The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress

Sometimes I write, mostly I procrastinate If you want to use my writing, please ask Technically a poet but I'm currently in OC hell and loving it

[randomestfandoms-writing]

Hey everyone! Just a couple of reminders about making edits with my work

A- ask permission first. There are some poems that I do not want people making edits for because of how personal they are

B- tag me in the result! I love to see what you guys come up!!!!!

Please respect this thanks

(This also applies to things that were first posted to my main @randomestfandoms )

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

This does also include anything I write on this blog!! If you’re going to use my writing, ask me first!! Yes I do also ask to be credited in some way, but please don’t use my writing without permission

[andremichaux]

This funeral is really messing with your head, innit? I found this company, and they bury you in a biodegradable sack. So when your body decomposes, it fertilizes the seeds of a fruit tree. That’s what I want. Because then you and all the people that love me can eat the fruit from my tree.

+

[dimension20official]

“Am I getting Ocean’s-ed 11-ed on my own f***ing show?!”

[queersamus]

[writerfae]

Love it when my ocs develop themselves. One of them will come up to me out of nowhere like „Yo I like cake.“ and I’m like alright cool I’ll make sure to add that to your character information

[sunlitscribe]

me @ my friends ocs: hehe i ship my ocs w ur ocs

[randomestfandoms-writing]

Hey everyone! Just a couple of reminders about making edits with my work

A- ask permission first. There are some poems that I do not want people making edits for because of how personal they are

B- tag me in the result! I love to see what you guys come up!!!!!

Please respect this thanks

(This also applies to things that were first posted to my main @randomestfandoms )

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

This does also include anything I write on this blog!! If you’re going to use my writing, ask me first!! Yes I do also ask to be credited in some way, but please don’t use my writing without permission

[randomestfandoms-writing]

“They call women weak But it was Helen who launched a thousand ships And Atalanta who killed the boar It was Eris who brought the downfall of Troy And Ariadne who solved the maze It was Pasiphae who bore the Minotaur And yet they still call women weak”

— we are not weak, we are the stuff of legends

[inkvials]

oh my god i just want to follow more writers. no one is interacting with my intro post, so could you please just like/reblog this if youre a writing blog? my dash is dead and none of the blogs tumblr is recommending me are active and i just want to follow people!

[blackstar]

i don’t think people really get how little feedback fanfic authors actually get? like the effort to reaction ratio is so abysmally skewed here that a fic nearly 50,000 words long takes an entire year to amass like. 16 comments. someone reblogged a fic i wrote at 4 am and tagged it with a 5-word compliment and i can’t stop thinking about it, not because it was so nice but because half the time you post a fic you’re going to hear nothing and anything feels like so much

fandom culture is so, so good about giving artists the credit they’re due, but we gotta start doing that for writers too. you’ve got no idea how much people put into their stories and get maybe a handful of reblogs and a dozen-odd kudos. that’s not enough. writing is an endurance sport and y’all need to start giving fic writers a reason to endure it and improve their craft. encourage writers like you encourage artists. reblog fics, leave tags, leave comments, acknowledge that these stories do not just spring into being for your entertainment. 

every single damn writer i know feels like half of their readers see them as a machine. that’s gotta change. 

[randomestfandoms-writing]

Hey everyone! Just a couple of reminders about making edits with my work

A- ask permission first. There are some poems that I do not want people making edits for because of how personal they are

B- tag me in the result! I love to see what you guys come up!!!!!

Please respect this thanks

(This also applies to things that were first posted to my main @randomestfandoms )

[darcylindbergh]

fic writers raise your hands if you like…forget what happens in your own fics

[ao3commentoftheday]

I have a question that maybe u can answer. I love reading my fav ongoing fics, but there‘s times when I feel it has failed to address something, or maybe there’s something a character or two does that feels OOC. Thing is, it’s these details that end up triggering a catalyst for the whole story. My question is, is it fair to point out these flaws in story that would have been better off omitted or changed, even after a chapter has been published? Or is it, for a lack of a better word, pointless?

It really depends. Does the author state in a note on the fic that they’re open to concrit? Okay. If they don’t, I wouldn’t.

If you know the author outside of the fic, maybe have a chat with them and see if they’d like to hear your thoughts. Again, it’s up to them whether they want to hear it or not. 

If the chapter is already published, odds are more than decent that the author is satisfied with it as it is. Pointing something out to them might make them change it, but it probably won’t. 

On the up side, you could always write a fic inspired by theirs? (meaning, you link the two fics together) and go in that other direction you’d prefer?

[sunalsolove]

DO NOT DO THAT

It’s your opinion. The author might have different goals for the story or not headcanon the characters the same way you do. 

To tell someone their story “would have been better if you wrote it how I wanted” is rude and presumptuous and you’re going to make an enemy. 

If you don’t like how something is written, hit the back button and go and write what you want to see yourself. No author EVER has the responsibility to cater to an individual reader’s whims.  

[eclecticmuses]

SECONDING. DO NOT EVER DO THIS.

If you don’t like the way the fic is going, just exit out. It costs you 0 dollars and effort to move on and not ruin the author’s day.

[mech-bull]

I’m not saying there’s never room to engage respectfully with an author to gain insight into their writing. I’m not saying you have to enjoy every aspect of every story. I’m saying dropping in unsolicited to tell an author what *you think* the *flaws* of their story are is a dick move. None of us are here, giving up our time and energy to provide readers with free entertainment, just so we can hear how and why people dislike it.

[weareagentsofnothing]

Oh, don’t even get me started on this… Especially if someone is a lurking reader and comes in for the first time after several chapters to say - I liked the rest, but this is ooc, I wouldn’t have done here, ok, but your HC is not the same as everyone else’s, etc., etc. That is like super-rude. 

If someone comments on most chapters, however, and is generally engaged with the fic in a positive and constructive way, I don’t mind some level of criticism, but it has to be done right.

For example, I’m totally not mad if someone says something along the lines of: 

I liked this and this in your new chapter. I was very surprised by your choice of making character X do Y - I’ve never thought of it that way personally (you see? It’s way better than saying - Character X is OOC!!! - and it give opportunity to the writer to explain their thinking and some back and forth about HC)

If you think there is something that requires further exploration, there are nice ways of saying that too:

I found plot point X really intriguing, I’m really hoping this will come back in more detail in the next chapters. 

For a WIP, remember it’s hard work to chug through a multichapter story and try to keep the plot consistent and the pacing right and juggle all the characters. Much harder than an inspired one-shot. So positive dialogue is a very important feedback to the writers - saying which aspects you like and why. But having a very direct concrit can be incredibly frustrating and discouraging and may ruin the writer’s day, or it may make them not want to update for a while or even drop the WIP entirely. 

[ritalara]

What all the comments here collectively display really well is that constructive criticism has to be in good time and in good context to be constructive.

Con crit on language, writing style, prose, cadence, pacing can be useful to a writer long term. Writers who invite con crit may find all sorts of feedback in these veins valuable.

Criticisms about plot, story arc, character choices toward a story that has already been written are moot. The choices have been made by the author for that story. These types of choices are subjective and thus negative opinion on them are rarely useful.

[aquestionofcharacter]

if you relate to having an idea for a story for 4 to 8 years with almost zero progress towards actually writing it down, clap your hands

[celtic-pyro-deactivated20230725]

This post kicked down my door, came into my house and publicly shamed me in front of God, my mother, and my cat.

[dizzy-redhead]

For everyone who hesitates to comment on a fic

Today I got a reply to a comment saying that the author had been so discouraged by the lack of response on the last two chapters that they had decided not to finish it, but that they had changed their mind and were now thinking of finishing. Just because I took 30 seconds to comment on each chapter.

It doesn’t matter if the fic is years old

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what to say (“I loved this” is always music to an author’s ears, no matter how many times we hear it)

The author will not think you’re a creeper if you’re commenting on every single one of their fics

The author WILL cuddle your comments close to their hearts like the precious gems that they are, even if they’re only one word.

Comments and feedback matter. I’ve written in fandoms and for pairings that have very active, vocal fans who comment a lot, and I’ve written for ships that are not terribly popular and don’t get much reaction. The difference in my attitude is incredible.

Your feedback matters to authors. Click the kudos button, but please, take the time to leave a comment. Even if it’s just one word. If you like the writing and want to see more, let the author know

/rant

[rembrandtswife]

yes yes yes yes yes yes

[luciemiddleford]

Comments always warm my heart. And I’m sure that’s universal.

[mizjoely]

Every comment makes an author’s heart sing.

[cowlicklesschick]

Literally cannot stress this enough. TELL authors you love their fics.

[dainobones]

i mean obviously if you don’t wanna comment, don’t, it’s your life. but if you like a fic and don’t comment you can’t act surprised that a writer doesn’t know you appreciate their work when you didn’t actually tell them. that’s just the way things are. silent support by definition won’t be noticed in an influential way.

[adorablesarumi]

JUST DO IT.

[alipopsie]

I have a fic haven’t updated for a year (exactly one year today) and recently I’ve been getting quite a few comments on it out of nowhere and I’m working on a new update!! this shit works y’all!!

[terraterracotta]

My contribution to this meme

[terraterracotta]

Because I’m standing firm with this I decided to update it to be a little more specific since some people aren’t getting the hint.

[ao3commentoftheday]

I want to support writers but I don't have the energy to read right now let alone comment. What else can I do?

I find myself in this boat roughly 95% of the time, too, anon. Here’s what I do. Hopefully some of it will work for you, and if not then hopefully the blog will add their ideas too:

reblog the author’s tumblr posts about their work

if they’re a writer you have previously enjoyed, recommend them to friends

submit their stories to fic rec blogs

create fanart for them

create a playlist to accompany one of their fics 

submit prompts (maybe also message and let them know that you might not read because of energy issues but that you love their writing and want to encourage them)

make them a fic banner or aesthetic to post with their story (you just need to know the title and maybe the summary)

drop them an ask to tell them that you appreciate them

send them a message to tell them that you appreciate them

[hrefnatheravenqueen]

FUCKING THIS POST ITSELF IS FLAGGED, I’M DYING! @staff YOUR BS IS KILLING ITSELF!!!!