August 21th: Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day
It is not surprising news that fanfiction writers are highly underappreciated.
Thereâs something wrong with the numbers: letâs take a popular fic with almost 4k hits. For letâs say 700 readers, it will get about 50 comments and 300 Kudos. Maybe Iâm being too kind, maybe not, but things stay the same; thereâs something wrong here. Can you see it?
It takes us days, weeks, sometimes months to write a story for you. We write for ourselves yes, but we also write to share. We write to offer you content about your favourite characters. We write to bring our and your ships to life. It takes you a fraction of second to leave a Kudos, ten seconds to one, two or a few minutes to leave a comment.
And here lies our problem: thereâs no proper sharing if thereâs no proper feedback. An author not getting comments is generally a sad author. If I didnât get feedback Iâd wonder whatâs the point in keeping on writing. A comment makes a writerâs day, most of the time even motivates them to write more.
Another important thing thrandythefabulous and I noticed: why on Earth do so many readers donât comment (even kudos) if the fic has been up for a little more than a week or two? Why? Your feedback is still welcomed and much appreciated.
We write for ourselves, but also we write for you. And sadly, many readers are being quite⦠ungrateful, when giving feedback is the least they can do to thank the people offering them stories for free.
So, before we get started on our little day, letâs talk about comments:
It doesnât matter if other readers already said what you wanted to say, weâll still love reading it again in your words.
It doesnât matter the fic has been up for weeks or months or years; comments on those ones are unexpected and so, it makes them ever better.
It doesnât matter if you donât have much to say, weâll be glad anyway.
Most authors leave the comment section open to people who donât have an AO3 account, which means you can still⦠comment! How amazing is that.
That brings us to our little Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day.
The point of this day is simple; on August 21th, writers and readers alike would go on AO3 (or any fanfiction website really), on Tumblr, and leave a comment on their favourite fics and/or send their authors a message about their works.
It doesnât matter if youâve already or never commented. It doesnât matter if the author doesnât know about this post. It doesnât matter if the author already knows how much you love their work.
Just let writers know you love the fics they write for you, simple as that!
And well, donât forget to keep leaving a Kudos and a comment in the future, and make writers happy!