When I reread early chapters of Abyss, the writing strikes me as horribly clumsy… but I don’t know if I want to to do anything to fix it.
Tag: fanfic writer problems
Oh shit, I just found a plot logic problem in “Abyss.” That’ll teach me to skip over the scenes that Loki’s not in when rewatching “Avengers” for reference…
Just looking up a map of glaciers in Norway for reasons.
Now finding out a lot about the geography, politics, and demography of Greenland. Most of it is unnecessary, I just get sucked into the Wikipedia vortex.
no but really, like
i know that some folks love telling creative people that “you should be doing it for fun because you love it not for the compliments” but creative people thrive on feedback whether it’s critical or just complimentary
so when i write fanfiction and don’t get any actual feedback i feel like i spent all that time and energy doing it for nothing because i’m not getting feedback from the people i wrote it for
doing something you’re proud of and then presenting it to the sound of utter silence is like the worst feeling on earth
Fucking AMEN. Me with my art.
Me with my fanfics..
Dear Fanfiction Readers,
If you’re afraid to leave a review/comment because you think it’ll sound stupid, don’t be. Just leave an incoherent reply in all caps. We love that shit.
Sincerely,
A Fic Writer that needs constant validation.
Just fuckin’ slam your head on the keyboard in the comment box. We’re writers. We’ll interpret it.
Affirmations for fanfic authors
It’s okay to take a break.
– We all need time to recharge, and your fans will still be there when you get back!It’s okay to go from fandom to fandom.
– Nobody is going to criticize you for following your muse, and if they do, then you know who not to associate with in the future!It’s okay to have a niche.
– If smut is where it’s at, then write smut. If you’re all about the fluff, then schmoop away. If angst is what does it for you, then invest in tissues. Nobody has the right to tell you that you should be doing something else if that isn’t what interests you!It’s okay to be critical of your own work.
– Just don’t allow yourself to become so self-deprecating that you freeze!It’s okay to ask for help.
– If you’re unsure of a trope, concept, fact or universe, reach out to your circle of friends. Chances are, they’ll be more than happy to help you because they want to see you succeed!It’s okay to ignore criticism.
– Constructive criticism is only constructive if it helps you. If someone says something that doesn’t assist or improve you in any way, then please feel free to ignore whatever nugget they are imparting, because chances are good they don’t have the best of intentions for you!It’s okay to stop writing all together.
– Your fans will miss you (and chances are good you have way more than you realize,) but sometimes, you just gotta do you!It’s okay to write with whatever method works for you.
– Long writing marathons where you bang out 12,000 words in one day? Great! Linear, dry style that means you occassionally get stuck because you can’t figure out this scene, but it’s all worth it in the end? Rad! Piecemeal work that you thread together at the end? Fabulous! As long as it works for you, there is no wrong way to write!It’s okay to have fun.
– I think this goes without saying, no? But it seems that sometimes, authors need permission. So consider this permission to wile the hell out, and enjoy the ride!I think there’s a few of us needing this right now, myself included.
I’m having weird anxiety about reading fanfiction. Some of it is comment anxiety: I know if I read something good, I’ll want to comment, but I’ll freeze up because I can’t think of something adequate to say. But some of it also seems to be that reading will add to my anxiety about writing (which was already so intense that, between that and my job market depression, I haven’t written fic in 2 months) because it’ll make me feel like there’s nothing new I can contribute.
Hi, kinda old fic writer here (started posting 4 years ago). My fics barely get comments or subscriptions and after four years the average kudos counts is 37… That is the main reason I sometimes don’t continue a fic because I feel like it is shit / nobody wants to read it anyway. I try to motivate myself to keep writing, but it is very discouraging. Especially when some of the comments I get are just “you made a mistake in this sentence”. I feel like I am whining when I tell anyone this though
It’s tough for sure, and sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason why some fics are more popular than others, it often comes down to the oddest things – too many tags or not enough tags, minor formatting or just being in a particular fandom or even just skating under the radar for some reason, it’s definitely not an easy thing to do.
I know for myself, in the end, I wrote stories for me. I still have stories on my computer that I’ve never posted because I wrote them for me. But it gave me a chance to practice writing and to see if I could do what other people were doing (i.e. not writing their stories, but following the formatting / tag systems etc. that other people were using). Even then, the first stories I posted when I sort of ‘returned’ didn’t do very well. It didn’t matter as much at that point though, because I really just…wrote them for my enjoyment.
But that doesn’t stop it hurting when something gets little or no notice.
That being said, something a friend said helped put things in perspective for me recently, which is something along the lines of this (paraphrased for your situation):
You wrote something that made on average, 37 people happy. If you imagine all of those individual people – more than can fit in most people’s houses, more than you’re probably comfortable seeing in a single day – with their individual lives and loves, all of those people got something meaningful out of your fic. That’s not nothing. There are people out there who get an average of 4 kudos per fic who would kill to have your average, for them, that’s nearly ten times as many kudos that they’re fighting for. Likewise, you probably see other averages, and feel the same way.
You’re allowed to like your writing.
One unfortunate side effect of the “your first draft is shit” rhetoric (which is mostly meant to encourage the understanding that you will need to edit and that having problems in your first draft doesn’t mean you can’t write) is that people tend to feel like they shouldn’t like their writing. They should only be critical of it, only see the flaws of it, and so be unhappy with their writing.
Being critical is good, but keep in mind that you’re not only allowed but encouraged to like what you’ve written. You should like it because that means it’s something people enjoy reading (because you are a person), but also because you will write better if you enjoy what you’re writing. Reread your old writing and smile at the lines that you love. Enjoy your fun scenes, laugh at your own jokes, cry at the tragedies you’ve written particularly poignantly. It’ll make you feel better. I promise.
Tfw you’re rereading the more recent chapters of a fic you haven’t updated in 7 months and thinking they kind of suck but you’re too lazy to fix them because you just want to finish the damn thing before Infinity War comes out.
Loki is the Philosopher King 