Chapter Text
FOREWORD
Welcome to my observations on using Archive Of Our Own (Ao3) and all things related to [fan]fictions.
I invite you to first look at the overview of this series to see if you need to read another guide before starting this one.
Then I suggest you look at the index of this work to confirm whether you want to read the whole thing or go straight to certain chapters.
What you will see here are my experiences and research. I'm not telling you how to write a work; I'm just gathering information that I think is relevant and sharing it because I don't see why I should keep it to myself. Sometimes I give you an opinion, but no more.
Many guides of this kind go into direct detail. Here I'm going to talk... a lot. To explain things, the why, the how, my reactions and feelings.
Of course, I do have not the ultimate truth, there are probably mistakes. Yes, I am human and by dint of rereading again and again in search of clues, I don't see anything more. Don't hesitate to correct me.
Surprisingly, I'm not a big reader of fanfiction and my writing is worthless. I am not a guarantee of quality. So, take my words with caution.
I'm not imposing anything, I'm suggesting; you're free to do what you want.
GENERALITIES
In general, the great thing about fanfiction is that you can write a story and still get away with the headache of worldbuilding, character creation and plotting.
It allows you to focus on what you want to write: filling in gaps in the original work, developing a place, a character, or a plot, etc.
But that doesn't mean that you have a good understanding of the setting of the general work or that you have the time to double-check the canonical information. Especially when it's a universe based on a completely different culture.
You may not even be familiar with the literary genre of the work or even the site where you are posting your work.
We will try to correct this, but don't forget that above all, you must have fun with your work. The rest is not a priority over the joy of writing or of freeing yourself from an idea.
REMINDER
Most people have a negative view of the term fanfiction. So I'd like to remind everyone who writes and everyone who will read it of what is established in the professional world of literature:
Micro-fiction / Micro-narrative / Micro-storytelling = less than 500 words
Children’s picture book = between 400 and 800 words
Flash story = from 500 to 1 000 words
Short story = between 1 500 and 5 000 words, under 7 500 words
Classical short story = between 1 000 and 10 000 words
Novelette = from 7 500 to 17 500 words
Short novel = between 10 000 and 40 000 words
Novella = from 17 500 to 40 000 words
Potential novel = over 40 000 words
Average novel = over 50 000 words, less than 120 000 words, around 85 000 words
Young adult manuscript = from 50 000 to 80 000 words
Novel = between 60 000 and 100 000 words
Romance fiction = from 40 000 to 100 000 words
First novel = less than 110 000 words
Thrillers = from 70 000 to 90 000 words
Fantasy novel = from 90 000 to 110 000 words, up to 150 000 words
Historical work = between 100 000 and 120 000 words
This is what all these numbers look like when compared:
Animal Farm, George Orwell = 29 966 words
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis = 38 421 words
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson = 41 561 words
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury = 46 118 words
The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank = ~50 000 words
Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie = 58 154 words
The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells = ~60,000 words
All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque = 61 922 words
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling = 76 944 words
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde = 78 462 words
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan = 86 826 words
Nineteen Eighty-Four / 1984, George Orwell = 88 942 words
The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien = 95 356 words
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins = 99 750 words
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee = 100 388 words
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman = 106 936 words
Gullivers Travels, Jonathan Swift = 107 349 words
The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien = 130 112 words
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo = ~152 490 words
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë = 183 858 words
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden = 186 418 words
Dune, Frank Herbert = 187 240 words
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien = 187 790 words
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling = 198 227 words
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo = 530 982 words
War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy = 587 287 words
Tell me: how many novels have you read through a few chapters published from time to time on AO3? And all for free? Just like that?
It's a huge opportunity to be able to offer this kind of reading, even if they're not up to par with the professionals and the codified world of literature. It's an opportunity and it needs to be protected.
The real death of something is when there is no longer anyone alive to remember it.
So, write about the works that have come to an end, for in this way they are only just beginning.
Write for the dead. Write for the living. Write about the dead. Write about the living. Write to bring the original works to life through your interpretations. Bring the interpretations to life through your adaptations. Write to write. Write. And even if you are not published, not paid, and not even read, write. And don't let anyone stop you. Write.
And without knowing it, you have already written something worthy of the world of literature.
Just let me guide you a little bit...
I also want to remind you that AO3 is a non-profit organization: you can't put a link to a crowdfunding or membership platform with a subscription service (examples: Patreon, Ko-fi, Paypal, etc.) in your works or your profile. You risk being banned.
A second piece of information: a work created solely for the purpose of searching for lost, deleted or removed [fan]fictions is a violation of AO3’s terms of service. This non-profit organization is not a social media platform. I won't mention the problems that this kind of fake work causes in terms of moderation and algorithms. If you are looking for a work, use the other websites provided for this purpose (examples: Reddit, Tumblr, Discord, etc.).
You are warned: at your own risk now!