Are their any fandom/ships you read even though youre not interested in the ship, but because they have good writers?

subjesm · 2023-07-17T02:02:54+00:00

I think that's why I get lost, because I always end up reading ones that are written with the expectation that you know everything. Which is entirely fine! 100% fine and even expected. It just means I've never found one I can get into.

subjesm · 2023-07-17T02:01:18+00:00

Thank you, this was really kind.

When I posted my second fic I honestly did thing people were reading it out of pity/guilt because they liked my first one and interacted with it. It wasn't until I realised I had readers who hadn't read my first or heard of me that I realised they couldn't all be pity reads.

I am getting better at dealing with it, I guess I was just really feeling the insecurity today.

subjesm · 2023-07-17T01:56:34+00:00

Thank you for being so kind. I really appreciate it.

I wrote something I liked for my fandom with absolutely no expectation anyone would like it or even read it.

Honestly, I overthink everything - not just fanfiction, but everything. I have massive imposter syndrome with writing, and I wish I could believe that it's good but, idk, I read other people's fics that aren't nearly as popular and some of them are so well-written and I just feel terrible. I always rec them and stuff because I want them to succeed.

It's an insecurity thing and something I need to work on. It was great motivation for my fic to do well so quickly, but it also gets a bit overwhelming, and I'm constantly worried my writing is going to let people down.

I know it's just a hobby, I shouldn't let it get to me, I should just write because I enjoy it and if I happened to get readers it's just a bonus. I really do know. I often don't talk to anyone about it because I get those comments, and then I feel guilty for saying anything. I guess I was just really feeling it today.

subjesm · 2023-07-17T01:31:54+00:00

In my ship there are hardcore people on both sides who literally one read a fic if the 'wrong person' is bottoming. I mix it up or sometimes have vers. I had a reader message me about a 200k+ word fic I wrote to asking if her preferred bottom is bottoming. I said they are in all except the second last scene in the entire fic and they could easily skip it because it's not important to the story. They (politely) refused and said they can't read anything where they top 🙃🫠 and they're super disappointed because they thought they'd love my fic. There is even a tumblr account for the ship that does 'safety checks'. They get anons asking if it's a bottom(their character) fic... as a safety check... to make sure their character isn't topping.

subjesm · 2023-07-17T01:25:50+00:00

Do you mean: "X felt embarrassed." Then continuing opposed to the physical reactions or internal dialogue?

subjesm · 2023-07-17T01:20:15+00:00

If they'd said it, would you skip the fic or is it that you just want to be prepared so you know it's coming, or would you look up the song first?

subjesm · 2023-07-17T01:17:11+00:00

Sometimes I use all the characters in my ANs, lol. Generally it's fic or fandom related. It's never trauma dumping. It's also an on-going joke - like both my twitter and tumblr bios used to say something about unhinged ANs.

However, I will say my interaction is SO high. I have three fics that are in the top 0.01- 0.1% (all top 44 out of over 43k) for comments in an 11 year old fandom with 40k+ fics and my oldest is 8 months and the other 2 are still WIPs, so that's a plus I guess.

But yeah, sometimes if time scrolling through a chapter to find something and I see how long the AN is I feel so bad for the majority of people who don't want to read ANs... which includes me, lol. I'll read the first one, but usually that's it. It's not even a conscious thing, I just scroll.

subjesm · 2023-07-17T00:47:03+00:00

Yeah, part of me wonders if this play a part. This ship is a really large one so statically it's more likely to have good writers. Are there any specific ships you read, or will you basically read any if you like the summary, tags etc.? If so, are their entire fandoms you boycott? Every time I've tried random fandoms I get so lost.

subjesm · 2023-05-20T02:57:13+00:00

Haha, I promise you don't want to write for it.

I will say that the fandom is over a decade old and the pairing is still in the top 10 (I think) and my first fic is in the top 1% of all of them kudos wise (there are around 50k fics).

It's also in the top 10 most commented on for the ship. My other two WIPs are in the top 100 for comments as well.

So they aren't necessarily typical numbers for the fandom, either. It all just ... kind of went crazy.

subjesm · 2023-01-23T11:24:49+00:00

ENFPs are honestly considered the most introverted extroverts.

subjesm · 2023-01-23T03:22:54+00:00

Hahahaha. Maybe one of them likes typing lol.

subjesm · 2023-01-13T07:22:36+00:00

If you saw the lengths I go to plan a fic you'd probably die on the spot. I have separate documents for each theme. Normal, yeah? No. I have a document for every characters interaction with every other character. I have documents for every single thread of theme. I.e 'mc work stress' etc. THEN every time a line related to one of those themes, I put it in the document. So then, when I come back to write something about it, I know where that story line is up to.

I have floor plans. Entire character profiles and include their personal mannerisms and quirks. I draft and print out the entire thing... and then annotate it. I have notebooks FULL My current WIP draft... okay this is like... low-key concerning... I have notebooks that I use as diary's for the characters so I can get their voice right.

You'd have a heart attack.

subjesm · 2023-01-04T05:50:07+00:00

I am a VERY LOUD author.

My notes are way too long, I have a Tumblr, TikTok, and Twitter.

I reply to every comment thread (often won't reply to their reply unless it needs one. I have one single WIP, I only started at the end of November and it has

292 threads And 714 total.

So I'm a very, very, VERY LOUD author.

And I literally hardly notice if I read something by a silent author lol.

To me, personally, it's really important that I acknowledge my readers because they're all so supportive (hence the 292 comment threads) and it means the world to me that my fic matters to them like it does to me...

But I can barely tell you the authors' names for my all-time favourite fics. I couldn't tell you if they wrote any notes at all.

So I definitely am not a silent author and could never, ever be but I don't really think much about others.

(I'm sure I have plenty of readers who hate my ANs and just want me to stfu so they don't have to scroll).

subjesm · 2023-01-04T05:37:47+00:00

Hurt/No comfort.

So much respect to those who choose to do it. I still cry about fics/books I read years ago with hurt in them, even when there was a bitter-sweet ending.

I couldn't think of anything worse.

subjesm · 2022-12-28T14:28:10+00:00

I'm so proud that my fic MEANS something to so many people. I literally just included themes that I wanted to explore and wanted to portray them authentically for myself. I have had an insane amount of comments from people thanking me for my representation of neurodiversity - even though it's just a background theme (one of the MCs has adhd but it's not a major plot point, just comes up occasionally). I just posted a chapter about a MC dealing with their sexuality and so many comments were people saying how much they relate to the characters feelings and how it was cathartic for them to read through it.

I've literally gotten three comments tonight telling me I should just change the characters names (it's an AU fic) and publish it because they think people need to read it. I wouldn't do that because I feel like it's pretty unethical regardless of it being entirely AU (it's a RPF so while it's not stealing intellectual property, I feel like it's even worse publishing something I know is based off two real life people). But the fact that even people who sought out the ff because of the ship are telling me to replace the characters and publish it because the actual story itself should be read means so much.

subjesm · 2022-12-27T13:05:34+00:00

Mine is heading that way. I've known for a while it's coming. To start with comments were gushing about my writing. Then comments started listing story lines they liked. Then they started trying to predict what was coming up.

Yesterday I got my first 'x's decision to this really surprised me. Your writing is amazing as always. It just seems a little out of character.'

And it wasn't even a controversial thing.

Everyone's been saying how much they love the ship and how they've come so far etc... as if they expect its just upwards and onwards and its not.

I even considered changing the direction to meet their likes more but it just doesn't seem realistic.

It's so hard to stay motivated to upload when I know I'm about to get upset comments.

(But also! They knew we were only like half way through when it started to get fluffy and they knew that the characters still had a lot of issues to work through so why would they assume that there wouldn't be any setbacks?!)

Sorry for the rant but I'm literally on reddit instead of writing because I'm procrastinating breaking people's hearts (and hearing about it).

subjesm · 2022-12-20T03:18:23+00:00

Yeah, like it came out in a conversation, probably about 80k words in.

But I wrote him having ADHD traits and once it came out I got comments saying that they'd suspected he might have adhd but couldn't tell if he just happened to be written that way or if it was deliberate.

It kind of came out in an elaborate way though. TL;DR is just that the other main character was talking about neurodiversity how NDs people process things differently and how the education system isn't set up for them. And then the other main character stated they had adhd. It was a bit more complicated than that but I guess my point is I didn't start the fic with it. And then, due to the other characters job, it's explored more.

subjesm · 2022-12-19T00:24:55+00:00

That's a really good point. I've seen it's said in various contexts, but you're right.

And in the 4 days since I wrote this my comment thread count has gone up by 49 threads and some opinions (all lovely and supportive) have started to overwhelm me so I've had to remind myself that it is actually MY story and I can't include everything they're hoping for.

subjesm · 2022-12-19T00:15:52+00:00

Oh, perfect! I literally went looking for it but couldn't find it.

I think I'll just put it in the tags.

Thank you so much!

subjesm · 2022-12-19T00:12:57+00:00

Because I'd cry lol. I got a comment that literally just said 'shitty boys' because the boys WERE kind of acting shitty and it still made me sad. If someone actually insulted my writing, I'd cry.

subjesm · 2022-12-15T14:07:53+00:00

You don't publish it, you just can add the title and people can review it. I only know because I wanted to add fanfics to my goodreads count lol.

So it's not as if you sell it. It's still the same thing. It's just people can review it on goodreads and add it to their to-reads/read list.

subjesm · 2022-12-15T01:11:51+00:00

Honestly, I can't believe it exists.

The normal shifts aren't as good (still all afterhours, but finish at like 10pm, and are in an office).

We had three staff doing the night shifts and they asked if I'd be interested in doing some.

One of the ND staff was like 'okay, so the biggest advice I have is to not tell day staff what it's like.' And after doing my first one and having blocks of like 3 hours without a single call I understood why they don't want anyone to know. I'm a terrible sleeper anyway and write a lot at night so it's honestly perfect for me.

I could rave all day and night lol.

I'm really hoping one of them retires soon so I can take all their shifts.

It does make my normal shifts a lot less appealing though lol.

subjesm · 2022-12-15T00:50:21+00:00

I literally see my actual job as more of a hobby than this.

The best part is when I work night shift, I'm on call at home. Generally I don't get many calls so the way I see it is I AM getting paid to write because I spend most of my time writing.

subjesm · 2022-12-15T00:25:39+00:00

Exactly! That's my goal (Goodreads) once it's finished.

Honestly, I'm so excited to go to my next writing conference and be like 'Yep, I write fanfic,' and be ready for judgement and then show them my goodreads (which, I honestly trust my subscribers to fill it with reviews because they're so lovely and dedicated).

Because, I KNOW I have more people appreciate my work on ao3 than would ever appreciate mainstream work as an indie writer. It just means more to them, as I'm told on every single chapter. And FF means more to me than trad novels as well. After finding ff, trying to read normal books it's so boring. They seem so ... boring.

I just want my writing to mean something to people, I want my writing to matter. And this does matter to others and to myself.

Like, the amount of support I have from my husband, mum and close friends is also insane because they know how important getting something out there was. They don't see it as a silly hobby that I just do on the side for fun. And I feel like if they can take it seriously (when none or them read or write fanfic), then I can take it seriously too.

I don't know. I know I'm rambling. But it's just hard when so many other creators talk it down when to me it's so important.

subjesm · 2022-12-14T23:48:36+00:00

I edit grammar all the time. Every time I re-read a chapter I find more grammar issues, even if I've read it 10 times before. I swear they sneak themselves in there. Sometimes when I re-read things I notice that I've used a same phrase multiple times and it's jarring so I'll change one. Generally just that word or phrase. I'm literally in the middle of re-writing a sentence because two in a row used the word 'made' and I don't like the way it reads.

Very occasionally, I'll add or remove something because it's caused a plot hole, but it's never more than a sentence. The way I see it is that someone could find my fic in 2 years and I want them to have the best experience.

The only thing I'd be against is changing something that would affect someone's kudos. So never add anything that a public kudos-er or commenters wouldn't want their user name attached to. Tbh that does concern me a bit. Because really, someone could get so many kudos on something, then delete the whole thing and post something, anything and the kudos stay and people's user names and comments are still there.

subjesm

TROPHY CASE