#please keep writing

And just in case you don't care about that, you're also literally shooting yourself in the face, because a TON of writers (which often includes you) generally follow this trend:

Get excited about a character or fandom when you're younger and/or not a Leveled Up Writer yet

Decide to try writing fanfic for the first time

Bang something out and excitedly post it

Either get good or helpful/encouraging reactions that make you want to keep keep writing, or you get a bunch of sneering comments about teenagers by grownass gatekeepers who, for some reason, feel smug about mocking excited novices who're trying to write a fun story, thus chasing you away from writing.

And there's where you fuck yourself over if you pick the shit-covered Door #2. Because a writer can't improve unless they write. Oh, you might not see the effect immediately, but after a few years, the fanfic scene will die down as writers move on to less toxic spaces (or give up entirely). And you will have no one to fill the void. YOU are the reason you'll get less fic. Imagine mocking and making fun of a new piano player whose first song on piano is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. "Ugh, I hate this basic teenage crap, are you just banging on keys? Come back when you can play Moonlight Sonata."

I literally do not give one single shit if you 'approve' of some teenager's (or adult's!) fic. If they're happy creating the equivalent of a cake with a stick figure design, that's awesome cause they made themselves a cake they enjoy. Alternatively, they're practicing making cake and no cake is perfect the first time, unless you learn something, in which case it's served its purpose and is a great cake due to fulfilling that purpose.

Tell you what - you want to gatekeep? Here's who you can gatekeep in fanfic:

Plagiarists.

There. Go nuts.

And if you're a novice writer, be it teenager or adult, deciding to try writing fic for the first time, please, please don't let them tear you down. Please don't stop writing. Don't stop learning. Don't stop creating. Don't stop being so filled with love for a story and its characters that you have to create just so you can breathe a little easier without your words and story filling up all that space around your lungs. I promise you, I promise, that every single writer you love has been at where you're at now, and the only reason they write like they do now is that they kept going, kept trying, kept writing. People will talk about talent but it plays a far smaller role than you think - this is 90% practice. And that means you can learn this.

You can do this.

hey hey heyy,, first of all thank you love for reading my fics and for coming over here <3 and congrats on becoming a villain !! 😍💗😊

So I have a bad track of never keeping record of the fics I read,, so I did a bit of memory lane work,,

I really like @viasdreams works!! Here's her Xdh masterlist but overall I love her texts works in general even from other groups,, There's this one fic of random bf gaon texts which has a scenario that won't leave my mind (the first slide, play me like your guitar,, it's a must read)

So fun fact, I was going to put here one of me besties that writes for xdh later on the recs, but I was going to put first my fave smut gaon fic... turns out it's from her !! ngl this is destiny. @joocomics has a masterlist bigger than my entire life, she delivers each and every time,, my favourite is still (as mentioned before) Ghostface!Gaon it is smut and it is Hard dom!Gaon, I believe she has a couple sub!xdh here and there (although I might be hallucinating tbh I am recalling from memory) but I really like her as a writer !! She also writes for other groups that you might be into,,

Now for sub!xdh you're in for a treat... while I personally don't go in there (I am a dom enjoyer), I do happen to know someone that does... @raeisms is honestly the person that comes to mind when I think sub!xdh, so idk what that says about her (ily grandma) you can find most of her works through her tag ( here's the link to the tag search ) but overall stalk her account for a bit and you'll find good stuff after good stuff,, now while I don't read sub!idols, I love Rae's fluffier stuff like this fluffy Gunil drabble posted on the shared account she also writes in, that another anon recommended me !! If you want more of the sub!xdh world, check in with her !! She's lovely and probably knows way more than me on that matter !!

Now, when I said that I am the worst at keeping track of the amazing fics I like, that is true (slowly getting better at it) it is also true tho that I have over 14k posts I've hit like on and many reblogs I haven't tagged that make it for hell to go back and remember them all </3 I do encourage you to go on a fun xdh x reader side quest and find other wonders (and share them over here, I would love to know!!)

Some standalone recommendations (but still love the accounts in general there just come to mind) are:

This post also giving out xdh recommendations by @devilish-meangadh (ones I read from there so far have been a hit)

This post by @livthelobster about jooyeon and sexting as well as this xdh x chubby reader

I only could find part 2 but @nightbeforethend has a couple fics here and there like this random bf texts pt 2 that ate the house down

And lastly but not least, @jooillusion has really good stuff, but here's ot6 reaction to off guard kissing which I also really liked

but i was just wondering if, as a writer, this is something you've ever felt and - if so - how you motivate yourself to keep writing

Oh my god YEAH I get writer envy all the fucking time -- it's par for the course when you're writing in a space with such an abundance of talent. Every writer I've talked to on here has talked about feeling the same thing at some point, too.

You are so so so far from alone. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's one of the most unifying experiences besides writer's block lol

There are a few ways I deal with this, though none of this advice is even remotely original:

What makes a story impactful isn't just the words

Sometimes I get writer envy on a level of like, feeling jealous over someone's eloquence, their word choice, the sort of maturity and polished-ness they get into their fics. And that's fair! Everyone wants to improve, everyone has styles and pieces they idolize and study from.

But when it comes to getting back into my own ideas, I remind myself that what makes a story isn't just the technicalities. The most beautifully executed novel could still fail to hold my attention if the idea isn't gripping. Hundreds of thousands of words of gorgeous prose and scenery doesn't mean anything to me, personally, if it doesn't make me feel.

What makes your writing special is the fact that you -- with all your unique experiences and perspective -- wrote it. You took the idea and made it your own, and no other person could do it exactly like you did. And that matters! The way you feel emotions, how you choose to show the world to the reader, that matters! You could hand a hundred authors the same outline, and no one would create the same story because none of them have lived the same life, and that's wonderful! All of that, the intangible bits, matters just as much as someone's artfully crafted a sentence -- so never forget that.

It's cruel to use others to belittle yourself

This doesn't just apply to writing, but I have to remind myself that using others to put myself down is, in a way, assuming things about them. Why have I decided that this other author, someone who's writing for fun and love, would look at me and say that they're better? That my writing isn't worth pursuing? Why would I put something so awful on another person who's only ever put good into fandom?

Similarly, why have I decided that the people who read, enjoy, and connect to my writing are, what? Devoid of taste? Dull? Wrong? Jesus, what the fuck have they done for me to think that about people who have only ever been kind?

As dumb as it sounds, I have to reverse bully myself to stop the negative trains of thought. I would never want to make someone out to be cruel in my head, and that means I can't decide my writing isn't worth something by using other people as a scapegoat.

Writing is a progressive skill

Sometimes when I'm struck particularly badly, I go read my old work. Frankly, I don't love a lot of my old stuff in terms of execution -- I always think that I could do it better now. But I love my old work for what it tried to be; I love my old ideas, I love my old characters, I love my old effort and care.

And as I look back at it, I know that if past-Liquid could read my current stuff, they'd be astonished to know they'd get there one day. My writing still isn't perfect, I'm constantly hitting my head up against the limits of my current skill set, but that's the POINT!

Every fic I've ever tried writing has been a step closer to becoming the writer I want to be. Every idea I attempt, even if it seems too difficult at the time to really nail, gives me the experience to do it better one day.

Chapters: 23/? Fandom: 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Manga), 薬屋のひとりごと - 日向夏 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries - Hyuuga Natsu, 薬屋のひとりごと | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries (Anime) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jinshi/Maomao (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) Characters: Jinshi (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto), Maomao (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto), Suiren (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto), Gaoshun (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) Additional Tags: Fluff, a lot of fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Drama, Feelings Realization, Feelings, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Possibly Slight OOC, Amnesia, Head Injury, Literal Sleeping Together, Living Together, Made For Each Other, Getting to Know Each Other, Maomao being Maomao (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto), AU where Jinshi loses his memory, Mao taking care of Jinshi, set after the frog-scene, Slow Burn, protective and caring Maomao Series: Part 21 of Jinshi and Maomao Short Stories Collection Summary:

An unfortunate accident causes Jinshi to lose his memory. The only part of his former self that remains are his feelings for a certain apothecary… which even seem to grow stronger than ever. And said apothecary? Well, she’s left with no other choice than to take care of him and try everything in her power to make him remember…

(This fanfic is set after the frog scene, after their return to the capital)

Have you written one fanfic or dozens? Hundreds of words or millions?

Have you posted your works for others to see? Saved them to your own storage and nowhere else?

Sorry for a day late with the shout out, been a bit of a down weekend but lets lighten the mood with a shout out!

This weeks Saturday shout out I want to dedicate to @obsidiangst. I sent this wonderful author an ask a week or so ago about a fic of theirs I was rereading and I was blown away by the response.

Going to put my shout out below the cut just to avoid any spoilers for their work, and so people can avoid my rambling if they so choose.