Save a fanfic writer, leave comments on old fics
There is this a peculiar set of reasons and biases when it comes to NOT commenting on AO3.
They are all false, but here they are:
Do not comment on old fics
Do not comment on each chapter of a multichapter
Do not comment if the author left the fandom
Do not comment if the author doesn’t respond to comments
It can be summoned up as DO NOT ACT LIKE YOU ENJOYED THE WORK AND YOU LIKE THE AUTHOR.
It comes from the idea, that if you leave a comment on my old work, or leave too many comments, I will think you are strange, clingy, and gross.
Readers are imagining it as commenting on an old Facebook photo — only your granny and creepy strangers do that.
That is not the case with AO3.
Writers put their works there for long-term storage, and we expect, wish, and hope that you will like our works and tell us about it.
This all very interesting, not, but why should I care?
This has awful consequences. Fanfic authors feel constant pressure to create more and crippling fear of being forgotten, useless, and being literally kicked away from fandom.
I’m online friends with a few great fandom authors, who wrote storied with thousands of kudos, but ALL of them at some point expressed this fear. Very talented people told me, “I’m not sure if I should have ‘writer’ in my bio. I didn’t post anything new in the last half of a year.”
Some young or entitled readers might say, “Hm, well, they are right. They should create MORE to be relevant. Isn’t that a good thing to push authors to write more?”
For better or worse, life doesn’t work like that. We are talking about real people, who go to real schools, have real jobs, families, and all the other important things outside the fandom. Some of them might push to create more from that fear, but most would only get more frustrated and depressed about the whole fanfic writing.
So, please, if you like the work comment on it.
Even if it’s old, even if it’s a multichapter, even if the author doesn’t have time and energy to interact. Especially in all those cases.
Encourage your authors, and show them your support.
UPD:
my previous post How to start writing comments
explanation about fics from 70s by olderthannetfic. Thank you so much for it.
The rules of facebook/instagram do not apply to fanfic platforms
I’m not going to see two posts by the same person on two different fics and think “o no, they’re stalking me!” I’m going to think “Yay, someone *finally* read that admittedly very niche thing I wrote!”
If I see a comment by the same person on two fics, it’s the best thing in the world! They liked my story enough to read a second one. Thank you, commenter. You’ve made my day. More than that, it will probably improve me whole week, if not longer.
There’s an extremely specific and special sort of feeling that comes with seeing the same commenter name in your inbox as they methodically make their way through a story or your AO3 page and it is somewhere in the neighborhood of if glee/pride/disbelief had a baby.
It’s very nice and heartwarming.
There needs to be a word for the feeling of seeing the same name in a rack of ao3 comment notifications
So let me take a stab at this, for folks who are accustomed to only social media:
Think of AO3 like a library. Comments or kudos are like checking out a book from a library. Do you ignore books that look like they’ve been in the library for a while out of fear they’re too old for you to check out? Of course not! Same thing applies here.
AO3 is literally an archive. The intent is not for you to only look at the newest stuff. Its purpose is to hold on to works over the course of time so we can find them again later. Writers wouldn’t put their stuff in the archive if they didn’t want people to be able to find it after a while - that would defeat the entire purpose.
Reblogging to shoutout AO3 user NatashalieLumley who is currently making their way through the Toasterverse, because it always warms my heart when people read the dumb little side stories, too. Blessings on you, you kind soul.
Also, they are pacing themselves. the only time I get concerned about comments on old fic is when it is clear that someone has just read a decade’s worth of my fic (literally) in 36 hours (also literally) and I am like please sleep. Please. Too much crack fic at once is gonna cause brain damage.
the day my mom died, I woke up to 3 or 4 comments on old fics. really nice, whole paragraph comments that highlighted lines the reader liked and praised the concepts they enjoyed, and gd, it was so nice to cry over something joyful and kind instead of just. mama.
There is a special kind of joy, for an author, in watching somebody comment on every chapter of one of your multi-chapter fics. If you’re lucky enough to get the notifications while they’re still reading it’s especially good, but even seeing them after they’re done is nice. You get to read along with them, watch them react to story twists and plot elements in real time, see their little comments like “ooh I hope X doesn’t find out” and then when X finds out 3 chapters later “OH FUCK”. It’s like recommending a book or TV show to a friend and getting to watch them experience it.
At no point will an author ever think you’re clingy or creepy for commenting too much. We put the fics out there because we want you to read them, and we want to know what you think. Comments make the writing feel like meaningful communication instead of throwing thoughts out into the void.
