I know how to write a fic that would blow up. That would get hundreds of kudos and comments.
I've been an author for years even if Im new to posting on ao3. I do know "the market". I know how to do that. I know the fandoms and the tropes and the characters and the right amount of hurt/comfort/fluff to add to my writing to make it beloved and mainstream. And often I feel the desperate, clawing need to do that.
Just to prove that I am a good writer and that my writing is good enough to be beloved.
But here’s the thing: those fics wouldn’t be me. They’d just be me fishing for validation, and that feels like a betrayal of what I actually love about my writing.
What I love is posting the weird rarepairs, the ridiculous crack, the indulgent nonsense. Maybe they only get a handful of kudos—but those kudos come from people who get it, who love the story because it’s unapologetically itself.
But I think its important for me to share this. Because I know Im not alone in this feeling. And I just want everyone who does feel this way to know that its okay.
it’s okay to feel frustrated when your rare fics don’t get the recognition you hoped for. It’s okay to want to post something mainstream. It’s even okay to do it! There’s no shame in writing to reach a broader audience.
But you don’t have to sacrifice authenticity to be a “good” writer. You already are one.
Write unpopular fics. Write mediocre fics. But write fics that you like!