my biggest obstacle as a writer is that i desperately want to be a popular and well-known fic author, but my main fic inspiration comes from characters most fans don’t want to read fic for, or ideas that go against popular fanon/characterization and so are doomed from the start. i end up feeling paralyzed and like i can’t write the unpopular ideas I want to write, because i hate knowing i could have done better by writing something with broader appeal. but whenever i try to write solely for numbers i lose motivation while the halfway through the fic. so i end up unable to write anything and feeling miserable because of it.
i want to see my unpopular ideas come to life, but i don’t want to see my fics crash and burn and keep missing the chance to create fic that people really love. so most times, i don’t write anything, but i hate that i’m so hamstrung by my own anxieties. i so desperately wish i could create one of those extremely well-known long fics that most people love and always rec everywhere, but i feel like i’m completely incapable of that. i know i should be writing for myself, but i’m greedy and want results and for people to like my fic, however unlikely that is. wanting to write my ideas but knowing i’ll limit my audience if i do is something that’s constantly on my mind. do you have any advice for me?
My biggest question after reading your ask is simply: why?
You’re very clear about wanting to be a popular writer. You want to write a fic that lots of people talk about, and you want people to know who you are. Have you examined that desire at all?
You say that the things you actually want to write are not the things that will make you a popular author. That means you have a choice:
write things you don’t care about with no guarantee of becoming that Big Name Fan or
write things you love and enjoy spending time writing and know that BNF status will probably never happen.
Writing fanfic is really not a great way to try to become popular. It’s an even worse way to try to become “famous” in any kind of way. So dig into what it is that you hope to get from the “broader audience” that you could appeal to by writing something you don’t really like.
Are you trying to get a feeling of being liked? Respected? Looked up to? Do you want to be someone other fans look to for advice or for setting the tone of the fandom? Do you want love? Power? Some kind of community connection? Recognition of the effort you put into your works?
Some of those things likely will require you to pretend to be someone you’re not. You might even manage to write that one big fic that gets thousands of comments and tons of people talking about it on tumblr (or wherever else you care about, social media-wise).
Others you can probably still get by writing your “unpopular” ideas but seeking out your fellow fans. It will take more legwork to find them and you’ll need to be willing to be the first one to reach out for a conversation, but it can definitely be done.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide what you actually want, anon. But take your time and scrape off the top layer of shiny thoughts about popularity first. Then you’ll be able to see what’s underneath.
if i may…
being a popular and well-known fic author isn’t really like… a thing? in modern day fandom? maybe in some, sure, but your cassandra clares or whoever else just don’t really happen anymore. fandom is much bigger than it used to be, and you’ll always be putting your work onto a pile of existing works, unless it’s a small fandom, in which case you’ll be one of the few posting it but also one of the few even around to read it.
and, look, here’s the thing: your fic will be popular, at best. you, as a person? that still requires some legwork. you cannot just write well and become a household name in the same breath. like even for famous published authors, how many people do you think know who stephen king is as a person? his name is certainly “household”, but he’s also been putting out an obscene amount of work for decades.
now. i’m not actually trying to be disparaging, here. i just wanted to get the ugly bits out of the way first.
i’m sure there’s tons out there with more than mine, but for my fandom i think this is pretty good. now let me tell you how i did this:
i wrote what i wanted to.
this is not a guarantee. it is not a surefire way to become popular. but it is fun, and people will recognize your passion. they’ll enjoy your work more because you’re enjoying it. writing what you want, how you want will always be better for EVERYONE involved, i promise. if you write to meet a quota, to appeal to the common denominator, people can tell. it’s not nearly as fun to read unless you’re really, really good at it, in which case you’d honestly be better off using that talent on things you like anyway!
and my fic has not made me popular. is the fic popular? reasonably speaking, sure. but i’ve been plugging this tumblr into the comments of every chapter for a few of those now, and the people who have followed me are few, and the people who’ve actively spoken to me are even less. and this isn’t a bad thing! i don’t want anyone to feel obligated to talk to me because they like my writing. in fact, if they actually want to do it, it’s way more fun for both of us! sound familiar?
if you want people to like your work, you need to make work you can be proud of, anon. people will be far more interested in you if you do. and they’ll give you nice comments and theorize on where you’re going and write essays in your inbox about their favorite parts. that feels so good. way better than raw metrics ever could!
do not chase the high of popularity. it will only hurt you, i promise. someone will like what you do, and if not, write something else you want to write, and keep doing that until someone does finally come along and go, “oh, wow, look at all this content for this thing i didn’t think anyone else would like!”
