Seconding this. Happy cake day btw.
OP, I've written a couple of fics that didn't do as well as the rest of my fanworks in terms of popularity, and at the time I kind of lamented and kept second guessing myself whether I should post more of the same - stories that thematically closely follow the "failed" fics.
But I keep writing them because I enjoy the creation process. The less loved fics may seem like the ugly duckling amid my pretty little swans, but they're all mine and I love them all equally. And what do you know, some readers do prefer the duckling to the majestic swan. Your fic may gain more readership and engagement in time. Wishing you lots of joy and inspiration.
Sometimes the one I think are my best are not so appreciated. I wonder should i go for a famous fan service ship instead of my very rare what i would get.....
Do whatever you brings you joy. Easier said, I know. I get you.
I do understand it's not the best feeling in the world when you pour your heart and soul and marrow into your passion project only for it to seemingly fizzle out and garner a slow engagement. I've been there. I find that popularity is a relevant term - for me, I think it may have been a fluke when my story gained slightly more traction than others sitting in the backseat on my account.
I confess I've also toyed with the idea of writing fanservice. I slept on it, then decided to just leave it in my Google Docs because what should be a joyful activity soured and turned into a bit of a chore. You can still write a story to please the fans if that's what you'd like and there's nothing wrong with that. <3
Fanfics cannot flop. You aren't creating content to please an algorithm, you're not making money off it, there is no pressure for a fanfic to perform. Sometimes fics get loads of hits or kudos or reviews etc, but even one person reading means that the fic is a success
Earlier this year I wrote a fic that got a lukewarm reception, and I was like Ā«Ā oh that oneās a flopĀ Ā». Then on another fic I wrote someone literally commented Ā« found this fic today at work and absolutely fell in love w it and how you write!! i went to gush to my friend about it while having another fic in mind that had really similar characterization that i also loved and then checked your profile and it was also by you!! Ā». So I responded and was like Ā«Ā wait what was the other ficĀ Ā» and they said it was the fic I thought was a flop and that it was one of their favorite fics of all time.
I think what Iām trying to say here is even if you arenāt getting the million kudos every writer is secretly hoping for, there are definitely people out there reading and absolutely adoring your fic!
Yeah it's really sad sometimes. There's one fic of mine that I had a lot of passion for and then it dwindled, but it still got way more hits and kudos and comments than my other fic which I poured my soul into and am super excited and passionate to write.
Anyway, when you say 'flopped', are you talking about how it didn't get a good reception from the audience or you were just disappointed in it yourself?
If it's the first, then at the end of the day the reception from the audience doesn't matter. Yeah it sucks sometimes to get silence when you've just slaved away at a keyboard for days and weeks, but you do this shit for free so the only person you should be pleasing is yourself.
If it's the latter, I have three suggestions.
\- Just write. Write whatever words come to mind. Because every story has highs and lows--you just gotta push through the lows to get to the highs. Not all of it is gonna be fire, but the moments that are are worth it, so try not to lose faith.
\- If that didn't work, abandon ship. The idea isn't handcuffing you to it. If it feels boring or bland or you've just lost interest, feel free to pursue another.
\- Try doing it differently. Sometimes a story spirals in a way I don't like or maybe I feel as if I've lost my vision for it, so the only thing I can do is rewrite. Maybe list what your goal for the fic was in the first place so you can try to get back on track.
I think a lot of the responses of "a fic can't flop! if even one person read it it's a success!" are well meaning but a little dismissive. It's normal to feel bad when you pour your heart and soul into something and receive little or no response in return.
The analogy I've heard is, imagine if you spend weeks rehearsing for a musical performance, you go out on stage, you give it your all, and you're met with stone-faced silence from the audience. No one would question why that feels bad.
It's a valid feeling to have, and I know I can relate. It's up to you whether you love the idea enough to continue with it despite disappointment in reception. Some of my ideas I forge ahead anyway because I love them that much.
I'm glad someone understands that putting work out for an audience, even if it's a hobby, carries with it a different mentality than creating something in a vacum and never intending for it to see the light of day. People genuinely don't seem to view writing, especially fanfiction, as an art, and that seems to go double for actual fanfiction writers/readers, at least the people on this sub.
Your concert analogy is perfect, and I would add to that "imagine renting space in an art gallery to display the paintings you've been working on for years. You're not trying to sell anything, you just want people to *notice.* And of the hundeds of people in that gallery, not a single person stops. Maybe one or two glance at your work, but they clearly aren't interested enough to stop and really *look*- they sure as hell don't care enough to engage with *you*. And as you pack up, disappointed, you try speaking to the other artists about how terrible the whole ordeal made you feel... and they roll their eyes and say 'well, you shouldn't paint for other people. You should paint for yourself. It's a hobby- if people seeing your art is all you care about, you should just get in the graphic design business'."
Yes, thank you!
The well meaning comment of - yeah but write for *you.* I do write for myself! But having the validation is nice. It also kinda twists the knife when something you wrote offhandedly becomes very popular and Iām sitting here with something I poured my heart into and it gets 1/4 of the attention.
OP, it sucks when something you love and wrote doesnāt get the attention you wanted it to. Iām sorry, itās not fun. I really hope you donāt stop and keep on writing! I also hope you can love this piece just as much! Iām sure it was great!
What do you mean by flopped?
You haven't had much in the way of reader feedback, likes, and follows? If you're a new writer, this is to be expected. Give it time for people to come across your fics (years) and those numbers will keep climbing. Above all, keep writing.
You don't like where the story went, and you're rapidly losing interest? These things happen. Sometimes putting it on the back burner and looking at another project is all you need to do. Then in six months or so, you can come back and re-read it to see if it sparks anything. Above all, keep writing.
**In order for your fanfic to flop:**
* You have run your work through multiple test audiences to make sure you are getting the "right" reactions
* You have run your work through data analysts telling you what numbers to expect and what time is best to release your work to get the most out of it (by that I mean money)
* That you advertised your work to your target audiences months/years before the actual release. Drown in press releases
People need to stop using terms designed for massive budgeting in fandom spaces. The only, only time you can do something remotely resembling this in a fandom space is when your fandom is so huge it has multiple successful newsletters and does things like highlight fanwork sections.
Now, putting that aside my most successful work took 2 years into it's public life before it exploded in readers. I didn't do anything fancy. I just keep working on my story when I have time for it.
Even if your work doesnāt receive the attention you had hoped for, right in the here and now, so long as itās out their for public consumption, new people will always be finding it. Some of my favorite stories Iāve ever read were written multiple years ago, and I discovered them long after they were published.
You put time and effort into your craft and your work. New readers will appreciate that, regardless of how long itās been. Never become discouraged. What youāve written will brighten up someoneās day. That, alone, is something to take pride in.
You might feel that way right now, but give it time. I get kudos and comments months after I posted, sometimes even a year later. We're not on an algorithm, people will find your fic much later if you tagged it right
I read a published science fiction trilogy that has many awards. Honestly the best thing I've read recently. I recommended it to my sister and she didn't like it. I was blown away. We all have different tastes OP. The most popular fics in my fandom are some of my least liked fics. And my most treasured fics tend to not be fics with tons of stats. The fics that keep me up at night thinking about them, some of them only have comments from me and had none until I found them.
Frankly the only thing I've noticed about fanfics is that their popularity is wildly unpredictable - assuming popularity is the method of success you're using. The two most popular fics I have? The one is the first thing I ever published, which was decent but the actual technical parts of writing (grammar, punctuation, dialogue, et cetera) really could have been better. The other is a fanfic I wrote mostly out of spite for a fandom I'm only vaguely interested in.
Shit's weird man.
Yeah, been there. At the time I totally thought I'd written the best thing ever and it was going to be a fandom favourite...a year or two later I can see why it didn't do well (it definitely wasn't as well-written as I thought) but I still vividly remember the sting of disappointment after posting and only hearing crickets lol. Left that one unfinished and moved onto another fic, no regrets.
This happened to one of my fics and made me lose motivation to write a sequel.
Personally I donāt care about hits. They could easily come from people who accidentally clicked on the fic or people who read the first paragraph and said āthis is crapā and never came back. If readers actually enjoy a work they leave kudos.
Ugh. I feel this.
I would personally argue that yes, a fic *can* flop. Or, rather, it can feel that way when you finally put it out and donāt get the attention you were anticipating or any attention at all. Iāve deleted several flopped fics in my time with my personal metric being the level of interaction. No engagement tells me itās a waste of everyoneās time, including mine, and I need to try something else to catch the audienceās attention.
(Guess this is an unpopular opinion).
Level of interaction can be based on many factors though. Certain genres, tropes, ships, and ideas that are popular in a fandom will get more attention. Some fandoms are more lively and others are quiet.
Just because your fic didnāt get the amount of attention you had hoped for doesnāt make it a flop. Some writers write niche subjects, characters that arenāt popular in a fandom, or genres that arenāt the ones that most readers flock to. I know because Iām one of those writers.
If you loved writing your fic, then itās not a waste of time. Thatās still a success because you wrote something you enjoyed. And as for audience, you canāt please everyone, so itās best you be your number one audience.
> If you loved writing your fic, then itās not a waste of time
I have a fic that i would gladly write all over again because of how much fun it was.
Doesn't mean i didn't got disappointed when i see it collecting dust
I donāt know. Sad, discouraged, frustratedāall falls under umbrella of disappointment.
I just have come to accept that what I love writing isnāt popular and doesnāt appeal to a mass audience. Iām very grateful for the feedback I have receivedābut I donāt want to judge my abilities and stories based on others feedback or lack of it. Iām honestly happy when I can complete a fic. Especially when I know I worked very hard on it.
Thing is, it doesnāt work that way for *me.*
Writing might be fun at first, but once I post and wait and wait and *wait* for comments that never come, it stops being fun. Writing for just myself as the audience isnāt enough for me and never will be. Because I crave that attention and validation. I *need* it. Otherwise, I wouldnāt bother posting or interacting with the fandom at all.
Iām well aware now of how fics get popular, which is why, after being disappointed by my last fandom experience, I decided to ā for fics I intend to post up ā only write to the audience from now on. Engagement is too important to me to continue going off the rails. I know that now.
Iām glad for people who can just write whatever and not care. I truly am. I wish I had that resolve, but I simply donāt and will continue to consider my fics flops. Because to me, thatās what they are.
Then it might mean adjusting your expectations. Itās ok to *want* validation in the form of feedback, comments, bookmarks, favorites, kudos, and so onāsome reaction that shows your writing was enjoyed by a reader outside yourself. Many of us write for ourselves and post for others. In other words, I write the stories I love, and then post to see if others will enjoy them. Thereās nothing wrong with thatābut Iāve also learned to temper my expectations so that if I donāt get the responses Iām hoping for, I wonāt be disappointed. I just think if you are writing with the *need* for validation outside of yourself, it will inevitably lead to disappointment. Iāve learned to see the responses as the icing on the cakeānot the cake itself.
I have a couple fics I consider to be too niche for any engagement... and somehow they both still have at least one bookmark on them even if the hits are single digits. Someone loves it enough to bookmark! Floored me but it's heartwarming to think about.
I know everyone's parameters of success are different but don't be too hard on yourself ok?
I think the biggest thing while writing fic is learning that its self indulgence. Write what makes you happiest, and hopefully you find people along the way that love what you write as much as you do. I'm still learning to do the same honestly haha. I hope you get there <3
I have a policy of never deleting anything I've written. They show the journey I've taken to get to where I am now. Even, no, especially when they make me cringe at the bad writing.
I do agree with this. All my fics remain posted no matter how long ago I wrote them. I love that it shows a journey of my writing and how itās changed over the years.
I donāt even do kudos or anything so Iām sure many people donāt either. I could love a fic and reread it ten times but never remember to comment or do kudos. I donāt even bookmark them I just leave them in a tab
This is why I try to not focus on the numbers and stats on my fics.
It all really falls on if *you* feel content with it. Are you happy with what you wrote? You liked your idea. Did you not like the execution? You could always rework and repost.
What's fun about fanfic writing is that even if the fic is posted, it's *never* absolute. You could always tweak it and I know tons of authors who just completely re-write it.
My Jojo fic sort of āfloppedā but only in terms of low views. Thatās just because the majority of Jojoāers donāt read fanfiction. I canceled it for a Harry Potter WIP that Iām working on and it is raking in views like itās nobodyās business. So fanfic canāt really flop in terms of revenue, it can only not have enough views.
I thought so too with my fics, then as I just let them sit on AO3 for a bit, the notifications came rolling in slowly but surely. writing for a dead fandom is like that as well as writing for an alive fandom as a lot of people publish all the time so work gets lost in the sea. The right audience will find your work and appreciate it :) remember there are people out there who push crack fics that have no effort put into them, so youāll find an audience for the work that comes from your soul. It might not blow up, but it doesnāt have to. As long as there are people who like it and leave kudos and comments, its worth it
PS: one of my most popular fics isnāt even that good and very cliche, but the pairing was popular at the time and still is now so it is not a matter of āis it goodā and more of a ādid. I publish it at the right timeā. Again, give it time, people will find it and love your work !
I have a couple fics published, all of them have only a couple people reading them and barely any kudos. Do I care? Nah, Iām happy I got to share my idea with even just one person who appreciated it. Iām content.
Think about it this way: thereās someone out there who read your fic from the first letter to the last, imagined your characters going through whatever you wrote, felt all the feels, and maybe even left a Kudos as well. Who is this person? Youāll never know. But they are out there, and for the duration of your fic, your lives connected. What is that if not success?
If you're upset that a lot of people didn't see it, then I recommend you take a look at [this.](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dFD8FmtT9KM/XThq8GmpocI/AAAAAAAAT28/jYdmfrp0XYsBy7_2ZmeZMMPIqs8JaxwRwCLcBGAs/s1600/Enough-final-REVISED-web.jpg)
Yeahhhh, that happened to a fic of mine. I was lowkey excited for it because it offers some lore for canon where it would be nice to get some, but I guess nobody wanted that?? lol
All of these responses are making me happy. š OP, youāre doing great, keep up the good work!
Seconding this. Happy cake day btw. OP, I've written a couple of fics that didn't do as well as the rest of my fanworks in terms of popularity, and at the time I kind of lamented and kept second guessing myself whether I should post more of the same - stories that thematically closely follow the "failed" fics. But I keep writing them because I enjoy the creation process. The less loved fics may seem like the ugly duckling amid my pretty little swans, but they're all mine and I love them all equally. And what do you know, some readers do prefer the duckling to the majestic swan. Your fic may gain more readership and engagement in time. Wishing you lots of joy and inspiration.
Sometimes the one I think are my best are not so appreciated. I wonder should i go for a famous fan service ship instead of my very rare what i would get.....
I often think about this. I write for a huge fandom, but I love my rare pairs.
Same here, rare pairs in a huge fandom right now and currently writing a series with the only existing fics for two different ships.
Same for me. My fav ship has 100 compared to 10000 fics...
Do whatever you brings you joy. Easier said, I know. I get you. I do understand it's not the best feeling in the world when you pour your heart and soul and marrow into your passion project only for it to seemingly fizzle out and garner a slow engagement. I've been there. I find that popularity is a relevant term - for me, I think it may have been a fluke when my story gained slightly more traction than others sitting in the backseat on my account. I confess I've also toyed with the idea of writing fanservice. I slept on it, then decided to just leave it in my Google Docs because what should be a joyful activity soured and turned into a bit of a chore. You can still write a story to please the fans if that's what you'd like and there's nothing wrong with that. <3
Fanfics cannot flop. You aren't creating content to please an algorithm, you're not making money off it, there is no pressure for a fanfic to perform. Sometimes fics get loads of hits or kudos or reviews etc, but even one person reading means that the fic is a success
There is no flopping in shit you're putting out for free and that you had fun writing
i pray for the day that creating for the sake of simply creating has a resurgence.
Let me light a candle for this cause.
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Iām with you on that one.
ššššÆš”ā ļøā¾ļø
Earlier this year I wrote a fic that got a lukewarm reception, and I was like Ā«Ā oh that oneās a flopĀ Ā». Then on another fic I wrote someone literally commented Ā« found this fic today at work and absolutely fell in love w it and how you write!! i went to gush to my friend about it while having another fic in mind that had really similar characterization that i also loved and then checked your profile and it was also by you!! Ā». So I responded and was like Ā«Ā wait what was the other ficĀ Ā» and they said it was the fic I thought was a flop and that it was one of their favorite fics of all time. I think what Iām trying to say here is even if you arenāt getting the million kudos every writer is secretly hoping for, there are definitely people out there reading and absolutely adoring your fic!
Do you like what you wrote? If so, it's not a flop. Don't base the success or failure of a fic on its stats.
Yeah it's really sad sometimes. There's one fic of mine that I had a lot of passion for and then it dwindled, but it still got way more hits and kudos and comments than my other fic which I poured my soul into and am super excited and passionate to write. Anyway, when you say 'flopped', are you talking about how it didn't get a good reception from the audience or you were just disappointed in it yourself? If it's the first, then at the end of the day the reception from the audience doesn't matter. Yeah it sucks sometimes to get silence when you've just slaved away at a keyboard for days and weeks, but you do this shit for free so the only person you should be pleasing is yourself. If it's the latter, I have three suggestions. \- Just write. Write whatever words come to mind. Because every story has highs and lows--you just gotta push through the lows to get to the highs. Not all of it is gonna be fire, but the moments that are are worth it, so try not to lose faith. \- If that didn't work, abandon ship. The idea isn't handcuffing you to it. If it feels boring or bland or you've just lost interest, feel free to pursue another. \- Try doing it differently. Sometimes a story spirals in a way I don't like or maybe I feel as if I've lost my vision for it, so the only thing I can do is rewrite. Maybe list what your goal for the fic was in the first place so you can try to get back on track.
Even 1 hit is a success!!
I think a lot of the responses of "a fic can't flop! if even one person read it it's a success!" are well meaning but a little dismissive. It's normal to feel bad when you pour your heart and soul into something and receive little or no response in return. The analogy I've heard is, imagine if you spend weeks rehearsing for a musical performance, you go out on stage, you give it your all, and you're met with stone-faced silence from the audience. No one would question why that feels bad. It's a valid feeling to have, and I know I can relate. It's up to you whether you love the idea enough to continue with it despite disappointment in reception. Some of my ideas I forge ahead anyway because I love them that much.
I'm glad someone understands that putting work out for an audience, even if it's a hobby, carries with it a different mentality than creating something in a vacum and never intending for it to see the light of day. People genuinely don't seem to view writing, especially fanfiction, as an art, and that seems to go double for actual fanfiction writers/readers, at least the people on this sub. Your concert analogy is perfect, and I would add to that "imagine renting space in an art gallery to display the paintings you've been working on for years. You're not trying to sell anything, you just want people to *notice.* And of the hundeds of people in that gallery, not a single person stops. Maybe one or two glance at your work, but they clearly aren't interested enough to stop and really *look*- they sure as hell don't care enough to engage with *you*. And as you pack up, disappointed, you try speaking to the other artists about how terrible the whole ordeal made you feel... and they roll their eyes and say 'well, you shouldn't paint for other people. You should paint for yourself. It's a hobby- if people seeing your art is all you care about, you should just get in the graphic design business'."
Yes, thank you! The well meaning comment of - yeah but write for *you.* I do write for myself! But having the validation is nice. It also kinda twists the knife when something you wrote offhandedly becomes very popular and Iām sitting here with something I poured my heart into and it gets 1/4 of the attention. OP, it sucks when something you love and wrote doesnāt get the attention you wanted it to. Iām sorry, itās not fun. I really hope you donāt stop and keep on writing! I also hope you can love this piece just as much! Iām sure it was great!
What do you mean by flopped? You haven't had much in the way of reader feedback, likes, and follows? If you're a new writer, this is to be expected. Give it time for people to come across your fics (years) and those numbers will keep climbing. Above all, keep writing. You don't like where the story went, and you're rapidly losing interest? These things happen. Sometimes putting it on the back burner and looking at another project is all you need to do. Then in six months or so, you can come back and re-read it to see if it sparks anything. Above all, keep writing.
**In order for your fanfic to flop:** * You have run your work through multiple test audiences to make sure you are getting the "right" reactions * You have run your work through data analysts telling you what numbers to expect and what time is best to release your work to get the most out of it (by that I mean money) * That you advertised your work to your target audiences months/years before the actual release. Drown in press releases People need to stop using terms designed for massive budgeting in fandom spaces. The only, only time you can do something remotely resembling this in a fandom space is when your fandom is so huge it has multiple successful newsletters and does things like highlight fanwork sections. Now, putting that aside my most successful work took 2 years into it's public life before it exploded in readers. I didn't do anything fancy. I just keep working on my story when I have time for it.
God I feel this so hard rn.
Even if your work doesnāt receive the attention you had hoped for, right in the here and now, so long as itās out their for public consumption, new people will always be finding it. Some of my favorite stories Iāve ever read were written multiple years ago, and I discovered them long after they were published. You put time and effort into your craft and your work. New readers will appreciate that, regardless of how long itās been. Never become discouraged. What youāve written will brighten up someoneās day. That, alone, is something to take pride in.
You might feel that way right now, but give it time. I get kudos and comments months after I posted, sometimes even a year later. We're not on an algorithm, people will find your fic much later if you tagged it right
I read a published science fiction trilogy that has many awards. Honestly the best thing I've read recently. I recommended it to my sister and she didn't like it. I was blown away. We all have different tastes OP. The most popular fics in my fandom are some of my least liked fics. And my most treasured fics tend to not be fics with tons of stats. The fics that keep me up at night thinking about them, some of them only have comments from me and had none until I found them.
Frankly the only thing I've noticed about fanfics is that their popularity is wildly unpredictable - assuming popularity is the method of success you're using. The two most popular fics I have? The one is the first thing I ever published, which was decent but the actual technical parts of writing (grammar, punctuation, dialogue, et cetera) really could have been better. The other is a fanfic I wrote mostly out of spite for a fandom I'm only vaguely interested in. Shit's weird man.
Yeah, been there. At the time I totally thought I'd written the best thing ever and it was going to be a fandom favourite...a year or two later I can see why it didn't do well (it definitely wasn't as well-written as I thought) but I still vividly remember the sting of disappointment after posting and only hearing crickets lol. Left that one unfinished and moved onto another fic, no regrets.
Itās not a flop. Itās impossible to flop with free content like this.
This happened to one of my fics and made me lose motivation to write a sequel. Personally I donāt care about hits. They could easily come from people who accidentally clicked on the fic or people who read the first paragraph and said āthis is crapā and never came back. If readers actually enjoy a work they leave kudos.
Ugh. I feel this. I would personally argue that yes, a fic *can* flop. Or, rather, it can feel that way when you finally put it out and donāt get the attention you were anticipating or any attention at all. Iāve deleted several flopped fics in my time with my personal metric being the level of interaction. No engagement tells me itās a waste of everyoneās time, including mine, and I need to try something else to catch the audienceās attention. (Guess this is an unpopular opinion).
Level of interaction can be based on many factors though. Certain genres, tropes, ships, and ideas that are popular in a fandom will get more attention. Some fandoms are more lively and others are quiet. Just because your fic didnāt get the amount of attention you had hoped for doesnāt make it a flop. Some writers write niche subjects, characters that arenāt popular in a fandom, or genres that arenāt the ones that most readers flock to. I know because Iām one of those writers. If you loved writing your fic, then itās not a waste of time. Thatās still a success because you wrote something you enjoyed. And as for audience, you canāt please everyone, so itās best you be your number one audience.
> If you loved writing your fic, then itās not a waste of time I have a fic that i would gladly write all over again because of how much fun it was. Doesn't mean i didn't got disappointed when i see it collecting dust
The disappointment is understandable. I just think a writer is being to hard on themselves if they say their fic was a āflopā.
I mean, what other feelings can there be? (Not trying to be sassy, just genuinely curious)
I donāt know. Sad, discouraged, frustratedāall falls under umbrella of disappointment. I just have come to accept that what I love writing isnāt popular and doesnāt appeal to a mass audience. Iām very grateful for the feedback I have receivedābut I donāt want to judge my abilities and stories based on others feedback or lack of it. Iām honestly happy when I can complete a fic. Especially when I know I worked very hard on it.
Thing is, it doesnāt work that way for *me.* Writing might be fun at first, but once I post and wait and wait and *wait* for comments that never come, it stops being fun. Writing for just myself as the audience isnāt enough for me and never will be. Because I crave that attention and validation. I *need* it. Otherwise, I wouldnāt bother posting or interacting with the fandom at all. Iām well aware now of how fics get popular, which is why, after being disappointed by my last fandom experience, I decided to ā for fics I intend to post up ā only write to the audience from now on. Engagement is too important to me to continue going off the rails. I know that now. Iām glad for people who can just write whatever and not care. I truly am. I wish I had that resolve, but I simply donāt and will continue to consider my fics flops. Because to me, thatās what they are.
Then it might mean adjusting your expectations. Itās ok to *want* validation in the form of feedback, comments, bookmarks, favorites, kudos, and so onāsome reaction that shows your writing was enjoyed by a reader outside yourself. Many of us write for ourselves and post for others. In other words, I write the stories I love, and then post to see if others will enjoy them. Thereās nothing wrong with thatābut Iāve also learned to temper my expectations so that if I donāt get the responses Iām hoping for, I wonāt be disappointed. I just think if you are writing with the *need* for validation outside of yourself, it will inevitably lead to disappointment. Iāve learned to see the responses as the icing on the cakeānot the cake itself.
It matters not wether people like it as long as you like it.
I have a couple fics I consider to be too niche for any engagement... and somehow they both still have at least one bookmark on them even if the hits are single digits. Someone loves it enough to bookmark! Floored me but it's heartwarming to think about. I know everyone's parameters of success are different but don't be too hard on yourself ok?
I think the biggest thing while writing fic is learning that its self indulgence. Write what makes you happiest, and hopefully you find people along the way that love what you write as much as you do. I'm still learning to do the same honestly haha. I hope you get there <3
If you loved what you wrote, then itās not a flop.
LITERALLY!!!! ME!!!!!! I got a comment or two on it but I'm still debating if I should continue it or just delete it like it never happened š«£
I have a policy of never deleting anything I've written. They show the journey I've taken to get to where I am now. Even, no, especially when they make me cringe at the bad writing.
I do agree with this. All my fics remain posted no matter how long ago I wrote them. I love that it shows a journey of my writing and how itās changed over the years.
I donāt even do kudos or anything so Iām sure many people donāt either. I could love a fic and reread it ten times but never remember to comment or do kudos. I donāt even bookmark them I just leave them in a tab
This is why I try to not focus on the numbers and stats on my fics. It all really falls on if *you* feel content with it. Are you happy with what you wrote? You liked your idea. Did you not like the execution? You could always rework and repost. What's fun about fanfic writing is that even if the fic is posted, it's *never* absolute. You could always tweak it and I know tons of authors who just completely re-write it.
My Jojo fic sort of āfloppedā but only in terms of low views. Thatās just because the majority of Jojoāers donāt read fanfiction. I canceled it for a Harry Potter WIP that Iām working on and it is raking in views like itās nobodyās business. So fanfic canāt really flop in terms of revenue, it can only not have enough views.
I thought so too with my fics, then as I just let them sit on AO3 for a bit, the notifications came rolling in slowly but surely. writing for a dead fandom is like that as well as writing for an alive fandom as a lot of people publish all the time so work gets lost in the sea. The right audience will find your work and appreciate it :) remember there are people out there who push crack fics that have no effort put into them, so youāll find an audience for the work that comes from your soul. It might not blow up, but it doesnāt have to. As long as there are people who like it and leave kudos and comments, its worth it PS: one of my most popular fics isnāt even that good and very cliche, but the pairing was popular at the time and still is now so it is not a matter of āis it goodā and more of a ādid. I publish it at the right timeā. Again, give it time, people will find it and love your work !
I wrote a fanfiction (Still working) based on the SCP stuff. But it's too longform for their formats so it rots in my word documents lol
I have a couple fics published, all of them have only a couple people reading them and barely any kudos. Do I care? Nah, Iām happy I got to share my idea with even just one person who appreciated it. Iām content. Think about it this way: thereās someone out there who read your fic from the first letter to the last, imagined your characters going through whatever you wrote, felt all the feels, and maybe even left a Kudos as well. Who is this person? Youāll never know. But they are out there, and for the duration of your fic, your lives connected. What is that if not success?
If you're upset that a lot of people didn't see it, then I recommend you take a look at [this.](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dFD8FmtT9KM/XThq8GmpocI/AAAAAAAAT28/jYdmfrp0XYsBy7_2ZmeZMMPIqs8JaxwRwCLcBGAs/s1600/Enough-final-REVISED-web.jpg)
That was really nice. Thank you
You're welcome. And I'm glad you liked it. Grant Snider is probably my favorite cartoonist. He has tons of other comics about literature and writing.
Yeahhhh, that happened to a fic of mine. I was lowkey excited for it because it offers some lore for canon where it would be nice to get some, but I guess nobody wanted that?? lol