oh my fuck what is happening to this fandom? let people like what they like and dislike what they dislike and remain indifferent to what doesn’t interest them. these call-outs about people not liking one thing or the other are ridiculous.
It is not surprising news that fanfiction writers are highly underappreciated.
There’s something wrong with the numbers: let’s take a popular fic with almost 4k hits. For let’s say 700 readers, it will get about 50 comments and 300 Kudos (those numbers are just an example, sometimes it’s worse than that). Maybe I’m being too kind, maybe not, but things stay the same; there’s something wrong here. Can you see it?
It takes us days, weeks, sometimes months to write a story for you. We write for ourselves yes, but we also write to share. We write to offer you content about your favourite characters. We write to bring our and your ships to life. It takes you a fraction of second to leave a Kudos, ten seconds to one, two or a few minutes to leave a comment.
And here lies our problem: there’s no proper sharing if there’s no proper feedback. An author not getting comments is generally a sad author. If I didn’t get feedback I’d wonder what’s the point in keeping on writing. A comment makes a writer’s day, most of the time even motivates them to write more.
Another important thing thrandythefabulous and I noticed: why on Earth do so many readers don’t comment (even kudos) if the fic has been up for a little more than a week or two? Why? Your feedback is still welcomed and much appreciated.
We write for ourselves, but also we write for you. And sadly, many readers are being quite… ungrateful, when giving feedback is the least they can do to thank the people offering them stories for free.
So, before we get started on our little day, let’s talk about comments:
It doesn’t matter if other readers already said what you wanted to say, we’ll still love reading it again in your words.
It doesn’t matter the fic has been up for weeks or months or years; comments on those ones are unexpected and so, it makes them ever better.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have much to say, we’ll be glad anyway.
Most authors leave the comment section open to people who don’t have an AO3 account, which means you can still… comment! How amazing is that.
That brings us to our little Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day.
The point of this day is simple; on August 21st, writers and readers alike would go on AO3 (or any fanfiction website really), on Tumblr, and leave a comment on their favourite fics (even the fics they enjoyed!) and/or send their authors a message about their works.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve already or never commented. It doesn’t matter if the author doesn’t know about this post. It doesn’t matter if the author already knows how much you love their work.
Just let writers know you love the fics they write for you, simple as that!
And well, don’t forget to keep leaving a Kudos and a comment in the future, and make writers happy!
I think this is a great idea! Also maybe we could rec our favorite fics on our blogs that day too? Mass sharing!
I’ll probs queue up fic recs to post that day. Sounds good?
A proposed addition: even if you don’t typically go on AO3 (or LJ/ff.net/other dedicated fanfic sites), or if (heavens forbid) it’s down that day, you can still participate! Do you read most of your fic on Tumblr? Do you have a particular person you follow whose posts you’re always excited to see because their fic is some of your favorite?
Use this day to reblog some of their work! Likes, like kudos, are excellent and good, but don’t carry nearly the same weight on this site. And while it’s rare (impossible?) to delete an AO3 kudos, many people tend to periodically clean out their Liked posts, meaning even that feedback can actually disappear off of a post. It’s not uncommon for an older piece of Tumblr fic to actually have fewer notes over time because of this.
Reblogs are wonderful. Reblogs are life. Reblogs are a way of saying, “I don’t want to forget this, and I want everyone who follows me to see how great it is as well!” If you’re intimidated by the thought of leaving comments, tags are a great way to sum up the reason you liked something, even if it’s just “adorable” or “what goobers” (both actual tags I’ve gotten before, which made me giggle in delight), or semi-coherent flailing (e.g., “yasssss”, “fdlskajfla”, “hnnngggh”, etc.). Fic writers tag-stalk every bit as much as artists do, I promise, and we love to see your reactions there.
people saying negative things about a character you love that aren’t even constructive criticisms of their character or valid points and are just pointlessly and immaturely rude
(2/2) story that’s actually had immense thought and care spent on it, brought to life in as many ways as we possibly can, made from love rather than obligation. This gorgeous collision of four books, six movies, one massive beautiful fanfic, hundreds of pieces of art, the voice and audio talents of what will be hundreds of volunteer actors and musicians… THIS is the dream that my celebrity guest professor with his 5-digit budget and years of experience couldn’t pull off.
Oh gosh, that class sounds like it was a hell of a chore to get through – I feel for you and for everybody involved!
I am (I know I say this a lot) very very lucky. VERY lucky. I myself as an individual haven’t really done anything all that out of the norm, really. So many people have also done exactly as I have: writing, Khuzdul, the research, the world-building, the length, all that.
This fan-community is full of amazing passion and talent and drive. I’m honestly blown away, all the time. All these people have different skills that they want to use, to bring to the table, to become a part of this thing. The initiative this fandom shows is utterly astounding.
And the creativity gets passed around and built-on, all the time. To see people becoming inspired by the work of another person is incredible.
It’s like… even from the very beginning, if someone drew a character from the fic, it made an impact on how I wrote them. The art influences my writing, which in turn influences more fiction-works, which again influences me and sometimes another artist, which feeds into the fic. People ask me about music and dancing, and so I write headcanons, which end up in the fic as compositions or lyrics which then turns into performance, which inspires MORE compositions by others, all of which are then sung by more singers and arranged for instrumentalists- which makes me want to write more songs – which the choir will no doubt have a go at – and then it may even get translated for orc-estra (i love that pun so much) – which may then appear in the PODFIC, excuse me while I faint.
It’s stunning to see all the ideas and all the creativity as people draw and write and voice-act and sing and make music. It makes this thing much less about me and what I began, and a lot more about us as a collaboration of creative people, all playing in a world we love. And that’s pretty breathtaking to me.
aaaaaah just spent a couple of hours wrestling with re-organising my blog (thank you aviva0017!! You’re a lifesaver)
The Masterpost has finally outgrown itself. It just became too mighty. I pasted it into word to keep track of the links – 13 pages. *twirlfaints*
And so, I have updated my blog with separate pages for all the different forms of art! You can see the new pages if you go to my blog! I feel fancy 🙂
I will leave the Masterpost where it is for the moment. I’ve removed all individual links though, and now it is more like an index. Hopefully that will make it easier for everyone to see and find all the incredible work of all these incredible people!
Ahhh, thank you Nonnie. *hugs and hugs and hugs* You’re super kind, thank you so much. I am very, VERY lucky, I know, and I don’t ever lose sight of it. 🙂
(tbh, if it was actual targeted criticism – meaning, something intended to help me improve my writing – that’s all cool, I am all for that, I’d like to talk about that in more depth in fact. But mostly it’s just rude entitled anons who think of me as some faceless corporation and/or typing robot: wanting me to write their way, their story not mine, or about their idea/ship/characterisation. This newest sort seems to be trying to dictate how I am ‘allowed’ to be a fan. Meh. I am too old and busy for wank.)
Most people I have met are truly wonderful. Truly. And the positivity and enthusiasm in this fandom is simply breathtaking: it’s hard not to be encouraged and enthused by it! So many people trading ideas and creativity and love, music and art and headcanons and more! It’s a great place to be, and the occasional sourpuss isn’t ever going to spoil that.
Thank you again, Nonnie. *hugs you back* This was such a beautiful message, and you have a beautiful heart ❤
Aw Yiss 