icsek: barbex: inkshaming: So, I posted a fic today, and as I was setting up the AO3 post, I...

icsek:

barbex:

inkshaming:

So, I posted a fic today, and as I was setting up the AO3 post, I found myself writing in the end notes an impassioned - almost desperate, ngl - plea for comments. For interaction.

And yeah, for validation too. Because you know what? Writing is hard - despite commonly held misconceptions, it takes a shit-ton of effort to take some blank, empty void of a page and fill it with something that lives and breathes and touches the minds and hearts of others. 

And don’t you dare wave that “you should be writing for yourself” bullshit in my face. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been able to do that, and honestly I’m glad managed to recover as much as I have and write as much as I do. Having an audience is an integral part of the writing process.

Let me repeat that.

HAVING AN AUDIENCE IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE WRITING PROCESS.

We fanfic authors don’t ask for much. As someone who is a published author, who has been published in a Real Physical Book™ and was paid hundreds of dollars in Honest-to-God cold-hard cash for less work than I put into my fanfic, let me tell you, a few comments will not pay my tuition or buy my groceries or put clothes on my back. Compared to the hours of labor that went into earning the money I was paid with, comments take substantially less time to create.

And yet, to us, they are priceless. Authors will create entire worlds for the sake of making a single person smile. YOU CAN BE THAT PERSON. WE WILL WRITE FOR YOU HAPPILY.

You just have to let us know you care.

And you’d better do it soon. I’ve heard too many authors all too willing to pull their tumblrs and erase or abandon their fics on AO3 because they have grown weary of screaming into the void. That fanfic you love? Gone. That chapter you’re waiting for? Never gonna happen. How many of you have bookmark lists with fics already missing? I bet you won’t even remember which one it is.

You can keep that from happening. Just write “Omg thank you for updating, I really liked _________!” and fill in the blank. Someone worked hard to put that smile on your face. You can make them smile in return.

“And don’t you dare wave that “you should be writing for yourself” bullshit in my face. “

This so fucking much!! Writers write to be read!

Writers write to be read.

@glare-gryphon we were just talking about this too.