#fanfic problems

[mxanigel]

Sharing fanfic updates be like

[marblemoovt]

Current mood

[sweetiepie08]

Hey I got this comment on one of my fics this morning and it looked pretty sketchy. Anyone know anything about this?

Update: I have reported this as spam, but please keep spreading this to help fellow fanfic authors.

[alfietimewolf]

[sendpseuds]

Thinking about locker room kisses...

[...and trying to manifest the ability to write more Perfect Spiral]

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #4433:

While it's true that many people create fanfic or fan art as "practice" with hopes that it will lead to a possible future career in writing or art, I think sometimes people forget that that isn't the case for EVERYONE who makes fanart or fanfic. Sometimes it IS just a side hobby that they do for fun, they have no plans to turn it into a "career" and that's perfectly okay.

So when people get pissy that their unsolicited criticism isn't appreciated and justify it with "well if no one TELLS them then how are they going to improve??" Well, chances are that instead you just made it LESS likely that they'll post their content, which, again, is something they made for fun in their free time and allowed you to consume for free.

And even when people DO specifically ask for constructive criticism, people forget there's a POLITE way to give feedback, and just see it as a free pass to be an asshole.

[nosleeppotions]

Reader: where's the next chapter?!

Me, the writer: *looks around * man, I wish I knew.

[bobaheadshark]

ao3 writers who are not on tumblr you’re honestly so brave... you’re happy to just post the fic and leave it alone? you do not care about ppl perceiving? living in the blissful quiet away from the burning hellfire that is social media on the daily? moving in silence. protecting your peace. that’s ninja shit.

[shipseekingshippers]

[will0waesthetic]

“i wore flowy dress”

“my soft pink tinted cheek” “Doe eyes ”

and also when the “reader” is always weak 🧍🏽‍♀️

[cosmetichorror]

Me picking through my fics like a picky child as I ponder which one I want to write in

[chaotic-woso]

I need my fanfic to write itself

[livstarlight]

I have to be honest with myself and admit that I have reached the point in my life where every day I wake up opening ao3 and check for new fanfics and updates of the ones I am following like it's the freaking morning newspaper

[vmprsm]

Do you make a playlist for every story and character you write or are you normal

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #4554:

The tag types of "Tags update as story is written" or "additional tags to be added" or "Rating may change." Fuck those. I don't care if you add some extra benign tags as the story goes along, and you realise you wanna add more content that's just there, or you realise your fic maybe went a bit harder than you expected. Some stories get their own life. But at the same time, if you knew you'd want to add certain content, or that the rating was gonna go way up from what you tagged in the beginning, why did you not tag it from the start? Especially when the tagged content becomes a big part of the story, or influences the story strongly. And then you find out that the Author already had been planning adding this type of content for a long time, they just FOR SOME STUPID-ASS REASON didn't wanna add the tag until it actually happens. You're supposed to tag so the people can make an informed decision if they wanna commit to your fic, so for the love of the tagging-system, actually TAG ALL YOUR SHIT FROM THE START. Same shit for changing ratings. I hate it when someone plans from the start to make the story explicit, but doesn't change the rating until they've reached the NSFW sections. There's a reason there's a tagging system. So do you just not understand how that works? Or are you just being kind of as ass on purpose? This does not help when avoiding stories with specific content you try to exclude from your results. It's even dumber if the reason is to "avoid spoiling the fic readers", because anyone coming later to the fic is going to be "spoiled" by the tags regardless. And if you know you wanna add porn, or gore, then rate the story appropriately. Rather categorise it too high, than fuck around with people who don't wanna read explicit content.

[maeglinyedi]

Something that always surprises me is that so many people will automatically assume you want to become a professional writer when you tell them you enjoy writing (fan)fiction as a hobby. In fact, when you tell them that no, you're perfectly happy to write as just a hobby without ever earning a dime, they look at you as though they're seeing water burn.

As far as I know writing is the only hobby that envokes this kind of reaction in people. Say you enjoy going to the park on a Sunday to play some baseball with your friends just for fun. Now you tell people about this. How many people react by asking you in all sincerity when you plan to try out for the New York Yankees?

Probably zero. And yet when you mention writing as a hobby they are unable to compute that writing can really be a hobby in the first place.

Throughout my time in fandom, some 20+ years now, I've met so many people with so many different careers. I've met nurses and lawyers and stay at home moms. I've met engineers and people studying for their PhDs. And what all these people had in common was that they enjoyed writing solely as a hobby with no ambition to ever go pro.

I'm the same. I love writing fanfiction. I get a great deal of enjoyment out of using my imagination to come up with plots and to write all manner of stories, from short one-shots to epic tales of several hundreds of thousands of words. And I love sharing these works with the many people out there that enjoy reading them.

That's all it has to be for me at this time. I like that there is no pressure to finish a story or else my livelihood is at stake. I like that I can take a break whenever I need it for whatever reason. And I like that I can write whatever I want whenever I want.

I get that plenty of people do want to write professionally and I wish you the best of luck. I just wish that writing as just a hobby was a little more accepted because I get tired of explaining myself over and over again to the people around me.