On Writing
Quick reminder:
I am a fanfic writer for enjoyment. I don’t get paid for it. I don’t get notoriety or actual books or much beyond the kudos and comments left by people who read it.
I have a job. A career. An educational commitment outside of that. A personal life, and hobbies, and family... All of these things take time and energy and attention and emotion. I often wish I had a bit more free time to work on my writing. I am sad I haven’t done much in the past rotation, but unfortunately, my job requires... a lot.
Here’s what I don’t have:
An obligation to create
An obligation to live up to some invented expectation you have of me
An obligation to apologize for what I create
An obligation to make the thing YOU want
An obligation to engage with people being negative about what I’ve created
To be clear. I love talking about my work. I really do. I love what I make. Message me and we can chat. I adore the kudos. Each and every little one of them. Comments you leave on my fics; I read all of them. But just a small, titchy reminder here - if you don’t like what you’re reading, just close the tab. If you don’t like what my story did, that’s fine, you’re allowed. But frankly, dirty protesting in the comments section is rude. And following up a comment that essentially says “I didn’t read the tags or the opening notes. I didn’t like this, even though it did exactly as it said on the tin. I don’t understand and that makes me angry so I’m going to try to make you feel bad about my confusion.” with “sorry :(” is, in fact, not an apology. And it’s not really acceptable. Just think how much easier it would be to have just closed the tab...
Please. Respect that the people who create have no responsibility to create exactly what you want or expect of them.