Hi

My name is Marie (but I will answer to Serenity and YOU PERSON WITH THE HAIR). I love to write, love to read and love television a little too much.

Updates and new stories from me will be sporadic, but I never truly leave the world of fanfiction

Come find me on Tumblr! -- http:///

Come find me on Goodreads -- http:///user/show/5064994-marie

I love science fiction and fantasy, with way to many fandoms to mention.

5 Biggest Little Mistakes in Fanfiction
aka: Why I see your story and just keep scrolling by.

I’ve been on this site for around ten years and with that has come at least a little bit of experience. So this is my list of mistakes that prevent readers from even reading your stories

1) “I’m no good at summaries” To be honest, most of us don’t know what to write in a summery, but you have to try if you want someone to consider reading your story. The summery is the first thing a potential reader sees and “I’m no good at summaries” or any variation on it says “I didn’t even try, but I expect you to read it anyway.” Uh no. Pass.

2) “This is my first story” We were all there once, too. But that doesn’t mean you want to advertise it. “First Story” is like repellent for a lot of people, because it means you are new, you don’t have much experience and we figure it isn’t going to be any good. If you have to say it, put it at the end AFTER they have finished the story, or just leave it off all together.

3) Mile-long author notes When somebody opens your story, you want them to read it. You do not want to spend a page and a half talking about your story, your life, politics or chatting with yourself and your imaginary friends. Either just jump in to the story, or do like I do, and put a basic heading – title, summery, whatever else you think is important (such as warnings, if you have any) and get on with it already.

4) Spelling and Grammar While I can’t say enough about making your story being properly spell checked, here I’m still talking about first impressions, and you got to make your title and summary look good. I can’t tell from the outside if you’ve have spell check on your computer or a beta in your back pocket, but if you didn’t capitalize your title or you have a really obvious spelling error in your summary… I’m just going to keep scrolling.

5) Pennames This is last on the list for a reason, because it’s not the most important thing in the world, but a penname is a part of that first impression and something like XXMRZCULLEN4EVARXX (I checked and at the time I’m writing this, no one actually has that user name). While a user name should be something personal that you like, try to pick something is unique and something readers and writers will recognize as you.