Just curious as to what everyone enjoys in a fanfic.

I always pick a story to read based on what kind of plot I get out of the summary - duh. I will read ridiculously long fics, sometimes I will read sequels. But I prefer chapter stories less than 100 chapters and I love me some drabbles.

So!

long chapter stories vs. short chapter stories vs. drabbles

and

sequels? and if so how many sequels or parts are acceptable?

^^^ is basically what I'm getting at. (:

For me everything goes as long as I like what is in the summary. Although lately I found myself giving all stories a chance (as long as I have time to read them that is) and going from there. As for the length and drabbles vs chapter stories, three years ago I wouldn't read stories under 30k at all, which meant that most of the drabbles were out. Big mistake. There are so many one shots and drabbles which are fantastic, it amazes me how the writers manage to say so much in so little words.

For me, there isn't such a thing as too long. Bring on the sequels! If a story is good, than why not?

If you won't read something simply based on size and not based on content - all you are doing is limiting yourself and potentially keeping yourself from a great read.

Oh no, I totally don't not read something because of it's size. I always read based on content! (:

Just sayin that recently I've been very fond of shorter stories. I guess I'm kind of impatient. x:

But more than half the time I end up reading chapter stories with 100+ chapters lol. It doesn't make it any less of a good story!

I was just curious as to what other people look for in a story, other than the story itself, and what they won't usually read.

Anything really. I don't read based on size of the ficlet since many of the shorter drabbles, and oneshots are very good too, just like the chapter ficlets. What I look for usually in drabbles is how concise, condensed, and how readable the ficlet is as in, can the author capture alot in a few words. For oneshots I expect a little more detail, complexity, and character depth, plus longer length in the writing. Chapter ficlets I expect greater depth than oneshots, detail, and plenty of character and plot development at a steady rate. After that it's really readability, and whether or not the author can 'pull in' and 'wrap up' the plot in a way that's understandable, has a logical thread, and is interesting, and intriguing.

I also tend to give recommended ficlets a try at least once, although most of the ficlets I like the most come from authors that already are prominently favourited like Forthright, and Tallymark.

~ Pyre

The only preference I usually have is that the story is complete - which is horrible, because so many people have supported me as I wrote my story, and if they had been like me, people who wait until the story is done to read it, I wouldn't have gotten such amazing encouragement on my journey to write my story.

But yeah, I enjoy long stories and short stories, drabbles and everything in between. I just usually click the 'complete' option when searching for something knew to read, so that I can actually finish it XD

My only real requirement is a happy ending! lol

Those are definitely a good thing to prefer, hah!

Hmm well i hope to always get a Fic that at least goes up to 10 or so chapters if it is a full leagth multi-chap fic.
But i do love a short one shot with a lovely ending or drabble there good when i need a little pick me up.

In general, I go by the summary mainly. I prefer the univerise to be a mixture of canon and AU. I like one shots, drabbles, and chapter stories so it's all a matter of which one I come across first.

However, in the case of Sesshomaru/Kagome, I only read chapter stories because their relationship is not one that happens over night. There are certain walls they have to break through before they can have a friendship let alone fall in love. I also try to stick with stories that somewhat lean more towards canon at least in the sense of them both staying their species because I like the idea of them falling in love in spite of it(especially from Sesshomaru's side). I don't like stories that make Sesshomaru human or Kagome a demon becasue that is a cop out to me that defeats what makes their potential as a couple interesting.

I too love a happy ending but there are quite a few fics out there which do not end all fluff-like but are still beyond amazing. Do I regret reading them and being moved to tears? Not at all, as long as no one is around to see me sniffling

Personally, I prefer chapter stories. I'm so used to reading long books that I guess it's just become a habit to read long stories in general. Even though I do enjoy stories that are at least 20k words long, I still would rather not have a story with a huge amount of chapters (like 100+).

This is probably because I simply don't have a lot of time to sit down and read lately. Also, if the story was really good, I would stay up way past my bed time to read all 100+ chapters. This usually gets me in trouble, but that's fan-fictions I guess I don't usually read drabbles or one-shots, but lately I'm wondering if I should give them a chance.

I prefer cannon stories as well for some reason, or at least AU within the cannon universe (like A Secret said, same species at least). This isn't to say that AU stories are bad or anything (please don't think that's what I mean!). I just like to see the characters relatively unchanged and falling in love against all odds.

I have to agree that I prefer reading a story that's been completed. Mainly, that's because I'm the person who gets to the end of the WIP and goes "where's the 'next' button?". Granted, I'm not against reading incomplete stories...I just like being able to go from beginning to end.

Size has never really bothered me. I prefer reading something long enough to give you character development, but that isn't an absolute necessity. Sometimes, I wish the person had shortened their story, other times I think they should have gone X number more chapters.

Sequels are great...when they're done well. Disney and other groups have proved time and again that sequels often don't live up to the hype they create. However, Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of those wonderful exceptions that. So, if the sequel is done well, bring it ^-^

Thanks for bringing up this interesting question. It's honestly something I've never sat down and mulled over before.

Clio

I like long chapter stories than short ones.

I suddenly realised that when I thought about it, nothing really matters to me. The story doesn't have to have long chapters or short ones, or drabbles. The writing is what usually makes or breaks it for me. Sure, sometimes long chapters are good but short ones can be just as effective.

I haven't read a whole lot of sequels because I tend to browse more on ffnet then anything and the quality of the sequels there usually tend to follow the whole "How do Kagome and Sesshoumaru deal with their two babies?" line. I am more inclined to read something that's one story instead of read it just because it has a sequel.

Incomplete vs Finished? I like incomplete more to be honest. Usually because after I finish a finished story I just want more and incomplete stories tend to delay that. But then again, franchises like Naruto and Bleach tend to show what happens when they don't finish, so I like Finished ones for being finished before they die. Also with incomplete I get to see how the author matures in real time and can give them pointers / interact with them?

As for what I won't read? I stay away from anything that has a bad summary. Bad summaries usually include these things; 'Bad at summing up please read', txt language, stupid misspellings and, perhaps the worst of all, cliche questions. I hate summary questions when they aren't well done. I don't mind ones that are rhetorical but those that are set out to catch your attention annoy me to hell. Ie; "Will Sesshomaru be able to save her?", "What happens next?", "Will they ever be together?", "How will this turn out?" etc. etc. I don't mind if the questions are generally intriguing but if they have been used a million times before in other fics I'm not interested. If the whole summary is made of questions, count me out.