{"id":191510,"date":"2014-09-13T13:08:56","date_gmt":"2014-09-13T13:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/09\/13\/do-you-think-theres-any-point-in-writing\/"},"modified":"2014-09-13T13:08:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-13T13:08:56","slug":"do-you-think-theres-any-point-in-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/09\/13\/do-you-think-theres-any-point-in-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you think there’s any point in writing fanfiction if no one really reads it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

merindab<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

dvancecinco<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

merindab<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Absolutely. I write some pairs that I know very few people will read or care about, but I still write it because it makes me (and maybe one or two other people) happy. I write fics sometimes just for me that I end up not posting at all.<\/p>\n

If writing makes you happy, do it. It doesn\u2019t matter fuckall what other people think. It doesn\u2019t matter if one person or 5 or 10,000 people read it. Write because you want to. Write what you want to write because you want to.<\/p>\n

I know sometimes it can be discouraging to think no one is reading what you put out there, but people will come. And you\u2019l find those that support \u00a0you through it. Heck if you need to, my ask is always open.<\/p>\n

I strongly support writing, any writing. Don\u2019t let anyone tell you that what you write is worth less then anyone else\u2019s just because it\u2019s fanfiction, or something they aren\u2019t interested in. Write it anyway.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My lovely Merinda, I hope you don\u2019t mind if I happen to hijack the shit out of this post. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Dearest, Darlingest Nonny,<\/p>\n

It is of utmost importance that if you feel like you want to write, that you write.<\/p>\n

On my blog, if you search the term \u201cfic rec\u201d, you\u2019ll find 152 pages, with 15 posts per page of fics that I have read and rec\u2019ed. \u00a0Currently, I have three browser windows open, one with 18 tabs of fics, one with 56 tabs of fics, and another with 19 tabs of fics. \u00a0I have more than 550 drafts saved and over half of that is fics. \u00a0I rec at least two fics every day, and I have dedicated Fridays for the saving of all the NSFW fics that I have found to post then in honor of Penis Fridays. \u00a0I am planning for this coming Friday to hit my post limit by rec\u2019ing my favorite authors for the one year anniversary of this particular tradition. \u00a0I asked people what they wanted to read, and I have hopefully found fics for them that they can enjoy.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s going to be someone out there who will read what you\u2019ve written. \u00a0Maybe you\u2019re not sure about where to post? \u00a0Make a friend with someone on Ao3 and get an invite. \u00a0If that doesn\u2019t work, there\u2019s always livejournal and FF.net. \u00a0If you\u2019re not sure you want your name attached to your work, there are kinkmemes galore out there. \u00a0And just because it has \u2018kink\u2019 in the title, doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s necessarily all crazy wild sex all the time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Have you ever looked at some of the stats on ao3? \u00a0If you check them out, you can see that there are nearly 56,000 fics having to do with Sherlock Holmes in some way, shape or form. \u00a0Doctor Who has about 30,000 fics, Supernatural has around 66,000 fics. \u00a0And this is just on the ao3. \u00a0I remember when I first started reading fics, on FF.net, there were tens of thousands of fics for the fandoms in which I happened to read.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019re not sure about your grammar or other such technicalities? \u00a0There are betas who volunteer their love and kindness to help both aspiring and well-established authors along the way. \u00a0As someone who used to beta heavily (about ten years ago), it\u2019s kind of thrilling to get to watch a fic evolve in many ways, shapes and forms. \u00a0<\/p>\n

I know enough people in fandom that answer my calls for fics. \u00a0I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve had wonderful people drop links in my inbox. \u00a0People tel me, \u201chey, I saw this fic and thought you\u2019d like it\u201d. \u00a0And you know what? \u00a0OMG it\u2019s the best thing ever. \u00a0I\u2019m actually stockpiling fics of 10K+ right now on my iPad because in July I\u2019m going to South Africa and the flying time is going to be about 28 hours each way. \u00a0I\u2019m going to need something to keep me entertained. \u00a0I\u2019ve got over 250 fics saved up. \u00a0I\u2019m pretty pumped.<\/p>\n

Since I got home tonight at 7:30, I\u2019ve already read and decided to rec 10 fics. \u00a0I\u2019ve obviously read more than ten tonight, but so far only these ones have caught my eye. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Did you know that there are tumblr blogs that have been set up that are ao3 feeds? \u00a0There\u2019s a blog that makes a post for each and every johnlock fic that is posted to ao3. \u00a0I follow it. \u00a0That\u2019s how I find most of my johnlock fics. \u00a0There are SPN feeds. \u00a0Accidentally, I was following the SPN master feed, which makes a post for each and every fic in the SPN fandom, while simultaneously following the destiel and wincest feeds. \u00a0Suffice to say, I was overloaded with a lot of fic repeats.<\/p>\n

If you want people to read what you write, put it out there for it to be read. \u00a0Ask people to read it and see what you think. \u00a0As you can tell, I\u2019ll pretty much read just about anything. \u00a0I\u2019ll pass along my recommendations for just about any fic, as long as it doesn\u2019t have too many errors and has a general sort of coherence. \u00a0If you\u2019re an author I like, I\u2019ll pretty much rec every fic you write. \u00a0Because you\u2019re just that damn awesome. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Not everyone can write, you know. \u00a0Not everyone can make gifsets. \u00a0Not everyone can draw. \u00a0There are those of us who are mostly just consumers of fandom. \u00a0I know that I\u2019ll never have photoshop talent, but that doesn\u2019t stop me from reblogging awesome manips and tagging them and gushing over them. \u00a0I know that I\u2019ll probably never write for fandom again, but that doesn\u2019t stop me from reading voraciously within my tastes, and occasionally stepping outside my normal reading parameters. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Writing doesn\u2019t come easily for everyone. \u00a0Sometimes you\u2019ll think you\u2019ve got a picture perfect idea in your head and when you sit down to bust it out on your computer, you find that you hopped on the struggle bus and you\u2019re riding it all the way downtown. \u00a0There are support groups within fandoms, like Sunday Six, where you post six sentences of a fic you\u2019re writing. \u00a0Six sentences, you may be thinking, isn\u2019t a lot, but when those sentences are your blood, sweat and tears on the screen, it\u2019s something of which you can be really proud. \u00a0It might motivate you to not just stop at only six sentences. \u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s NaNoWriMo too, which happens in November. \u00a0There are tons of prompts going around different fandoms at different times. \u00a0About a month ago, I saw a list of cute prompts that had been collected on tumblr of like, alternate meetings. \u00a0It had about six different ideas, and then about fifty bajillion reblogs underneath it saying something along the lines of \u201comg i have to read this fic right fucking now omg write it yesterday\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n

There is an appetite for fics. \u00a0It\u2019s not a weak appetite. \u00a0It\u2019s strong and healthy. \u00a0Some fandoms, obviously, lend themselves more easily to the written word. \u00a0Some fandoms are bigger than others. \u00a0But fandom is inspirational. \u00a0Look at Sherlock Holmes in general. \u00a0There\u2019re the original writings by ACD, but if we look around, we see creations such as Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd century, BBC\u2019s Sherlock, House MD, The Great Mouse Detective, the Guy Ritchie Films, the Granada Holmes series, just to name a few. \u00a0ACD wrote in the late 1800\u2019s, and we\u2019re still obsessing over it today. \u00a0<\/p>\n

We can also look around many many fandoms and see how so many authors who write fanfiction also are published authors. \u00a0And you don\u2019t have to be just a regular person to be a fan of something. \u00a0SE Hinton, the author of\u00a0The Outsiders\u00a0<\/em> and\u00a0Rumble Fish<\/em> is a huge SPN fan. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Nonnie, there are safe spaces for you if you want to write. \u00a0Fanfiction is a very large presence of many fandoms. \u00a0It\u2019s how fans deal. \u00a0Two years of hiatus in the BBC Sherlock fandom is slowly becoming the norm. \u00a0How many fics are \u2018fix-its\u2019? \u00a0There was that one glorious moment this last year, when all the shows were on Winter hiatus when suddenly we had 10 days of Sherlock that came and went. \u00a0The post-airing fics were the best parts of the fandom. \u00a0As a reader, I want to see what a writer can do with what\u2019s been given to us by TPTB. \u00a0I can and will read 475 different fics of the same two characters meeting in slightly different ways. \u00a0The AU is one of the most precious things given to fans. \u00a0The ability to say, \u201cMerlin and Arthur are so totally going to work for Torchwood because you know what, I want to see what Arthur would have to say to Captain Jack Harkness\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Your creativity is a precious and valued thing. \u00a0I want to know how you<\/strong> imagined \u201cthe pizza man and the babysitter\u201d idea really played out in the middle of season 6. \u00a0I want to see how many more adventures Donna and Ten went on. \u00a0Hell, I think River and Nine would have made for smashing friends. \u00a0I\u2019d read the daylights out of that. \u00a0<\/p>\n

There are people around who are waiting for your creativity. \u00a0Do what you want with it. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Best,<\/p>\n

-Cinco xoxo<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

merindab: dvancecinco: merindab: Absolutely. I write some pairs that I know very few people will read or care about, but I still write it because it makes me (and maybe one or two other people) happy. I write fics sometimes just for me that I end up not posting at all. If writing makes you … <\/p>\n

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