kyojtanjs

[kyojtanjs]

memes are fun and relatable and all that, but don't let them discourage you. all of that stuff that doesn't make it into the final product is part of how the final product gets made

[kyojtanjs]

man if I gotta write bad fics, it should at least be easy! But it’s not! It is also hard to write this bad fic

[kyojtanjs]

HIGH ON STANDARDS LOW ON SKILL. CREATIVE PROCESS MAKE YOU ILL

[kyojtanjs]

[kyojtanjs]

artist in denial of being depressed: omg this 2 month long art block has been crazy... sorry i haven't updated any of my fics in a long while! it's just been super difficult to daydream! so weird that i've lost a little bit of passion for my current comfort character and ocs... this couldn't possibly have any implications or alternative explanations

[kyojtanjs]

Nothing worse than being obsessed with an ocs ship you haven't even properly written down yet

[kyojtanjs]

god this scene i haven’t written would be so emotional if it came with 50k words of context i also haven’t written

[kyojtanjs]

[kyojtanjs]

I’m thinking about perfectionism again, specifically with respect to how it can skew your opinion of success and failure.

There’s this concept that comes up a lot when you read about issues like perfectionism: all-or-nothing thinking. It’s a trap that’s easy to fall into.

If you’re a fic writer falling into this trap, you might feel like you’re an absolute failure if your fic isn’t a 100% accurate depiction of the scene you see in your head with flawless grammar and zero typos. That is a, quite literally, impossible standard to meet and as a result of never meeting it, you probably feel one or more of the following:

lack of motivation

certainty that there’s no point in even trying

self-hatred or some other form of intense dissatisfaction with yourself and/or your skills

This is a completely logical way to feel in that mindset, by the way. Your standard for success is so high that you’re constantly a failure. If your standard for success is impossible to meet, then there is no point in trying. If there’s no point in trying, how could you possibly feel motivated?

In order to move away from those feelings, you need to move away from that all-or-nothing, black & white mindset.

One way to do this is by figuring out a new standard for success that actually can be achieved. For example, give yourself permission to have occasional typos in your stories. Gaiman’s Law states that an author will always find a typo the first time they open their published book. If even Neil himself has resigned himself to this fate, then hopefully you can too. If you managed to write your story then that’s a success and finding a typo after you’re done doesn’t turn that success into a failure.

Another thing that’s helped me is to think of every failure or mistake or dissatisfying result as a learning opportunity. If I’m not able to do something now, that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to do it at some point in the future. I just need to keep trying. Practice makes better. Practice also helps you figure out the things that are easy for you and the bits that are hard and where you might need some help - either from a fellow fan or from another kind of resource.

I think part of the reason why people can get so anxious about their fanworks is because we care so much about them. We love the characters. We love the world. We want to do them justice in our writing, and we want other fans to love our creations too.

It’s important to remember that all of us love imperfect things all the time. It’s not perfection that makes a thing lovable. It’s the heart that’s put into it.

There’s a lot of fear behind perfectionism. Fear of being caught doing something wrong. Fear of being shamed for a mistake. Fear that imperfection makes us unworthy or unlovable. Fear that a single flaw will ruin an entire work. Fear of failure.

If you want to be able to move through that fear, you need to be able to reduce it somehow. The most effective way that I’ve found is to stop writing with the goal of posting something online. Write for the sake of writing, without the pressure of showing it to someone else. That might help you to get out a first draft (or second or third) without that worry about being judged and found wanting.

If you’re not ready for positive self-talk or reframing the internal narrative (I get it. Been there.) then allowing yourself to be less than perfect in a place where no one else can see you might be a good first step.

And just because I think it’s important that you hear it from time to time: you are a wonderful, creative, amazing human being - mistakes included.

[kyojtanjs]

[kyojtanjs]

People worrying is their fic is too self indulgent like....... that is the point of fanfiction. You are supposed to indulge . Every fic is self indulgent

[kyojtanjs]

[kyojtanjs]

My therapist just told me my problem is that I need to write more fanfiction.

[kyojtanjs]

cannot emphasize enough how a good piece of media can reset a creative slump. stop putting off consuming that media because you "should be writing instead" and then not write either

[kyojtanjs]

writing sounds so awesome. i wish i knew more than three words though

[kyojtanjs]

Be proud of the dumb, little thing you wrote, just because you wanted to write a dumb, little thing. Your writing doesn't need to be serious and award-winning for you to be proud of it.

[kyojtanjs]

I feel like you get a lot of questions, but is there any advice that you've always wanted to give to someone but you've never had the chance to give it? Anything you just feel like sharing today?

Allow yourself to fail. That’s the best gift you can give yourself. If you give yourself permission to fail you gain so much!

freedom from the fear of failure

understanding that failure is a natural part of life and not something to be avoided

the opportunity to learn from your mistakes

the chance to teach others what you’ve learned so that maybe they can do better too

empathy for others who have failed in a similar way

And above all, if you allow yourself to fail you’ll see that everything’s still okay and you’re still a valuable human being - even if you made a mistake or didn’t do everything perfectly. 

Experience failure. Admit your failure. Learn from that failure. That’s how you grow.