I was part of a fandom that peaked around 2020-2022, and I wrote a few chapters of a fic in that fandom before taking a long hiatus. Recently, I picked it up again and started updating it but it doesn’t get nearly as much interaction as it used to.
To compare, I got around 8+ comments per chapter but now I get just a few hits.
It’s hitting me hard realizing that the fandom is dead now. The series holds a huge place in my heart as it got me through 2020, and I really really love the fic I was writing for it. It makes me wonder if I should give up writing the fic, which honestly feels just as bad as continuing it. It feels like I’m throwing my words into the void atp.
How does one cope with this 😔

EDIT: Okay you guys are FAST at replying. I really appreciate your insights. I am definitely enjoying every minute of writing the fic, but just a little nervous about reactions when I post it (11 years, y’all, 11 years). So I will definitely tag it correctly when I do post it in a few months. Thank you guys! <3

This is a genuine question. I’m 25 and it’s been about 11 years since I’ve written a fanfiction. I established an entire character for Project Hail Mary who actually plays a huge role instead of just Ryland Grace’s love interest. Long story short, they work on a Hail Mary replica before launch and do a ton of experiments and tests. There’s a lot of science (I did a ton of research for it), it’s a slow burn, and I SWEAR there’s an actual plot. But lately on TikTok I’ve heard that people absolutely despise x OCs 😭 ya girl is already like 80 pages into this so now I’m wondering if I wasted my time writing it? Or am I overthinking it because I’m writing fanfic at my grown age?

...and I can not tell if I've become a better or worse writer, but at least I posted! 4 years may not seem like a lot (and it isn't really) but it still did take a lot to FINALLY finish a fic even if it was just a one shot. I'm in the middle of several 10k+ word fics but none are anywhere close to being completed lol.

It's hard to compare my writing from before because I used to just write humor for the most part, and now I think everything I write is a lot more serious (or straight up depressing). But making sure a fic is written is appropriately emotional is very different than creating fun situations, so I have no way of evaluating my own work.

But either way, I'm happy that I have finally posted again! I've been thinking about it for so long but kept putting it off, so as soon as I finished writing I did the most minor of edits and posted just so that it was finally done. I know that stats may get to me later but for now I'm just happy to make this step :)

1. Leave a top-level comment with a word, any word.
2. Reply to top-level comments with an excerpt (try not to go over 600 words) that is about the idea behind that word, or relates to that word somehow, but does not contain that specific word!

Suppose the top-level comment word is 'run.'

You can share an excerpt where you very directly write that a character dashes down the road, but you happened to use the word 'dash' instead of 'run.'

Or, you could share an excerpt where you describe a character's racing breath and pounding heartbeat and working legs, all without ever using the word 'run.'

There could be a lot of ways to interpret this, approach it however you want! It's best to explain what you're going for if you think it could be unclear. For example, suppose the word is 'run,' and you want to share an excerpt where a character is running his mouth (and you never write the word 'run'). It would be helpful to explain why you're posting a snippet about a character talking a lot under the word 'run.'

Additional thoughts. Please:

• Use content warnings as needed, and link to NSFW excerpts instead of posting them directly.
• Leave some nice comments (no concrit unless requested) for other writers! At minimum, if possible, for each top-level word that you post, respond to at least one excerpt posted under it. You don't have to engage with content you aren't comfortable with, but please be open to leaving a nice comment on writing that may not be your preferred genre or fandom!

It's not wrong at all to do the minimum! People will have limited time and energy for plenty of reasons. But if you can do more and choose to do more, let's celebrate! I'm going to try something new & leave a top-level comment where you can celebrate if you leave a nice comment on five excerpts or more ❤️

I'm new to fanfiction and haven't read many but I was thinking about the concept of fanfic writing as a whole. I personally think fanfics are an actual form of literature. Of course the quality of their writing varies depending on their author and their goal for writing fanfics, and you should always appreciate the original creators work because if it wasn't for them that world and its lovely characters wouldn't exist, but I really don't think in terms of artistic value fanfiction is something less. I would say it's a different form of writing but not something less. What do you think? If you were original authors how would you feel if someone writes a fic of your story with amazing writing?

edit: some other questions I want to add: do get curious of the fanfic authors original works if their fanfiction are well written? I mean do you like their writing or you just like the world they wrote fanfiction for? if you were both an original author and fanfic writer would you be ok for people to knew your fanfictions as well?

I'm really curious to know how much of the authors actual skills shine in fanfiction through people's opinion.

Welcome to the Beta Bartering thread! Here you can look for a Beta, a Co-writer, or a Writing Buddy for your fic or offer your Beta services to fic authors.

Please note that you can request a beta reader even if you can’t offer anything in exchange, however it will increase your chances of finding a willing beta if you offer something in return.

The rules are straightforward.

• Make a comment below with the following information.
• Reply to people that you want to trade with. There is no one making matches for you, reach out to likely people in the thread.

If you're looking for a Beta, a Co-writer, or a Writing Buddy:

• Name and Link to your fic (if it's not published, link something else as an example of your writing).
• Tell us what fandom you're writing for.
• Can someone who isn't in your fandom make sense of your story?
• The genre of your fic - romance/smut/gen/mystery/horror/etc.
• What you're looking for from a Beta or a Co-writer - Grammar/Structure/Plot/Planning/Idea soundboard/etc.
• What your projected word count is.
• How frequently you update.
• What fandoms you are able/willing to beta for or what you can offer in exchange*.

Proposed options for no exchange wording:

• If you do not want to offer something in exchange, please leave a brief note that you are unable to offer anything at this time.
• Note: If you are unable to offer something in exchange at this time, please leave a brief note explaining.

If you're willing to Beta for someone:

• What fandoms you're well versed in or if you're willing to take on anything.
• Preferred genre/types of fics.
• Any subjects you're not willing to tackle.
• Types of Betaing you're good at or willing to try - Grammar/Structure/Plot/Planning/Idea soundboard/etc.
• Minimum or maximum word count.
• One-off (single session) or ongoing Betaing.
• Time constraints. Do you have a fast turn-around time? Is it going to be more than a week for you to get back to an author with notes?
• What you'd like in exchange * for your services.

* Bartering Ideas!

Since some people want Betas but are too busy to reciprocate or aren't confident in their writing skills and some Betas don't write fics themselves, you can offer other things in exchange. Please do not offer monetary exchanges.

If you aren't sure what to offer, you can also open this up to the Beta to suggest a barter in exchange.

Here are a few ideas for bartering:

• Reciprocal Betaing (of course that's welcome!)
• Reading and commenting on their fics.
• Write a fic for a fandom/subject/pairing/brotp of their choice.
• Make fanart for them.
• Name an OC after them.
• Edit/give assistance with a non-fic project.
• Research help for this/future fics.

Feel free to get creative, people have many specialties they can draw on!

Here's a link to the previous ones just in case there's someone in there that catches your interest.

I need some for my fic! I need some to describe a dramatic person, who is very annoyingly and reckless

If you know creative ones please share them, I'll pay you with my thanks

Edit: they're from teenagers to people in their 20's, in a college setting

i'm just trying to gather opinions in it bc i'm working on one rn and ive got multiple ideas

As above. So far the only one I’ve seen was I’m Where Now?, where the protagonist got sent to Elder Scrolls and after finishing the plot gets help to jet himself back home, misses, and so on.

I’d prefer ones where the protagonist is trying to go home under their own means, rather than some ROB saying “defeat the enemy, go home with powers” or such.

After reading one or two chapters i get an error message that says 'Story does not have any chapters. Please check to see you are not using an outdated url.' I have to wait for 15 minute and reload for it to fix itself. Is there a permanent solution to this problem?

Looking for long, super cheesy, fluffy, tooth-rotting romantic fics! 🥹💕with the first time trope, especially with shy/inexperienced characters and lots of tenderness. Preferably MM, but any fandom is welcome! smut is nice as long as there's plenty of romance. Please feed my hopeless romantic heart! 😭🫶🏻

Share the last review you've gotten on a fanfiction!

I just started rereading Percy Jackson and I literally devoured the first two series under two weeks. However, as a certified Leo, Jason and Piper liker, it bums me out that the half year they spent building the Argo II and generally preparing for the big quest is skipped over completely. Can anyone recommend fics that explore that time period? Preferred Leo/Piper/Jason but any ship, including lack thereof, works.

Also looking for recs where Percy is awakened sooner and spends "filler time" in Camp Jupiter during the timeskip. Boy deserved to have fun with his Roman friends and actually spend time with the exchange program.

Yeah basically just wanted to ask if you guys can recommend any. I would love if the story is set after/before lotr but if you have a good one that is during lotr then pls recommend it too. Thanks!

As the title says, I’m looking for Transformers Fanfic RecommendationsI wonder whast it would be like if a human were to go to Cybertron. Of course, I’m open to other topics as well, so thanks!

I have an AU fic for a fandom that involves two characters swapping their roles and dynamics, changing the show completely. I started it in February this year, balancing between my school requirements and writing the fic. I already flopped with a previous fic, so I didn't have high expectations for this fic. However, it suddenly got some attention and people commented on the fic! It wasn't a lot and definitely not as big as bigger fics but for me it was amazing and euphoric.

I continued writing throughout my summer break from May to July and also in the first month of the new school year since it was laden with suspensions and cancelled classes thanks to multiple storms plaguing my country. Come September, and I started getting booked. Competitions, classes, school officer duties, school organization duties, etc. I started getting distracted and didn't update the fic. I posted a short little notice saying that I wasn't done with the fic and have the intentions to continue it and its spin-off that I launched in its universe.

It's October, and looking at my schedule, I can't find the time to finish another chapter without sacrificing one of my performances. Additionally, every time I look back at my fic's published chapters, I realize that there were parts that were written poorly in hindsight and could be written better now that I have a better writing hand. For example, my fic ended up including my OC (who's kinda a Gary Stu but since incorporating him I've updated him to flesh him out and make him more flawed), goes through repetitive themes, and has these "break chapters" that make the storyline messy. When I rewrite it, I want to stick mainly to the storyline, maybe a few break chapters here and there, and try to not include my OC too much and make him steal the show.

I'm so tempted to cancel that fic and its spin-off, to redo everything and restart the universe to improve it. However, that would mean that all the kudos, comments, and hits that I got would stop. It's not like I have a consistent stream of people who support me and my fic isn't known in the fandom, so people wouldn't seek it out willingly. My posts on Tumblr about the fic get minimal attention.

I would like some advice! I'm not sure what I should do, because I really want to my rewrite to experience the same hype/reception that my og fic got when it first published, but I can't assure it and the fic already ammassed a large amount of interactions.

While I never played the game, I want fanfics, your faves and hopefully Ghost centric as well.

It's a biography essentially of all the bad guys--Harry and Marv from HA, Switchblade Sam from DTM, and the trio from BDO--and their backstories, and how they know each other in the Chicago criminal world of the John Hughes "Shermerverse."

I have been plugging away at it for nearly a month now and really intend to polish it up. I'm trying to stick as closely to the movies as possible in terms of how I portray the bumbling crooks. Tweaking the dialogue, and making sure I'm consistent with what the films show us.

I'm also trying to make it as realistic as possible, while simultaneously not deviating too far from the movies, as far as the tone and feel is concerned.

As the weeks have gone by I have gone so far down the creative rabbit hole as it were that I realize there is no way I can cram the events of the characters' pre-movie lives into one narrative without the story feeling rushed, or it being overwhelming to readers. So I plan to post/publish it on the web as three separate stories, all them together covering the lives of Harry, Marv, Eddie, Norby, Veeko, and Switchblade Sam in the decades leading up to the events of the films.

Hopefully the result will be a finished product that John Hughes himself would have approved of.

also id like Nightwing/Dick Grayson to be in it. idc if he lives or dies I just want him there

I've written lots of stuff but on the book I'm working on currently I'm struggling SO much to have writing motivation

How do y'all write SO many words and so fast??? I'm reading loads of books with like 10000 words per chapter and 6 uploads a week??

I'm genuinely in awe of y'all

But also so desperate to get this book done

I have so much planned for the plot, I've done playlists, mood boards, Pinterest boards, notes, character development for the fic universe

ITS THE WRITING IT DOWN THATS THE ISSUE

Never had this issue before pls help

Hi everyone, I'm trying to track down a specific Lord of the Rings fanfiction that I am almost certain was on FanFiction.net. I can't remember a lot of the story, but I remember like a little part. I also can't remember how many chapters.

The scene takes place, I believe, after the Fellowship escapes Moria and loses Gandalf. They are gathered around a campfire on the trail, and Legolas tries to make a traditional Elven brew or tonic over the fire to help the I believe he puts tree bark in it. Some kind of tea maybe? He only makes it when he doesn't feel amazing, or is nervous or something, and Aragorn noted that.

Pippin, being curious and all, wants to try it, so he takes a sip, thinks it is completely gross, and spits it out. He also throws the cup too I believe. Everyone laughed at that. Legolas catches the cup himself before it hits the ground, and seemed a little hurt that everyone was laughing.

I am sorry that is all I can remember...

Like its insanely stupid how OP he has gotten in the movie, after collecting a bunch of weapons, divine constructs included too. I just wonder if there are fics that had him utilize more NPs?

Well the fics wont be a power wank, there will still be limits for the guy but i hope to see him have the chance to use something new rather than his usual kit. Oh and the writing must be good too as a bonus.

I'm specifically looking for the 4th Hogwarts reads the Goblet of fire and up books. I read what was available in this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20120425061221/http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3036116/shopaholic1369. It stops at the fourth book chapter 6.