What if all fanfiction writers had the same attitudes that so many readers do? What if we treated our stories like content?
Readers: I won’t read WIPs, only completed work and LONG fics.
Writers: I will only post finished works once a year, you will never see 90% of my ideas and have no part of the creative process.
Readers: I will only read works that have tons of views/kudos/bookmarks.
Writers: I won’t update unless I have interest in my story. I’ll post a new chapter for every 100 kudos, 10 comments, and 5 bookmarks.
Readers: I can do whatever I want with fanfics, sell bound copies and criticise them publicly.
Writers: I will delete my fics without warning and never share more.
This is how you end fandom culture. This is how you lose AO3 and access to so many incredible stories for FREE.
✨Fanfiction is NOT content to be consumed! It is community and creative expression. ✨
I’ve noticed this change in interactions between writers and readers over the years turning more impersonal and I hate it. Writers are not some soulless writing machine that produces “content”. They are people and have a life out of fandom and their stories are art, not content to be consumed. Writing takes time and effort and is often very personal.
Every year there are less and less comments and interaction in fics. With fandom happening on certain platforms affected by algorithms, every year, writers act and are treated more and more like they’re some sort of unapproachable pseudo-celebrity that’s getting paid full time to deliver “content” on demand and instantly to remain relevant, otherwise their stories will be lost into the void and nobody will ever see them. Because very few care to actively search for stories anymore, but simply read whatever they’ve been told to read. Which is a shame, because every time I search fics by tags and summary, I guarantee you there is always one that ticks all the boxes for me.
And the thing is, nobody owes anything to anyone. Writers don’t owe regular updates to readers, because they’re doing this for free. Just as much as readers don’t owe writers comments or kudos. But it sure as hell helps to keep the fandom going on both ends.
We’re all doing this for free and for fun or comfort or because it makes us feel a certain way. Now imagine if you pour your heart into something, spent hours and hours of your time, and share it with the world, only receive nothing but silence. It is very likely you won’t be wanting to try that again very often. Just imagine the amount of potential fics that were left unfinished because of discouragement, or the ones that are already out there to be discovered, and all the ones that have been deleted.
At the end of the day, we write for ourselves, but share our stories for others, to connect with them in some way.