but like who started the idea that fanfiction writers are somehow bothered by enthusiasm for their work???? cause i see posts all the time like “do writers really want to talk with us about their fics? Do writers really want long comments? I dont want to bother them” and i just think its absolutely ridiculous????
ofc i want to talk to you about it, and would love to hear you go on about it. i took time out of my real life to write this stuff down so we could all share these characters!!! the idea that you’re bothering a fanfiction writer, a fellow nerd, is absolutely crazy
Personally I attribute at least part of this to the shift of fandom onto Tumblr platform. Because of the way Tumblr works, multiple replies and reactions can get cluttered and overwhelming really fast, so leaving replies and feedback can be awkward. I have actually seen ‘tumblr etiquette’ posts going around scolding people for adding commentary onto posts when they reblog it! Actually discouraging people from reacting and adding their own words! If any of this attitude spills over onto fanfic posts and reblogs, no wonder readers are shy about adding their own words to an author’s posts.
Dear fans on tumblr:
WE, THE AUTHORS, REALLY WANT TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS.
As a writer, I second this, call the motion, get a unanimous response from all writers and it’s carried. To be clear, there’s pretty much nothing worse than feeling like you’re writing into a vacuum or black hole where no one reads your stuff and nothing much better than a long enthusiastic commentary about what a person liked and why and could they ask a question and maybe discuss a perspective – and I’ve made a LOT of GREAT friends all around the world that started out just like this, with a comment on a story. If you don’t want to reblog, then send a note or an ask to the writer to share your comments. We live for these kinds of comments, this feedback that what we wrote touched someone. Tell us we made you laugh or cry and we’ll be thrilled and forever grateful. But if leaving a long comment is too much, takes too much time, a simple ‘I really liked this,’ or ‘thanks for writing this’ is also treasured.
I also think part of the hesitation comes from the massive stigma the outside world places on fannish enthusiasm. Readers are hesitant to talk to creators because they’re afraid of being seen as overenthusiastic or somehow weird.
I noticed this when I started writing and getting comments like “not to be weird but I love this” or “I didn’t comment on the other works in this series because I didn’t want to seem creepy,” and I realized that readers were intimidated by me. ME. HAVE YOU EVEN SEEN ME. But it’s exactly the way I’ve felt with authors whose works I admired.
So let me say this loud and clear:
AUTHORS ARE FANS TOO.
ARTISTS ARE FANS TOO.
ALL FAN CREATORS ARE FANS TOO.
We are the LAST people in the world to judge you for how or how much you like something and the first to understand and appreciate your enthusiasm. Because the way you love things? That’s the way we love things too. And if the things you love are the things we made, that is the greatest compliment in the world.
❤
Tag: all of this
Schroedinger’s Writer is the state of being simultaneously convinced that you’re the person most capable of telling this story and also that you’re the person destined to fuck it up beyond all repair
To all the fanfiction writers on my dash…
…or future fic writers (those who are working on something to post for the future OR working on in private) or those who have retired from fanfiction but have posted it in the past, thank you so much!
It doesn’t matter if the fic isn’t from the fandoms I don’t participate in or read, or if it’s pairings I don’t ship, or even if it’s gen fic and not shippy, thank you so much for your work!
You all have shared so much of yourself in your writing and we are blessed to have seen the work that has come from your heart. Even if you don’t think it’s your best work, or even if you don’t think it’s the best compared to others, you took the time to create this thing and share it to the world and for that you deserve all credit for making that time and courage to share it with us!
Even you authors who are working on things but haven’t posted them yet!
You have made the decision to post things that are coming from your heart in the future and I will tell you SOMEONE out there will appreciate all that hard work you have put in and appreciate what you have to write. Thank you for making that decision to take that step with us.And to you retired fic writers, thank you for sharing that work with us even if fic writing is not your speed anymore for whatever reason. Your works have been cherished by someone out there, even if that person is anonymous and did not comment, and you deserve to be acknowledged for letting us have the
privilege
to see that for however brief a time.
Just THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
All of you, keep doing what you love.
Why good/long fics are rarely updated?
Every once in a while I get that question or see that question appear in review section of fics I read/comment. So, in case someone wonders I want to give just a few pointers.
- The first one is simple – the authors have real life that usually comes first (I say usually, because on rare occasion you neglect everything because it’s one of that days/nights when the story just flows and you need to write it asap, because otherwise you will miss the moment). When you have a full time job and some non-fandom usual RL stuff to take care of, you might just not have enough time to write – it has nothing to do with the lack of ideas. Currently I have at least a dozen or so ideas for new fics (they multiply) – and I simply have no time to write them (give me a Time-Turner of Flash’s speed then I’ll have it done in no time). Then again – the fact that most of us works in front of the computer screen causes that sometimes we have no wish to spend some more hours on typing; that usually leaves weekends for writing – not that much time.
- The betas also have real life and need to have time to check the story. Their work is pratically invisible (when done efficiently), but they greatly contribute to deliver the best product possible. I consider a fic to be a product of sorts – the fact that it’s “only fan fiction” doesn’t mean for me that it can be done poorly. So kudos for all betas! They also deserve some credit.
- Writing a long, multichapter fic (and by long I mean at least 50k words) is different than writing a ficlet – in needs careful planning and keeping hold on many threads – main plot, subplots, often multiple POVs. What’s more concious writing is not just writing whatever comes to your mind – it’s getting your characters to a specyfic place or/and putting them into a specyfic situation in a logical, believable way. Often it means correcting or fleshing out something that canon itself neglected – that’s why AUs and fix-it fics are so popular. The fact that the author doesn’t update a story every week doesn’t mean that they don’t think about it, don’t plan in their head what should happen next, don’t write bits that will take place far in the future… or even in the sequel! There might be a lot of blank spots to fill in, but the authors have the bigger picture in their head when they start to write a story.
- Reading 5k or even 10k words chapter doesn’t take long; writing a short comment takes a couple of minutes – but writing chapter of that length takes literally days.
- Posting comments consiting only of “update more” or “update soon” doesn’t help.
- Not posting any comments doesn’t help either.
- Active authors might have many stories opened at once – that’s why it’s worth to keep a track on their ff.net/AO3 profile.
- And who said that when it comes to fandom activities the authors are only writing? 😉 They might be also fanart artists or gifset makers. Or simply be also the readers who comment on the works of others – because they’re well aware how much time and effort it takes to write a story.
Question of Smoke 