do it! It adds so much flavor!

2) Dialogue is fine, but no description is boring! - I know, people focus on dialogue, but what truly makes the story is where the person is (alone in the dark, in a crowded restaurant, on the sidewalk), what they're doing (fidgeting, sitting still, staring off into the distance), and what's happening around them (someone yells something, someone walks by, best friend hits them). You really need dialogue and action in equal parts to make a good read.

3) Grammar and spelling is everything. - Please, please, please, have someone proofread your story, even if it's someone you barely know, just ask them to read through it and point out mistakes to correct. If you can't find someone to read it for you, read the story backwards. I mean, go from the last word back to the first. You'll catch homonym mistakes/typos that a spell-checker won't. Then read it by sentence, from the last to the first. That'll help you catch most of your grammar mistakes. Trust me, grammar and spelling can make or break a story!

4) APIS (Author Persona Insertion Syndrome) - I really don't care if the story is your little fantasy and you imagine yourself as one of the characters, but please, when posting it and replacing yourself with another character from the series, make sure that you get all the descriptions, especially gender determiners (his/her, he/she) correct! If you have brown hair and the character has green hair, make sure the character still has green hair in your story! We're reading for the characters, not persona insertion, so keep yourself out of your published stories please!

(I'll add more as I come across them.)