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Fandom Pep Talk
Aug. 6th, 2016 04:53 pmYou are one of a small handful of people who writes for the Zelda/Ganondorf ship, and you have published at least one story or chapter of a story (and often both!) for the fandom every month for the past sixteen months. Your work is original and fairly well written. Think of where you were when you finally decided to start setting aside time for writing in the spring of 2015, and look at how far you've come since then.
You've always been supportive of the other people in the fandom. You leave dozens of comments on people's fic and art posts every month, and you give real actual money to the fandom's artists on Patreon. You respond to people's shitposts with silliness of your own, and you send lighthearted asks that people seem to have fun replying to. When your mutuals post about bad things in their lives, you send them private messages to let them know that they're still awesome and you're on their side.
You never leave concrit, you never create drama, you never cut people down with "well actually" responses, and you always defend your mutuals from trolls. Sometimes it's hard to stay positive and send good feelings into the world, but you always do your best. Even if you don't feel like anyone notices, the atmosphere you help to create benefits everyone.
Your fic posts may not get as many notes as those of other people in the fandom, but that doesn't mean that your work isn't any less interesting or compelling. Those writers do their thing, and you do yours. They've managed to attract the attention of popular artists, and that's fantastic. What you can do that they can't is make your own art – and your craptacular MS Paint drawings have gotten a surprising amount of attention. You should post more of them!
It's okay if you feel discouraged sometimes. It's okay if you don't enjoy stories with certain themes, and it's okay if you don't want to reblog art drawn in a style you don't find appealing. There are people who are never going to follow you back, and there are people who are never going to give your work the same sort of positive feedback you give them. Don't feel like you need to spend your time on these people. They're getting enough attention already, and you're not doing them any favors. It's totally okay to save your energy for your mutuals. It's also okay to distance yourself from fandom when you need to recharge your creative batteries.
You're doing good work, you big nerd. Hang in there!
You've always been supportive of the other people in the fandom. You leave dozens of comments on people's fic and art posts every month, and you give real actual money to the fandom's artists on Patreon. You respond to people's shitposts with silliness of your own, and you send lighthearted asks that people seem to have fun replying to. When your mutuals post about bad things in their lives, you send them private messages to let them know that they're still awesome and you're on their side.
You never leave concrit, you never create drama, you never cut people down with "well actually" responses, and you always defend your mutuals from trolls. Sometimes it's hard to stay positive and send good feelings into the world, but you always do your best. Even if you don't feel like anyone notices, the atmosphere you help to create benefits everyone.
Your fic posts may not get as many notes as those of other people in the fandom, but that doesn't mean that your work isn't any less interesting or compelling. Those writers do their thing, and you do yours. They've managed to attract the attention of popular artists, and that's fantastic. What you can do that they can't is make your own art – and your craptacular MS Paint drawings have gotten a surprising amount of attention. You should post more of them!
It's okay if you feel discouraged sometimes. It's okay if you don't enjoy stories with certain themes, and it's okay if you don't want to reblog art drawn in a style you don't find appealing. There are people who are never going to follow you back, and there are people who are never going to give your work the same sort of positive feedback you give them. Don't feel like you need to spend your time on these people. They're getting enough attention already, and you're not doing them any favors. It's totally okay to save your energy for your mutuals. It's also okay to distance yourself from fandom when you need to recharge your creative batteries.
You're doing good work, you big nerd. Hang in there!
