Saw you say you'd like to see more trans rep in fanfiction, and since I'm a new writer I wanna learn how to do that! Got any tips?
If you're cis, listen to trans people.
Trans experiences are REALLY varied and the way media portrays it is usually more harmful than anything (i.e "coming out" being the Big Important Thing everything leads up to - to some it might be important, to some it isn't).
It's EXTREMELY easy to fall into harmful and offensive stereotypes since there's no such a thing as "The Trans Experience". That's just. Not something that exists. Everyone deals with different things, different amount of support, and handle things differently. Some people aren't out to anyone, some are only out to strangers, some people are keeping to stealth mode, etc etc.
Every trans reader wants a different thing, and that's important to keep in mind.
Trans men experience different things than trans women do, and vice versa. Same goes for nonbinary, agender, bigender, genderfluid - not to mention AMAB and AFAB trans people's experiences ALSO tend to be vastly different. Everyone's experiences are their own and, sure, a lot of other trans people have dealt with similar things, but chalking them up to one or handful stereotypes you see on the internet is... Transphobic, actually. Which is something you'll want to avoid as much as possible.
Personally, I keep to my own experiences as a trans man who's first tried to come out when i was 13 (though "officially" i've been out since 16) so that's... 10 years worth of things I've dealt with and experienced under my belt. And since I'm a transmasc individual I'm comfortable with writing for audience who are also masc or nonbinary - and I'm uncomfortable writing for female or transfem people because I simply cannot relate one way or another (not to mention it makes me feel dysphoric).
I also draw from my husband's experiences who's a transmasc nonbinary person who WASN'T able to come out to their family and who wasn't in a safe place to figure themself out until young adulthood.
I guess the short answer is:
Talk to trans people of all backgrounds and identities you want to write for, do research, respect trans voices, don't just jump into it head first (especially if you're a cis person) because that way you're bound to do more harm than good.
With that said, please keep in mind, that if you are a cis person who wants to write for trans audience there will ALWAYS be a sense of disconnect between you. Because unless you've experienced it yourself it will be difficult for you to write without potentially writing something harmful.
Everyone's relationship with gender is different, the best you can do is hope some of it resonates in others. And if someone points out what you wrote might be transphobic or disrespectful? Listen.
