3 Fanfiction Sites Compared
There are numerous sites available to fanfiction writers, but the three most popular platforms are Fanfiction.net, Archiveofourown.org, and Wattpad.com. Each platform offers different benefits and a separate community and fanbase.
Pro: Fanfiction.net offers simple story organization that easily allows readers to search for their favorite fandoms and find stories that include preferred characters and genres.
Con: While FFN allows users to find their fandoms easily, it doesn’t allow more in-depth searches for things like subjects, themes, or intense content.
Pro: FFN houses an extensive forum and community section where users can communicate in a semi-public setting, competing in contests and challenges, holding discussions about any topic from writing action scenes to grammar particulars. It also provides users and guests a way to leave comments on any story they want.
Con: Even though FFN allows readers to comment on stories, there is no way to edit or delete comments. Accidentally posted too soon? Oh well.
Pro: AO3’s commenting mechanic is the best I’ve ever seen. It allows users and guests alike to leave comments on stories while allowing the author to respond directly to each comment without having to rely using private messaging. It also allows for edits and deletions as needed.
Con: Although AO3’s comment threads are wonderful, they can be abused, and long, unrelated strings of comments can build up without the writer noticing if they aren’t being notified of comments.
Pro: Unlike FFN, AO3 allows readers to filter stories within a fandom by tags. These tags can be anything from characters to a brand of clothing to a story theme. Like Iron Man stories that include cute dogs? Go for it. Redwall but with human characters? Why not?
Con: Though AO3’s tagging system is versatile and often well-used, there are writers who abuse the mechanic, making it virtually impossible to tell what is and isn’t an important tag. AO3 recently implemented a tag limit of 75 tags per story to combat this issue, and though it seems to help, there are still users who tag characters, topics, and elements that don’t appear in their stories in order to draw a larger audience.
Pro: Wattpad features more than just fanfiction. It also allows users a platform to publish their original, previously unpublished fiction, and there have been publishing deals and movie deals as a result of Wattpad.
Con: Although Wattpad stories have a chance of being selected for publication, one metric for choosing which stories rise to greater heights is based on popularity, which changes depending on social factors, so what’s popular today might get ignored in a few months.
Pro: WP features annual awards for stories entered into their Wattys competition, and winners receive acclaim for their on-site accomplishment.
Con: Just because a story is popular on WP doesn’t mean it’s quality material or worthy of readers’ time, and digging through unpublished original fiction is even harder than wading through fanfic. At least with fanfic, you have a decent idea of who you’re going to read about and potential subjects and themes, but the original fiction slush pile is a literal shot in the dark.
Not all platforms are equal, but they all have their advantages and disadvantages.