。君の知らない物語。

The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply. 

significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.

that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).

the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start rewarding the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.

It’s because horror novels (and films), in a great number of cases—if not the majority for modern storytelling—start out with a horrific, thrilling event and then the story follows thereafter. So I get my shot of serotonin in the first chapter and want to keep reading. If it’s a really compelling story with regular “rewards”, I’ll mow that thing down in a single day. Like I used to do with any book when I was a kid.

But the book I’m currently reading, a non-horror novel set in the Star Wars universe, I’m having to drag myself through. (My neurotypical partner, on the other hand, consumed it in a matter of hours.) My struggle to get into this book isn’t because the author is bad or I don’t care about the characters, I now realize, but because, in order to tell this particular style of story, the plot must first be set up, which means introducing the cast—some new characters, many old characters with new responsibilities and problems—and following a chain of events that build and build before culminating in the big climax. (I hope; I’m only halfway through.) From what I’ve read so far, it follows [what I believe is] the standard model for narrative structures: that steep incline of exposition and rising action, etc. Not the jagged sawtooth mountain range that a lot of horror falls into, one thrilling event after another, each thrill typically greater than the last as you move closer to the end. And it’s taking me 100x more energy to drag myself up this single big mountain than skiing up and down a whole bunch of little mountains propelled by my own momentum, aka those little serotonin rewards.

And now I know why. Thank you.

Also, these tags 💯

EVERY TIME WE KISS I SWEAR I COULD FLY

CAN’T U FEEL MY HEART BEAT FAST, I WANT THIS TO LAST

NEED YOU BY MY SIDE

let him be mine

I posted 9 times in 2021

8 posts created (89%)

1 posts reblogged (11%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.

I added 27 tags in 2021

#art commish - 4 posts

#art commission - 3 posts

#digital art - 3 posts

#original - 3 posts

#original character - 3 posts

#fan art - 3 posts

#anime girl - 2 posts

#sexy - 2 posts

#commish - 2 posts

#commission - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 25 characters

#original character design

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Meme Commission done for @lost-but-with-coffee! xD Thank you so much again! <3

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3 notes • Posted 2021-05-19 04:44:20 GMT

#4

More lighting practice cause tis fun hehe

7 notes • Posted 2021-01-14 18:01:32 GMT

#3

AO BING | NE ZHA

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15 notes • Posted 2021-03-27 15:15:15 GMT

#2

Happy Birthday Eren! 03.30 

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49 notes • Posted 2021-03-30 08:40:54 GMT

#1

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68 notes • Posted 2021-05-14 10:24:33 GMT

Fullbody Commission done for @lost-but-with-coffee! Thank you so much again! <3