I Hate Fanstory.com

You know the more I have to do with that website the more I am completely convinced that it would never help anyone to become a good writer. Okay, that's not completely true. That is me being a spiteful brat. I'm sure it would help with a few things, but I really really hate that place and here's me explaining why.

When you post a chapter, the chapter gets a 'complimentary certificate'. This means that the chapter will be available through a random generator called 'Up Next' where everyone can see it until it gets three reviews. This means that three people, who have probably not read the beginning of the story will be reviewing a single chapter. They have no idea what's going on or how things are progressing. It's like watching ten minutes out of a movie, which is hardly fair to the author, considering that they didn't see any of the scenes intended to ignite the reader's interest.

After the chapter gets three reviews, it goes back to your profile page where no one will ever see it again - unless they intentionally go to your profile page. In order to make the chapter viewable to the common browser, you have to put certificates on it that are purchasable with member dollars. You get these by reviewing other people's work or by buying them with real money. This means that reviewers who are just looking for member dollars while reviewing your work are not uncommon. They are trying to make money to promote their own work, so they aren't reading - just reviewing. This means that unless a reviewer starts pointing out specific things in their review (which most normal people never think to do) you can't tell if they actually read the chapter or not. And even if they did - is their opinion valid when they only read one chapter? Can they really see the tapestry you're generating? What if it's a bridge chapter!?! So, that means that a reviewer cannot accurately comment on the quality of the story, but can only complain about spelling, grammar, and typos. I find this so problematic, because if you have got a really interesting story then aren't those three things the least of your worries? Aren't editors a dime a dozen?

Also, I notice that this site has a huge problem reaching its target demographic. My biggest fans of 'Mark of a Goddess' were men who were born in the sixties. I would never have thought that it would be appealing to that crowd for reading pleasure. If it was an editor I could understand, but I couldn't figure out why these guys were reading.

All this, I've probably complained about before. The thing that has sent me spinning lately is the fact that I lately discovered that there is a word limit on fanstory (because of my browser). I can only post 5000 for a single chapter. Fanfiction.net and Fictionpress.com don't have word limits and I haven't seen a word limit on Mediaminer.com or Writing.com either. I don't have the words to express how painfully stupid I find that. My hubby says, "So why not try using Explorer instead?" I glare at him and say, "I shouldn't have to change my browser. Their system should suck less ... and have a document upload feature instead of making me copy and paste. What are we, in the stone ages?" When I wrote to the system administrator about the error (which wasn't displayed, I had to write him for him to tell me that it was my browser) he told me to divide the chapter into two chapters. However, doing so makes me violate the copyright agreements I must adhere to when uploading a new chapter. You're not allowed to upload the same material twice. It would be unfair with their certificate system. Grrr! And not only that, but that's just how long the chapter is. I'm not cutting it in half.

However, I do have a couple nice things to say about fanstory.com. I usually get answers to my tech support questions almost immediately. I never like Tom's answers, but he does write me back quickly. I also have to say that however inefficient, fanstory is one of the only methods to get guaranteed feedback on your writing if you have no one vaguely knowledgeable to get opinions from. And we all know how hard it is to get original fiction noticed.

But just for one last stab at fanstory, I have to say that mostly I find half their writers so painfully dry that they must be crawling out of their caskets in order to post writing that was old fashioned when it was originally written - decades ago. The other half are using the site for *almost* free therapy, because they post the ugliest parts of their own life and try to pass it off as literature. Right.

For original fiction - I would sent a reader to Fictionpress.com rather than Fanstory.com ten times out of ten. At least people read and write there for the sake of passion instead of validation.