I wish Iād appreciated more when I was younger and involved in the fanfic world how something can beĀ ābad writingā in the sense that it doesnāt work as a piece of literature, but good in what itās doing for the writer.
Especially (but not only) for very young writers, fiction can be a badly needed escape or a way to work through their own problems in metaphor. Ā A girl who feels invisible and unloved in the real world can write a version of herself thatās a half-unicorn half-faerie princess with every magic power simultaneously, and whether itās narratively strong or not, it means something to her that she can be that princess in her story. Ā A person who has no other outlet for their sexuality can write awfulĀ ālol, what even is anatomyā porn as part of the process of feeling out what they want and who they are. Ā A boy whoās afraid to express softness and vulnerability in the real world can write unbearably melodramatic and glurgey hurt/comfort fic, and find in it the tenderness thatās inside him.
And 99% of these stories will be awful and unreadable and embarrassing, just as 99% of therapy session transcripts wouldnāt make good one-act plays. Ā But thatās okay. Ā They serve a purpose beyond conventional literature, and while you may not necessarily want to read them, you should still respect that purpose.
This is so important.
