#posting snippets of my writing to tumblr is like shouting into the void and not even hearing an echo in return

[declawed]

i have been thinking about desire lately…

[babyboywilson]

hiii baz<33 honestly i don't think the lack of engagement on ao3 is because people don't care or like your writing but because you also posted the whole fic on here too and people are usually lazy so they probs just continued reading the fic under the read more instead of going to ao3 and that's why you're seeing more engagement on tumblr then on there. something you can do for longer fics in the future is just post a little preview of the beginning of the fic and then add a link to continue reading on ao3. that way you can direct them there and they can leave kudos / comments and then also come back to tumblr and rb the fic post !

hi nonnie <3 thank you for these encouraging words. I think i just… get in my head? and maybe i set too high of standards for myself. but it also feels like… why do i have 7.6k followers and yet only 50 kudos on my latest fic? like, why do people follow me if it’s not for my writing? and if people do follow me for my writing, why aren’t they interacting with it?

I have actually tried that several times- the idea of just posting a snippet on tumblr with a link to the whole fic on ao3. but then I’ve had people complain or tell me they’re too lazy to click the link or don’t like reading fics on ao3 so they won’t read the fic or interact with the post at all if the whole fic isn’t posted on tumblr too. Idk. I feel like i can’t win. maybe next time I’ll try that again- the idea of only posting the first snippet on tumblr and having everyone read the rest on ao3. but that would mean I’d have to write another fic again and right now i just feel really discouraged and I’m questioning if i should just stop writing because i feel like i’m shouting into a void. and with having to re-study for the NAVLE again i just don’t have it in me to be questioning my place in the veterinary profession and questioning my place as a destiel writer too. I was really proud and happy with that fic yesterday for dean’s birthday… and the lack of interaction just makes me feel like I’ve lost my place in this fandom and i need to let dean and cas go and delete my ao3 and tumblr.

[queenangst]

1/? Hey Annie. You don't know me, but I just wanna say that finding you and your writing was a huge turning point for me. Before I found you, I never really followed any writers outside of ao3. You were the first writer I wanted to know more about. I fell in love with your writing, and when I saw you had a Tumblr, I followed you. It was a slow process for me, but following you opened me up a lot more to the fandom. You made me realize that creators aren't these unreachable entities.

They're people just like me. I started interacting with you through anon asks. I joined your discord (but I lurk alsjdlahd). I started following a lot more creators and interacting with them as well. My comments on ao3 hold a lot more meaning for me now because I'm more connected with the authors. I've been having a lot of fun. I even wrote my first fanfic. And it's all been because of you. I mean it when I say you're a huge inspiration to me.

I read your writing and sometimes I just have to stop and marvel at it. I remember a few(?) months back you posted a fic snippet on your Tumblr, but not on ao3. (Although you recently posted it as ch 4 of angst assortment). Anyway, I remember reading it and genuinely just wondering how anyone can write so well. It's funny too because I remember reaching the end of it, and seeing your tags say that you weren't really vibing with it. And I was like WHAT she didn't vibe with it!?

This was so GOOD!! THIS: "Fear deals him a blow to his gut, followed by a real fist" AND THIS: "Hizashi’s name fills the curve of his mouth" These are literally only three paragraphs in and they made me stop because, wow, what a beautiful way to phrase what could otherwise be mundane. You could've said like "Aizawa called Hizashi's name" or something but NO, HIS NAME FILLED THE CURVE OF HIS MOUTH I--- I loved this.

Idk if these are the best examples to show what I'm trying to say, but you have a way of writing that's just so... poetic. And I remember thinking that I would've missed that gem if I hadn't followed you on Tumblr. Listen, I know I've rambled, and you don't have to answer this ask cuz I know it's long as hell. I just wanted you to see this so I could say thank you. Thank you for writing. Thank you for sharing. And I can't thank you enough for inspiring me to write.

It's something I've always thought about doing but you were the one who gave me the courage to finally do it. And it's crazy that you're not even aware of the impact you had on me. I understand that sometimes it might feel like your work isn't reaching people. But it is. It's reaching. And it's changing people. And I'm so grateful for your writing, and just as importantly, for you. For your kindness and your humor, and every other part of you that you share with us. Thank you, Annie.

i- okay there’s- it’s a lot. in a good way but this is a lot and i’m sorry i couldn’t get back earlier but every time i looked at it i pretty much started crying so i’m trying to put together a coherent response now. 

nonnie, first of all- thank you. thank you thank you thank you, because this is something i really, really needed to hear someone tell me. 

i think it’s very easy for me as a person and as a creator to look at the things i’m making and to put them up and feel like i’m shouting into a void. i think it’s very difficult for me to understand how much i’m reaching people, the ways i could impact even one person. partly because i don’t see it. partly because i don’t let myself, because i can’t imagine that i could really reach anyone, putting pieces of me out there and thinking no one could ever feel my work as deeply as i do. or as much. 

and i will never really understand. i can only ever view my work as myself, as a creator, and i can never experience my work for the first time the way my audience does. 

it’s so hard for me to conceptualize, especially on the internet, that there are real people who are reading my fics and real people who love them and enjoy them and laugh and cry and wonder. 

everything you’re saying, everything you’re telling me - it’s bridging a gap. i think. i didn’t know you engaged with me and my work that way. i didn’t know someone could do that. i didn’t know i could do that. and it is extremely humbling and heartfelt, and it makes me so incredibly touched that i can reach you, and inspire you. a lot of times, esp with social media, it can feel like we’re all passing trains catching each other through the windows, and you might never meet or never interact beyond a certain point, and behind those windows are very real people who have thoughts and emotions. we see each other for a second but it could be a second that changes... a lot.

i create and i create and i create and i never stop and i’m always waiting and wondering and asking myself. sometimes i need that reminder too. thank you for that. thank you for telling me. thank you for taking the time out of your day to send me these asks, to express to me what you feel, what connection we have because it really really means a lot. more than you know. i’ve been struggling a lot, especially very recently, with this idea, and wrapping myself in my work. 

and i have a specific way of writing, too. a style i’ve developed that’s become mine, but like i said - i don’t experience it the same way. when i write about a name filling the curve of a mouth it is just something i’ve written, a way i have learned to describe things. but you sharing that made me stop for a moment and think that those things that i have gotten used to can be beautiful to other people who are reading them. 

i hope you are doing well. i hope you are reading this. and i hope you know that by sending me this you got a message across that was both wonderful and unimaginable for me to hear. 

please don’t stop making things. you’re doing great, and i’m very proud of you for that. please continue to use fandom as a place of happiness. please continue to reach out to creators, to the people who inspire you - because you reached me, you’re reaching me, and it was something i needed deeply and desperately. i’ve been crying the entire time writing this response. 

thank you. if there’s anything i can get across - thank you. thank you. 

[mathgeek101]

Been thinking about posting these like....... mini 19 days fanfics(????) that I’ve written.. like, they’re just little things, around 100-300 words each. Thinking about posting them on ao3, but also like that seems like such a big place for my little “snippets” of something bigger that doesn’t actually exist. I could post them as one “work” and preface it with “hey they aren’t related but I don’t write big things yet, so it’s a work in progress, but I also have these and want to share.” I supppppose I could post them heeereeeeeeee, but I also don’t want to do that? but if I post them on ao3 I’ll definitely like, advertise it here?? soooooo

anyway, if you wanna give input to my dilemma feel free, but I’m not necessarily asking for advice, y’know? sometimes, tumblr functions as a void to shout in,, and this is one of those times. but if the void wants to shout back, that’s cool too

[weretigerkun]

i really wish ao3 had a private messaging system... i only upload smut fics on tumblr bc a) i know i’ll cringe when i re-read them in the future and it’s easily buried on this site and b) i have irl friends who know my ao3 username so... it would be awkward if they read them

but because of reason A i’m also getting annoyed. i kind of don’t want to upload my fics directly on tumblr anymore; instead, i’ll only offer ao3 links and tags/descriptions. this sucks for when i want to only show previews/snippets and ask for advice/know i’ll never finish them, but thanks to the new discord chat i can basically just go there... plus it’s more personal and really feels like a group discussion instead of just shouting into the void, u know

which also disappoints me a bit since i made this blog to be a collection of daza.tsu fanworks, but im not really feeling this site anymore. i feel like it’s so difficult to hold a discussion here, or to keep track of who’s uploading new content (esp if you don’t follow them), or get your work noticed. and it’s not just my work, because lbr my writing is damn pretentious... but seeing other artists/writers who create good content and only get a few notes and even fewer comments? that’s kinda discouraging

i mean, thanks to tumblr we’ve had several otp weeks and events and that fostered a lot of new content and discussion! and there’s so much good meta on here that you can save, respond to, and reblog. but yeah, for treatment of fanworks, i’m not feeling it. i think for fanfiction tumblr is a shitty place to share it in general, because this site’s tagging system is impossible. people also don’t like reblogging fic (although i appreciate replies! thank you for them :D) for some reason, at least compared to fanart (maybe bc it isn’t as aesthetically pleasing? or you just dont like to share them? idk)

in the end... well.. i’m not sure what the point of this rant is. who knows, i might go back on my word and end up posting fic directly on tumblr again (and not just links), even if it’s all basically smut. i just wanted to vent out some feelings i’ve had recently. 

i’ve been on tumblr for five years now, and i always end up quitting... then going back... then quitting... then going back. it’s an endless cycle lmao so this post might be irrelevant in the future again

but for real. reblog fanfic if you enjoy it. leave a comment in the tags. it doesn’t matter how popular the blog is; a post won’t circulate if you won’t let it.