5/27/2012: I've just finished a very hectic final year at school, and will now have time to devote to new stories. I have a lot of ideas outlined in my journals, and can't wait to get them all typed out.

8/17/2012: Heading off to college tonight! I don't have an English class this semester (thanks to all the AP courses I took) so I'll need a way to keep my writing skills sharp. Expect at least a few new stories in the next few months.

Tips for Writers and Readers...

1. Don't put "This summary sucks, just read it" or anything along those lines in your summary. If your summary sucks, why would someone want to read your story? Just try your best at a summary, and if the plot is interesting then people will read it.

2. Try to limit the use of Japanese words. Limit their use to when they are needed, such as honorifics (endings such as -chan, -kun, and -sama) and Japanese words that have no English synonym (such as jutsu, rankings, and weapons).

3. Spell check your work, if you can. For me, if there are only a few misspellings, I can read it, but if there are too many misspellings I will not continue reading the story.

4. Remember to double-space often. Don't have too many blocks of words; it's hard to read. Also, don't have more than one person speaking in a paragraph. It confuses people.

5. Try not to flame in reviews, unless you really hate the story and the authors gives permission to flame. If you don't like a story, that's fine - but if you say just that, then how can they improve, so that next time, there'll be something better? Write constructive reviews instead. Tell them how they can improve!

6. Try not to use symbols and abbreviations in your writing, unless it's in the author's note. Some readers may not know what those symbols or abbreviations mean, so it makes it harder to read.

-alolha123

The Most Important Thing to Remember...

"...when writing a 'fic you must keep in mind that what people really want to read, and what is most worthwhile to write, is the struggle. All the hard times, all the bad days, all the grinding work, all the nasty weather, all the emotion. You can't just rattle off a list of things that happened. We want to see them happening! We want to feel the pain and the joy and the pride and the disappointment. Take the gray seas and snow-covered pines and fluttering auroras burning in the darkness behind your eyes and convert them into text!"

-Keleri