I saw this discourse on Twitter and the OP ended up calling everyone who said they 'write for themselves' as 'fake af' because if those people really don't wish for engagement, they wouldn't have written posted the fics, or enable comments.
Some people agreed with OP, saying if they don't want engagement they could just 'imagine the story in their head' and never write them.
Well, I am one of those 'write for themselves' peeps and here's what I personally do.
1. I don't only imagine the story in my head because my imagination gets stuck in one particular scene. I NEED to write it down to force my brain to create a beginning and ending to that particular scene because I WANT to read it in one whole form.
2. I post the fic because I want to contribute to the number of fics of that ship! Idk why but all my ships are rarepairs. I want that few other fellow shippers know there is another one loving the ship as they do! When I'm no longer into the ship I orphan them!
3. I enable comment but on comment moderation because if someone wants to leave their (kind) thoughts about the fic, I want to give them space to talk about it. If they do it not in my comment section but in their own space, like their social media accounts, I won't be mad. Unpopular opinion, I don't think any reader owes fic writers engagement just as no fic writers owes readers updates/fic in general.
All in all, I'm not saying that OP is wrong for what they feel. To some people their fics are their life, to some others fics are just hobby. Some like to host potlucks, some like to go on solo picnics. I don't think any of the sides is necessarily fakes. Just because you can't understand, doesn't make it untrue.
