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This refers to writing posted on tumblr!
"None of the above" here means "I'd rather not get a comment at all than any of the options listed"
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shoutout to the slow artists. the artists with hardly any time for art. the artists who reach the end of the day with no energy for art. you got this i believe in you and you are no less valued than anyone else
to be clear. when i say artist i mean every kind of art. drawing writing music sculpting embroidery idc this post was for you and i am sending my love your way
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you ever read a fanfic and just sit back and think…someone wrote something THIS good… and then just….published it on the internet….for free…..
I love you, fanfic authors
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I made it
Reblog for the awesome fanfic authors you know
I’m looking at you.
Yes you.
You're doing so good. Hone your craft.
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I don't understand why more people don't comment on fics from a perfectly self serving perspective. Do readers not realise they are often the difference in how much fic they get from a writer they like in their fandom?
I don't know, maybe we are not supposed to say this as writers, given the prevaling write for yourself uwu culture these days, but I've had instances where I only meant to drop one fic for a small pairing and dip but that fic got such a warm reception -- and by that I don't mean hundreds of kudos, I mean a handful of people who took time out of their days to leave meaningful comments that went beyond 'I loved this!' -- that I ended up writing ten more. Conversely, I've written fics I was simply compelled to write but the reception was so lukewarm, I moved onto more fertile ground once the brain worms were satisfied, even though I had ten more ideas I could have explored for the same pairing. And I've seen so many other writers do the same.
I personally don't comment on every fic I read -- exhaustion gets in the way -- so it would be hypocritical for me to expect the same of anyone else, but man, it baffles me that other people don't strategise in their commenting, that when they see a writer they love they don't go extra hard on fics that don't have much interaction or for writers that are a bit more needy -- yet another thing one does utter in polite society -- not out of any sense of gratitude or anything like that but just to get more good fic, just from perfect selfishness.
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social media has really warped our perception of creativity and hobbies. Stop doing things to post them. Just write. Just journal. Just sketch. Just read. Just annotate. Just sing. Just crochet. Just do the thing you’re going to do with the assumption no one will ever see or know you did it. Stop performing. Just enjoy it.
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You should feel proud of your writing.
You shouldn't cringe when you reread your own writing. Cringe culture, especially in writing, is so overrated. Love your writing. Remind yourself what made you so passionate about your WIPs to start with.
You'll be surprised how much more motivated you feel to write when you allow yourself to space to actually be proud of and love what you're doing.
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Anonymous asked:
I've talked myself out of writing ideas I love because I'm too afraid of what my audience will think and that I'll be vilified for writing just about anything that isn't low-rated fluff. The fear exists for both fanfic and original fiction. Do you have any advice on how to overcome that fear?
I don’t know that it needs to be overcome so much as ignored.
Here’s the deal. (And you must all imagine me being as serious about the following as you’ve ever heard me get, even though there will be cussing in this. (In fact, as as the continuity announcers say over here, “Adult language, violence and flashing lights from the outset…”)
First of all: The hell with your audience. (…This sentiment may sound rude or potentially self-destructive, but if you run this past most professional writers who routinely do work of higher-than-phoning-it-in level, I bet you’ll get a lot of agreement.) If you’re serious about writing well, your first duty is to please yourself. You are the only audience you have any business being concerned about.
Confused people, especially people with no interest in writing anything, may attempt to shove this insight aside as somehow egotistical or selfish or silly. Ignore them. They are missing the vital data that comes of being saddled with the desire to write (and to write well; I don’t think anyone sets out on purpose to write badly, though God knows it happens).
(ETA: Wow, I got kind of intense about this, and it goes on for a bit. So here’s a cut.)
This is for the followers of this blog who are writers.
For all the words on this blog about how to handle feedback and lack thereof, this post resonated with me really strongly. It's a bit of a long read, but well worth it imho.
Please yourself first, because you have zero control over whether anyone else will care about what you’re doing or how you’re doing it.
~ mod dragonling
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headcanonheadcase-deactivated20
There is nothing more precious to me as a writer than the comments left on AO3. Whenever I get that email notification, I wonder what kind of comment was left. To have a little fun, I'm going to sort the typical comments into a few different categories and share my reactions to them as a writer.
If you feel I missed a comment type, please let me know. I'm curious to learn what other classifications you think exist (positive comment types only please - let's not make this negative). Also, if you wanted to tag yourself, I'd love you know what type of commenter you think you are.
The Polite Conversationalist - Your comment confirms that you read and enjoyed the fic or chapter. You offer praise for the author's efforts and encouragement for them to continue. - If this is you, please know that I'm imagining us holding a book club together. I brought us snacks.
The All Caps Reaction - You left the most unhinged comment. - You were screaming as you read it? I was screaming as I wrote it. Let's be friends.
The How Dare You - The angst is real. And painful. And I'm sorry but the story needed it. - This is a compliment of the highest order and I'm so glad you left it.
The Conspiracy Theorist - You are so invested that you are trying to figure out what comes next. - I'm so excited to read your ideas. They let me know the story tracks for you. And I'm either smiling because you guessed right and I'm excited for you to read what comes next, or I'm grinning because I know the plot twist is going to blow your mind.
The Catch-Up - You haven't commented in a while and are letting me know you are catching up. - I'm so glad you are back! I missed you. I know life gets busy and it means a lot to me that you took the time to read my story.
The Giggle - You laughed at my jokes and let me know. - Did we just become best friends? I'm already making you a bracelet.
The Callout - You found my favorite line in the chapter or fic. - I love you so much. You just made my day, my week, my month. Seriously, all the love for the reader. xoxo
The Repeat Customer - could also be any of the above, but every fic, every chapter, there they are with something kind to say and a wish to see you again next week/month/whenever. The pfp/username combo you could pick out of a sea of people in an instant.
The Happy Insomniac - "I just wanted to let you know that it's 4 am and I stayed up all night bingeing your work" say no more fam, me and my keyboard are yours for life now
The Book Report - You identified a major theme/motif/metaphor/all of the above that I was trying to draw out, and even found some clever use of language/character/symbolism that even I didn’t realise was in there - I am proposing marriage on the spot.
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Giving and Receiving Great Feedback
A part of every writing process is receiving feedback from others, and likely reading someone else’s work and giving it yourself. First, we do this because there’s no such thing as a perfect writer, and what happens in our heads when we read our own work may not necessarily be what the reader is getting. As well, reading others’ work helps you with your literacy skills, and what’s important to you as a reader (plus, it’s just nice to return the favour).
So here’s some tips to giving good feedback:
- Your should never tear apart the work. Your feedback should inspire the writer to keep going and make their piece better—not quit or give up. Balance suggestions and compliments.
- Try to refrain from suggesting your own ideas unless specifically asked for. What I mean by that is avoiding statements such as, “maybe instead of (this), the characters do (this)” your job is not to write the story for them, and often, you might not be making the work better, just different.
- Ask pointed questions instead, but ultimately leave the work up to the writer. Something like, “I wonder what (character) was thinking during this moment?” Or “from what I know so far, here’s my prediction for what’s going to happen.” It’s up to the writer to decide whether your questions/predictions need to be answered in the work, and how.
- Always start and end with some specific positive feedback. There is always something good about every piece of work—it can be a great detail, some interesting dialogue, a concept you really like, the tone, a character.
- In general, it’s most helpful to include specifics or details about what’s working and not working in the piece. Take quotes, write down page numbers and paragraphs, lines. That’s infinitely more helpful than just saying “your descriptions are well written.” If you catch yourself saying that, try adding, “such as in line (really good line) or (another good line).”
When receiving feedback, remember it’s ultimately your work and you get the final say, but remain open to the suggestions and comments you’re receiving. Try them out, but don’t be afraid to end up not including them if they aren’t working for you. Never argue, even if you think your feedback giver is wrong—they took time out of their day to read your work, you should thank them for their thoughts. Even something simple like, “Thank you very much for your feedback, I appreciate the time you took to read my work” is great.
If you’re looking for a feedback buddy, maybe try pairing up in the comments or reblogging this post! There’s a great community of writers here, don’t be afraid to reach out.
Good luck!
If you comment on some fanfics and not others, pick an answer that applies most commonly to when you don't comment.
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Hey friends. Do this:
This probably took this person 3 seconds to do but it immediately told me that they liked my story enough to come back and read it again and they liked it again the second time.
Your favorite writers Do Not Know that you think about their stories after you read them. I generally assume that my stories make people happy for the few minutes they’re reading and then they never think about it again. To know that that’s not the case and that someone has returned just makes my little heart swell with joy.
I needed this today. If you’re the person who left this comment (or if you’ve ever commented on any of my writing) I love you.
Well this is the most popular post I’ve ever done by an order of magnitude…
The best part has been the people putting tags on their reblogs along the lines of “I’m totally going to do this now” and “I didn’t think authors would like something this simple but I can do this” and authors saying how much this type of comment also means to them.
The second best part was the person who went and read Worship because of this post and then commented on it.
An interesting part has been seeing what a kind of popular post does to your notifications.
I’m really glad this post took off, especially if it means a few more authors get this kind of comment.
Yes, please do this!
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Some really nice words from the irreplicable Naomi Novik.
“People wonder why I still write fanfiction.
Part of it is that fanfiction is like being in a community. You’re literally doing it in the context of a fandom community of other people who are all your peers within this one writing universe. But the other piece of it is that it’s just play.
Just the same way some people like to learn to play the piano or guitar. Some people will learn to plink out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” with one finger. Some people will really get into it and like to do it as a hobby. And then a very tiny number of people devote so much time and energy to it that they can perform as concert pianists professionally. And probably an even smaller number of people actually want to compose their own music.
Those things are all completely valid. If you take your guitar out to the park on the weekends and play Simon and Garfunkel with your friends, people aren’t like, “Why aren’t you at Julliard?! Why aren’t you getting paid?” Because that’s so clearly not the point of it. The point is to enjoy making art. And all of us as human beings like to make things.
But there’s this sense that writing has to be hard work. Probably because it’s so necessary for schoolwork and it’s so emphasized as work that people forget that people start writing for fun.” - Naomi Novik in the 88 Cups of Tea podcast
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Just remember: If all writing fiction ever does is keep you from losing your goddamn mind during this pandemic, it has served you well and needs no other justification for consuming hours upon hours of your time. It does not need to be good. It does not need to be finished. It does not need to get published or praised. It only needs to soothe you, to hold you, to occupy your mind, to amuse you, to tether you to this world, to keep you from going mad, to keep you company, to keep you alive.
Anonymous asked:
If you're a fanfic writer and you're upset because you think people aren't commenting on your work because they're lazy and entitled, I think you need to ask yourself why you're writing and posting. Readers aren't entitled to your work, but you aren't entitled to their attention either. I don't want to be part of a community where commenting is an obligation instead of an expression of love and appreciation. The sweet comments I get are special because they choose to leave them. Maybe the atmosphere you create with your attitude is the problem :/ I know there's several fic authors I don't interact with anymore because of how they treat comments.
Thanks for the point of view, Anon.
If you find yourself beginning to turn towards this train of thought (it happens, we're all human), I'd encourage you to step back a bit and take a breather. Maybe re-evaluate/remind yourself why you started writing in the first place, try to focus on writing as a craft, and don't fall into the stats trap of equating the worth of your writing according to some arbitrary feedback-to-hits ratio.
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To any fic writers who worry they are wasting their time... I read a fic for a relatively small and inactive fandom about three years ago. And there was one specific scene where a character watched another dancing like an idiot to a beyonce song and it was so sweet and loving that even now years later I have that song on one of my spotify playlist so every once in a while it will play and remind me of that fic, and every time it does I smile and feel a little happier.
The stats on a fic will never really tell you if your writing touched someone. There's no numerical way to show you what impact you made. Maybe you are wasting time, or maybe you are writing something that someone will remember for a long time, something that will never fail to make them smile.
Anonymous asked:
Hi, I'm a fairly new writer and I just wanted to ask your advice on caring less about statistics (sorry if this has been asked before). I'm writing for a pretty small fandom, and one or two of my fics have done pretty well, but some of the ones I was proudest of got quite a few hits but literally only two kudos. How do I write for me and not for the response I get from other people? It feels so disheartening to put in hours of work when no one seems to enjoy most of my fics
Hi Anon!
Welcome to the world of writing and posting on AO3! You question: "How do I write for me and not for the response I get from other people?" resonates a lot with me personally and is something I still ponder and confront myself with from time to time.
I'm going to echo a response to a previous post that I saw once but can't find again which has stuck with me and aligns with how I deal with this question: Divorce the act of writing from the act of sharing your writing.
Put another way, can you separate:
- the act of writing—the physical act of putting words down on paper—as a craft and an activity, from
- the act of sharing the results of your work—which is more along the lines of publishing, marketing, advertising, promoting, and generating "engagement" (to use a social media term) to make your work known and get it out there in the world, so to speak.
I've heard people use (and have used it myself) the analogy of a potluck when talking about fanfic and the response to fanfic. Rephrasing your question to use this analogy: How do I cook for myself and not for the response I get from other people?
This post by @ao3commentoftheday and this post is a good starting point for beginning to create that separation. Hopefully you find the advice and perspectives there useful. Additionally, the answer to this ask here has links to other posts which may help give you additional perspective and deemphasize the importance of the numbers on your stats page. Think quality vs quantity; Or 10 acquaintances saying how much they enjoyed the food you brought vs your significant other saying it.
I'd also like to focus more on the first part of your question:
How do I write for me...?
1. Ask yourself 'why do you write?'
It's one of those questions that has no right answer, and which everyone will have a different answer for. What is your answer to it?
If you want to continue writing for yourself, you'll need to find some intrinsic motivation.
Consider taking a step back and doing some internal reflection. Is there something you find satisfying about the act of putting words down on paper? What makes writing fun for you? What sparks joy in the process of writing?
If you have answers to those questions, can you focus on those reasons and use them as fuel to write? If something took away your ability to share your writing with others (e.g. you are stranded on a deserted island with no internet), what are some things about writing that would still bring you comfort, solace, satisfaction, happiness, and/or joy?
2. Find a reason to write that is independent of other people
There are many reasons why someone writes. Maybe they're the type of person who just needs to get their thoughts out on paper, else they'll go mad. Maybe they do it as a way to cope. Maybe they're just doing it for attention. Maybe they're doing it out of spite. Maybe they're doing it just because. Maybe it's all of the above for some stories, and none of the above for others.
Can you find your reason and focus on it such that the response to your work becomes that much less important? If you have a reason for writing that is independent of other people's response to your work, I would encourage you to think of ways to derive a sense of accomplishment from those intrinsic reasons instead of external responses which are out of your control.
Some examples of goals that don't depend on anyone else are:
- Writing challenges which are focused on completion instead of a qualitative (i.e. is this any good?) valuation. These can be things like "Can you write a fic in 1,000 words or less?" or "Can you write fics for your OTP that are about [trope]?" "Success" in these depend on the work just existing, and even if no one else reads it. In other words, your writing is a success because the work exists and you did it. Fullstop.
- Do you find writing cathartic/soothing? Does it help you wind down after a long day of school/work/life? Is it a form of escapism (like reading or watching a movie) that helps take your mind off things? We all need a mental break, and if writing a way for you to do that, I'd say it's well worth the effort then!
- Is there something you've always wanted to try writing? Maybe you want to try writing fantasy/sci-fi/magical realism/comedy/smut. Maybe you want to explore how two characters who never met in canon would interact if they were handcuffed together. Maybe you want to write your OTP as cats. The world is your oyster! Let your imagination go wild! Have fun with it! And hopefully the reception to your writing becomes less important because, heck, you had fun writing it, and that counts for something.
3. Set development goals for yourself.
If improving your writing as a craft appeals to you, then there's no better way to improve than to practice writing.
Thinking of the stories you write and post as practice pieces can take some of the pressure off of its reception. Mentally, it's easier for me to be less bothered by the reception of a fic if I *know* this is an experimental piece or something I'm trying for the first time. It allows me to use AO3 as what it is actually meant for: an archive of my work; and less as a platform to share and interact with fandom.
There's so much to explore in writing. Whether it's learning how to write action sequences or a fight scene, how to avoid info dumps, how to write a fic without dialogue tags, how to write flowery prose, there's so much that you can focus on and try to develop in your writing. Try focusing on those instead when you write and see how your writing changes and develops over time!
Again, thank you for sending in this ask, Anon. You're not alone in these struggles, and here are some parting words from Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune (2021).
I hope this gives you some perspective and helps you on your journey as a writer. I'm not saying that doing all the above is going to be easy or immediate. Or if it's even going to be enough for your to keep writing. It's definitely not all there is to writing, and I'm not saying that you have to renounce all external feedback and motivation that comes with posting and sharing your work. I just hope that the advice above can help give you some balance and show you that there is value in writing in a vacuum and as a standalone activity. In the end, it will be up to you to decide if it's enough.