[ SECRET POST #3741 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3741 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.



__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.







Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 67 secrets from Secret Submission Post #534.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

11. http://i.imgur.com/EleWJgm.png

[dahli]

Hey, whatever helps you cope. I'm sorry you went through that and I really hope you're in a better place now.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

You shouldn't feel bad for drawing from your own emotions to write your fanfiction. Ideas never come out of thin air, everyone has a personal reason to write, people saying it's for the sake of creating only are wrong in my opinion.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, it's not so much the emotions, it's that I completely erased the boundary between my real-life situation and a fictional character's situation. Taking it a step too far, basically.

But you're right, everyone has their reasons for writing.

[(Anonymous)]

I do this with my mental and emotional issues. Sometimes I write original fiction for the purpose, but other times I pick a pre-existing character with whom I identify (or who I want to see suffer) and channel my problems through them.

I understand why you'd feel weird, quality of writing notwithstanding. It's like showing pictures of your surgery to strangers but not telling them it's you that's being operated on.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

It's like showing pictures of your surgery to strangers but not telling them it's you that's being operated on.

Haha, exactly this. It isn't just identifying with a character, it's putting you where the character should be. In some cases, it works, but in the past I'd worry I wasn't really understanding the character but instead was shamelessly projecting.

[(Anonymous)]

Because your writing was so personal, I bet that other people experiencing similar traumas were able to connect with your work and find comfort. You don't deserve less praise because your writing is honest. You deserve more. I think you're very brave.

[(Anonymous)]

+1 Well put.

I hope you're in a better place in your life now, OP.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Not sure I'd use the term 'honest' (because I'm not totally sure what is honest about going "Kevin broke my heart! I'll write about Janet's heartbreak by typing, word for word, what I said to/thought about Kevin") though it did come off as more 'real.' But I didn't consider others might connect with something I wrote in that way.

Thank you for your kind words.

[tabaqui]

I think a lot of people do this (fic as catharsis, fic as coping method, fic as outlet for grief or love or fear or anxiety), so I wouldn't feel too bad about it.

If you feel like you exposed too much of yourself, and made you feel vulnerable, sure, i can see not wanting to anymore. But if it helps, and you're okay with it otherwise, why not?

You're not alone, OP.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Oddly, it's not that I felt bad for throwing my deepest fears and pains, etc out there. I was more worried about projecting a bunch of stuff on a character, of all things. I felt bad about getting praise for characterization when there's a good chance I was really off the mark. These days, I enjoy getting to characters and trying to get them right (before I go off bringing a little trauma to them and changing them, myself lol).

But thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

Stories like these are usually the ones who strike a cord in the readers, too, because they connect to it on a gut level.
You're not only helping yourself with your stories, you're helping your readers too.

So I'd say, keep on writing. Please?

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

Of course you do. Most writers do a lot of that, not always obviously, of course, but the best writing comes from the heart. You used your words to create positive things, and shared them with others. Of course you deserve thanks and appreciation! How many would use their negative experiences to excuse nasty or self defeating behaviors? You create; you give.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for saying this.

[arcadiaego]

What you describe isn't inherently bad, and you'd be surprised how many professional writers probably do the same thing to a greater or lesser extent. And if something is based on true emotions that are close to the surface, readers are going to feel that, and connect with it if they've gone through similar things.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I think an original Sue (or similar) is understandable. But you're right, people will connect what they connect with.

[(Anonymous)]

As someone who writes for similar reasons, and gets similar feedback, I present this idea:

What if reading your work is as cathartic for your readers as writing it was for you?

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, you're right. And as a reader, I have felt a release from stories, regardless of what the author intended.

[(Anonymous)]

Anon, I know your feeling all too well. (Oops you could almost be me.)

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks. Sorry you've had to deal with horrors of your own.

[ibbity]

Published writers do that all the time. Drawing on your lived experiences to inspire you is a huuuuuge part of how all artists inject real feeling into their work. Nothing to be ashamed of at all.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, experience is a part of it. I just worried I was taking it a step too far. I felt like a phony. People were saying things like "Craig's characterization is spot-on!" when all I did was have him recite a monologue from my head that had nothing to do with Craig's situation but just happened to resemble it, stuff like that.

But thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly, good for you. Fiction is supposed to help us with our demons. My current novel is all about dealing with anxiety. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad--it helps. One of my favorite fanfics is a H/C that just pours on the comfort in the most satisfying way. It's wildly unrealistic, but I read it over and over.