Valkyrie Diaries writing guide for fanfiction: part 1 and 2

Writing fanfics is fun, isn't it? It's cool to take the characters of your favourite show and put them through an adventure entirely of your own design. Yet, there comes a point when you must ask yourself: am I writing this just for fun, or do I want others to read it and enjoy it as much as I?


After sifting through some fanfiction of late, I figured it time to perhaps write together some advice on how to get an okay fanfic to be truly good. I am doing this as I hate wasted talent, and I don't want to see people have to go through the same trial and error I did when writing fanfics, especially for the Eds, years ago.
I will be using examples from the world of fanfiction for these 11 pieces of advice. My due apologies to Goodboy for using the first paragraph from his Space Outlaws story on point 6.

1. The α and Ω of writing:
Proper punctuation and spelling are key to a successful story. I'm not saying it should be 100 % correct, but you at least give the semblance of having a grasp of the language you're writing in. Most commonly, this is English. A story written entirely in "netspeak" is a chore to read, in which case it will be ignored for something else, even if the punctuation is flawless. Reversely, a story which has good spelling can get overlooked or ignored if the punctuation skills of the author are bad, or even worse, absent.
Don't be afraid to use a dictionary if you do not know how something is spelled. There are plenty of good online dictionaries to use and most Linux distros as well as Mac OS X come pre-installed with one. As I am unfamiliar with Windows, I do not know if it has one built in (WinXP doesn't, though...).
www.dictionary.com is a good place to start if nothing else.
As an example with rather humorous consequences, there is a scene in EdBerry Panic! in which Ed picks up a piece of "ash-fault" to shield against a Draemora's magic missile. The sheer epic scale of the battle is brought down crashing and burning by this one typo. The author could easily have asked his/her English teacher how asphalt is spelled, or just used a synonym: tarmac, blacktop or paving. Even concrete would have done the job.

2. "Ich bin der Grammatik-Nazi!":
Again, 100 % perfection is not absolutely important. As a matter of fact, I think it's impossible with the English language. But the story should at the very least be readable with a minimum of instances in which confusion can arise as to who's doing what. There's a snazzy grammar-word for this which I do not know in English. Preferably, these situations should be non-existant, but nobody's perfect, right?
Either way, if you have trouble with grammar, ask someone who knows better or proper grammar to read the story and point out the grammatical flaws to you. This is important to learn how to do correctly if you wish to become better as a writer. Ideally, ask your English teacher. Their job is to teach you proper grammar and you learn the best when doing something you like.
Sometimes quirky, but not "broken", grammar can be used to portray a certain character's way of speaking. This is not breaking the rules of grammar, rather bending them to suit your characterisation. It is important to know which rules you are bending before you do it, though, so only attempt this if you have a good grasp of grammar.
Two examples of quirky but unbroken grammar that spring to mind are Rolf in EEnE and Yoda in Star Wars episode 5. Yoda's trademark way of speaking parodied itself in Episodes 1 through 3.