Concept: Goosebumps style choose-their-own-story thing where you post two versions of exactly the same fic in which the only difference is who tops and who bottoms so that people can read whichever one suits their current headcanon/mood.
Yes, that’s a joke-y way to answer the question, but it’s also completely true.
Kudos to hits is invalid in a couple of ways. First of all, hits are not unique readers. People come back and reread fics all the time. Or they come back to the same fic multiple times to finish reading it. And readers can find a dozen different ways to leave more than one kudos on a fic, so that’s not an accurate number either.
Add in the fact that different fandoms have different levels of engagement and that different types of stories get different levels of interaction and it’s all just a totally unreliable way to decide if a story is good or not.
And that’s not even touching the fact that fanfic being “good” is judged on enjoyment, not on quality of writing (as a general rule, to which there are always exceptions).
People will tell you that a “good” ratio is 1:10 or 1:8 or 1:15 or all sorts of other completely arbitrary numbers. I’ll tell you to stay away from the stats because they lie and they will suck you into a deep pit of hell that is hard to escape. I know. I’ve been there.
The problem with shipping a niche ship: you read all the fanfiction in one afternoon and if you want some more you have to write it yourself.
The problem with shipping a popular ship: 16,835 results on AO3. You start playing with tags and sorting through it, full of determination, confident that with so many fanfics you’re bound to find something you’ll like. Two hours, 30 instances of awful writing, 8 squick-outs,13 wtf AUs and 157 just plain uninteresting later you have to rush back to the canon to even remember why you liked the ship in the first place.
The problem with a popular ship: there are 6,285 fics similar to yours and you can’t help but compare your writing with others
The problem with writing a niche ship: you write only for yourself + your best friend who’s either your enabler or just feels sorry for you
Why y’all gotta put my business out there like that?
Why do people stop commenting on fics if they’re more than a week or two old? Please comment on old fics. Tell me you like my one shot from 2014.Tell me you like my old multi-chap I finished in 2016 that I spent a year writing. I will be fucking thrilled.
I’ve brought back an old fic and started rewriting it after two years because someone went through and wrote a comment on every chapter and messaged me about my story and that kind of energy over something I wrote broke me out of my crazy writers block and I think I wrote six chapters just because they asked for more.
Today, I got a comment for my very first fanfic, and it made me soooo happy. I do want to continue the sequel now, which I’ve rarely updated last year.
I
received a comment for Adrift today and one for Caged Hound yesterday. It’s
such a pleasure to receive comments for old fics. I understand not leaving a
comment on every chapter of an old multi chapters fic, but as for myself, if I
enjoy a story, I’ll certainly let the author know after I’ve finished it.
This is the main reason I finished my epic Bleach fic– I had to stop for a year because life kicked my ass, but I got some fervent comments and got inspired again.
This is very important! Please comment on older fics.:)
Did this, commented on an old fic and didn’t realize how old it was. I got a long message from the writer about how grateful they were someone still read their stuff since they weren’t that popular to begin with. I was like WHAT? This is some amazing writing! We have been messaging and encouraging each other in our writing ever since. You never know how much those comments mean to someone until you do…
One of my favorite thing about fandom is the fan fiction rabbit hole I always fall in. Like at first, upon finishing the canon material, I’m all “ok I want cannon verse fic, tell me what happens after the story, or before, but I’m super critical of characterization and relation to canon events” and now, my ass out here like “Alright how about a *spins wheel* Victorian Era *spin* bakery AU with *throws dart* a slow burn love triangle”
There also needs to be a button for “this is the 5000th time I’ve read your fic because I’m having a horrible day and this is the only thing in the world that always brings me happiness.”
*helpful*
Guys, seriously, I always try to tell the authors who’s stuff I reread when I am sad how many times I have been through and how it helps me. I also let them know if I find myself thinking about the fic in the days/weeks/months after reading it.
The shelf life on fics is short, especially in the HANNIBAL fandom, where people seem to read so wonderfully quickly.
Even if you get tons of feedback, within a week – sometimes even days – of finishing something it can feel like everyone has forgotten about the story.
If you can, comment on fics that you reread and comment on order fics that you are reading for the first time!
Mostly reblogs and random words 