I like to write stories in my spare time. These stories are most often already written. I do have a few stories that are in the works, though none of them are in a stage where I am comfortable in publishing them.

I thought I would start a list of my fan fiction pet peeves. I read a lot of fan fiction, and these things tend to irk me. That said, I will overlook some of these, though I have been known to stop reading a story because it reaches my limit.

1. Misspelling character names, place names, or item names from a series. People, you have access to the internet. Use it to ensure you have the character's name spelled correctly.

2. The same can be said for misspelling any word. Again, you obviously have access to the internet to post the story, so why not use it to find a dictionary--or a grammar guide? If you don't use the internet, then you should use the spell checker for your favorite writing program. I know most of them have such features, so please use them.

3. This takes me to another pet peeve: punctuation. Please use proper punctuation, particularly when highlighting dialogue.

4. Please use paragraph and scene breaks. They make the story much more legible than a wall of text.

5. Even though I said that I want people to be more grammatically correct, I understand that styles add much to a story or an author's voice. However, that is only used for when there is a specific purpose--not just because someone is too lazy to edit their work to make it more legible and closer to being grammatically correct. I do not expect perfection, but I do expect readable stories.

6. Taking the item that makes the series out of it. For example, the characters of Harry Potter are nonmagical and go to Hogwarts High School. If you want to take that special piece out of the story, then write a story that has it forcefully taken away from the characters and show how they deal with it. Otherwise, if you want to just use to names of locations or characters, but take out the items/abilities that make the series special, then just change the names and call it your own original story. That's essentially what you did, but you used another author's characters or places.

7. Please study biology. I don't expect you to explain cell mitosis, the development of a fetus, or the chemical reactions involved in photosynthesis, but please make sure that you have the general idea correct. Nothing takes away story immersion like reading something that is biologically impossible. There may be exceptions, but those would need to be explained very well, and not just hand-waived as magic. I obviously do not talk about items like magic in Harry Potter, supernatural powers in Percy Jackson, or dragons in Temeraire.

8. If you write romantic/sexual relationships or activities that may be taboo to assorted groups, please make sure your summary includes this information. Nothing makes me dislike an author more than to find that she did not warn me that they had written something that I dislike into their story. If an author alerts me to it, I may read it as long as it does not become a major part of the story, or involve some of my favorite characters that I see differently.