Yes! You've just finished your first chapter! Now what do you do? Two things: you can publish the chapter by itself and then update it, or you can finish the whole thing and post it all at once. Whichever one you chose, is up to you and your personal preferences.
Different kinds of fanfics are one-shots, short-fics, long-fics, and series fics. One shots are just one chapter, usually pretty long. They are a complete story in and of themselves. To write one, chose a simple plot like... Munkustrap and Demeter going on a date, or Pouncival trying to steal the Tugger's fancy collar. Maybe even just some kitten-games like Truth or Dare. Anything under two typed, 12 pt. font pages isn't even long enough to be worth publishing, regardless of whether it's a one-shot or a story with multiple chapters.
Short fics have around 2-10 chapters. These stories are actually ideal for most fanfic writers. They consist of a single plot, with no side-plots whatsoever. For a lot of fanfic writers, they either lose interest or develop writer's block after a short while, so short-fics are stories that they can actually finish.
Long fics can have 11- however many chapters. I've seen some fics that are over thirty chapters long! It takes a very well thought out plot, and one or more side plots to pull off a long fic. It also takes a lot of skill, because when you have stories that are this long, readers can start to lose interest and abandon the story. Another potential problem with long fics is the writer losing interest or giving up on the story, so an author really must dedicate themselves to what they're trying to achieve in order to write one of these.
Stuff to do before you publish: Publishing is showcasing your work. It is saying to the fandom, "This is my idea, and this is what I can do!" So naturally, you want your work to look its best and be readable. Run a spell check, and make sure it doesn't substitute improper homonyms. Grammar checks suck, so don't even bother with them. Then, after you do that, re-read the fic/chapter yourself and fix any mistakes or reword certain parts until you're sure its perfect. You might even try reading it aloud, because that's the best way to find errors. Just make sure you do it where your family doesn't hear.
Format: By far, one of the most annoying things a reader comes across is a story in all bold or the Block of Doom. Bold text is used to accent one or two words, and italics do the same thing; try not to use bold text at all in your story and use italics instead. It looks cleaner. The Block of Doom is when you have your entire story in one paragraph. It's really ugly and hard to read because readers will skip lines or re-read the same one twice. If you find yourself with a block of text, find a good place to press the enter button.
Another important formatting issue is speaking. A lot of authors don't know that you're supposed to start a new paragraph when someone new speaks. Boy does it get confusing when you come across conversations written like this:
"Hey, Munkustrap," said Alonzo. "Hey." "How're you?" "Oh, I'm fine. Just fought off a couple pollicles."
See how bad that looks? START A NEW PARAGRAPH WHEN SOMEONE NEW SPEAKS!
Beta: A good author always takes his or her work to a beta after they've edited it themselves. Beta's are trusted friends, or a fellow author who has agreed to look over your fics for you and suggest improvements. They're not the ones who wrote it, so they'll be able to point out more errors, ask questions, and find sentences that are confusing to read. A good beta will ask questions about your characterization, details, and your character's actions on top of just finding spelling and grammar mistakes. Keep an eye out for someone who likes to nitpick; they're the best betas.
Actual Publication: There are many places to publish your fanfics, each with its own merits. Its up to you to find most of them, but I shall speak about two of the more top-quality archives.
Fanfiction.Net is a great place for beginning authors. You simply upload your story/chapter, pick a category, and then follow the directions. There are tons of Cats fans there, and a review system where they can tell you what they think and other fans can read reviews for your story before deciding to read it. By far, it is the most popular fanfic archive around the net and one of the best ways to meet fellow fans. However, its main downfall is that it lacks a filter. Often, you have to wade through a bunch of badly written fics to find ones with decent spelling and grammar, even if its lacking in originality. Also, pretty much the only reviews you'll be getting is "You're story rox!!!!1!!!" which doesn't tell you anything except that they liked it.
St. James' Street, on the other hand, hosts only the best-of-the-best in Cats stories. With its panel of judges to make sure that no crap-fics are published there, you know you're a good author when your story is accepted. But no worries if it isn't; the judges will give you a list of a bunch of stuff to fix, and when you do that, it has a very good chance of being accepted. Reviews are welcome, too. When you're published there, readers will be able to email you and be able to tell you what they think. For authors who want to improve and can accept critique, this is the place for you.
Author Notes are a way for the author to communicate to readers (commonly abbreviated A/N:). Only say stuff that actually matters to the story, like leaving for a vacation so no updates. DO NOT ever interrupt the story itself to explain something or to translate some foreign language. One, your story should not need explaining because its well-written, and two, it shouldn't have any foreign language. Don't even interrupt to warn readers that your story is going to get graphic. Author Notes should either go at the beginning or the end of your story/chapter. Avoid putting them at both the beginning and end in one chapter/story.
Don't ever beg for reviews. It makes you look bad. Saying stuff like "Please review," or "I won't update unless you review!" is called review-whoring. Being a review-whore means you care more about people praising you than what you write. Kind of like a dog. Always write because you want to, not because you want to be praised for your work. It's nice hearing people say you're a great author, and can sometimes inspire you to write, but it should never be a priority to garner as many reviews as you possibly can.
The way to get lots of reviews is simple: ask for critique. People love to complain and pick flaws in everything. Thus, when you ask readers to point out areas that need improvement, they'll be more than happy to oblige. And when you ask for critique, your chances of being flamed (flames are pretty much another author "yelling" at you and calling you an idiot) greatly decrease because people realize that you want to improve. You also get reviews that are much better than "You're story rox!!!!1!!".
Giving Reviews is easy. All you have to do is tell another author what you think of their story. However, avoid just saying something along the lines of "I like your story. Update soon." What did you particularly like about it? Did you have a favorite line? Citing specific details from the story or chapter itself is far more gratifying for the author. It makes them feel warm and fuzzy inside, and will likely inspire them to write more!
Your reviews should not just be limited to what you liked. Always try to think up at least two things the author could improve in each chapter. If the story needs a lot of work (or just plain sucks), find a bunch of things they can improve on and end with at least three things that you did like about what they wrote. Ending on a positive note is always nice and doesn't make the author feel like they're worthless. At the same time you also give them tips to improve.
One of the best things about giving constructive reviews like this is that you start noticing the same flaws in your own writing! By pointing out that they accidentally used "board" instead of "bored" several times in the chapter, you become more aware of that mistake and will likely avoid avoid or fix it while proofreading. The same thing applies to all other areas of writing.
Getting Reviews: Wow, never thought there would be a guide to receiving reviews, huh? Well, I shouldn't even have to write something like this! The fact is, not everyone will like what you write. With the size of the human population, it's impossible so accept that some people will flat out hate you for writing your story. But the good thing is that you can ignore those people when they pop up. When flamed, simply discard the flame and move on. Yes, they hurt, but everyone will get one eventually. There is no need to respond, or stick up for yourself. If you've followed this guide then you should be getting more than enough good reviews to make up for one bad one.
Even if you get constructive review, it simply means that your story isn't quite perfect. No story is. Take the advice, edit the chapter, and keep whatever the advice is in mind when you're writing from now on. It is NOT a personal attack. The reason I say this is because there are so many authors out there who throw a hissy fit when someone tells them their story needs improvement. Please, do not be one of them!
Huzzah! You have made it through Attila's Fanfic Writing Guide! With the tools, knowledge, and tips provided here, you are well on your way to becoming a great Cats fanauthor. Now that you've read this guide, you just have to apply what you now know to your writing!
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