saiyanqueenreads:gremlinbehaviour:katsdisturbed:stephrc79:virtualsilver:fanfictionwriter101:I’d like
saiyanqueenreads:gremlinbehaviour:katsdisturbed:stephrc79:virtualsilver:fanfictionwriter101:I’d like everyone to see this {Credit to amalasrosa on Twitter}#real #not to be salty but this is what ive been saying#like everyone out here really still acting like fanfic isnt really writing#like its subpar and like it cant be good and have amazing lines#even fanfic writers treat it like its LESS and like theyre PLAY writing and not actually writing#like friend buddy ican ASSURE YOU that fanfic is every bit as real and good as writing from books#the only difference between fic and actual books is that books go through several stages of processing and editing and filtering#and are worked on by professionals who studied the craft of editing#while fanfiction cuts that filtering and everyone gets a chance to be heard and to be read#and instead of editors we have peer editing and reviewing#dont be fucking tricked by the mass notion that anything that young girls and queer people are interested in is immediately bad and subpar#bc it is fucking not #i will FIGHT for it #fanfiction (tags by @crossroadswrite bacause they add so much to this post)For anyone who’s interested. ‘We Deserve A Soft Epilogue, My Love’Some of the most incredible and beautiful things I have ever read, have been fanfiction.I was an avid reader as a kid. Like, trip to the library every day of the summer avid. My dad asks now where that has gone. He doesn’t see that I’m reading more than ever, because its fanfiction on my phone instead of words in a book. And sure not all of it is good; even most of what I choose to read I will acknowledge to be fairly unedited filler, but most of the novels I read were just genre-fiction too. And amongst the fluff and smut, there are also so many deep studies of character, friendship, desperation, love, trauma, healing, and hope buried just within the second page of search results. My eyes were first opened to the true horrors experienced by child soldiers by a Star Wars fanfic and most empowering female characters I’ve read about are those let down by their own media but then brought to the fore by fanfic authors. I join fandoms now simply to read their fanfiction, because short of Tolkien, every piece of media whose fandom I have joined has at least one piece of fanfiction of equal, and often far better, quality.Along with loving to read fanfiction, I love writing it. I wrote stories with my favorite characters for years in my head each night as I fell asleep before ever putting them to paper, and it was months and months after that before I shared anything. I love writing characters (because that’s what writing has always been about for me, the people and their relationships, not the plot or the theme or the world they live in) who come with context, because then I can focus on just telling the story or exploring the theme I want to without having to explain the background, without having to convince the readers to follow along until I get to the point.Fandom is a place to play and a world to explore. It offers escapism, sure, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it’s helpful as hell. I’ve been reading lots of cuddling fics during quarantine, and I know I’m not the only one, and if that’s what it takes to get through months without a hug, we should be applauding fanfic for keeping people safe as well as sane.Like many (I’d even say most, based on anecdotal data) fanfic authors, I’m guilty of dismissing it myself. “What are you writing?” “Oh, just a little Merlin fic” or “Nothing.” But in reality, I’m far more proud of most of my fanfics than I am of my original stories. In fandom, I’ve found the words I never had before to talk about police brutality, motherhood, feminism, social justice, what it means for me to be a hero, and sacrifice, among other things. And shouldn’t those be the things we spend out time discussing, not the validity of fanfic writers as real authors?Listen, I’ve read a lot of books. Both recreationally and as someone who analyzed them when I went out and got a writing degree…. And let me tell you something. Out of every single book I’ve read? Maybe 5 were something I could consider mind blowing, or mind altering, or that changed me in some way. 5. In my whole life. But when it comes to fanfiction, I have whole lists of stories that effected me so profoundly that I’ll go back months, weeks, and even decades later to read them again and come away just as awed as the first time I clicked my way through them online. (Example: I have a list I call my Crying List, and despite it being the 147th time I’ve read any given fic on that list, it’ll render me into a weeping child like clockwork. How many published works can boast something like that?)There are so many people producing profoundly amazing content… Content that can change the way people think, content that can leave us stunned at the sheer AMOUNT of an emotion they make us feel. And they’re just giving it to us for free. Who even DOES that?!?! Who works hard, spends long hours producing a quality product, and then just…. gives it away for free on the metaphorical street corner?The answer is writers, fanfiction writers.Because they love something THAT much! -- source link