I require assistance! I’m at the point in life where the average fanfic writer spews out a barrage of garbage—at least, in his opinion—to look back on and cringe at. This is the pivotal point between creating terrible works with unfounded confidence and better, praiseworthy works with the cloud of imposter syndrome overhead. Writing is so fun!
Ideas for fanfictions (and sequels to the drafts yet to be drafted, for some reason) have been bouncing about in my head for a while, and recently, I was overcome with the desire to share it somewhere, somehow, some way.
I’m not too proud of my lurking-type style of reading fanfics. I never made accounts for any site for fear of excessive freedom, temptation, email subscriptions, and forgetting my password.
The point? Shh, we’re getting there.
As you might know, sites brimming with the colorful ideas of enthusiasts of other works who construct works based on the original story don’t…well…
They don’t tend to be the cleanest.
So, you understand my dilemma. There’s creating fanfics and letting your imaginative mind run free. Yay! On the other hand, there’s encountering questionable forms of something you enjoy. Boo!
I’d requested advice from writer friends, but I need more info. And here we are.
The search: for two fanfiction sites to write and read fanfics—one with a reputation for quality writing (1) and the other visually pleasing (2). I’m tempted to add “read good fanfiction,” but are there really 100% clean fics on any site?
The bar for the second one isn’t too high. I don’t see myself regularly perusing its digital shelves, considering I’ll be more for aesthetics. Covers can be pretty, you guys.
Here are some sites I’ve heard of:
There’s also Wattpad, but I scratched that off the list recently. I’m willing to hear an argument on its value because I was previously lured in by the layout of its stories and book covers. Is it more trouble than it’s worth, though? We have reason to believe so.
Archive of Our Own – (1)
I already requested to be invited, but considering I’m a newbie, I’m not comfortable sharing anything yet. My account will likely be centered on reading and giving kudos.
Quotev – 15% (1), 85% (2)
From my observation, the works can fall under Wattpad-y style, and the genres don’t just encompass fanfiction. Still, the layout is simple, and I heard good feedback from a friend. There are stories done well, she assured.
FanFiction.Net – 95% (1) 5% (2)
I plan to get this alongside AO3; it’s the site I’m most familiar with after good old AO3. I’m slightly hesitant after seeing it’s a bit complicated to navigate and operate, and I’m not a big fan of the formatting. But I’ve come across engaging stories, and the option for covers is there, so plus points for you, FF.Net.
Tumblr – 25% (1), 75% (2)
Second to FF.Net in familiarity. It puts a lot of pressure on your site to be pretty, which could be overwhelming. It’s also not exclusive to fanfiction, which is a pro and a con.
Commaful – (2)
You either love it or hate it. I’ve heard praise for its gOrGeOuS eVeRyThInG, but I’ve caught issues here and there. Unfortunately, the reasons for those issues remain unknown, as I can’t find my sources anymore. UGH. (It’s late where I live, and I’m procrastinating on everything and nothing.)
Thank you for watching this self-torture.
I made a list in my second writing notebook and gave each a +1 point in green or a -1 point in red, depending on the articles I read to research this. I’m that desperate. Help me.
Share in the comments what sites you use or had an account in before but left or perhaps the ones you have acquaintances in or heard positive or negative feedback about. Or, at the very least, do an eeny meany miny moe and end my misery.
A Christian Kid's Journal 
What’s this? An excuse to write an officious wall of text? Count me in.
You’re not wrong in kicking out Wattpad. It’s reviled for a plethora of good reasons, one being that it’s a plagiarism hotspot.
I’m only really familiar with AO3 and FanFiction.net; I post on both and started out on the latter. I’m gonna be honest, AO3 has a robust population of degenerates, BUT it combats that by having an incredibly thorough filter system so you can weed stuff out. You can exclude certain tags, pairings, ratings, and warnings. It works pretty well, though of course there are always exceptions because somebody doesn’t tag their filthy fic with the appropriate filthy tags and innocent readers get a hot poker to the face upon reading it. (I do not speak from personal experience, no sir, not me.) Of course, depending on what fandoms you’re in, the risk of that happening can be slim. I’ve written for a couple of I guess “mature” fandoms without a problem, because I can exclude what I don’t want to see.
FF.net has a nice Stats section that breaks down your viewers by country/region. It also has a private messaging system, which is nice. AO3 doesn’t have as thorough a stat breakdown, or PMs; you interact with other users solely through public comments.
FF.net also has a filter system, but it’s not nearly as in-depth, as there are no tags besides pairings or general themes like “hurt/comfort” or “humor”. If you’re ever planning on posting anything, as well, its interface can be very confusing. It’s a multi-step process even fixing a typo in a chapter. You can have covers, but no illustrations or links. On AO3 it’s the opposite. Some people slap a picture at the top of their first chapter for a cover, anyway. Works pretty well.
I’ll also add that FF.net is an old, neglected site and has a LOT of problems at any given time. Sometimes reviews don’t show up, notifications don’t show up, or the site just crashes altogether. AO3 is much better maintained. It also has a dedicated section to original fiction, whereas fanfiction is the only thing allowed on FF.net.
I’m biased towards both these sites for different reasons, which is probably not what you were hoping to hear, but I’m nothing if not unhelpful. You can’t go wrong getting an account on both, though, whether you write or just read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, my goulash. This is the pro-con essay I’ve been searching for! I am taking this all down.
I appreciate the dedication! But unfortunately, just as I was prepping myself up to dive in, there was this impressing on my heart to wait. No matter how hard I resisted (which wasn’t much, reslly) the sign up buttons seemed to mock me, and I didn’t have the will to click it. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is telling me I’m too immature. Who knows? For now, I’m staying account-less. Sorry for putting you through the trouble, but your comment definitely wasn’t in vain. My future self thanks you.
AO3 has original works? Ooh! You learn something new everyday. Also, thanks for confirming my doubts about the other WP. I so stubbornly hoped there was hope for it yet, considering I’d encountered exceptional works from my fandom on there, but it’s for the best. Quotev was my second option, but said fandom has mostly Canon x OC and reader-inserts on there. Well, you can’t have it all. AO3 seems to be where lore is taken seriously, though, so I’ll lurk over on there, taking into account the tag exclusion you mentioned.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey, no problem. Stash my tome of knowledge away for later reference if you do decide to make an account. It took me a good while to work up the courage to join FF.net, and I only joined AO3 because I wanted another place to stash my fics in case FF.net went down.
Yup. I’ve never really checked them out myself, so I don’t know how much traction they gain, but I’ve seen them floating around. You’re probably fine on WP as long as you don’t post anything, but both it and Quotev seem pretty heavy on the OCs and reader-inserts. You can weed out those on AO3 with the relationship tags for the most part. You get an interesting mix of lore purists and stark raving mad canon divergence on that site, so every results page is an exhilarating surprise. Happy lurking!
LikeLiked by 1 person