#the kudos to hits ratio on it was the worst of all my posted fics thus far so. perhaps this isn't that good. but that's okay

[aerodaltonimperial]

Insights I've gotten from my spreadsheets with fic stats I've been keeping since December 2022, but I can tell you, that at least in regards to this fandom:

The worst stats I have are on smut fics - bar none, they have the highest hits, but the kudos rate falls between 5-10% of the current average, and the comment rates will decimate you. People straight up will not comment on them. If you want little interaction and tons of hits, that's what you should post lol or maybe you just need to be better at writing smut than I am HAHA

F/F pieces carry some of the lowest hits (unsurprising...) BUT come with some of the HIGHEST kudos/comment percentages. F/F readers in this fandom are very interactive, though low in number! (YAY LADIES)

From Sept of '23 to Feb of '24, the interaction levels across the board crashed, dropping at least 2-5%. This means that hits remained where they were, but all kudos and comment percentages dropped. I know other authors saw and felt this, so it was definitely widespread; I felt pretty validated when the stats ended up looking the way they did.

I had my fics archive-locked for about 2.5 months. This did not impact percentages. It DID heavily impact numbers overall. Since the percentages stayed the same, I can tell you that guests DO leave kudos in the same ratios that logged in users do. To me, it's worth leaving things open so those readers can still be part of things.

Right now, numbers are back up for me following the big six month low, which is especially surprising given that I have lost 80% of the people who used to read my fic lol

Things to note are: I only track one-shots, because chapters mess with hit and comment numbers, so my stats are one-shot only in terms of comparison. This is good for numbers, because long fics are where my words go to die and not get read LOL.

Also, old fics SHOULD, by virtue of the percentages, have lower stats across the board because people re-read over time and can only leave kudos once. Despite this, my worst stats remain in the Sept-Feb time frame. THAT IS HOW NOTICEABLE THE DROP WAS. I see authors like me talking about this so much, but it was so bad it actually NEGATED the time-induced stat drop that should have happened haha.

Some of the best stats I have are my "one-off" pairings: pairings that I wrote one fic of, that aren't big. Those have the highest percentages (not hit numbers! Just interaction ratios). Good news for rarepair writers maybe?

And I cannot overstate how awful the smut ratios are. Just devastating. It's the thing I am the MOST insecure about (I assume many of us are who write it!) and every time I post it, I remember why I don't write more of it LOL. Like OUCH. People will not put their names to it. I did some sleuthing and apparently this is across the board with fandoms. Readers want smut but don't comment on it, which feels counterproductive to getting more, but haha.

Also, logged in users who leave kudos all the time? I see you!! I recognize your usernames! Even if you don't leave a comment, I know you are there and reading when I see your username pop up!! I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND I SO VERY MUCH APPRECIATE YOU. 💚 You are by and large my biggest readership. It used to be friends, but it's almost entirely AO3-names-only for me now. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, I LOVE YOU WITH MOUTH.

[sunriseverse]

twenty questions for fic writers!

tagged by @chirpybirdy (thank you!!!)

tagging: @lucientelrunya @butchybats @cedarbranch @lunarriviera @killerandhealerqueen and anyone else who wants to participate! questions below the cut.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

434 in total! about half of those are from when i was a pacrim writer, though.

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

1,407,660 as of today! i am, unfortunately for all of you, possessed of hands and the ability to string words together, and i'm making that everyone else's problem. i've written 136,786 of that this year, and i'm hoping i can hit 200k this year (last year i had an all-time high of over 300k+, which i'm very smug about; i don't think i can hit that again this year, though, because i'm busy as all hell). my total wordcount to works ratio has changed a lot in the years i've been on ao3—2019-2021, i wrote a lot of fics, but each of them was fairly short; now i write probably ~20-50 fics per year but each one is a minimum 2k, usually 5k+.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

at the moment: dmbj (sha hai focus), zmyx/swwht (mostly a show setting with novel elements), and tgcf.

4. top five fics by kudos

the kudos count for overall pisses me off so i'm giving my 2024 kudos data. we have not long to love: 327 kudos, m, 13k, nanqiu nie huaisang and the no good, very bad day: 241 kudos, t, 3k, gen god knows i can never get rid of habits: 227 kudos, e, 12k, nanqiu my dear, let me buy a red painted boat (and carry you away): 82 kudos, t, 5k, hualian hunger, bright: 81 kudos, m, 8k, nanqiu

5. do you respond to comments?

i try and respond to every comment i get! as an author, i want my readers to know just how much i value their comments, because getting comments really does make my day. usually i'll write some variation of "thanks for commenting, i'm glad you liked the fic!" and then maybe insert a reply to a specific thing they said in the middle, if applicable.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

recently? probably heartsmudged (dmbj ficlet, pingpangxie, pangzi pov)(also on tumblr here). technically there's nothing overtly angsty happening, but it's set during one of the most depressing times in canon for poor pangzi, and he's going through it.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

not sure what i'd call the "happiest" fic ending? most of my fics have happy endings, so it would be hard for me to choose one. i guess a single slip brings sorrow has the most dramatic shift from angst to joy at the end.

8. do you get hate on fics?

not on ao3 because people know how to behave (mostly) but i have gotten hate on ffnet, because ffnet is a cesspit of the worst types of commenters. i've had comment moderation enabled for years because i don't have any interest in allowing that shit to stay up.

9. do you write smut?

i mean, do i write smut for smut's sake on purpose? no. however apparently some of the characters i'm writing really, really want to have sex, and sex makes sense narratively, and so i've lately wound up writing smut. mostly minimally descriptive, though, because i'm more focused on the emotions.

10. craziest crossover?

probably my iasip/tma crossover, statement begins. (i have other crossovers that never got published, but i'm not counting them for the purposes of this post.)

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge. i do have a note up on my profile on ao3 and ffnet letting people know that if my work is found anywhere but on those two accounts or my tumblr then i didn't consent to its posting, though. i hope that if this ever happens someone would let me know.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

i've had someone ask before, but as of five years on, it's not happened yet.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have! not sure i would do it again, because it requires a lot of coordination, and i generally don't have the patience to wait on other people; my pace of writing is both unpredictable, hectic, and frenetic.

14. all time favorite ship?

an agony...........how can i choose.............ozma/dorothy.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

technically not a fic per se but i started writing out a set of zhang sect precepts for sunrise based on the yan family precepts but i didn't get very far into it because trying to emulate the tone of the yan family precepts made me discover a deepseated hatred. this is what it's looked like for a couple months now and it's unlikely to ever be completed because the yan family precepts are stupidly long and i don't know if i could keep that up.

16. what are your writing strengths?

description! i've been told my writing style is very descriptive, and i can see that. i love writing things in detail and using sensory descriptions to make the scene feel more intimate. it's probably not to everyone's tastes but it's my writing and i do what i want.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

updating regularly. if i have a longfic the update rate is between me and universe and i'm not invited to the party. also action-heavy fics. there's a reason my plots tend to focus on emotions rather than action.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

if it's a language i don't know, probably just "[x] said in a language [y] didn't understand" or "[x] said in french" or something. that said because most of what i write is for cdramas/cnovels these days, and since i write everything from the perspective of "this is an english translation of a chinese original" i usually don't wind up writing anything that's not in english beyond a word or two here or there. if i were writing a fic for an english language novel/show and someone were speaking chinese or turkish (or maybe german) i would probably also just write it as "[x] said in [language]" because i find that foreign language text usually breaks my immersion.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

on ao3, warriors. in real life on paper, probably also warriors.

20. favorite fic you've written?

how am i meant to choose...........i love all my fics.....................anything from sunrise 'verse i guess.

[prongsfish]

overcame my demons (didn't reblog a post saying they only read stuff with a 10 : 1 hits to kudos ratio with the ratios i calculated from all my bookmarks, of which the "worst" was one of the most well-known fics in the fandom with a 75 : 1 ratio, with only 1/24 passing op's test, not because i chose peace but because i was weaponising the stats of people who were uninvolved and may not have appreciated their works being included/having their ratios being shown to them, a decent amount of whom are my mutuals)

[pondslime]

2022 writing wrap up

tagged by my beloved @possumteeths MWAH ILY

Total Words Published: 

30,725

Additional Words Written: 

about 9k of assorted other wips lmao

and about 4k for a random non-fic writing project that I kinda......abandoned......but maybe we’ll pick it back up idk

Grand Total of Words: 

about 44,000!

Fandoms:

house of wax exclusively. smh. bc I lost my mind in october over it and have published nothing BUT content for it

however!! I would love to branch out eventually and write some other shit lmao!!

I have a bride of chucky fic in the works and I’d love to dabble into other slashers PERHAPS

none of them own this ass quite like those wax losers UNFORTUNATELY

Highest Everything (raw kudos, hits, comments):

it’s my first HOW fic, poacher’s dream...which is a categorically nasty and weird lil house of wax oneshot about bo sinclair bein nasty w/beer bottles.

glad to know that all of u are intrigued @ the thought of being debased w/a budweiser bottle by this hick loser bc same tbh

Highest Kudos to Hits Ratio:

pumpkin guts! a silly lil halloween romp in which the reader carves pumpkins with the worst men in america! spooky!

New Things I Tried:

x reader fics lol!! I never thought I'd write anything in that format! tbqh, I didn't think I'd return to writing fanfic at all! bc for years I’ve had this cycle of getting into something, writing one (1) fic for it, losing all interest in fic writing, and disappearing off the face of whatever fandom I scuttled into lmao

seems like the only thing that motivates me to semi-regularly post fics is the concept of screwing the vilest fictional men?? interesting!! I love my neurological functions

Fic I Spent the Most Time On:

it feels like it was sanguine lmao

I wrote 9.5k words of weird cerebral EDGING porn for this deranged elvis impersonator and his mechanic LARP

I really did 

and it’s 100% the least accessible of my fics bc it’s Peculiar™. but when I tell u I sat and absolutely labored over that fic rfhsdjwjfedskrfjwds

I put a lot of time and energy into it and it knocked 7391932 years off my life tbh

Favorite Thing I Wrote:

something borrowed! 

I think it’s the strongest fic in my catalogue tbh. Just pacing/format-wise. I really like the overall structure and tone! It’s this strange little foray into Bo’s demented little pea brain and has several scenes I love a lot 

I’m also very fond of miss ambrose, my lester fic! it’s just GOOFY fluffy nonsense!!! I had SO MUCH fun writing it 

Favorite Thing I Read:

everything LITERALLY EVERTHING that my fuckin INCREDIBLY talented friend @possumteeths​/ @raccoonspooky​ wrote!! like I’m actively trying to narrow down my favorite and I am having the most DIFFICULT time bc they are all works of fuckin art lmao

I literally just reread obedient dogs the other day. go read that. have u read the SOUL SHATTERING and AWARD WINNING they'll pay you a thousand for a kiss & .50 for your soul ?? HAVE U?? BESTIE if U HAVE NOT??? 

basically, go gargle down all of poki’s content idk man IT’S ALL SO GOOD 

@visceravalentines​ wrote THIS incredible piece and it made me clinically fuckin insane. edit: AND THIS ONE. HOLY SHIT. I have reread both of these 7382817983 times!!! meg ily!! u just wait I’m gonna attack ur masterlist like a frenzied bear after a long winter hibernation I swear

regrettably, I didn’t consume a ton of fic this year!! granted, I only got into this fandom in october so I have time to catch up lmao!! definitely plan to have a more extensive list next year 

Writing goals for 2023:

write more nonsensical insanity and just have fun lmao

as for concrete plans!! I’d love to write a whole series of x readers with horror ladies (final girl/villain/what have u)! carly and tiff are already on that list, but if you have any other ideas, I’m all ears! I need to brush through my horror lady mental catalogue and give them some ao3 rights lmao!

New Works:

The previously mentioned Carly x Reader fic! It’s been my super self-indulgent brainchild for the past couple months, and I love it a lot! I really want to hammer it out this month and toss it out into the internet void......but we shall see. 

If only I can get the weevil that is Ho Binclair out of my goddamn scriv doc..........speaking of him.......................

☢️💥🤡 I’ve got 37171984918342 Bo WIP’s bopping around my skull at all times yikes🤡💥☢️

I don’t need those. u don’t need those. I’ve already written enough for this man. what else is there 2 say!!! and yet

I’m also writing bits and pieces of this multi-chaptered Vincent slowburn. that will be out..............................at some time? in the future jfrdsjhrjhwfdskrwfds who knows

tagging the writer moots that I haven't already seen tagged!! no stress of course mwah 

@visceravalentines, @venus-haze​

also consider urself tagged if u read 2 the bottom of this hell post 

[jacky-rubou]

I'm sorry your fic isn't getting the response you'd hoped. It's always so disappointing, especially when it's something you're really proud of! I know for me, my mental health is in the toilet right now, and I can't handle reading anything angsty at all. Maybe other people are feeling the same. Hang in there, ok?

I know... maybe I just picked the worst day to post it or something... It hurts to see such an awful ratio of kudos to hits, like what I posted wasn't good or something. I hope it'll turn around cuz I'm not feeling it right now. I'm a little confused why it's flopping when my other angsty fics have decent kudos and other interaction. I thought it was good. It's... hard not to think that other people thought it was bad when all they do is give me a useless hit! Not blaming anyone if they did that though, I'm just an overthinking mess right now.

You're okay for not wanting to read it though, I don't want to force anyone to read something that'll make them hurt. That's the last thing I wanna do. Your mental health is more important than some random fic. Take care of yourself, okay? I'll be fine, just a little sad. And thanks for the kind words, I really needed it.

[themimsyborogove]

For the writing ask game: 4, 7 and 9

4. what fic of your own do you read for comfort?

Supernova. It has the worst kudos to hits ratio of all of my fics, and I had to edit some scenes out to bring the rating down, but it still hits an emotional soft spot for me.

7. how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

I’ve given up on a lot of ideas because that feel like too much work to write for something no one will read. I still try to write shorter stories and one shots to throw into the void, but most of the ideas that require actual research and plotting die before they start.

9. what's your writing process like?

I write the first draft in the Notes app on my phone, then move it to Ao3 to edit because for some reason the Ao3 format makes it easier for me to spot typos and make the sentences flow better. Once I can read through the entire thing without finding something to edit, I post it.

[palimpsessed]

Fic Writer Interview

Tagged by: @mostlymaudlin ❤️❤️❤️

Name: Palimp or Pal in these parts and now that all my favorite people call me this, I like it much better than my irl name

Fandoms: all Simon Snow all the time baby 😘(first and only fandom)

Most popular multi-chapter: I’m never sure how to figure this. If I look at the ratio of kudos to hits...it’s probably cheating to use Chamber by Chamber since it’s a series, but that has the highest percentage in that case. To the Manor Borne has the highest number of hits and kudos. That’s probably the truer answer, because I think that’s been consistent for that fic.

Actual Worst Part of Writing: Honestly? The worst part is waiting for people to read 😂 If the process itself was awful, I wouldn’t do it!

How do you do titles?: They usually come to me with the fic idea ... sometimes they are the fic idea (see my as yet unwritten James Bond AU, Snowfall 😆) ... sometimes they are fic outlines (see: Chamber by Chamber, To the Manor Borne). I am usually very confident in titling fics. I like to use phrases that sound like they could be spells (even for non-magickal AUs), and occasionally, I throw in a book quote.

Do you outline?: Almost never. I did a very detailed outline for Chamber by Chamber (the fic, not the series) because there was a lot going on and a lot of emotional points I needed to hit. I had never written a smut fic before, so outlining it gave me the ability to see how it would all fit together and flow...and also gave me the confidence that I’d be able to write it at all. Everything else is kind of just vaguely in my head as: title, concept, where it’s probably all going. Or jotted down in random notes in several places.

Fic ideas you probably won’t get to but wouldn’t it be nice: Well right now, it’s all of them 😂 AWTWB has ruined me for focus on anything else. But I still fully intend to write them all someday. Almost all of them are AUs. Tho there is so much room to play with post-canon. I’ve talked about wanting to write a sequel to A Man of Letters, and I know how I would do it, I just don’t know what I would write yet. So, that’s maybe something I won’t get to for some time. The project most immediately in my sights? My Cupid and Psyche AU for COTTA. That will only be better now for having AWTWB to draw from.

Callouts @ me: Um. Signing up for events as an artist still counts as signing up for events, and you need to chill.

Best Writing Traits: I have the most fun when I’m writing banter or dialogue-heavy scenes. I hope that shines through in how it reads. And I think I’m very good with characterization, because characters have always come first for me as a writer.

Spicy opinions: Minty, Ginger, Basil...I feel like there was a missed opportunity here...

Tagging: Anyone who made it this far. I love you all. My brain hurts.

[parakeatswrites]

fic writer interview

I was tagged by @catboyadamparrish and @hklnvgl​ (thank you! 💕)

name: Eve / Ed

fandoms (i write for): TRC at the moment! I’ve written for other fandoms in the past, but those are under other (abandoned 😬) pen names

two-shot: I have never written a two-shot before haha. Either I manage to keep it to a oneshot, or the wordcount gets beyond me into a multichap.

most popular multi-chapter: If we’re rating them by hits-to-kudos ratio, then it’s The Night Hides All Flaws (the ASMR!pynch fic) hands down.

actual worst part of writing: Oh man, when I’m doing a longer fic and I know story beat A and story beat C, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get between them. Also probably when the self-doubt hits hard - that internal dialogue of self-criticism can really take the fun out of writing. 

how you chose your titles: I am a simple man and I pull the title from a song.

do you outline: Yes I absolutely do. The detail in the outlines depends on how complex the story is, but writing outlines is really inspiring for me. There’s a lot of easy serotonin in working on outlines since it feels like I’m “getting through” the story so fast compared to actually writing the prose.

ideas I probably won’t get around to but wouldn’t it be nice: If you’ve talked to me even once you’ll probably realize that I suffer from Too Many Ideas and I don’t want to admit that I won’t have time to write them all. One that is pretty low on my ‘to write’ list right now that I desperately want to read is this ‘Pynch undercover & forced to pretend to be a married couple to track down a underground magical artifact trade ring in suburbia’. They could fight about domestic stuff, and Orla could be their In, and they might run into Declan who Ronan hasn’t talked to in forever and so he doesn’t know Jordan at all & it almost blows their cover? There would be subterfuge & block bbqs & explosions & fake pet names that maybe become a bit too real? Wouldn’t that be a nice time?

Callouts @ me: Finish ya fics dude

best writing traits: I’d like to think my dialogue isn’t half bad. My writing is the strongest when it’s fluffy & smutty & about the yearning. 

spicy tangential opinion: Is this spicy? - Send people nice messages to spread positivity. If you’re ever wondering if you should leave an enthusiastic comment on something, or leave a nice anon message, or get excited in the tags of a post, just know that you absolutely should. Get excited and share that with people! Let creators know that you like what they’ve made. The folks who make the art and fic and edits are so essential to fandom. I’m coming at this from being a lurker for years - I get it! You don’t know if your comments are weird or unwelcome. It can be difficult to know what the social rules of a space are. I absolutely get it. But (unless someone has explicitly asked for no interaction / comments) it is pretty safe to assume that your fav fic author / artist / podficcer etc will appreciate a bit of positivity. 

Thank you again for tagging me! I really appreciate it 😊 I haven’t been keeping up with my dash at. all. the last few days so I honestly have no clue who has already been tagged. If you saw this and thought it would be fun, please feel free to join in an tag me!! 

[cescalr]

9 and 23 for the ask game please 😊

9: Are there any fics you'd love to see but don't want to write yourself? What are they?

Ooh, um... I'm not sure! Something substantial for Cursed 2005, maybe, like a crossover with buffy or teen wolf or something, with jimbo as the pairing from cursed and idk just something interesting (please no b*angel or st*rek or st*dia), or a time travel fic for Supernatural that involves Dean as the POV but absolutely zero, nada, nothing of (even hints) De*tiel or winc*st, that's 100% a fix-it fic (bc my mans deserved a lot better than that ending smh. And so did Jo, and Anna, and Lisa and Ben and Charlie and Benny and- ).

23: What's one piece of advice you would give to anyone who wants to start writing or posting their writing online?

Hmm... Just go for it? Like, write whatever comes to mind and post it. And keep doing that. Over and over again, because it's all the same thing - practise. If you can't think of an idea, there's no reason not to go trawling for prompts. I've got this list of 200 prompts, can't remember where I found it, but it's really useful if I'm stuck. But yeah. Find some time, any amount of time, whether its 5 minutes or five hours, and write what you can, as much as you can, whether it's ten words or 10,000, or more or less, it doesn't matter. Just get words on screen (or on paper, if you prefer.) And then... post it. If the main issue is getting the courage to post it, don't read back over it. That's when the nervousness rears it's ugly head. Just post it. Straight up. Type right into the Ao3 doc and hit post if you have to, just... find a way to minimise the amount of time you give yourself to get all worked up about whether it's 'good enough' or not. It won't be perfect the first time you write something - nothing ever is. Everything requires practise. And each time you post something, you get better at it. It gets easier. If proofreading is the bane of your existence, just post it and come back later to fix any issues. If titling it is a problem pick a random word or a song lyric or hell, a sentence from the fic, anything at all. 'Working Title | Stiles POV All Human AU Stira Fic', even. Just. Anything. You can always change it later. Summaries an issue? Grab the first paragraph. Grab the first sentence. Put 'Stiles POV all human au, stira focus.' as the summary. Who cares? You. Can. Always. Change. It. Later.

That's the great thing about fic. Changing everything later is possible. Nothing here is permanent. If you aren't happy with something, that doesn't matter. So long as it's out there, you can get feedback (because often, we don't know why we aren't happy with something - outside help is always invaluable). Being scared of criticism is half the problem, for a lot of people... but - not to sugar coat - it's necessary. And, just to note, in my 10 years of fanfic writing, I have never, ever, gotten a single malicious comment. Not. Once. It's much rarer than people think it is. And even if you do, you can always delete it. Put comments on moderation, turn them off, if it's the main issue. Gather your confidence at your own pace - but don't forget feedback is necessary for improvement. Eventually you will need to accept it's going to happen - it's not an attack on you. It's an attempt at help. We're taught in school to consume media critically, and those who internalise that will comment constructively. English class can leave an impression - the worst thing is to take any of it personally. Having a negative mindset (they hate it) versus a positive mindset (they want me to improve at this thing I enjoy doing, they're trying to help, they're being supportive) can make all the difference.

Eventually, you'll need to turn those comments back on. But you don't need to take anyone's shit, hence why moderation is a thing. There is a difference between constructive criticism and hate - but it's rare you'll get the latter. Tone is hard to convey in text form; benefit of the doubt is the best way forward.

Make sure you've got friends/mutuals you can ramble with about your fics. it's genuinely the most helpful thing. Give them snippets, do the whole cheerleader routine for each other. It's great. Brainstorm with each other. Not necessarily doing collaborative fic (though you might find that's what works best for you!) but just, geeking out with each other. It makes a huge boost for your ego, and that's useful for your confidence when it comes to posting things. But also, if you trust them, it makes taking their advice easier.

Sometimes, it might feel like two steps forward and one step back. That's great! It's still a step forward. Go at your own pace. The worst thing you can do is rush yourself and burn out. If it takes you a year to update, it takes you a year. I assure you, the readers will still be there, and they'll be happy to see the update. Nobody's going to hate you for taking your time. Prioritise your health. I promise it makes your work better if you're in a good place, and you don't have too much on your plate.

Though, having said that, if you find you work best with about twenty wips all at once updated every week, then go for it! Like I said; your own pace. If a schedule helps you, have one. If it doesn't, don't. I don't have a schedule. I have about 40 wips posted, and a few that aren't yet. It can take me a year to update, or I'll do four in a week. People are pleased either way - what matters is that you wrote something, and it exists, and other people can read it. Isn't that awesome? You've made something. You've made a mark. Someone's happy because of you, because you wrote something they like. Who cares if there's twenty typos and you use the wrong you're* (*or equivalent in your language, ofc) - you can fix that later. And it didn't stop that person's enjoyment of the first fic you ever posted, which might not be as good as your future fics, but it's still special. It's still yours.

Prioritise the thing you want to prioritise. Plot, relationships (of any nature), whatever. Prioritise that. The rest will fall into place. Personally, I prioritise characterisation. interpersonal dynamics follow, part and parcel of character exploration, then plot, as an extension. Do what suits you. And people don't tend to mind very much about any of these. If characterisation matters to you not one whit, just put OOC in the tags and be done with it. Plot doesn't matter? Perfectly fine! You don't want to write ships? Nobody's forcing you. Do what you want. It's just fanfiction. That's kind of the point. There's no need to feel pressure to write a certain thing. I'm in a lot of fandoms with a lot of very large ships. I'd get a lot more readers if I wrote st*rek, or d*stiel, or whatever, but I don't, because I wouldn't enjoy it. Write what you want to see. What you want to read. That's the best advice I can give. If you cry at your own fic, perfect. If you laugh at your own fic, brilliant. If your own fic leaves you all giddy like, grinning wide, amazing. It's gonna give someone else that reaction, too.

Hits, kudos, comments - they're not everything. Ao3, for harry potter, has 5000 pages of fic, with some of the tags I don't like excluded. It's not a case of people not liking your fic - it's a case of people not finding it. Don't worry. Recognition will come with time. Also, the ratio for fics is kind of awful, anyway. Comments and kudos vs hits is always poor; 2%, 5%, 7%. Don't worry too much about it. If people read it, it's likely they liked it. A lot of people are just lazy, and don't press the kudos button. A lot of people are incredibly nervous, or don't know what to say, so they don't comment. Another thing; some of your fics are going to be more popular than others. This is normal. Fandom size, fandom activity, content of fic, tags - prevalence of fic type, etc etc. One of my fics has around 15k notes. the rest are all below 6k. the runner up is a whole 10k below that fic. This is to be expected, and it's nothing to tear your hair out about. Write, first and foremost, for yourself. The rest, as always, comes later.

Really, tldr; you can always fix it later. the rest comes later. recognition comes later. the best thing to do - the first thing to do, the only thing to do - is just start. Post something. Anything. And go from there however you wish.

In 2016 i had zero subscribers on Ao3. I've got 72 now. These things just take time. In 2016 i'd written 30k words. I've written 1.2 million now. These things just take time. Through fandom, mostly fanfiction, I've gained people I'd consider friends. I think it's a really cool endeavour, and I think - for your confidence, peace of mind, and social sphere - it's also a really positive one.

[dreamyelectronicmusics]

2020 Fic Year in Review

Nobody tagged me but I decided to do this anyway just because I can

Total number of completed stories: 11

Total word count: 69,986 on AO3, plus more sitting in my drafts

Fandoms written in: Community

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? Definitely more. I didn’t write much in 2019 and I didn’t expect to find a new obsession.

What’s your own favourite story of the year? Probably Introduction to Unconscious Bias. I like rereading that one and it has the fewest things I’d change. In some ways it was also the most satisfying to write because the scenes just came to me on their own. The night I started writing it I got barely any sleep because every time I lay down I got a new idea that I had to write down immediately and it just felt so good to feel inspired. It’s also my only fic that that has a (brief) scene with the entire study group and I’m proud of how it turned out because I find it hard to juggle more than two characters at a time.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Uh… I wrote a pegging fic? (Don’t look me in the face) I don’t know if that counts as a risk but it’s definitely a departure from my usual fare in more ways than one and I was nervous about posting it.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? Keep writing. I feel pretty uninspired at the moment and there’s a chance I’ve exhausted all my Community ideas, but writing fic has definitely improved my quality of life this year so I’d like to keep at it.

Most popular story of the year? Introduction to Unconscious Bias (by kudos)

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I don’t know if any of my stories should be more appreciated than they are, but Real-Life Consequences of Role-Playing Games has the worst hits-to-kudos ratio. Which probably makes sense because it has a pretty narrow target group and the way it’s written won’t work for a lot of people, and I also think it’s a fic that people might skim through out of curiosity without intending to actually read it. There are definitely things I’d change about it but it has some good character moments that I really like.

Also maybe The Actor Inside, but I think the flaw with this one is that it’s probably kind of confusing unless the episode it’s based on is fresh in your memory.

Most fun story to write: Hmm… I had fun writing all of them, but probably Intro to Lust Bridling. I made myself laugh with that one.

Biggest disappointment: That I didn’t write this idea.

Biggest surprise: That I wrote so much (for me). Every time I posted something I felt like “this is it, I’m all out of ideas”, and then I wasn’t.

[eska-rina]

interview with the writer

tagged by @got2gh0st​ aaa thank you Ily 😭❤️

Name: Eskarina

Fandom(s): I’m only active in HQ fandom but I also love reading fic for Promare, The Witcher, and occasionally going back to Marvel stuff shdfsdg

Where You Post: only ao3... I think I’d rather die than attempt a twitter thread. don’t @ me if you see me do one anyway I eat my own words on a daily basis

Most Popular One Shot: if this is purely by hits it’s Mismatch Analysis but I do not perceive that fic so I’m gonna go by which fic has gained the most kudos over a certain period of time. Which is 3682 days of you being a pain

Most Popular Multi-Chap: I barely do multi chapters but I guess it’s gonna have to be top 10 worst pet names

Favorite Story You’ve Written So Far: probably These City Lights Mean Nothing Without You because I like the ratio of feelings to porn in that one. It’s also probably the most polished and I thoroughly enjoy rereading it. Might post an epilogue someday!!!

Fic You Were Nervous to Post: hdfsdhfh probably Proximity?? Which I’m not even gonna link because it sucks since it was the second fic I ever finished. The first time I posted smut. I had a nervous breakdown I think

How do you choose your titles? I try to think long and hard about the vibe of the fic and wait until I’m half asleep to unlock my full dumbass potential, write down some words and pass out, wake back up and try to construct an actual title from unintelligible ramblings. Wish I was joking

Do you outline? dude I wish. I fucking wish

Complete: 9....... barely believable since I thought I’d lose steam after Kuroken week

In Progress: I don’t........... you know what fine. I have like 5 pwp wips and maybe 2 plot wips but this is off the top of my head. I regularly forget about entire stories and find them again and go “oh right i was gonna write that 3 months ago”

Coming Soon: I might post pwp anonymously tomorrow for a nsfw event on twitter but Idk if I’ll finish on time........ also probably on the 14th if I manage to pull myself together we’re gonna have some porn with minor plot... it’s peak dumbassery. Maybe the stupidest thing I’ve written

Prompts? I usually think I don’t work well with them but then I look at how many of my fics were posted for events and I guess I’m wrong. Almost all the stuff I’m working on right now stems from event prompts hjkshdfsd

Upcoming Work You’re Most Excited About? Bokuroo vampire AU. No I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pull it off but it’s like the only story I have outlined and it’s got so many cheesy moments I can literally see in front of my mental eye I go a little insane over it. It also is very dumb as per usual. Kuroo is a vampire and he’s trying to turn his castle into a tourist hotspot because he’s sick of being lonely. Bokuto is his freshly hired landscape gardener. Features almost the entire cast of HQ in various roles within the castle such as waiter Oikawa and cook Ushijima.

I’m tagging @thisisxenon and @kyrstin but no pressure to do this!!!

[bettsfic]

I didn't even realize it was possible to get 2000 subscribers to a story on AO3 until I just read your post about comments. I've been thinking lately about how insignificant my writing is (my current WIP has like 160 subscribers). At what point do I acknowledge I'm just not very good at this? Like my most recent short fic (in a new fandom) was two days ago, has about 400 hits and 69 kudos. Others posted at the same time have way more. Am I just bad?

personally i think 69:400 is an excellent ratio. i’d be over the moon with that. moreover, it’s friday, which means you posted wednesday. very likely, people saw the fic, marked it for later, and will come back to it on the weekend. give it time.

when i say 2000 subscribers i mean aggregate user subscribers and fic subscribers. i don’t remember the exact number of people subscribed to the fic specifically. 300 maybe? anyway, traffic is dumb and you should never look at it to determine the quality of your own work. 

i understand the inclination to lend meaning to traffic, but doing that will never help you. popularity and quality are different things. just because a lot of people like something doesn’t mean it’s good. in fact, the best things tend not to be well-read at all. my favorite fic of all time has been up for 10 years and has less than 400 kudos. some of my favorite fic authors whose work i read no matter what fandom they’re writing in are not well-known at all.

quality-wise, the two best fics i’ve ever written have the following stats:

this one has been up for 3 years. last month i reread it, forgetting all the details of it, and i couldn’t put it down. i stayed up until like 3am reading my own fic, utterly riveted as if i hadn’t written it. the DREAM. and look at all those comments! the bookmarks:kudos ratio! not many people read it, but those who did really, really liked it. god i love that fic.

this one has been up for a year and a half. i come back and reread this one a lot because i find it comforting. on a quality level it’s one of the strongest pieces i’ve ever written, ofic included. this is another one where not many people read it but those who did really loved it. it was written for a very very small fandom though.

and here are the stats of the *worst* things i’ve ever written, and which make me cringe a little when i think of them:

when it was a wip, it had like 1200 subscribers. i haven’t looked at it once since i finished it. a lot of people love it, but i just wish i’d never written it at all. 

and this is the first long multi-chap i ever wrote, which i had no idea would really ever be read. i had absolutely 0 following at the time and honestly i don’t know how anyone found it. i wish i could look at it without wanting to die but i can’t even open it anymore; that’s how bad it is. 

this is my highest traffic fic, written for a massive ship. it’s not a bad fic; i still like it even if i haven’t read it in a long time. but i also wouldn’t say it’s good. i pounded it out in about a day and a half. i didn’t put a lot of thought into it. the only thing special about it was that it happened to find and feed its audience to satisfy that exact fandom’s tastes in that exact time. that’s all.

traffic (and the success of all writing) is nothing more than a function of audience. if you get undesired traffic, it’s because you either haven’t found your audience or you’ve misunderstood it (it is not your obligation, however, to understand your audience or write to it; your obligation is only to honor the story you want to tell). when you’re in a fandom and you see fics with higher traffic than you have, it’s likely because those writers have been in that fandom longer and everyone in it is subscribed to them already, or they were big in another fandom and people are moving over to read them. the same goes with publishing ofic. it’s very unlikely that your writing is bad; more likely, you have not found the editor willing to fight for it. the riskier you write, the harder it is for your work to find a home. and risk is, to me, all that matters. all good art takes risks. so you may find success by playing it safe all the time, but why would you want to?

if you want traffic, write a 100k, 20 chapter stucky or reylo fic updated twice a week, with a lot of drama, comedy, and tooth-rotting fluff. you’ll get 20k kudos in like a day, and 8000 comments. or get in on the geraskier buzz right now and get a page 1 fic in before the fandom is firmly established. i’m serious; try intentionally to pander. write something with absolutely no integrity, that you don’t care about at all, and see what happens. you’ll find that all the traffic in the world still isn’t fulfilling, and it’s way better to be disliked or disregarded than widely liked at the cost of your own creative inclinations. 

it is very, very rare that your creative interests will ever align with your ideal audience. that is all high traffic means: an alignment of work to audience. it’s meaningless. when it comes to your writing, your opinion is the only one that matters. 

[potteresque-ire]

Writing Tag!

Tagged by @bounding-heart ❤️❤️❤️. Sorry for taking forever to reply! I also just realised there’s a “Statistics” page on AO3 to answer the questions. Yes, I’m hopeless 😅.

AO3 name: potteresque_ire

Fandoms: Harry Potter (Drarry), have also dipped my toes in Yuri!On Ice (Victuuri), Good Omens (Ineffable Hubbies).

Tropes: Hmm. I don’t think of fics by tropes -- I don’t search for fics by tropes or start writing with a trope in mind, but I do enjoy many of them and they do pop up in my stories every now and then. Enemies-to-lovers is always good. Yes to pining, hurt/comfort...

Number of fics: Leaving out drabbles and ficlets ... around 25 (I know it’s a small number * bows head in shame *)

Fic I spent the most time on: The fic that felt like I spent the longest on was Twelve Days of Christmas. Its premise, with Draco as someone who might or might not have lost his mind and Harry, who might or might not have got there before Draco, was kinda beyond my skills to execute at the time but I tried anyway 😊.  It’s also the only fic I’ve written that I found truly depressing, because it’s got the worst fate I’ve given Harry by far (and I’ve assigned MCD to him several times)(sorry).

Fic I spent the least time on: For time-spent-per-word, The Kitchen Thieves (and the Kitchen Herself).

Longest Fic: Also The Kitchen Thieves (and the Kitchen Herself) (67k).

Shortest Fic: Among those I’ve given fic-level attention -- written with recipient in mind, edited and beta’ed — probably Owlcards and Letters from Beyond the Storm (~3.6k). Its time-per-word ratio was high though, because it was in a mixed media format and much time was spent on the images and fitting the text to them.

Most hits: Evolution, which has never ceased to surprise me. I assumed, at the time of posting, that this fic would be too event-less (opposite of eventful) to attract readership.

Most kudos: Evolution

Most comment threads:  Owlcards and Letters from Beyond the Storm (published on LiveJournal; the fic is celebrating its 10th birthday this year.)

Most bookmarks: Evolution

Total word count: 362,612 according to AO3. It counts all the shorts and metas as well.

Favourite fic I wrote: Oh, this is difficult! My feelings towards my work tend to stem from the memories I have of the writing period, from who I was at the time, rather than from how the story turned out or how well it’s been received. Owlcards, for example, is highly significant for personal reasons but given the special circumstances of its birth, I doubt I can create something similar again even if I dearly wish I could. 

From a more fannish perspective, I think my answer would be The Kitchen Thieves (and the Kitchen Herself), because I felt it best captured the Harry/Draco dynamics I was aiming for.

Why it was so, I think, is the same reason why this fic hasn’t been attractive to potential readers: its narration came from neither character of the main ship (it’s only after this fic that I learned it’s quite an unpopular thing to do). I’m not good at thinking like a person in love (deep-end aro-ace reporting here 😊) and while I’m getting better at “faking it”, I suspect there’s still a whole plethora of emotions I’m missing. But I’ve trained myself to read the signs of romance for years, taught myself how to approach people, real or fictional, caught in that whirlwind of emotions that leave me confused more often than I’d like to admit. Tumblr fandom is so much about pointing at a pair of characters and saying “they’re in love” (or, ”that’s gay”)... and I don’t really possess that drive, or insight, inherently. (For those who know Good Omens the series, I totally missed Aziraphale’s look after Crowley handed him back the books. That’s how bad I can be at picking up the signs of romance.) I’m therefore used to being a … somewhat removed observer of ships, sympathetic (hopefully) but not necessarily empathetic, and it’s easier for me to write about them that way. TL;DR: Kate the kitchen spirit in The Kitchen Thieves has a bit of me sometimes, staring at Harry’s and Draco’s crazy way of loving and going Whoa???

(Apologies for the TMI! I’ve got a super lovely string reviews on AO3 this week (thank you so much ❤️, V, I treasure all of them) and it got me thinking, it got me to notice that aside from the “you make me cry” comments, I also get a lot of reviews that mention the complexity, the ... heavy-handedness of my writing. I wonder if some of it is compensation. Because I don’t feel the romance of the story as much as many readers probably do, I layer on more emotions because I fear they don’t feel present, that they read inadequate. True? Not true? Something for me to think about. Regardless, I’ll probably keep layering because the emotions are there for myself, as well.)

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: The only fic I’ve ever had a sequel for in my mind is Memoria in Aeterna (yes, @bounding-heart, the bee fic!). The third Wizarding War would’ve broken out, and Draco, who’d long sequestered himself in the Water Quadrant, would’ve found the courage to re-enter society and join Harry for the fight. No happy endings for anyone. I don’t think I’ll write it up though; the climate of fandom has changed so much.

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on: Here’s a bit from the (very) long Good Omens fic I’m currently struggling with:

===

Dead too, by the end of that snow shower, was any prospect of a future together between an angel and a human. Please forgive me for prying, Robbie would say to Aziraphale one day, while standing in front of the photo in the gentlemen club in Pall Mall. But I can’t be in love with someone I don’t even know the name of. Aziraphale would hold on to the books he’d been gifted, a collection of the Writer’s first edition works, nod and say lightly, I forgive you, before swallowing the words he’d practised saying over and over again in the bookshop.

My name is Aziraphale.

I’m an angel.

He wept that night, and several nights after, but unlike the many times he’d watched Romeo and Juliet, nobody was watching over him in the shadows.

Aziraphale was alone.  

Meanwhile, a few districts down from Mayfair, the demon who’d known this all along, that mortals and immortals could never be mates without deceit and heartbreak, was stirring on a beam. The floor of the living room had disappeared under the letters her colleagues had slipped under the door over the years—commendations addressed to A. J. Crowley, DR letters complaining about the humanity of her new name. They’d piled high, and in twenty-four more years, one of them would reach high enough to tickle the demon’s nose.

She’d wake with a sneeze.

===

Tagging everyone who wants to do it!! :)

[artificialqueens]

How To Motivate, Encourage, and Inspire Writers - A Masterpost

Hey guys! I am reposting this guide because it got mysteriously deleted. This version includes some new additions and advice for readers.

This is meant to be a guide to help people give valuable, inspiring feedback, as well as how to send in prompts and requests that are more likely to be used. Remember that these are simply suggestions designed to help YOU as a reader get more of what you want. <3

Please let me know if you have anything to add, as this post was a collaborative effort and it can only get better with more input.  

*

What Readers Can Do

1. Like and reblog the stories you enjoy. Fanfic authors don’t get paid. Their only “currency” is notes and feedback. Seeing the notes climb, as silly as it may seem, is a huge motivator to write more. If you are shy about using your main blog for this, you can always create a sideblog and reblog the fic you like there. Authors will notice this and it’s also a great record when you want to go back to fic that you enjoy!

2. Positive feedback! A simple “I love this” or “I can’t wait for more” is great if that’s all you have to say, as well as general writer appreciation, but even better...

3. Comment with specifics. What did you like about the story or writing style? You can talk about the plot itself, characterization, dialogue, the writer’s voice or sense of humor, how the story made you feel, what you’d like to see more of...anything, even the smallest detail, that made you enjoy reading it. Nothing is more motivating for a writer than knowing that their hard work is appreciated.

Some examples of great comments with places to fill in the blanks with specifics. Feel free to use all or part of these as templates when you want to send a comment but you’re not sure where to begin:

[Author Name] - your last fic was so [complimentary adjective]! You really [description of something they did well]. Can’t wait for your next [story/chapter].

[Author Name] - I love [Title] so much! I especially love [part you enjoyed].

I hope we get more of [Title] from [Author Name]. It is [complimentary adjective].

Just read [Title] and [exclamation]! I am [emotion or state of mind].

I really loved [Title] by [Author Name]! My favorite part was probably [specific impactful theme or moment in fic], because it really made me feel [emotional response].

I am [emotion or state of mind] over [Title] by [Author Name]. It was so [descriptive adjective] when [describe moment in story].

Some more examples of really great, detailed, inspiring comments.

4. Start an actual dialogue with an author. As mentioned above, reblogging with comments (even just in the tags) is great. You can also send asks directly to their blogs, DM them, or send additional asks when they respond. Authors may have questions for you, and being able to interact can easily spark something or help them find direction where they were stuck. You can find a list of authors’ sideblogs here if you want to send messages directly to them.

5. Direct requests and prompts to specific writers who you enjoy. Start with why you like them and then explain your idea or request. By doing that, they will start off knowing that they are appreciated, making them way more likely to get excited by your suggestion. Try to phrase things in an open-ended and positive way. “I’d love to see how you would handle [prompt situation/pairing/suggestion]” or “here’s an idea, I think you could do something really cool with it.” The more detailed and supportive your prompt is, the more likely it is that someone will get excited and inspired by it. If your request is for “more” of something that exists, include a reason why you like that story, author, etc. If your request is for something different, talk about something else you liked and why.

Examples of how to send in requests and prompts to specific writers, or include a compliment:

[Author Name(s)] is/are awesome and I would love for them to write more [ship or thing you love].

I would give anything for more [ship or request], especially if it’s similar to [Title(s)], they are my favorite!

I love [Author Name]’s style so much, and I’d be so happy if they wrote [ship/thing you want from them].

I wonder how [Author Name] or [Author Name] would handle [idea]? I would love to read that!

[Title] by [Author Name] is so [positive adjective]! It makes me really want them to try [idea] because I bet they would [motivating phrase like “kill it!”].

[Author Name] - have you ever considered writing [prompt]? [Motivating sentence like “I would die for that!”] 

I really love [ship], especially [story title(s)/author name(s)]. I would love to see one where [prompt].

6. Creating artwork, edits, moodboards, or anything inspired by a story you like. This is like, the PINNACLE for most writers. Knowing that someone connected to something you wrote enough to take time out of their day to create something inspired by your story. It’s like drugs. ART IS DRUGS PASS IT ON.

7. If you are a writer, comment on other writers’ stories! You know more than anyone how hard they worked, so please show your fellow authors some love.

Demotivators

1. Anything that sounds aggressive or demanding. You catch more flies with honey.

2. Complaining about the lack of a certain ship, ESPECIALLY if ANYTHING featuring that ship has been posted in the last month of so. Writers are reading these comments, especially if they have posted recently. Can you imagine how demoralizing it is to post a story and then 3 days later, read a comment bemoaning how there’s NOTHING from that ship, that ship is dead, etc? Like this, written about one of the most popular, enduring ships in the fandom with some of the most prolific, talented writers here:

Don’t be that anon. ^

3. Begging and whining, especially for something extremely vague - this sounds way less cute than you think, and reading something like “I will die if I don’t get more [ship]” is more annoying than inspiring. Especially if, as stated above, the thing you are dying over already exists.

4. Giving nothing at all. Most of the writers expect to at least see their work is noticed. If there are no responses at all, they can’t provide you with anything new. And worst case scenario, they lose the motivation to finish it because they think no one is interested.

Notes From Some Writers (and Readers!)

“I’m famously horrendously bad at abandoning fics but about 95% of my will to continue to keep writing is because I know other people are reading and interested that I keep writing, and I’m sure that’s how a lot of other writers operate too. We’re all fuelled by positive reinforcement, so please tell us! Oh, and btw, commenting just to get mad at lack of updates is not encouragement and is actually super irritating and stressful. Just so ya know.” - Edith

“Having an artist come to you and say ‘Hey, I was inspired by your story’ is FANTASTIC. And also encouraging because someone has taken time to create something and say ‘hey, I really liked the thing you made’. It becomes a cycle.” - Kitschy

“Take a look anywhere, on AQ or ao3 or any other platforms. You’ll see (on ao3), probably at most, 10:1 ratio for hits to kudos, alone. There are even less comments. On AQ, probably a 10:1 ratio for likes to reblogs, and the most popular fics only have a little over 100 notes period. Now, consider that it can take a writer months to be happy with a fic they submit. This takes countless hours. Fiction writers, in real life, get money for their work. We get nothing. Nothing, that is, except whatever appreciation you can give us. If we put work and our hearts and souls into something and get nothing, we question our talent, our abilities, our devotion. We refresh the pages where our works are posted constantly, hoping for some feedback, some appreciation, and most readers only read the fiction and give no feedback or appreciation whatsoever.

“All you, as a reader, have to do to make us happy is take 1 to fifteen minutes out of your day to leave a comment, send an ask, send a message to a sideblog. Leave commentary in the tags if you reblog. Any reaction at all. It is all we get for the work we put in.” - Miss Bianca

“My 2 cents I guess is just to get into a habit of acknowledging works that you like. Even for me I'll read stuff and really enjoy it but forget to comment or like it so I'm gonna work on it and I’d like everyone else do it as well. Once people get in the habit of commenting and liking it becomes second nature and with that kind of positive environment it allows writers to grow.” - MissChimKi

“Going back in time, my first work was posted two years ago, and the last comment I got was a huge thank you for writing such a good story and the emotions of that reader, it’s the kind of tiny little things that give me fuel to keep writing.” - Saiphl

“I once wrote 5000 words in a day simply because someone told me that they were reading my smut in church. So, extreme enthusiasm is awesome, but don’t feel like you have to exaggerate and say ‘this is the best thing I ever read.’ A simple ‘I am going to hell...I was in a church service reading Exposed chapter 9’ is more than enough!” - Veronica

“Something that motivates me as a writer is when readers pick out parts of my fic to say why they enjoyed them. Advice for readers would be to never think you’re complimenting too much! I’ve seen some readers cut their asks short because they don’t want to gush too much. As writers we love praise and attention, we’re like Tinkerbell really!” - Vixen

What It Can Feel Like To a Writer to Read the Asks (Inspired by @artificialeevee )

[chonideno]

i’m a new writer on ao3 and i’ve been feeling a little discouraged. i was wondering, did it take you long to get where you are in terms of popularity and skill? and do you have any tips for new writers?

Hi! I hope you understand how hard of a question it is to answer, though I’m not blaming you at all, [grandma voice] I was the same at your age. Writing is hard, and understanding what makes good writing is hard, and understanding what makes your writing good is hard. Nothing I can tell you will sound new to you - write for yourself, be patient, have fun, popularity is overrated, yada yada yada. 

This being said, there are lessons I keep having to re-learn every 3 months or so. I’ve been writing fanfiction for too many years and I still forget some lessons - not that the words disappear from my memory, but there are some things you only learn through experience and I tend to forget them every so often, until I go through yet another learning experience. Here’s a list of things I wish I was prepared to learn when I started:

don’t be afraid of being bad. I know, you don’t want to be bad, that’s why you’re asking about how to get better, and how much time it takes to be popular. But being bad is the foundation of your experience. We all started as terrible writers, and some of us are still there after years of practice - and it’s fine! You have to truly be okay with the idea that you’re going to suck, too! And no amount of experience will ever protect you from that. Being bad happens to everyone, and it’s great. Your writing is going to suck - and what about it? Your writing is going to be terrible, and? What is anyone going to do about it, if you want to shove it into their faces? Nothing, that’s what. The more you write, the less often these moments will happen (but as I said earlier, they still will  happen, and they’ll still sting like hell) so keep at it. Don’t be afraid to be the worst at writing, because if you don’t get this stinky stuff out of your system you’ll never get to the good part.

grieve your Ideas. It’s not the first time I mention it I think, but try a thing: think of your Idea right now, your beautiful prefect story that is just waiting for you to write it down, and it has all of these incredible scenes and this intensity and this emotion and it’s going to be great - now let it go. Your Idea with a capital I is a mirage. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never get 100% there. You can get real close, and that’s where the satisfaction lies, the farthest you go from your outline and the closest you get to the Idea, the better your fic. But perfection is unattainable. The finished product will not be a copy of that Idea you had in your head - worse! The finished product will look nothing like your Idea to your readers, who are not in your head, and it also won’t look like what you think it looks like. Because, and that’s very important, writing is a product of 1) the person who lays its eyes on it (whether it’s the author or the reader) and 2) your writing style and what influences it, the Muse, the Spark, the Whatever people like to chase. No story will look alike to different people. So forget about your Idea - it’s never getting born. It’ll have a cousin, so get ready to love this one instead.

learn about your content creation cycle, and be patient with yourself. You will never be a perfect machine. Writing blocks will happen. Every so often I feel like that’s it, that’s the last fic I was ever going to write, and these feelings are sincere and true. I truly believe it to my core. And then writing happens again, and woops, there I go posting another fic. It’s a pattern. It happens. I answered asks about this here, here and here. Be patient. Learn about your own creation process. You’re not your own enemy.

popularity is, ultimately, meaningless. I know how this sounds, but please bear with me here. Popularity is not correlated with quality in any way. It is valid to chase popularity, but you have to do it separately from other goals. You can’t think “I’m going to write a really beautiful fic and it’ll become popular” because there’s no guarantee it will. You can’t think “I’m going to pour all of my emotions in it so it’ll be raw and people are going to love it” because that’d be wrong again. Popularity is a function of timing, marketing skills, what’s currently trendy in your fandom niche and dumb luck. Some of my fics did high numbers, but I have no idea what led them to do that. I’d even argue that between these few fics, not two got a lot of hits for the same reason. Most of the fics I have written over the years have not made a ripple, and I will, inevitably, disappear from everyone’s radar soon. And what is popularity anyway? Hits? Kudos? Kudos/hits ratio? Digging in the numbers depresses me. You want to be known, this much I understand, but I was on this pedestal for a bit and yeah, I’ll admit it’s nice, but if you don’t enjoy your writing or if you don’t like your own output, none of it will make sense, and it’ll only slow down your progress as a writer.

it’s all about you. It’s really all about you. In many ways. You must want to write what you write. You must write for yourself first, and a love letter to a character or a trope is a good way to do that. You should write what you know - not the situations you know, but the emotions you know, the sentimental truth (if it applies to what you write at least - pwp probably doesn’t need it lmao). You might look back on your previous works and think “wow, this is literally about me”. It’s okay to be self-obsessed in writing and art in general. Who else is gonna do that for you?

you don’t need to fit a mold. I know the temptation is great, especially if you’re starting and you’re trying to figure out what people like so you can make a name for yourself or something, but you truly, truly don’t have to write things you don’t like. there are different types of writers, and you might change types over time as well.This Kind Of Writing is real popular but doesn’t fit you? Then don’t write it. Don’t force yourself to write things just because you think people will like it, it will truly not help. At best you’ll end up confused about what you want out of your writing, at worst it’ll disgust you from writing for a time. I have to re-learn this lesson over and over, and every time it rings more true: write what you want. If it’s horrible poetry, do it. If it’s the next 500k sci-fi reincarnation soulmates enemies to friends to lovers au, do it. If it’s sharp one-shots, or mindless porn, or studies of family dynamics, or one-dimensional fluff, do it. You don’t have to reach imaginary standards either - remember, you have the right to suck by anyone’s standards! You can be the most stereotypical ooc coffee shop au author ever, or write chat fics, or indulge in character x reader fics, and what are people going to do about it? Break into your house and steal your keyboard? No!! They’re gonna do nothing!! No amount of joking about these kinds of writing has the power to stop you!! You want to pretend you’re the next literature Nobel and you’re going to revolutionize prose? Do it! Wherever you fall on the spectrum, take what is rightfully yours. And if you don’t know where to go yet, gosh how I wish I were you - the world is your oyster, so try! Read, and think, and scribble and plot and delete half of what you’ve written, experiment, figure out what makes you tingle, what’s your style, what’s your favorite tropes and genres. You can always let go and change. You have a universe of possibilities ahead of you, and don’t let things like popularity hold you back! I’m really excited to hear you’re starting. It’s all adventure from now on.

Sometimes it’s not that deep, but sometimes it truly is.

So I’ve been writing fanfic for 7 years even though I took 1.5 years of hiatus, dropped a fic then stopped writing for another 8 months, I’ve written 21 fics for 3 fandoms, I’ve been invisible and popular and right in the middle and I don’t know how to make popularity happen, and I don’t know how to get better as a writer - I don’t even know if my writing has improved in any way. All I know is that my experience as a writer has improved. I know what I’m doing now. I know what I want. It’ll happen to you too.

[dsudis]

2018 Fic Year in Review

Scope note: I am including the WIPs I’ve posted to AO3 this year, and will also include them in future Years in Review for years in which new chapters are posted. Stories posted for Yuletide 2018 are included in this post. In 2018 I posted 13 complete stories and added chapters to two ongoing WIPs, for a total of over 284,000 words of fic posted in four fandoms. That is the fewest different stories I've posted in a complete year of fic-writing, ever, but, uh, one of them was the lion's share of TINSOB, so. I actually wrote just over 211,000 words of fic in 2018 (most of TINSOB was written before this year, but otoh I wrote the remaining TINSOB chapters and most of Slavefic #6 and haven't posted them yet, so.) My worst month was March, when I wrote less than 3,000 words of fic in the entire month (and then I got on some new brain meds) and my best month was October, when I wrote over 30,000 (helloooo Venom fandom!) This year’s titles quoted from The Mountain Goats (3), T. S. Eliot, Alan Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Daft Punk, Dan Fogelberg, and Linkin Park. (Fic list and a bunch of meme questions under the cut) 

Check Please! Cuir et Peluche (Bitty/Jack, Explicit, kind-to-be-cruel BDSM, 15,391 words) A Forward Takeoff (Bitty gen, T, wolfbrotherhood in the American South, 7,717 words) Marvel Cinematic Universe Between the Motion and the Act (Bucky gen, T, Infinity War - The Snap, 333 words) The Way We Are Tied In (Steve & Avengers gen, T, Post-Infinity War Part 1, Wakanda after the Snap, Grief, 8,999 words) There Is No Shortage of Blood [Ongoing WIP: Chapters 16-54] (Bucky/Steve, Explicit, post-HYDRA, rape recovery, 182,445 words) Born in the Blood [Ongoing WIP: Chapters 15-16] (Steve/Sam, Steve/Bucky, edging warily toward Bucky/Steve/Sam, Explicit, babyfic, 10,295 words) Let the Truth Spring Free (All Eternals Deck #2, Bruce/Bucky, Bucky/Hulk, awkwardness, 16,428 words) Little Bitty World Goes Around and Around (Little Bitty #4, Bucky/Steve, T, ageplay, daddy kink, no sex, 3,535 words) Venom Cold Hands, Warm Heart (Eddie/Venom, T, Winter Cuteness, 1,306 words) Aide-Memoire (Eddie/Venom, Explicit, Amnesia, Tentacle Sex, 7,166 words) Work It Harder (Make It Better) (Eddie/Venom, Explicit, Tentacle Sex, 2,260 words) The One the Battles Always Choose (Eddie/Venom, Mature, suicidal ideation, 15,614 words) For a Song (Eddie/Venom, T, Discussions of Cannibalism and Morality, 5,119 words) Venom Versus Christmas (Eddie/Venom, OT4-ish, T, Yuletide gift for Okadiah, Christmas and Anti-Christmas, 4,571 words) The Thing in the Walls Wants Your Small Change The Giant in the Cavern Brings Copper and Silver and Gold (Dragon POV gen, G, Yuletide gift for donutsweeper, 3,172 words)

My best story this year: I mean, it's not technically quite done yet, but, uh, this is probably a slam dunk for There Is No Shortage of Blood. My favorite story this year: oh man, this is hard. "Aide-Memoire" or "The One the Battles Always Choose" probably? Or "The Way We Are Tied In" because I like to suffer? My most popular story this year: There Is No Shortage of Blood is of course running away with hits and comments, even when I isolate the hits and comments received in 2018. Two of my Venom stories actually got more kudos (since October!) than TINSOB received in all of 2018: "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" (2,200) and "Aide-Memoire" (2,078). Best hits-to-kudos ratio is my tiny-fandom Yuletide story, "The Giant in the Cavern Brings Copper and Silver and Gold" which has staggeringly received 1 kudos for every 2.73 hits. Most fun story to write: "Between the Motion and the Act" in a completely evil way, or "Work It Harder (Make It Better)". Story with the single sexiest moment: I guess, uh, it depends on how you feel about tentacles? Uh. "Cuir et Peluche" is probably the safe bet here. Story with the single sweetest moment: Aw, man, There Is No Shortage of Blood manages to pull off a lot of sweetness embedded in... everything else. "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" is ridiculously nothing but sweet, as is "Venom Versus Christmas". And... wow, I wrote a lot of sweetness this year, LIKE MAYBE I NEEDED IT?? THANKS, 2018. Story with the single saddest moment: "The Way We Are Tied In" Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: Uh... I feel like this should probably be a Venom story?? But I can't really... tell...? My weirdest/kinkiest story as demonstrated by reader response: (I updated last year's spreadsheet for this so now I can compare YEAR ON YEAR, this is GREAT.) "Work It Harder (Make It Better)" won highest percentage of bookmarks kept private on AO3 (38%, less than last year's winner), and also had the largest ratio of kudos to comments (the "I like this but I don't want to talk about it" quotient, with almost 27 kudos per comment). My most startlingly wholesome story as demonstrated by reader response: "The Giant in the Cavern Brings Copper and Silver and Gold" has ZERO private bookmarks as of this writing, and "A Forward Takeoff," strikingly, has only 6% private bookmarks--last year I didn't have a single story with less than 20% private bookmarks. Hardest story to write: Oh, God. All of them, in the first three quarters of the year. Biggest surprise: Monsterfucking! This year’s theme and the story that demonstrates it most: Monsterfucking! Uhhh... man, I don't even know. Finishing things? I finished writing a bunch of things and got very close to finishing one more, and that's the strongest impression I have, but that's not really an in-story theme. Favorite opening line: Eric had certainly never expected to be wolf-bonded. from "A Forward Takeoff." Favorite closing line: From "Between the Motion and the Act": Maybe now we can both get some rest. What fests/exchanges/etc. did you participate in this year?: I wrote "Cuir et Peluche" for my Fandom Loves Puerto Rico auction winner, mara_jade, and I wrote two Yuletide stories--"Venom Versus Christmas" for Okadiah, and "The Giant in the Cavern Brings Copper and Silver and Gold" for donutsweeper.