Author's Notes
By: Ty-Chou aka Ghost of the Dawn

I wish more people would do these after they finish a fic. When I'm done reading a fic I really enjoyed, I'm extremely interested in hearing what the author has to say about it. Like how they came up with the idea and how they feel about their finished product.

I blame FF.NET for the lack of author's notes. They have a rule stating you can't make a separate chapter just for the notes at the end. That's stupid. Some people try to sneak them in at the bottom of the last chapter, but very seldom.

And unfortunately, those who do use authors notes don't always use them correctly. Author's notes should usually be at the end of a fanfic. The only time they should be at the beginning is to give some important information such as "This fic takes place after the second ova, but does not take into consideration the events in Message" Or something of equal importance that the reader needs to know to start the fic.

Do not add thoughts on the story as a whole at the beginning. We don't care yet. We haven't read the fic. We don't know if we liked it enough to want your thoughts yet. Get to the story already.

If you have to put author's notes in the beginning, you should make them as short as you possibly can. You usually only get one shot to keep a reader's attention. You don't want to waste it on your own yakking before they even get to the story.

And speaking of yakking, I see this on FF.Net a lot. Do NOT EVER start each chapter with a small skit between you and your friends or you and a character from the fic, etc. It is extremely low class to me and, in my eyes, makes you look stupid. Or, at the very least, around the age of 12. And I really don't have time to read something a 12 year old wrote. Don't start your stories or any chapters that way. If you have to add some random silliness, make an omake chapter. Something we can skip if we really don't want to see it.

But other than that, I really encourage fanfic writers out there to start making more author's notes when you finish a fic.