never seen your blog before but in regards to your recent post i feel like its the writers responsibility to update their fics. ive lost motivation and stopped writing but even then i still updated my readers or labeled my fics as paused, because it pisses me off both as a writer and reader of fanfiction when a writer just ghosts for no reason. though i see both sides of the argument! anyway have a good one
I think you’re mistaking a fanfic—that is a hobby—for a job that you have to perform.
because if something is a job then yes, it’s your responsibility to perform and keep people satisfied.
but fanfic writing is not a job. I’m sorry if that’s how you see it. I cannot imagine enjoying performing for free without exhausting myself out. but for other writers, it’s a hobby. a passion, yes. but still a hobby. and the thing about hobbies is that it’s first and foremost for fun, it’s a form of self care. there’s no “responsibility” when it comes to hobbies.
sure, it’s valid if a writer themself feels bad for not updating. I do. but there’s a difference between a writer wanting to write more and a reader — a stranger — demanding something from someone else’s hobby.
I don’t know how many times I have to say this but fanfic writers write for themselves. they write for their own enjoyment. for. fun.
they don’t write to please strangers. they don’t write for strangers’ approval. they don’t owe anybody anything. much less strangers on the internet.
hell, I wouldn’t be writing for almost a decade without tiring myself out first if I weren’t doing it out of love and passion. it would no longer be out of love and passion if I were chasing strangers’ approval or trying to keep them satisfied. I do this for myself, so I can escape from life into my own little world that I create for me. this is my comfort place and I do it for me. not for anybody else. me.
fanfic readers are privileged enough to read something someone else writes for their own enjoyment. for. free. they don’t get to be entitled. they don’t get to demand more.
it’s the same as when you receive a gift from someone. you don’t demand more gifts from them, you don’t tell them you dislike their gift. unless you’re an asshole, of course.
this used to be a common sense and etiquette before tiktok, algorithm and going viral made people think everything is about performance and engagement, by the way. but the thing is that that is not what fanfic is about. so whatever tiktok teaches you, you cannot apply it to ao3 or fanfiction.
amandla
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