Ahhh, it makes me feel silly to have to ask that, but I can't seem to get Scryer to work for me. I use some of the options (not all), hit Search and I get no hits. I don't think it's an issue of no matched stories for the search because the search reqs I used were pretty of a pretty wide range.

Specifically, I did this:

I didn't select a required category, author or title. Is that why the search didn't work?

 

I check the TvTropes fanfic recs page very infrequently (like once per 6 months) to see if there's anything interesting.

Also the favorites list (or c2's) of any author whose work I read is another decent way to find time-killers.

Spacebattles is kinda bad (worse?) ever since they had that drama a few months ago.

 

I put in those and it worked fine, see this link.

I am a link

EDIT: I'm going to assume it's just a confusing post on your part, but you used Draco M. and Severus S. for Malfoy and Snape right?

 

^ Yeah I meant those two.

 

Perhaps your browser is blocking java script? As you can see from the link above the desired results can be generated.

 

Finding Harry Potter Fanfiction

I would suggest going to reddit. There is a fairly active subreddit called Harry Potter Fanfiction. If yoou post the types of fanfiction you are looking for, then they'll give you suggestions for stories!

 

You mean, you get the same five fics recommended every time - Hermione Granger and the Marriage Law Revolution, Patron, Alexandra Quick, The Lie I've Lived, and Seventh Horcrux

 

Search Parameters:
>20k
>English
Include:
Harrry P.
Exclude.
Romance
Severus S.
Draco M.

 

The usual stuff. DLP library and C2, author's favourites list, and some good ol' fashioned ffn search.

I think they're pretty good for a beginner trying to get into fanfiction but like Anarchy said, the suggestions there tend to repeat.

 

When I want to read a good fic, I write one.

Also if a bunch of the larrikins round this forum a giving the old thumbs up, I trust that the story will be worth the time.

 

DLP and TV Tropes are the go-to lists for me. Occasionally I'll find someone on a different site with pre-compiled rec lists.

Exclude romance; exclude fics less than 5K words.

 

As someone that browses /r/hpfanfiction fairly frequently I can safely say that the majority of stuff there is either linked a million times, barely readable or slash.

 

My preferred method:

Read a lot of fairly bad stories with time that couldn't be spent better elsewhere (in the car, waiting for appointments, commuting, waiting for my League queue to pop, etc.).

Develop a tolerance for said bad stories.

Lower standards.

Now, even the Almost Recommended section of the library seems like a gift from God. You'll find that there are suddenly a lot more good fics now.

 

Man, you guys raised an ancient corpse back from the dead.

 

i really just go to ffn.net and sort the recent publish by reviews. More reviews usually means a better story but that is not always the case.

 

I would argue that more reviews more often means the story is of the typical low standard that appeals to the masses at FFN, but what do I know.

 

I was going to say the same thing. However I think that in reality it's neither of those things, the number of reviews seems to give no indication on whether or not it will be good at all.

 

Sometimes, I'll do something like this ^, although I prefer to set it to 50K+ and complete, and I don't worry about other characters.

One other option (and I'm pretty sure I came across the term here first) is to zig-zag. It's mentioned (but not named) by Rehio and Red Aviary on page 1.
So you pick a story you like. Go to that author's page, and check their favourites. Sometimes, a write who wrote a good OC pokemon trainer story, will like OTHER OC pokemon trainer stories. However, I've found it better to go to that author's favourite authors, rather than favourite stories.

A final option is a thing I'd pretty much forgotten about, and probably am going to be getting the details wrong about.
There was a thing where you could (I think) either import your favourites list, or put in a story link. It would then give you a list of other fics that people who had similar lists also liked (similar to pandora or betterfap).
I honestly can't remember what it was called, but I think I was linked to it from somewhere on DLP, so maybe someone else remembers?



Also, if you're willing to venture onto AO3, then sorting by kudos can be okay. The only issue is that the site is full of slash.
Really explicit slash.

 

Honestly, DLP is a bigger echo chamber of the same five to ten fics than reddit. Reddit has its ten or so popular fics that are always upvoted the most (including those retarded Starfox fics, which burn my eyes), but you get a few unusual ones towards the bottom of threads. You generally get more non Harry centric fics there than here, which I consider a positive.

Favorite hopping is probably the most efficient method. Most authors generally have a couple of interesting looking fics that I haven't read before.

When I'm looking something that is rather uncommon, like a Grindelwald fic or a Seamus fic, then I use the search function on FFN.

 

For the most part I look through the favorites of the authors that have written some good works. Sometimes I find a nicely written review and scour the reviewer's favorites. When I can't find anything good then, I just filter so there's Harry Potter, no Malfoy/Snape, >10k words, and skim past any Tom Riddles.