i don’t think people really get how little feedback fanfic authors actually get? like the effort to reaction ratio is so abysmally skewed here that a fic nearly 50,000 words long takes an entire year to amass like. 16 comments. someone reblogged a fic i wrote at 4 am and tagged it with a 5-word compliment and i can’t stop thinking about it, not because it was so nice but because half the time you post a fic you’re going to hear nothing and anything feels like so much
fandom culture is so, so good about giving artists the credit they’re due, but we gotta start doing that for writers too. you’ve got no idea how much people put into their stories and get maybe a handful of reblogs and a dozen-odd kudos. that’s not enough. writing is an endurance sport and y’all need to start giving fic writers a reason to endure it and improve their craft. encourage writers like you encourage artists. reblog fics, leave tags, leave comments, acknowledge that these stories do not just spring into being for your entertainment.
every single damn writer i know feels like half of their readers see them as a machine. that’s gotta change.
the number of people tagging this post as “this is why i stopped writing” is so deeply upsetting to me but at the same time it is really, really strong evidence that there is a real problem here
it is hard to create fanfic when you feel like you’re writing for ghosts. i recognize that anxiety disorders and various complications make it goddamn difficult to comment on a fic, but there needs to be more way, way more verbal support of writers than there currently is.
leaving kudos is great, liking posts is great (in fact, way more people should be doing the former; so many tags on this post mention only getting one kudos for every 10-20 hits), but ultimately if all you receive is silence you’re going to feel like no one cares about that story you’ve sunk countless weekends into creating.
there’s a really common misconception that fanfic authors write only for themselves and/or for love of a series, and while both of those things are true, that’s far from the whole scope of things. fanfic authors write for their for their stories to be read and for the readers to get something out of it, even if that something is just ‘damn, that was hot.’ we’re not shouting into a void here. we’re hoping to hear something back, and right now all we’re getting is echoes.
the lack of tangible support and encouragement for authors is a problem, and you can go through the tags on this post if you don’t believe me on that.
Just one story of many I have but this person once asked me to write a fic for them and I did and they never liked it, never commented, never kudo’d, never reblogged. And later, they basically called me and other authors selfish for wanting feedback, stating “I’m a reader, not anything else.”
Needless to say, I never wrote for them again and now I really don’t write for anyone who doesn’t pay me or is my good friend.
It’s also important to note: Readers of any work, whether it’s fanfiction or regular fiction, do have a duty to support the work they consume in some form or fashion. Being “a reader” should mean you support the work you’re reading. You buy it, you share it, you do something that helps the author.
I think everyone can spare the few seconds it takes to leave kudos if they have the time to read the work. I think everyone can spare the time it takes to leave feedback if they’ve just read through a few thousand words. Authors need this in order to grow, to gain readers, and to feel appreciated. It’s not that hard.
i’m one of those who has decided to stop writing (after i finish 2 wip). Your post touches my heart because it’s something i’ve been saying all the time, but i got told i should be writing for my own pleasure, not for the readership. Isn’t that the point of posting your work online? To get readership? Anyway, i’m tired.
I went out of my comfort zone and started writing in English which is not even my mother tongue, i started with slash. Then everytime people wanted some recs to read i went out there and recommended my work, they said they were already reading it and loved it. Ok??? How awkward it was for me because i didn’t know that? Because they didn’t leave a single message for me.
So yes that’s why i started thinking my writing is absolute crap and it’s not worth wasting my energy. It took me sometimes more than 2 weeks to write a short chapter…so if readers can read 50k fic on one go, they have time to leave a comment.
I’ve decided to stop with something i enjoyed at first, but not anymore. Now i have nothing to be excited about in my life.
This. After getting little to no attention for something that you spent hours or even months plotting, researching, writing, editing, and perfecting, you get to the point where you think, “It’s not worth it,” and stop.
And even though you have a lot of plot ideas that can only be written for a certain fandom or pair, you just keep them to yourself. Because why spend time and talent trying to write them when no one is going to read and appreciate them?
So when you get to the end of discontinued works, please remember that sometimes, it’s not only life that gets in the way of the authors writing. Sometimes, it’s also the unresponsiveness of the readers.
Fanfic is the lifeblood of fandom. When writers stop writing, fandoms lose their energy, and fans leave to pursue new media interests.
If you want to keep your fandom alive, support fanfic and the writers who create it.
This is so true. If I just wanted to write for myself, I would never put it up on the Internet. Im putting it out there because I am looking for responses. Part of why I love being in the Tales of Zestiria fandom and why I have written so much for it is because people have been responsive. Having people write thing in the notes here, or comment on AO3 is amazing. But even that is slowing down now which is really disappointing, and does not bode well for the fact that I’m trying to do longer pieces right now.
Effort to reaction ratio. So, so true. Every fanfic author I’ve ever talked to has admitted to craving comments and reactions to their hard work.
But at the same time, at the urging of a close friend, I’ve been trying to stop thinking about this topic because it is depressing and poisoning. Instead I try to focus on the positives. For awhile I had a single reader (that I knew about) but that single reader made ALL THE DIFFERENCE. All you really need is at least one person who consistently shares what they love about your story; knowing there is at least one person who wants you to update each time is motivation to keep posting.
Someone mentioned that readers/reviewers may have anxiety problems that prevent them from acknowledging a fic in public. That is most likely true, but I’ve also heard a lot of readers go, “Yeah, but I just don’t know what to say [in a comment.]” My advice to that one would be, “Share your favorite part/quote/scene.” If you liked it enough to keep reading, what stood out to you? New story events happen in each update – there are new words, progressing plot, twists, symbolism, characterization, something. Not to mention writing style, story ideas/plot in general, etc. Another good thing to share might be emotion reactions: “It made me happy to read the part where ______.” or “Wow, I cried when _____.” or even predictions, “I wonder if this is going to happen in the next chapter…” OVERALL, think, if you were the author who spent hours and hours writing and re-writing and trying to perfect the story, what would you want to hear as feedback?
This is a constant back-and-forth struggle for me, and some days are better than others. I’ve found that ignoring the skewed effort to reaction ratio lets me be a happier writer and general person overall, but it can be difficult to actively ignore it – especially right after posting something new.
I remind myself to think this way: when you don’t expect anything from readers, the reactions you do get seem more sincere and meaningful. The readers who do comment and support fanfic authors are pure gold, and they deserve to be recognized and acknowledged as the wonderful people they are. ❤
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FantasyBoudicca 