Over the last couple of days I have come across story after story where the author doesn’t seem to understand one thing. Author Notes should not be in sections. They should be together, either at the top or the bottom of the story. You can have notes at the top and at the bottom, but not through out the actual story. It pushes the reader out of the story.
The story section of your fic should not include author notes, author commentary, or author questions. The header of your story should not be longer then the story itself. if you have that much to explain, you have more writing to do.
Sorry about this rant but it is becoming a pet peeve of mine to be reading a story and suddenly have the author talking to me as if I was watching a commentary. If you really want me to know it, place it with your header or footer. Don’t interrupt story time.
Another thing that gets me? When people post that they won’t update untill so many people review. Its not going to happen. That just makes people want to run. Your fic is not a good hostage. If people are going to review, they will. Asking for reviews is ok, especially if your making sure people know you want con-crit. But saying you won’t post till people review might make your reviews go down.
Sokorra Lewis 