This might get a little sticky, but...

I've recently fallen back into the habit of reading fanfiction on the fly after a long hiatus... I used to gobble up the stuff in my grade school and early high school days, back when Fanfiction.net wasn't flooded with so many works. I also dabbled in the writing of fanfiction a while back, although now I've relegated myself to original projects.

Suffice to say, there doesn't seem to be a lot in the fanfiction world to keep me tuned in. Either that, or I'm looking in the wrong place. It's getting increasingly difficult to find what I'd deem as decent work, although extensive bookishness from my course in college might be to blame for that.

So now that leads me to the following questions. How do you guys feel about the fanfiction world? What are your top kinks and pet peeves? Also, on a more technical note, what makes a fanfic "good" for? The concept? The characterization? The plot (or lack thereof)? The writing itself?

On a side note, we can even go into the idea of reviewing fanfiction, if anyone wants to.

Hm..fanfcition..i have a friend who writes fanfiction..and it has always been fun to read. sometimes they're not al that great,...but there are some great writers out there on fanfiction.net...its nice to read i guess there 'good' reading when you are like me and have no anime to watch! or when you want something to happen in the anime/manga and it doesn't happen..it might be written in ff form...
reviewing eh? sometimes the world can be cruel somepople can be so mean about a fanfic that is prefectly normal...but then again..what is classified as 'normal'?

I read some fanfictions, there are ones that are really bad in my opinion, where there is no plot, a bunch of grammar mistakes and that are written just to write about an character or those were the characters are completly OOC O_o
But I also found wonderfull story, perfectly written with characters developpement and such, very great and interesting...
Sometime, I can even prefer the storyline of a fanfic than the one of an the anime or book ^_^'

~kaesteranya

what makes a fanfic "good" for? The concept? The characterization? The plot (or lack thereof)? The writing itself?

For me to go on reading a fanfiction I need to WANT to know the end... and for that everything you said is important: concept, characterization, plot and wrinting! ^^

I can't say I'm too big of a fan of what I have read thus far on fanfiction.net. Theres no originality and the story telling is lacking at best. I am a student of writing and I feel that originality or at least being able to capture your audience is an art that is missing from these types of writings. But maybe I am being too critical on these works considering that they are not of professional grade. Who knows just my thoughts.

Fanfictions... no comment on that since i don't read any :)

but i guess it will be nice if i start reading them... i have a friend who reads a lot of these in one sitting. it's klike he's holding a pocketbook and sits for hours doing so. looks nice XD

When it comes to fan fictions, they vary diversely as far as "how good" they are goes. One thing that really bakes my noodle, though is when people give a character some kind of weird characteristic, personality trait or appendage that they don't have. Or if they leave something about the character out completely. I mean, little changes for the sake of the story are okay, but when the character completely loses their identity, then its time to stop and rewind. Other than that, it really depends on the writer's imagination and writng skills for as far as how a fan fiction will be rated.

If I've got apsolutely nothing else to do I'll read some, depends on how well it is writen. My first fanfiction ever read was one my friend wrote about Gundam wing and it was pretty good.

The question on what makes a fanfiction story good is something that changes for everyone. The main things are originality in what the characters say and do, unique writing style, and grammatical errors.

I used to read tons of fanfiction, I mean, I would sit down for hours on the weekend and read stories. Its hard to get people into fanfiction because everyone's idea of good is different. SOme people hate it when their favorite characters act out of character, but that has to happen to a degree otherwise there would be no point in writing fanfiction. One of the main reasons for writing is to see something happen that you always wanted to happen but you know the show will never go that way. Thats where the first thing is a conflict: originality is hard because if you don't take some liberties in what the characters do and say then your story will sound like everyone else's stories. Little jokes that are in the anime or show are in 80% of the fanfictions out there. Its cool the first couple times you come across it, but about the 20th time you freaking cringe. Tons of people hate OOC parts of stories, but being OOC is can what change an original show in such a way and make it incredibily awesome.

The next thing is unique writing style. There are tons of ways to write. First person and third person are small matters when compared to style. One of my favorite fanfiction stories focuses on actual dialugoe, so its written kind of like a movie script. Almost the entire thing is what is actually being said. It works really well. And another one of my favorite stories is description heavy and thought process and it works just as well. Something that is unique keeps me in interested.

And the last thing is grammar. That is huge! Nothing turns me off more than coming across 5 grammar or sentence mistakes in the first 2 paragraphs. All you have to do is read your story one more time after you write it and then wait a half an hour and read it again. After that your story is probably ready to go. Everyone makes mistakes, so anticapate them and make the time to fix them before you submit them.

I love fanfiction. I haven't read it since I've gotten out of school for break because its mostly what I use to unwind from a hard day. If I find a good author, I read a chapter before I go to sleep. It makes the day go by faster.

As long as the fanfics are good and full of mail smut, I'll read them ^_^

Fanfiction is ok. I agree with Keishar. Its all good. x_x ^_^

As long as I don't encounter shittie mary sues and marty stu's it's all alright (yeah they don't even deserve being writeen with capital letters)

I agree with Pendragon's points. Very comprehensive response, by the way. ^_^

Some additional things on my end:

Aesthetics and style are important for me (i.e. they have to be more than just decent writers), as is sticking to the canon. I don't like original characters (especially if they're Mary Sue/Gary Stu-ish) and OOC-ness... if a writer plans to pull those off, they'll have to do it REALLY well to get my attention. I'm also very picky with crosssovers. There are very few crossovers that work, in my opinion, and multi-verse crossovers (the ones with more than two stories) tend to go haywire from the sheer number of characters and conflicting ideas.

I hate, hate, HATE PWP stories. I'm also a huge stickler with intimate scenes. Nobody seems to be able to write them decently enough these days. Good dialogue is important too, but I suppose that lends itself to style and characterization.

On a sidenote, pretentious writers turn me off too. No matter how good they are, you can't get me to touch their work with a foot-long pole.

Its hard to find some good fanficts these days. I read fan fics once in a while.

Kaesteranya: Agree with the crossovers bit. Some anime are NOT MEANT to be mixed together.

Hehe, girl, you need to read the PWPs with a M, NC-17 or NC-21 ratings, those are exquisitely written (of course you will always encounter those pathetic excuses of literature among the good ones), unless you don't like that kind of reading.

Hee. I tend to like my gratitious fictional sex (especially if it's yaoi/yuri) with plot. XD

There are times when one is hard-pressed to draw the connection between those two sides though. Plot and sex, I mean. @_@