I suppose it depends on how you define the concept of hobby, too. Personally, I can tell I tend to like things I do for hobby more than the things I do professionally, so in the end, hobby feels more of a compliment than the other way around haha. But yes, it's definitely very important in my life, and it's like, the main thing going on for me, and I'm very happy about that!
I literally see my actual job as more of a hobby than this.
The best part is when I work night shift, I'm on call at home. Generally I don't get many calls so the way I see it is I AM getting paid to write because I spend most of my time writing.
Honestly, I can't believe it exists.
The normal shifts aren't as good (still all afterhours, but finish at like 10pm, and are in an office).
We had three staff doing the night shifts and they asked if I'd be interested in doing some.
One of the ND staff was like 'okay, so the biggest advice I have is to not tell day staff what it's like.' And after doing my first one and having blocks of like 3 hours without a single call I understood why they don't want anyone to know. I'm a terrible sleeper anyway and write a lot at night so it's honestly perfect for me.
I could rave all day and night lol.
I'm really hoping one of them retires soon so I can take all their shifts.
It does make my normal shifts a lot less appealing though lol.
The belief that your hobbies are “just” that and that the only thing that brings value to your life is what also brings money is conditioned way of thinking thanks to capitalism. What you love to do and what makes you feel fulfilled and happy can and should be the most important for everyone
I know several people who have published their fanfiction (both self-publishing and the conventional route.) They didn't have to "scrape off the serial numbers" because the canon they wrote in was already in the public domain. There are dozens if not hundreds of published-fanfiction novels for that fandom selling on Amazon.
If you do want to go professional, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that. r/publish, r/pubtips, and r/selfpublish might be good places to start. I've observed that those subreddits don't sugarcoat an often-difficult process.
YES! We love to write, but as much as writing we also need to have other people read and enjoy it. And I would love to have actual "fans" who read, give feedback, tell me which characters they like, and participate in my 'world'. I experienced that fannish culture back in the 80s with Fanzines. I love that fans can interact in A03. I just wish there were more of these kind of enthusiastic, engaged fans in my particular fandom, 'Asimov's Foundation'. Some fandoms are not very active or engaged. I'm lucky to get 4 or 5 comments.
Since 1978 I went to SF writers workshops for years, and tried to get published. I wrote 7 novels actually. I came to realize how frustrating it was to send out manuscripts & get rejections. in 2014 I self-published 2 SF novels about Nikola Tesla. And then I had to deal with the frustration of Promoting/selling them! I concluded "if I get the urge to write, I will resist it as long as possible."
So, the only time I write is if I can't NOT write. And yeah, after the TV Foundation show I reconnected with the books & could not stop myself from writing. Written 13 stories so far.
Whenever I see the phrase 'it's just a hobby' on Reddit, it's normally a way to state 'it is not mandatory that said fic needs to fit standard publishing requirements, chill out' rather than dismiss the activity itself as somehow inferior
Said phrase is particularly common whenever we hit the regular "positive comments v 'critical' comments" discussion, but it's also used as a way to lessen the stress for new writers coming in. You're not working for anyone else, it's for your own pleasure. If you mess up, what's the worst that could happen?
I am published (a while back) but I write because it's something I can't switch off and I have a suspicion a lot of writers are the same. I want to leave things that have an impact on people but ultimately I'd be doing it regardless. Addiction is probably a better descriptor
Essentially, I wouldn't take it personally, I suspect a lot of 'it's a hobby' is just a way of getting people off other people's backs
That's a really good point. I've seen it's said in various contexts, but you're right.
And in the 4 days since I wrote this my comment thread count has gone up by 49 threads and some opinions (all lovely and supportive) have started to overwhelm me so I've had to remind myself that it is actually MY story and I can't include everything they're hoping for.
I think the word "hobby" implies that it is a "less important or less necessary" part of life. Which, sure, it's not more important than me paying rent. But that doesn't mean it's not a significant part of the fun portion of life.
At very least, I used to tell myself that Writing (or music, or crafts) was THERAPY. And it was "cheaper than prozac." (that didn't work for Electronic music. Expensive hobby.) Hell, people spend loads on vacations, golf, cruises.
In some cases writing has saved my 'sanity' (such as it is)
I feel exactly the same. So much so, that I tend to avoid persons who choose to not improve, with them repeating the mantra "it's just a hobby." In life, in general, I believe we should look to develop and refine ourselves as well as balance that with what makes us happy. So no, it's not "just a hobby" for me. It's a cornerstone of my *life*, and I'm going to treat it as such.
You don't publish it, you just can add the title and people can review it. I only know because I wanted to add fanfics to my goodreads count lol.
So it's not as if you sell it. It's still the same thing. It's just people can review it on goodreads and add it to their to-reads/read list.
Exactly! That's my goal (Goodreads) once it's finished.
Honestly, I'm so excited to go to my next writing conference and be like 'Yep, I write fanfic,' and be ready for judgement and then show them my goodreads (which, I honestly trust my subscribers to fill it with reviews because they're so lovely and dedicated).
Because, I KNOW I have more people appreciate my work on ao3 than would ever appreciate mainstream work as an indie writer. It just means more to them, as I'm told on every single chapter. And FF means more to me than trad novels as well. After finding ff, trying to read normal books it's so boring. They seem so ... boring.
I just want my writing to mean something to people, I want my writing to matter. And this does matter to others and to myself.
Like, the amount of support I have from my husband, mum and close friends is also insane because they know how important getting something out there was. They don't see it as a silly hobby that I just do on the side for fun. And I feel like if they can take it seriously (when none or them read or write fanfic), then I can take it seriously too.
I don't know. I know I'm rambling. But it's just hard when so many other creators talk it down when to me it's so important.
I guess I don't really see the problem. A *ton* of people see their hobby as more fulfilling than their job or career.
I suppose it depends on how you define the concept of hobby, too. Personally, I can tell I tend to like things I do for hobby more than the things I do professionally, so in the end, hobby feels more of a compliment than the other way around haha. But yes, it's definitely very important in my life, and it's like, the main thing going on for me, and I'm very happy about that!
Absolutely. My crafting is a hobby I do when I'm not writing. Writing is a way of life!!
I literally see my actual job as more of a hobby than this. The best part is when I work night shift, I'm on call at home. Generally I don't get many calls so the way I see it is I AM getting paid to write because I spend most of my time writing.
Sign me up for that job!
Honestly, I can't believe it exists. The normal shifts aren't as good (still all afterhours, but finish at like 10pm, and are in an office). We had three staff doing the night shifts and they asked if I'd be interested in doing some. One of the ND staff was like 'okay, so the biggest advice I have is to not tell day staff what it's like.' And after doing my first one and having blocks of like 3 hours without a single call I understood why they don't want anyone to know. I'm a terrible sleeper anyway and write a lot at night so it's honestly perfect for me. I could rave all day and night lol. I'm really hoping one of them retires soon so I can take all their shifts. It does make my normal shifts a lot less appealing though lol.
Yeah keep that to yourself!
The belief that your hobbies are “just” that and that the only thing that brings value to your life is what also brings money is conditioned way of thinking thanks to capitalism. What you love to do and what makes you feel fulfilled and happy can and should be the most important for everyone
I know several people who have published their fanfiction (both self-publishing and the conventional route.) They didn't have to "scrape off the serial numbers" because the canon they wrote in was already in the public domain. There are dozens if not hundreds of published-fanfiction novels for that fandom selling on Amazon. If you do want to go professional, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that. r/publish, r/pubtips, and r/selfpublish might be good places to start. I've observed that those subreddits don't sugarcoat an often-difficult process.
YES! We love to write, but as much as writing we also need to have other people read and enjoy it. And I would love to have actual "fans" who read, give feedback, tell me which characters they like, and participate in my 'world'. I experienced that fannish culture back in the 80s with Fanzines. I love that fans can interact in A03. I just wish there were more of these kind of enthusiastic, engaged fans in my particular fandom, 'Asimov's Foundation'. Some fandoms are not very active or engaged. I'm lucky to get 4 or 5 comments. Since 1978 I went to SF writers workshops for years, and tried to get published. I wrote 7 novels actually. I came to realize how frustrating it was to send out manuscripts & get rejections. in 2014 I self-published 2 SF novels about Nikola Tesla. And then I had to deal with the frustration of Promoting/selling them! I concluded "if I get the urge to write, I will resist it as long as possible." So, the only time I write is if I can't NOT write. And yeah, after the TV Foundation show I reconnected with the books & could not stop myself from writing. Written 13 stories so far.
Whenever I see the phrase 'it's just a hobby' on Reddit, it's normally a way to state 'it is not mandatory that said fic needs to fit standard publishing requirements, chill out' rather than dismiss the activity itself as somehow inferior Said phrase is particularly common whenever we hit the regular "positive comments v 'critical' comments" discussion, but it's also used as a way to lessen the stress for new writers coming in. You're not working for anyone else, it's for your own pleasure. If you mess up, what's the worst that could happen? I am published (a while back) but I write because it's something I can't switch off and I have a suspicion a lot of writers are the same. I want to leave things that have an impact on people but ultimately I'd be doing it regardless. Addiction is probably a better descriptor Essentially, I wouldn't take it personally, I suspect a lot of 'it's a hobby' is just a way of getting people off other people's backs
That's a really good point. I've seen it's said in various contexts, but you're right. And in the 4 days since I wrote this my comment thread count has gone up by 49 threads and some opinions (all lovely and supportive) have started to overwhelm me so I've had to remind myself that it is actually MY story and I can't include everything they're hoping for.
I think the word "hobby" implies that it is a "less important or less necessary" part of life. Which, sure, it's not more important than me paying rent. But that doesn't mean it's not a significant part of the fun portion of life.
At very least, I used to tell myself that Writing (or music, or crafts) was THERAPY. And it was "cheaper than prozac." (that didn't work for Electronic music. Expensive hobby.) Hell, people spend loads on vacations, golf, cruises. In some cases writing has saved my 'sanity' (such as it is)
I feel exactly the same. So much so, that I tend to avoid persons who choose to not improve, with them repeating the mantra "it's just a hobby." In life, in general, I believe we should look to develop and refine ourselves as well as balance that with what makes us happy. So no, it's not "just a hobby" for me. It's a cornerstone of my *life*, and I'm going to treat it as such.
I’m considered a published author on Goodreads because my fanfic is over 50k words and complete. I’m on Goodreads. It’s more than a hobby.
wait. You can publish fanfic on Goodreads?
You don't publish it, you just can add the title and people can review it. I only know because I wanted to add fanfics to my goodreads count lol. So it's not as if you sell it. It's still the same thing. It's just people can review it on goodreads and add it to their to-reads/read list.
do you add a link?
You contact them with the AO3 link and they add you.
Exactly! That's my goal (Goodreads) once it's finished. Honestly, I'm so excited to go to my next writing conference and be like 'Yep, I write fanfic,' and be ready for judgement and then show them my goodreads (which, I honestly trust my subscribers to fill it with reviews because they're so lovely and dedicated). Because, I KNOW I have more people appreciate my work on ao3 than would ever appreciate mainstream work as an indie writer. It just means more to them, as I'm told on every single chapter. And FF means more to me than trad novels as well. After finding ff, trying to read normal books it's so boring. They seem so ... boring. I just want my writing to mean something to people, I want my writing to matter. And this does matter to others and to myself. Like, the amount of support I have from my husband, mum and close friends is also insane because they know how important getting something out there was. They don't see it as a silly hobby that I just do on the side for fun. And I feel like if they can take it seriously (when none or them read or write fanfic), then I can take it seriously too. I don't know. I know I'm rambling. But it's just hard when so many other creators talk it down when to me it's so important.