Quote:
Originally Posted by Sil_liS
I never read fanfic so I didn't think about it. The number of works in the Archive is impressive. Could you recommend some? I have the very unhealthy habit of going the methodical way when I read webcomics and blogs and I don't think that I can go that way here.
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I can recommend plenty... what kind of tastes do you have? What fandoms might you be interested in? Check the ratings & warning codes before you click on stories, unless you don't mind jumping into the middle of a Harry/Draco BDSM sex scene. (Some of which are excellently written. But probably not the easiest place for a fanfic newbie to start.)
If you go browsing through the archive, starting with things with high hit counts and lots of comments is generally a good indicator of quality. Not that no comments is a bad sign; a lot of fanfic there is new imports from elsewhere. And some terrific stories just don't get comments. But lots and lots of comments are a good sign.
Last year's
Yuletide collection might be a good place to start; that's an annual "small fandom" gift fic exchange where people are semi-randomly assigned what to write. (Sort of. It's complicated.) It gets a lot of very short stories (minimum entry is 1000 words, and then there are 'stocking stuffers' that can be shorter), and lots of them that are just single scenes or character studies--and if you like the author's style, you can check out their other works; if you don't, you haven't wasted much time.
3 great stories from last year:
Wait Wait Don't Eat Me, National Public Radio: "We're going to be cutting our show a little short today, because, as you may have heard, there's an apocalypse happening! But we didn't let the election of Barack Obama stop us, and we're not going to let the zombie hordes stop us either."
The Lengthy Dimly Lit Coffee Break of the Psyche, Calvin & Hobbes: Calvin looks for a job. Hobbes and Susie look after Calvin.
Most Likely To, Breakfast Club: If there had been gossip after the reunion, Brian's life might have looked something like this. (Includes explicit sex scenes.)
The standard method for dealing with fanfic: click around until you find something you like. Read everything by that author. If they collaborate with anyone, read everything by their collaborators. Then go looking for recommendation lists that include those authors.