This is Hoodman. Welcome to the world as I see it. Usually I update very fast, even posting two chapters in a 24 hour period.

Likes: Good stories, good plots, video games, Teen Titans, and explosives.

Dislikes: Bad Stories, bad plots, flamers, and stories written in almost nothing but internet slang.

To first-time writers: 1. Microsoft Word is NOT PERFECT! changing everything it tells you to can change a beautiful story into a children's book. Copy my chapters onto Word, and you'll see lots of Christmas colors. For example, a complete sentence is a sentence that expresses a complete thought. Sometimes, I write something, and it calls it a fragment. Compare a story from some writers who put effort into their stories, such as Rick Ons, and not all of their sentences are complete thoughts. But that's okay, because whatever is being said doesn't work well with a complete thought.

2. Use spell check. At least to me, there is a big difference in quality as to how your spelling is. I know that there are mistakes in my story, I'm not saying that you need to be perfect, but there is a casual error and a deliberate mistake. Compare these two sentences.

a. the man walked down the crowded street, trying his hardest to avoid the masses of humans in his rush to get to work.

b. the mn pushed thru ppl tryin to get t work

There is a big difference between the two, but both are saying the same thing. Legibility is very important in a story. Stephen King doesn't write like sentence b, and neither should you.

3. One of the reasons some novelists are better than others is visualization. Being able to see in your mind what is being read from the screen is in my opinion what separates the good authors from the great authors. Put detail into your sentences. instead of telling what they did, tell how they did it. Again sample sentences.

a. The man walked outside.

b. Ted scurried through the office like a rat, trying to leave his office as soon as possible. Jim waved at him, trying to flag him down, but Ted ignored his friend and co-worker, wanting to get back home to see his son.

As you can see, there is a big gap between saying the general idea and adding in metaphors and similes and all that english language jargin. doing this will also increase the length of a story, the details adding more to each sentence. But don't over do it. Sometimes simple sentences can carry more emotion than a long complex one. I leave it up to you to decide which to use it on.

4. If your going to post a new chapter or story, at least make sure that what is written is worth the wait. A good rule of thumb is if you don't need the scroll key to read the story, you need to add more. I tire of seeing stories that don't even have 300 words per chapter. Put some thought into your work, as that is the only way readers can tell about what your like. I know a chapter is long enough if the author is finished with their thoughts, but in that case some of you have the thought process of a three-year old. Not to be rude, but there is needs improvement and just plain stupid.

5. Flames are the worst things you can do in a review. If you didn't like the way a story was done, at least tell them what could be fixed, not making an ass of yourself by only saying that it was bad, and not even telling them what it was that made you think that. No, don't just say "The whole thing sucked." Tell them what they could improve on, and if they bother to take your advice, would actually help them write better. before someone trys tofind a loop-hole in what I'm saying, there is a difference between constructive criticism and flaming. Saying "You need to put more effort into your writing" actually attempts to fix the problem, which "that story sucked you cant write stop making stories" doesn't. Give respect where it is due, and others will do the same for you.

I'm not trying to be preachy, I'm only trying to at the very least improve the quality of the stories, which in turn improves the website's overall quality, thus making it more desireable to the public. That's all, and do as I have suggested above and your stories will flourish.

On the side, I have to do odd jobs to earn money for college, and I am working on "the Hunt" and "The Suffering" currently. I'll get them ready ASAP. Thank you for your patience.