Original Rant → Why People hate your story~ Part 0- My initial rant (written in 2010)

1)      A good storyline that can be followed- it sticks to the plot (as in the side couple doesn’t steal the spotlight)

The plot has to be interesting and unique, not just another high school fic where two people meet, face obstacles, and fall in love. Readers enjoy the twists and confusion of fics as long as the events are reasonable and enticing enough for them to hang onto cliffhangers waiting for the next chapter. More importantly, readers usually only care about their bias and don’t give much thought to the side stories going on.

Events need to be described properly with adjectives and details blossoming from the page. Vague, conversation based fics are boring and have no depth. All readers would rather read a very well written scene that takes place in five minutes than a scene that skips around for an hour or several short scenes to explain the same thing. Action, reaction, and effect, most of all, the character’s feelings.

2)      Justified facts and events

There are some things that tick readers off, like facts being wrong, stereotypes, and impossible situations. Characters with fake personalities are also cringe worthy. One of the biggest reasons readers stop reading fics is because the author portrays a flawed fic as if their reality is correct. Readers know how life is and you can’t fool them into thinking that actually looks good.

3)      Good writing and structure

Of course, readers like the fic to be neat. That means no character profiles because those clutter up the foreword, font is all easy to read and one unified color, type is all aligned to left or justified, there isn’t script writing, there is proper grammar, only one person speaks in a paragraph, and there aren’t any POV changes. Some readers are more lenient with what they consider “good writing” but those that have been reading longer will not tolerate amateur mistakes.

4)      Unique and captivating characters

Often times the female leads in a fic will have obscure personalities that either leave readers with the feeling of emptiness because of their lack of connection and understanding, or distaste. Readers usually don’t connect to the females and even find themselves turning to boyxboys pairings just to read about their biases only when the girls just don’t cut it. As most readers are young girls, the female protagonists have to be fully developed and creative. Girls usually all act the same, following their respective fanfic stereotypes of shy, cute, arrogant, or cunning.

The male roles don’t need as much development when they are the idol, but they still require the elements of a realistic human. It’s annoying for obvious points to be emphasized, like their appearances and talents. When it comes to character, the unusual personalities and thoughts are what are looked for.

All characters have flaws and perfections, these traits make them different from the other characters. If the characters aren’t fully developed, they appear just as words to readers instead of as real people that grow and change over time.

5)      Updates

Readers that are also writers will be the most sympathetic when it comes to not updating, but they also expect a few updates every now and then. It shows that authors are dedicated and interested in the fic as well that they have a pretty decent foundation for the fic already. Authors that update everyday often come out with poorer quality chapters because they rushed. Readers love quick updates as long as the quality of the work is not compromised. They will willingly wait years if the fic is just that good. However, we don’t enjoy waiting at all.

Above all, fics that update frequently are easier to keep up with and stay in our minds better. After a long wait for a chapter, some details are forgotten or even the entire storyline.