Dearest authors, reviewers, closet readers and members who frequent the Fanfiction Forum, I would like to address an issue that has been increasingly becoming downright irritating. I don’t know if it affects everyone, but it certainly affects me and others who are slapped with the label “popular.”
I am exhausted and sick of this issue that has been flogged over and over. It’s like a dead horse.
I don’t know when this ridiculous bigotry began, but if I had to make a guess, it was about the time when the Summer Fanfiction Awards wrapped up.
I’m still new by some people’s standards (less than a year old) but when I first joined, no one knew me. I have been writing since I was eleven, which makes it around seven years that I’ve been writing stories, and this is the first time I’ve ever been deemed a “popular” author. It took me seven years of work to make my writing as widely regarded as it is now, and I never regretted it, but the way things have been going recently, I’m starting to feel as though people are forgetting what the whole concept of it means.
We write because we enjoy it, it’s a great hobby and a mental exercise that makes our minds work to grow, we improve on our English. English actually was not my first language, but I started learning it when I was about nine, and writing stories has contributed so much to my fluency in the language. People will remember that my first stories posted here (especially Negrek) I horribly mangled some of the punctuation staples such as the semi-commas and my “Poocyena” blunders. I was unknown, and a year’s worth of posting stories that people enjoyed was fun for me because it was the first time that people were enjoying my stories and giving me feedback. I’ll admit that I am pleased with the popularity, and I don’t feel guilty because it took a long time to get people to enjoy my preferred subject matter. Now I’m starting to try my hand at dry humor and action, but I would be the first to say that there are many authors here who can do that better than me. Everyone’s got their good points and weak points.
I love writing, and will always do, but I wish that people wouldn’t put so much emphasis on “popularity.” I assumed the entire point of writing was because we enjoyed to do it and because it let us be independent in creating our own stories and characters, not because we were hungry to be one of the “elite.” I do not understand why this issue has become so stretched-out-of whack as of late. I understand and acknowledge that people desire their stories to get attention and acclaim because it motivates them to write more and improve, but it should not have to create bitterness between those who are well-known and those who are not. We all share the love of writing, so why can’t we all try to stop slapping labels on authors based on petty things? Labels are for cans, not people, and last time I checked, I’m pretty sure I’m not a can of Spam.
People seem to think that the well-known authors are well-known because they have good connections. To me, I don’t know about that, but as I already stated, when I joined, no one knew me, and I simply started posting stories, and met people, and talked with them. Take me and Saber. I met her through reviewing stories, and she make a joke about my profile location, and you see the result today—Team Hobo. It’s a long-running inside joke, not an elitist thing. Maybe people assume that the authors PM each other to plug each other’s works, or to make fun of the newer authors. For me, yes, I do ask Serpent Syra and Saber to look at the newest story I’ve posted, and THEN I return the favor because we all value each other’s input and opinions. I have sent hundreds and hundreds of PMs to Syra and Saber, and other people, all discussing the same thing—our stories. We exchange ideas, give each other input, ask for advice….I don’t know how Syra puts up with me, as I’ve literally deluged him with PMs, frantic for advice with Aeon.
To me, that’s the best part of this forum—interacting with people and sharing our stories and helping each other improve. This may be some cheesy crap, and I agree--- this is no Gettysburg Address. XD But I’m hoping that it gets my point across. This is what people should be writing for, this is what we should be doing, instead of getting worked over how many reviews we have. This dispute between the supposedly “popular” authors and the “underdogs” is petty and undermines everything writing’s supposed to mean to us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this rant. ^^;
I am exhausted and sick of this issue that has been flogged over and over. It’s like a dead horse.
I don’t know when this ridiculous bigotry began, but if I had to make a guess, it was about the time when the Summer Fanfiction Awards wrapped up.
I’m still new by some people’s standards (less than a year old) but when I first joined, no one knew me. I have been writing since I was eleven, which makes it around seven years that I’ve been writing stories, and this is the first time I’ve ever been deemed a “popular” author. It took me seven years of work to make my writing as widely regarded as it is now, and I never regretted it, but the way things have been going recently, I’m starting to feel as though people are forgetting what the whole concept of it means.
We write because we enjoy it, it’s a great hobby and a mental exercise that makes our minds work to grow, we improve on our English. English actually was not my first language, but I started learning it when I was about nine, and writing stories has contributed so much to my fluency in the language. People will remember that my first stories posted here (especially Negrek) I horribly mangled some of the punctuation staples such as the semi-commas and my “Poocyena” blunders. I was unknown, and a year’s worth of posting stories that people enjoyed was fun for me because it was the first time that people were enjoying my stories and giving me feedback. I’ll admit that I am pleased with the popularity, and I don’t feel guilty because it took a long time to get people to enjoy my preferred subject matter. Now I’m starting to try my hand at dry humor and action, but I would be the first to say that there are many authors here who can do that better than me. Everyone’s got their good points and weak points.
I love writing, and will always do, but I wish that people wouldn’t put so much emphasis on “popularity.” I assumed the entire point of writing was because we enjoyed to do it and because it let us be independent in creating our own stories and characters, not because we were hungry to be one of the “elite.” I do not understand why this issue has become so stretched-out-of whack as of late. I understand and acknowledge that people desire their stories to get attention and acclaim because it motivates them to write more and improve, but it should not have to create bitterness between those who are well-known and those who are not. We all share the love of writing, so why can’t we all try to stop slapping labels on authors based on petty things? Labels are for cans, not people, and last time I checked, I’m pretty sure I’m not a can of Spam.
People seem to think that the well-known authors are well-known because they have good connections. To me, I don’t know about that, but as I already stated, when I joined, no one knew me, and I simply started posting stories, and met people, and talked with them. Take me and Saber. I met her through reviewing stories, and she make a joke about my profile location, and you see the result today—Team Hobo. It’s a long-running inside joke, not an elitist thing. Maybe people assume that the authors PM each other to plug each other’s works, or to make fun of the newer authors. For me, yes, I do ask Serpent Syra and Saber to look at the newest story I’ve posted, and THEN I return the favor because we all value each other’s input and opinions. I have sent hundreds and hundreds of PMs to Syra and Saber, and other people, all discussing the same thing—our stories. We exchange ideas, give each other input, ask for advice….I don’t know how Syra puts up with me, as I’ve literally deluged him with PMs, frantic for advice with Aeon.
To me, that’s the best part of this forum—interacting with people and sharing our stories and helping each other improve. This may be some cheesy crap, and I agree--- this is no Gettysburg Address. XD But I’m hoping that it gets my point across. This is what people should be writing for, this is what we should be doing, instead of getting worked over how many reviews we have. This dispute between the supposedly “popular” authors and the “underdogs” is petty and undermines everything writing’s supposed to mean to us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this rant. ^^;
