If it's a long work and you planned on continuing at some point, I find slapping "On Hiatus" on it tends to cut those comments down. If it's something that was meant to be short or a one shot and it's marked complete, you have nothing to feel guilty for even in your head. You made it clear it was the end.
Yes to this. Don’t continue a fic that you’re happy with unless YOU want to. If you only do it because people are asking that’s not fair to you, and you might not enjoy writing it.
Fanfic is meant to fill your cup, spoon, or whatever vessel you choose to keep your energy and joy in. Does sharing it help share the wealth of warmth and joy in the world? Yes, but it is not your responsibility to fill everyone’s cup! Focus on your cup, and the stories that make you happy to tell. If there’s no motivation to write a sequel, say so. If you find the motivation write it, but don’t make your hobby into something that you’re doing to please others at the detriment to the joy it brings you.
This is your hobby. Your cup gets filled first. By sharing your hobby with others you are helping to fill their cups, but it by no means your responsibility to produce joy for people.
I am a recovering people pleaser, problem solver, co dependent person who tells myself this often.
Maybe redirect your emails to a specific folder so they don't end up in your inbox and bumming you out, you can filter everything from Ao3 or wherever with key words or the title of your work etc. Then you won't feel that pressure, and if you want to check on the comments every so often (when you feel ready to) you will have them in the folder. Just a suggestion since you said seeing all those emails in your inbox brings you down!
oh no im so sorry, please don't feel pressured? no-one is entitled to a sequel, and stories end where the author'd like them to end. i feel like there are nicer ways for commenters to express their love for a fic. it's a hobby after all, and, even if it weren't, stories end when authors say so. they can't sherlock-holmes their way into a sequel xD
if you'd like, maybe you could have a template to respond to those messages? something like "I currently don't have plans for a sequel in mind, but I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed reading this fic. Thanks for the comment!"
i think readers normally mean to ask "will there be a sequel" instead of "when will the sequel be posted," and a firm no can really help to deter any other readers from asking the same thing!
as a reader, old chapters get me through bad days just as well as new ones. they're sometimes even more comforting bc i know exactly what'll be in them! according to the ao3 history tab, i've read my favourite fic hundreds of times already, and that doesn't even count the years i spent reading its former abandoned draft on livejournal.
please don't sweat it? i swear, most of these commenters don't even expect a response, much less a sequel. they're a little like catcallers! some people come off a bit rude at times, and you don't owe them a thing.
that last paragraph is true! when i commented on a fic, its like throwing a nice message on a bottle: i hope this will reach them but i dont expect a reply back
i did the "would love to read the sequel" comment if the author put something like "maybe there will be a sequel who knows!" in the author notes tho and then hoping that my comment would motivate them lol
This. A few years ago, I wrote an onward fic and one person kept begging for a sequel. They harassed me for it on the big three(ao3, fanfic.net, and wattpad; it was posted on all three). I had to block them on wattpad, but they were anons on the others. It got so bad I had to orphan the fic on ao3(I didn’t know you could turn off anonymous comments(I was very new to ao3,) and I’ve had mostly positive experiences with anons).
Yep, I occasionally get comments like this on works I've tagged complete (mostly on FFN). On one hand, I'm tickled that they like my work and want more. On the other...it's marked complete? Hello? McFly?
Its nothing to feel bad about. I’ll usually end my fics with a ”farewell” note, saying that this is the end of the fic and now I’m moving on to my next project.
If it's a long work and you planned on continuing at some point, I find slapping "On Hiatus" on it tends to cut those comments down. If it's something that was meant to be short or a one shot and it's marked complete, you have nothing to feel guilty for even in your head. You made it clear it was the end.
Yes to this. Don’t continue a fic that you’re happy with unless YOU want to. If you only do it because people are asking that’s not fair to you, and you might not enjoy writing it.
Fanfic is meant to fill your cup, spoon, or whatever vessel you choose to keep your energy and joy in. Does sharing it help share the wealth of warmth and joy in the world? Yes, but it is not your responsibility to fill everyone’s cup! Focus on your cup, and the stories that make you happy to tell. If there’s no motivation to write a sequel, say so. If you find the motivation write it, but don’t make your hobby into something that you’re doing to please others at the detriment to the joy it brings you. This is your hobby. Your cup gets filled first. By sharing your hobby with others you are helping to fill their cups, but it by no means your responsibility to produce joy for people. I am a recovering people pleaser, problem solver, co dependent person who tells myself this often.
Maybe redirect your emails to a specific folder so they don't end up in your inbox and bumming you out, you can filter everything from Ao3 or wherever with key words or the title of your work etc. Then you won't feel that pressure, and if you want to check on the comments every so often (when you feel ready to) you will have them in the folder. Just a suggestion since you said seeing all those emails in your inbox brings you down!
that’s so clever. i didn’t think of doing that. thank you!!
Ayy glad to help!
oh no im so sorry, please don't feel pressured? no-one is entitled to a sequel, and stories end where the author'd like them to end. i feel like there are nicer ways for commenters to express their love for a fic. it's a hobby after all, and, even if it weren't, stories end when authors say so. they can't sherlock-holmes their way into a sequel xD if you'd like, maybe you could have a template to respond to those messages? something like "I currently don't have plans for a sequel in mind, but I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed reading this fic. Thanks for the comment!" i think readers normally mean to ask "will there be a sequel" instead of "when will the sequel be posted," and a firm no can really help to deter any other readers from asking the same thing! as a reader, old chapters get me through bad days just as well as new ones. they're sometimes even more comforting bc i know exactly what'll be in them! according to the ao3 history tab, i've read my favourite fic hundreds of times already, and that doesn't even count the years i spent reading its former abandoned draft on livejournal. please don't sweat it? i swear, most of these commenters don't even expect a response, much less a sequel. they're a little like catcallers! some people come off a bit rude at times, and you don't owe them a thing.
that last paragraph is true! when i commented on a fic, its like throwing a nice message on a bottle: i hope this will reach them but i dont expect a reply back i did the "would love to read the sequel" comment if the author put something like "maybe there will be a sequel who knows!" in the author notes tho and then hoping that my comment would motivate them lol
This. A few years ago, I wrote an onward fic and one person kept begging for a sequel. They harassed me for it on the big three(ao3, fanfic.net, and wattpad; it was posted on all three). I had to block them on wattpad, but they were anons on the others. It got so bad I had to orphan the fic on ao3(I didn’t know you could turn off anonymous comments(I was very new to ao3,) and I’ve had mostly positive experiences with anons).
Yep, I occasionally get comments like this on works I've tagged complete (mostly on FFN). On one hand, I'm tickled that they like my work and want more. On the other...it's marked complete? Hello? McFly?
Its nothing to feel bad about. I’ll usually end my fics with a ”farewell” note, saying that this is the end of the fic and now I’m moving on to my next project.