fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4862 ]

[ SECRET POST #4862 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4862 ⌋

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

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03.

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 24 secrets from Secret Submission Post #696.
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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is apparently a really unpopular opinion and makes me selfish or something, but...I need comments on A03 to keep motivated to write. Kudos don't mean anything to me. Maybe I'm "writing for the wrong reasons" or am being needy, but if I go a long time without comments, I don't write. I'm not punishing anyone, it's just not fun anymore. Secret because altruistic writing seems super big here...

You sound like an attention whore.

And THIS is why it's a secret.
Geez.

You sound like you don't have any friends.

Yeeeeep, just waiting for the asshat who thinks that there's something entitled about wanting positive encouragement.

The sad part is, one can disagree about needing positive encouragement in order to write fic, without being an asshat about it. Hell, I don't think lack of a particular type of feedback should keep someone from writing, but I also know how much it sucks when NOBODY will acknowledge your damn fic that you worked so damn hard on. Kudos are nice but don't tell an author what exactly a reader liked about the fic.

Yep yep yep.

Listen, if you literally can't write without people commenting, you only want attention. I'm sorry. But that's the truth of it, and I'm tired of buttering up OPs and being nice because their fee-fees are hurt by truth.

Kudos mean someone liked it. They're plenty fine. OP just wants their ass patted regularly.

You were nice? When?

Re: Secrets you're too lazy to make

(Anonymous) - 2020-04-29 00:57 (UTC) - Expand

They're plenty fine... for you. OP prefers more elaborate encouragement and that's fine for them. You're being an asshat.

You sound like a dickhead

Yes, same here.

Kudos but no comments mean that people are reading the fics, the hits aren't just bots - and the readers are going "meh, kudos." In a small fandom that was all I got for fics that took me months to write. So I departed said small fandom and it's taken years for other writers to appear. The kudos-ers didn't even bother to show they could write better stories than me, which was half the point of writing them!

So maybe, o readers, if you like a story, if you want more stories for a fandom - comment, don't just kudos. It won't hurt you to string six words together and it'll make someone's day. And it might result in more stories.

I'M HOT SHIT AND OWED COMMENTS, WEH WEH WEH

Was this really necessary?

You're not owed stories.

Re: Secrets you're too lazy to make

(Anonymous) - 2020-04-29 01:17 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Secrets you're too lazy to make

(Anonymous) - 2020-04-29 01:53 (UTC) - Expand

I totally get it, and I'm the same way. I'll write without comments if it's something that is seriously on MY mind, that I just have to get out, but it's sooooo much more fun with even a few comments.
And kudos are crap as far as motivation.

Hm, for me at least, it's less about altruism and more... how should I put it? Have you ever seen Cool Runnings? There's a scene where Coach Irving is talking to Derice about why he cheated to get a gold. medal at the Olympics years ago, and he says to him, "Derice, a gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without it, you'll never be enough with it."

It's basically that sentiment. Comments are fantastic! But the tides of fandoms change; people will like different things than what you're writing, or they'll move on to other fandoms, or your fic will get lost in a wave of updates/new fics, there's a million variables. So to rely on such an unsteady source of validation is really just setting yourself up for heartache and self-reproach. That's why I've always said to write for yourself－ not because you should be doing it as a favor to others regardless, but because the act of writing and publishing and enjoying what you've written can be its own validation.

I write for myself - if I didn't I'd be writing for money. Oodles of money, if what non-writers tell me is true. But I also like dopamine hits and when I get them they give me the oomph to keep writing fanfic.

I write for myself. I post for the comments. If I didn't want that interaction - and, sure, that validation - I'd just keep everything I wrote in my desk drawer.

I try not to look at them anymore because the number of views compared to the number of kudos and comments really bums me out.

Yeah, kudos are fine, but it's really, really awesome when you get comments. I'm sorry it makes your motivation go flat without them, but don't beat yourself up over it. It is what it is. It doesn't sound like you're the kind of person going 'no more fic until you comment!!!' so - don't feel too bad.

But it might make you feel *better* to try and find another motivation to write, if only for a little bit.

Well - I love kudos too, don't get me wrong - but I do feel more of a sense of community when it's a comment. (A kudos is like a thumbs-up or a wave from across a crowded room. I appreciate it! But comments make for conversation.)

Don't worry about getting comments to write your fic. If people like your fic, they will let you know. Take into account that some people are too shy to leave a comment, so a kudos is a token of their appreciation.

I read your comment and was like 'how is this an unpopular opinion' - and then I saw the replies. Woah okay then. There are some really angry people on here!

Comments make the world go round, i'm with you there. I never ask for comments but I cherish every one I get. If someone comments on a fic of mine I literally spend all week randomly remembering and smiling.

you're right

you ARE writing for the wrong reasons

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only