Fanfic Friday Review Collection

Intro

I find myself rewriting my introduction because Fanfic Friday is no more. Around 2017 we saw some major changes occurring on the Fanfic profile, but things aren't likely to go back to the way they were, at least not exactly.

Like I said in the previous introduction to this review collection, I enjoyed participating in the Fanfic Friday challenges. I enjoyed writing for the prompts provided, but also liked reading the stories submitted as well. The biggest issue regarding the dying of the Fanfic Friday contest – which was one of the first profile contests here on Wattpad – was the interactivity.

I know this may not seem important to people outside of Fanfic, but fanfic thrives on the interactivity between writers and readers. A good fanfic writer also considers themselves a reader, so when entering contests, we wanted to read what other people produced, but to help others out to make sure they had an entry which might win. Yes, this meant more competition, but this made things more thrilling and more challenging. Winning simply wasn't the biggest draw.

In fact, I found myself selected for quite a few of the contests. My entries which found their way onto Fanfic Friday lists were "Strawberry Pumpkin Fields" (Halloween - Bleach), "Orcs in the Sewer" (Crossover – LotR/TMNT), 'Secret Memories' (Secret Admirer – Naruto) and 'A Grain of Sand Among the Leaves' (Different World – Naruto). However, while the feeling one gets from being selected is amazing, I actually prefer the feeling I got from seeing one of the stories I read from another writer and was rooting for get selected, particularly when I'd mentored the writer.

The ability to root for the other writers in a contest goes away if you can't read what they've written, which is what started to occur at the beginning of 2017. The other problem involved the fact only one winner was selected, which may not seem important – until one realizes fanfic involves multiple fandoms, and we try to avoid favoritism. Certain fandoms have rivalries with each other, but even inside fandoms there are shipping rivalries. People became super upset, particularly since we kept getting ambassadors for the profile who wouldn't listen.

Except, we now have ambassadors who are listening. We don't agree on everything, but the most important things – like spreading out the wins to multiple fandoms and not playing favorites to bigger fandoms unless the contest is fandom specific – are agreed upon. One of the major ones is getting to read other people's stories, so the tags have returned. Even better, other contests are bringing back the tags that were used when Wattpad contests first started up. This in turn means I've got a lot of reading to do, but I'm hoping to start up a few other review books. I'd tried starting up one other, but sadly because of the mess, things never got going.

The goals behind this review collection have honestly grown since I first started.

~ I want to encourage writers not to delete their stories if they don't win. As I noted in my previous intro, "a few people may think the people deleting stories are only the writers whose stories aren't really good in the first place", but I've seen some really good stories get deleted. I've seen a few writers I've featured – some who are ones selected – who thought about deleting their stories prior to me reviewing, but some did even when they won. One of the contests during 2017, which led a lot of the tense relations between the profile and the followers resulted in the deletion of the most stories I'd ever seen for a Fanfic Friday contest.

~ Provide readers with inspiration to write a story outside of simply winning.

~ Encourage others to start up their own review collections. Hey, you who are complaining that your favorite stories aren't getting enough attention! Start a review book or two, even if you're not a writer of fiction.

~ Encourage others to read other people's stories, but now that we're allowed external links to be added at the end, I am so adding links to the stories I review – unless of course they've been deleted. I want you to check out these stories I review. If the review makes you want to check out the story, let me know.

~ I'm also hoping, at least regarding this collection, to bring some positive attention to the Fanfic profile after everything which happened last year. I've gotten to talk to some of the new ambassadors, so I know they are listening. Mind you, this can always change again.

How do I choose stories to feature?

I don't look for perfection. In fact, some of the stories would be over looked for a minor issue, such as not realizing women did not perform in theater during Shakespeare's period, yet I felt the story they wrote is worth giving attention to despite the flaws. I'm not afraid to note some of the turn offs regarding some of the stories I've read, including character death for non-horror themed contests, or even a bit of polishing in the grammar department.

~ I look for stories which think outside of the box, even if it's not where the judges were going.
~ I look for stories which show potential despite having one or two issues which held the story back.
~ I look for stories which are enjoyable to read.
~ I'm asked to review the story by the writer, although I don't promise said writer will like the review. This has only occurred a few times – me being asked to review.

Why might I not review a story?

Here are some of the reasons.

~ The story didn't follow the guidelines for the contest or prompt. However, sometimes writers misunderstand the guidelines to a story, but still make a strong attempt. That would become a part of the critique.
~ While I don't nix stories for minor grammar issues, things like walls of text are likely to get a story nixed. Grammar may be something else I critique.
~ How well I know the fandom you're writing for, and whether I feel I know enough to give the story a fair review., or if I even need to know the fandom to give said story a fair review.
~ Poor representation of serious subject matter such as LGBT, special needs, race, etc.
~ The story contains a blatant Mary Sue, and no – I'm not just talking about OCs.
~ The story simply didn't jump out at me.