#about writing fanfiction

[ilys00ga]

I have something to say and nothing to do, so here we go.

this morning, I saw two different posts from one same fic writer on here. one post was smut and the other was fluff, and the two were posted around 2 to 3 days apart. the former had like over 600 interactions, whilst the latter had barely surpassed 150 interactions.

this is not to shame or criticize anybody at all, I just found the gap/difference fascinating. it's almost funny, if u will. ik people have preferences (trust me, I do too. we all do.) and ik there are certain types of content that are more gratifying and wanted than the rest, but what's it with people's addiction to p0rn nowadays? is it even 'normal' at this point?

don't get me wrong, I myself read some stuff here and there, but I've been noticing the way readers or fiction consumers have been so fixated on mature content–some admittedly said that they can't even read a regular, 'smut-less' piece at all. this includes ACTUAL published books, even literature volumes...! I mean, u do u, but I just think it's sad that other contents are less appreciated and get less interactions than the 'spicy' ones.

also, when it comes to fanfiction, this sinks deeper in when you remember that a huge chunk of writers that write and post them on the internet are most likely young teens. we're talking about extremely young people who were exposed to God knows what kind of things at a very young age. let's not forget the amount of unhealthy/unhinged violence and toxic behaviors/tropes a lot of them write about too. it's sickening.

[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[artemisdesari-blog]

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[bebx]

*me, checking my own AO3 account to see if I have posted any new fic I’ve been waiting for yet*

[nebraskashouse]

no matter how fucking sad I am, any AO3 email never fails to makes my day a little brighter

[zombiemollusk]

"i'm sorry there's so much dialogue here, i should write less dialo-" shhhhhhhhh. shhh. sh. no. none of that. i like the dialogue. Let The Dorks Speak.

[everwalldigan]

Bruce: *waking up in a hospital that he drove himself to after having a heart attack and telling absolutely nobody* hey…

The entirety of the batclan looking over him with Dick in the centre, an absolute terrifying grin on his face:

Dick: hello Bruce, nice evening isn’t it? Got something to share with us?

Edit: the fic is now out on ao3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/57780508

[deadghostgirl12345]

*writes a sentence or two after writing nothing for days*

[ddaz3d-and-cc0nfused]

my favorite fucking trope is chubby!reader living your life completely oblivious to the fact that the literal man of your dreams is in love with you and you're none the wiser.

like - you just traipse through life like "well he wouldn't like me back so it's wtv" all nonchalant and shit while the poor man is literally falling over himself trying to get it through your head that HEYYY that's not right??? i'm literally in love with you??? i worship the ground you walk on???? i'll do whatever you want????

and bless your heart, you see every single time he tries to hit on you as an act of kindness:

"awww, he got me (insert fav food here) cus i said i was hungry, what a nice guy!"

"he complimented my outfit! he must've liked the color of my shirt!"

"wow, he seems to be zoning out a lot, i hope he's okay!" (he's been staring at your lips for the past five minutes)

and he just... doesn't know what to do to make you see what he sees.

like you're so gorgeous and funny and why wouldn't he like you??

he's convinced that if he were to stand in front of you and tell you he loves you, you'd be like, "I love you too! you're such a good friend!"

(which has happened before and a little part of him died inside)

it literally takes him everything in his power to make you realize his feelings, and you just stand there for a moment, seemingly connecting the dots over the past few months, and all you can come up with is a small, dumb, "oh."

lord give him the strength.

[shadowquill17]

5, 15, 20 for ao3 wrapped?

Aaaaah AJ I'm so sorry I'm so late with that one, I completely forgot it was in my drafts! Thank you so much for sending me an ask! 🥰💕❤️💕

5) What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

Already answered here!

15) What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

Well, any fic that is still incomplete right now, including so I try to talk refined (marked complete for now, but definitely incomplete as far as my brain is concerned. I might fully reorder chapter 1 so the rest fits? idk).

And mostly, to the pain. On my life I'm finishing that fic next year. On my LIFE.

(And if this question is about the WIPs I haven't started posting yet, then... yeah, it would take too much time to list them all in this post. But there are several, and I choose to believe I will manage to finish and post at least some of them. 😅)

20) Which work of yours have you reread the most?

Oh that's an interesting question! And my answer is gonna sound like a cop-out, but they're all pretty equal? None of them jumped to mind as the obvious answer, at least.

I guess it's because it really depends on the circumstances? Sometimes I don't have time to reread one of the longer one so I'll reread a short one, sometimes I'll be in the mood for something sweet so I'll avoid the painful ones... so in the end they all get pretty equal chances to be reread. 😊

Thanks AJ for the questions! Sorry for the delay! ❤️💕

(the questions for the ao3 wrapped ask game were here)

[ilys00ga]

[codecicle-archive]

Whar does rpf mean 💔💔💔

historians aren't quite sure. Albert Einstein's last words were "rpf is fine" and we've been searching ever since

[crispyliza]

I've got you all figured out fanartists

[bebx]

unfortunately, I will write this fic and I am writing this fic are two very different things

[frownyalfred]

want your favorite author to update but don’t want to be too pushy in their comment section?

here’s 5 things you can do to encourage them:

Reblog their fic link on tumblr (bonus if it’s with tags)

Bookmark the fic with a note about what you’re excited about/love in the fic

Recommend the fic to your friends or local discord channel

Draw art or create other media for the fic (as indicated by the author’s comfort level)

Leave them a comment when re-reading about the parts of the chapter/story that stood out to you the second time