So you?re a creative writer and you?ve written a piece of fiction that you want to put online. But where do short stories get posted online? What are the story writing apps or online story sharing sites that people post to?
I often recommend beginning writers to still write on the old fashioned pen and paper. There?s something magical about the old-fashioned way that just works. If it worked for creative writing legends like Shakespeare, why can?t it work for you?
After writing and editing in the physical form, type it up (or hire somebody to do it) and then post it online.
Whether this is a story you just thought of or a story that you?ve been thinking through and planning for months, there are a number of different options you can try when putting your work online. At this point, there are new sites popping up every month trying to get writers to post online and it?s less about how to find a place to post, but rather which sites are actually good to post to. The last thing you want to do is to spend the time preparing a post only to find that the site is shutting down or doesn?t have any active readers.
I?ve tried just about every writing site out there over the years, the big and the small, the good and the bad, so I?m just about familiar with every creative writing site and short story app out there.
Here are some apps and sites where you can write your own story online. These online story sharing sites can help you get feedback, fans, and more!
1. Commaful
One of the most friendly writing communities I?ve come across. People are very active, friendly, and engaging. The site is mostly teens, but definitely spans a wide range where I?ve seen stories get feedback from teachers, professors, editors, and even bestselling authors.
The posting style on Commaful is a bit different than traditional writing, so if you?re looking to write just copy and paste a novel onto the site, then this probably isn?t the best site for you. Short stories are best for this site (or if you just want to test novel ideas and not write out the full story).
The site is smaller than Wattpad, but the community is very active and many readers and writers love its new format for storytelling.
2. Wattpad
One of the largest libraries of stories on the internet, primarily teen-focused. Mostly novel or novella length content here. Because the audience size is so huge, feedback levels are hit or miss. It is definitely possible to build a big and meaningful audience here as there are many ?stars? on the site who have huge followings with millions of reads.
The biggest complaint people have about Wattpad is that poorly written content surfaces often. It?s also often hard to get noticed because the site is so big and there are so many writers trying to get attention.
Generally speaking, if you engage with the community there, you?ll at least get some readers. They may not gift you writers, but if you work at it and have good content, you can definitely build a huge audience.
People have also got publishing deals and even movie deals from posting on Wattpad (it?s a very very small fraction, but hey, doesn?t hurt right?).
3. Figment (RIP)
EDIT: Just checked again and it looks like Figment is gone and got replaced by Underline, which is pretty much not active. So sad to see that!
Figment is a really pleasant community that seems to care about their writers. They promote their top creators with interviews and also feature well-known authors for interviews and book promos.
They often work with schools to get student writers involved. There is a very positive environment and people often encourage each other and give people feedback. It?s not the largest site on this list by any means, but it?s homey.
4. Medium
Medium is a place where you can post any writing. They tend to favor non-fiction and articles over fiction, but fiction still has its place. There are a few publications within Medium and sub-communities if you search around where there are solid communities for fiction.
While these communities are relatively small, they are pretty active and high quality so the feedback quality is still pretty high. Unless you?re writing life hack type posts, you probably won?t build a huge audience on Medium, but you may get some really good advice. People on Medium are generally fairly smart.
5. FictionPress
A site for original fiction. If you?ve heard of Fanfiction.net (# 8 on this list), this website is the original fiction sister site of that website. It?s a fairly active community of people writing mostly novellas and novels. It?s less active than some of the other sites on this list, but you can certainly get some good feedback and readership through it.
Because it is tied to one of the largest fanfiction sites in the world, many fanfiction writers turn to FictionPress to write their original stories as well so you?ll find that many writers there are also active participants of fandoms.
6. Smashwords
An e-publishing platform for mostly novels, although short stories and collections are welcome too. Romance seems to be the most popular genre by far and most of the stories there are being sold for a price. If you?re looking to sell your book and don?t like Amazon, this is a really good option. You can also post for free. There are very easy filters to filter by free and by genres so free books still get decent exposure. According to their stats, there are over half a million books that have been put on Smashwords, 80k of which are free. Smashwords is a big supporter of indie authors so they create a lot of content and provide resources for authors looking to self-publish, including their podcast.
7. Archive of our Own
This is the go-to fanfiction website at this point. If you are writing fanfiction (aka stories that use characters from movies or TV shows), this is the place to be. With millions of readers and writers, this community is extremely active. Feedback is hit or miss, but there are definitely some sophisticated readers, even editors, who read through there and give great advice.
If you have never been on a fanfiction site before, tread with caution. There are some very mature and aggressive themes floating around so if you aren?t prepared for that you can definitely get caught off-guard.
8. Fanfiction.net
One of the largest fanfiction archives. This is largely considered the second best to Archive of Our Own now, but it still wins out in activity in certain fandoms. Most people coming to this site are interested in fanfiction, so just like with Archive of Our Own, only post here if you are posting fanfiction. Many of the same warnings and advice for Archive of Our Own are also true for Fanfiction.net.
9. Quotev
A very teen-oriented site that is full of fun quizzes, short stories, fanfiction, and more. This site has a fun atmosphere where it is definitely possible to get fans. Feedback is a bit harder as many of the young readers aren?t the best at giving actionable feedback that you can actually use.
If you?re writing for the young adult audience and just want to see if people like it, this might be the site for you.
10. Tumblr
While not purely a writing site, fanfiction and relatable fiction posts still thrive. The biggest opportunity here is that Tumblr posts still often go viral, not just on Tumblr, but across the internet. Tumblr is a hub of culture that you can tap into. If people like it, they can re-share it and get it in front of more people. Fandoms play a big role on Tumblr so if you have a fanfiction piece and use the right tags, posts can really take off.
Tags are really important, so do some research on the right tags to use to make sure you maximize your visibility for the Tumblr audience.
11. WritersCafe
Quite an old school site but still around! Filled with fun writing contests, there are many readers and writers on the site who still use it. People commonly share short stories, poetry, fairy tales, and more on the site. Its specialty is that it has a number of resources as well, from writing courses to contests.
12. Booksie
From the design, you can tell this site is a bit old-school as well, but it still attracts a lot of really talented writers. The site has hundreds of thousands of novels, short stories, poems, across a variety of genres and topics. The site has contests and tools to support writers.
It seems to have a focus on the self-publishing angle. The community seems to be less active as many stories don?t get read and those that do get read have very few comments. It?s clear that there is some strong talent posting here though.
13. RoyalRoad
A niche web novel and fanfiction site with a really active community. People are very friendly and there are also a good number of artists around who sometimes collaborate on book covers. There are a number of popular stories that have millions of views over the last few years. The site also has a forum and Discord for members to hang out, chat, and support each other.
The community seems to be their strong suit.
14. The Young Writers Society
Designed specifically for young writers and featuring a lot of short stories. They have a semi-active forum where people can collaborate and share ideas. The site has a lot of novels and poetry being written in the fantasy and teen fiction genre. This site is very much teen-focused and has a fairly active community still, though it doesn?t seem like the actual site itself has gotten many updates as of late.
I think the forums are the most interesting part of this site. People share advice with each other and discuss things related to writing and publishing.
15. FanStory
This site has some cash prizes for its contests and a lot of short fiction related contests. There are plenty of contests featuring poetry, flash fiction, and more. The site has live rankings and daily writing prompts to keep things interesting. This old school site from the early 2000s is still around and has a pretty active community. Many of the features and contests do require payment though, so it?s not just free cash. The site seems to be growing pretty slowly, but has a decent userbase already for people looking to build an audience.
New sites keep popping up so as I try more and as more grow to a bigger size, I?ll try to update this list and keep it fresh. These should be great to get you started writing online and sharing your stories!
