2. "The grammar and formatting the likes of this will bruise fruits and make babies cry" - grammar isn't everything, but without it, you have nothing. A clue: publishers/editors take one look at your manuscript, find lots of grammatical errors, and it lands straight in "rejected" box. There is a reason for this: presentation is damn important. No matter if you think your ideas are brilliant, it won't even be read if you don't make it readable.
3. "And they kissed. And they groped each other. And they made passionate love amidst moans and tiger-like groans" - whatever you may think of such material, I suggest that you pick up books with decently written erotic scenes before attempting one yourself. Especially if you've never done the horizontal tango before. Otherwise, just don't. (Actually, do. They give me a good laugh. But I don't think that's usually the author's intention...)
4. Do yourself a favor and click on this http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/n/e/nelson/kliche.jpg.html link. Then examine your Warrior Sue character. Kill said Sue immediately if many characteristics fit.
5. I stress: research is important beyond important. Writing a LOTR fic with only knowledge from the movie, or writing a FR fic with only knowledge from The Dark Elf Trilogy, is often akin to writing a World War II fiction with only, "I watched a WW movie!" as your credentials. Research in tangential subjects is no less important. I'll tell you why: I've seen characters named as following in LOTR fanfiction: Harem, Lithium, Pangea, Valar/Vala, Anduin, and many more that should never have been anywhere but a parody. (Lithium! It's like naming your child Arsenic, for god's sake. Pangea? Why not Europe? Anduin? So does she have a sister named Mississippi? Vala? Ok, I'm sure you name your son "Jesus Christ", too...)
Common Misconceptions and Why They Don't Work
1. "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all" - is one of the weakest of weak arguments I've ever seen. If no one ever speaks out negatively, I can tell you that we'd still be in the Stone Age. Or, at the very least, Hitler's reign would have lasted until the man died of old age. And then, that school of thought would still be acceptable today.
2. "If you don't like it, don't read it" - and I'm supposed to know whether I like something or not... how? Summaries don't really help, and many authors are poor at writing a summary within the limited space FF.net gives. Only after I've read, say, the first chapter I can decide. Even then, the fact that I've just read something bad is stuck with me like a scar; I can't just wipe it out and therefore have to voice my opinion in a review. See no. 1.
3. "This is a free country, so I can write whatever I want to" - last I checked, FF.net is not a country. Secondly, if you can write whatever you want to, then what's stopping me from doing the same in my reviews?
4. "This is my fic, so I can write whatever I want to" - sure you can. If you own the characters, setting, and the like. If you are using someone else's creations, for decency's sake, show the original source some respect.
5. "You flame me because you're jealous of me" - gag, retch, choke! Yes, it's an actual quote - albeit with corrected spelling and grammar. Folk, I never am jealous of horrid grammar, abominable punctuation, inability to accept criticism, tendency to write overdone plot, inability to separate one's self from one's writing, etc. And no, I'm not jealous of your packs of, "u r so kelwz, legoals iz so hotz!" reviews. I'd rather have one intelligent, evaluating review over hundreds or thousands of rave reviews.
6. "There's no such thing as out-of-character. You are the author; you define the characters" - hell yes. Again, only if you are the owner of the characters in question. If not, the original author(s) define the characters. (Yes. This is another real quote.)
~Tell Winterfox what you thought of it- review!