You always give such wonderful advice and encouragement to your peeps and I could use some right now.
I write mainly for a small, older fandom. Less than 1k works over the game series, last of which came out 10+ years ago. It's still got an enthusiastic, dedicated fandom that normally I love being a part of. I've written a LOT of fics for this fandom, like nearly a million words total, mostly about Character A, and the fandom has said my works are very well written, which I'm very proud of.
The problem is that recently, quite a few people have been asking me to write less about this character and more about other characters or my OCs. They've made complaints about my AUs, how they're too outlandish or weird.
When I first started reading fanfics twenty years ago, AUs were everything and people were HAPPY to have more content for characters. That was the whole point!
It's been very discouraging because Character A is my favorite character and I want to keep writing them but I feel that I've oversaturated the audience.
Maybe you can ask yourself if writing to cater to what others want, instead of what you — as the author — want to write, still gives you the same joy writing what you want to write does.
I understand wanting to make our readers happy and caring about what they want. But in the end — for me, personally — I always tell myself I am my own primarily target of my works. This doesn't mean I don't care about my readers. But I choose to prioritize myself, because writing fanfics is my source of comfort and my getaway, and I write for me first and foremost, then I allow my readers access to this little world I create.
That's the joy of writing fanfics, or at least that's how it is to me and the main reason I find happiness in writing; I write what I want to read for me. Not what strangers on the internet want to read.
Because in my opinion, fanfic writing stops being a hobby we do out of love and passion and starts being a job and a chore the second we give up our own wanting to please others, much less strangers, for their validation.
Yes, I love my readers. And I appreciate them all so much for their kudos, kind words and support.
However, this does not mean I have to stop doing what I love to keep them satisfied. They are free to find other fics that can satisfy them, and they are free to write about what they want to read.
I also believe there's no such thing as "oversaturated the audience" when it comes to art we create for ourselves. Because as long as we still have fun doing what we're doing, we can keep doing it for as long as we want, as many times as we want.
Fanfic writing is about having fun, not about trying to please others.
You are doing it right as long as you do what makes you happy.
