What I Believe About Fanfiction:

I believe that fanfiction is a test ground. Some of us are writers, some editors, some critics, and some of us are readers, reviewers, & cheerleaders. This may be a casual stop for you, or something you take seriously. Some are here because they are a fan of a book series and they loved it so much they want more. Others just see this as a community to share their writing, they've never read the series and may have only glanced at a movie... yet they're still here. There is a draw here. It's a community. You may follow one or two fics, or you may be a die hard fan who follows no less than a hundred and when you don't see an update to something for a few days, you're jonesing for another hit.

My point being, we all have our varying reasons for being here and it's a personal decision.

There are groups who are adamantly against the pulling of fanfictions and then publishing them. Honestly, that practice, in and of itself, has not been my issue. More than anything else, I dislike the selling of an ending. (The ending of a fanfic doesn't even have to be the same as the ofic, but after investing time, cheerleading, & coaching into a story, I don't appreciate it when an author pulls a fanfiction to publish just shy of the ending... especially with the words, "If you want to see how it all ends, buy my book!") I'm not fond of using others to write a story without credit (this typically happens when authors don't know their direction). And, I believe that many of the fanfictions posted here are rough drafts. They need work to be a good, publishable story. Admittedly, though, some need more than others, but I admire those authors who take the time and put forth that effort.

I think the thing that bothers me the most are the groups who are against former fanfiction authors who publish an original story. It boggles my mind. I mean, isn't that the point? For someone who is in fandom to learn to write, to improve their skills, then wouldn't the next logical step be to write an original story and publish it? For many people here, that is the reason they're here and writing. Not only that, but the fanfiction fans should be the first people to support these authors as they make a switch to pro!fic. It makes them seem as if they're simply jealous and pouting because someone is taking their favorite toy away from them. So, you have to pay a few dollars to read the latest story from your favorite author. So. What?

Ultimately, though, I simply hope that each person who is here gets what they're looking for out of the experience.

8 Rules for Writing a Short Story (but, take a look, these really apply to most every work of fiction) by Kurt Vonnegut

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Fine... I don't agree with the last one so much. I think that most stories need to have some suspense in them to keep things interesting. But I also believe in moderation. After all, readers only have so much patience.