The first page. Oh, the first page.

We’ve all heard that first impressions count. And it’s been scientifically proven. Getting off on the wrong foot can doom a relationship before it even starts. Now, your first page starts with four basic things: the title, the tags, the description, and the foreword.

The title:

Y?....I Luv U!

Arranged marriage with a PLAYBOY!!!!!

I fell in love with ___________!?!??

No. What are you doing? Stop it. Stop it right now.

Experienced readers on asianfanfics will not even take a second look at these titles. Fanfics with titles that don’t make sense will immediately turn a reader off. “Y?....I Luv U!” If you love me that much, you would at least spell out the words. What part of this title is supposed to make me want to click your story?

Think of asianfanfics as a shop. You have your customers and your employees. Meet Mr. Title, your first employee. He’s the one who’s going to be with you this entire journey. He’s the guy you leave in charge when you’re off and busy with other matters. He’s the one who closes up when you’re not there. When people think of your shop, they think of him!

 When we talk about the title, we’re talking about the packaging.

Tips for writing a title:

1. Try not to write a title that could have been written by a five-year old. Use proper spelling, and try to tone down those emoticons.
2. Don’t summarize the story in the title. “I became a maid for you!” You just told me what’s going to happen in the first ten chapters. Is this story going to be about some cool undercover City Hunter type girl who infiltrates the mafia’s main base as a maid? No. This story is going to be about some beautiful poor girl whose parents sell her off to some rich super-hot guy (who usually is a playboy) so she can clean his house and then they discover they’re in love and then they make out and then everything ends happily ever after. Stop. Please, just stop right there.
3. Make your readers do a double take. And I don’t mean add as many emoticons as you can. Make them think about what your title means, and what it has to do with the story! Examples: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or Inkheart. Who is this girl with the dragon tattoo? What does Inkheart mean?
4. Don’t try to sound artsy. Using one word titles like “Love” or “Him” may sound like a good idea when you’re about to post, but is it memorable? Are people going to think twice? No. No one is going to subscribe to a story named “Him” because they won’t care enough to actually click on your story.

Now, onto the tags. The tags are like your summer part timers or your younger employees. They’re the ones you send outside to do a little advertising. Sure, they may be a little cookie-cutter esque, but they’re important because they represent your shop. You don’t like them? Then you can replace them without too many people noticing. That’s the beauty of tags. If you’re writing an EXO fanfic, as many of us are these days, tag it with the proper tags. If the story is going to have angst as a major component, tag it! If you want to change it, change it! No problem!

The description is that handsome and charming guy you station near the door to attract customers. You keep him partially behind a shelf so that if your customers want to see him, they have to come inside. When your story appears with hundreds of others, the only thing besides the title and the tags that readers see is the description. All of it? Of course not. 200 characters. That’s right, 200 characters. That’s including spaces and whatever unnecessary accessories you decide to add on.  

Things to avoid while writing a description:

1. “omagod this is my latest sequal fanfic im so excited I have so many ideas please subscribe” is not the best way to go when writing a description. This is your newest fanfic? Great! What’s it about? Oh wait, you didn’t say anything about it. NO ONE CARES IF YOU’RE SO EXCITED. Why should I subscribe when your title and description say nothing about the story? And you misspelled sequel.
2. “Lee ____________ (insert your name here) is a 17 teen year old girl who is a nerd and is beautiful but no one knows it because of the glasses she wears.” What part of this is supposed to be appealing? That she’s a nerd and she’s beautiful? How original! Thank you for giving me a last name? OMG, let me subscribe immediately! No.
3. “Hai guise!!!!!! I’m new to asianfanfics, please be nice and vote my story up! ©2012, do not redistribute…” I’m not going to vote your story up. Let me tell you why. There is nothing appealing about your story, so I’m not going to read it. Or subscribe. And why are you copyrighting this story? People seem to think that as long as you put that little c inside the circle, your story somehow magically becomes copyrighted. NO. It doesn’t! And who would want to plagiarize your story? And is it plagiarizing when everyone is using the same clichéd plot?

Your description should intrigue the reader, and make them want to click on your story. Station that handsome guy where he’s supposed to be, and watch the customers come in.

And finally, the foreword. A foreword isn’t mandatory, but I feel that it’s necessary. The foreword is that solemn and informative tall guy with glasses that just seems to know how to help every customer out there. He’s the one that straightens the products right before opening time, he’s the one who happens to know where that one obscure item lies, and he’s the one that makes it worth it. Sure, the good looking description brought you here, but the informational foreword makes you want to stay.

Your foreword is the one that says, “Our shop specializes in this particular area. Is there anything I can help you with?” The foreword is that employee that proves to first time customers that they made the right choice in entering your shop. Readers look at your forward and decide whether or not they want to keep reading. Maybe it’s not what your reader is looking for, but if your foreword is enticing enough, maybe they’ll subscribe!

The foreword should speak about the plot, but not spoil the ending. It should seduce the reader, but it shouldn’t attack them with all the colors of the wind. No one wants to read a rainbow. You know who you are. Your foreword can also contain your author’s note. Just don’t be a five-year old about it.

What to avoid:

1. Character profiles: Why? Please tell me why I should care what blood type this person has. If I’m curious to the type of food L from Infinite likes to eat, I will google it myself. Is it a crucial part of the story? Then fine. But if it’s not, why is it necessary? Long character profiles are a turn off. I’m certainly not going to read all of it. Now some character profiles are gorgeous with their soft pastel tones and heavily photo shopped ‘artsy’ picture of the characters and their hipster fonts, but what does it really do for your character?
2. Physical descriptions: You put a picture of your OC (usually an ulzzang with glasses on because she’s such a nerd) and then you proceed to describe her hair color, eye color, and figure. Why? If she’s hot, show me in the story! Describe how this guy in her class fell in love with her eyes! You are not adding any depth to your character by describing what size bra she wears.
3. Personality lists: my favorite. No, really! Because by telling me that Kai

• Is a nice guy, but he gives off the wrong impression
• Is really kind and romantic
• Is stubborn and doesn’t apologize easily
• Is secretly a ert

it immediately makes me want to read your story. NO! It does not make me want to read your story! What it does, actually, is prove to me that you can’t develop a character through your writing, so instead you vomit all over the foreword to produce this.

1. Author notes I: Try to avoid sounding like a whiny adolescent. So, “Guys, be patient with me. I cant do paragraphs…Imtrying hard though. SO BE PATIENT. I DONT LIKE TO BE PRESSURED…-charming smile- Im sick too, so I wont be able to update either…Please be patient….im not a good writer anyway orz” is the stupidest thing you could say. Be patient with you? You haven’t written anything! There’s nothing to be patient about! And “I cant do paragraphs”? Excuse me? What do you mean you “cant do paragraphs”? Are you physically unable to press the enter key? Oh wait, I’m supposed to be placated by the “-charming smile-“, right? NO! What are you doing?
2. Author notes II: “I don’t own Luhan or any of the EXO members.” Thank you for clarifying. Really, I don’t know if I would have felt comfortable reading this story if you hadn’t written that.

What you can do in the forward:

Some authors like to put a little excerpt in the forward. If you’re an author who can plan ahead that far, that’s great! Go ahead. Just don’t ruin the entire ending. Make us want to read to that point and beyond so we can understand this story.

Some authors write about their reasons for writing a fanfic like this. Maybe they saw a fancam and decided to write about the tensions within a group. Maybe they went through something personal and they want to use their writing skills to discuss it. Maybe they really like a new song, and they want to write a one-shot about it.

And some authors just write about what the story will entail. And that’s perfectly fine. It could even be beautiful. But don’t mar your story by using your coloring skills. No one wants to read yellow font.

Just remember, you never get a second chance at a first impression.