I read something this morning that really resonated with me.
Maybe it’s the fandom, maybe it’s the people.
But back when I was between the ages of 12 and 14 I wrote my first few stories and posted them online. Looking back they were terrible abominations of writing, and should anyone come to me and ask if I wrote them I would deny all knowledge whilst sweating profusely.
And yet despite the atrocity of my first few fanfictions there was a plethora of feedback from readers. ‘Write more!’ ‘I really liked this.’ ‘Loved the ending!’ ‘Look forward to more from you’.
There was constructive feedback and insight as well as the views/likes.
People took an active interest in your words and communicated back to you.
Nowadays as a writer it feels like I’m shouting into the void.
By simply liking a post I understand that you have seen the piece exists. Most often I assume it’s that you’ve saved it to read later, or are merely acknowledging its existence. I have no idea if you read it or not, much less if you enjoyed it.
When you reblog artwork you essentially tell the artist that yes, you liked the piece. You liked it enough to spend an extra few moments putting it onto your own personal space on the web. If you tag it you explicitly communicate how you feel. It’s rare that you would simply like a piece of art, especially if its from your fandom. You want to share it so others can see it and enjoy it.
But most of you wont do that with fanfiction.
It takes a lot of time to learn to write. It takes a lot of time to write. Writers suffer the same periods of art block, or writer’s block as it’s known to us. We don’t struggle with drawing hands. We struggle with writing what that hand is doing in a way that is engaging. Instead of struggling drawing furniture and rooms and backgrounds we struggle to construct the same image but with our words.
It’s all relative. Our plight is no harder or easier than an artist but we do not get the same level of appreciation or recognition that an artist does.
In the end what you get is the same thing. An image on your screen. The difference is you have to look a little harder to see what we’ve painted for you.
So please. Tell the author that you saw it.
We love words. They are our craft. So give us some back.
Reblog a fanfic and get it out there so more people can enjoy it. Please.
