dakota · @tbhyourelame1
13th Jan 2021 from TwitLonger
hi there
i wanted to address a few things i've caught on my timeline recently! i don't really get involved with much since i don't log into twitter for those reasons, but i figured this was worth the time to express how i feel :)
i'm a writer, and genuinely pursuing it as a career in the future. fanficition has always been side-work for me to have fun and goof off while using character designs/worldbuilding that has already been given. it's a great way for young writers to figure out their voice, style, and what genre their talent tends to fit into. i'm a huge advocate for exploring literary skill through practice, and fanfiction is exactly that to me - practice. i started uploading on ao3 because i was really just trying to make myself do something, commit to a plot and actually post my work instead of hiding it in my drafts. it was the first spark i'd had for a story in a long time.
i never intended, or even reached for this size of an audience. the fanfiction world, and social media, are extremely unpredictable forces - especially when combined. but the popularity happened, i had my own struggles with the exposure, and decided to keep uploading.
i am extremely disappointed and alarmed to see my writing being used as a "comparison" for other works in this community, and a means of discouragement for fellow authors. i have never intended to place myself above anyone else, or place any other fic writers below me. i can promise i hold no malicious feelings for anyone, especially those who feel jaded by the unnecessary hype of "heat waves" overshadowing their hard work. it's only natural to feel confused, shocked, or angry at this situation. i hear that, and i see you. the last thing i have ever wanted is to step on young writers' inspiration to continue their work, and explore their talent. quite the opposite, actually, i've opened channels on other sites and platforms to discuss with authors and give/take advice where it's requested of me. i was caught up in the positivity of my experience that i failed to notice how it was affecting others in the community.
ao3 is a wonderful, wonderful place full of talented authors who pour so much of themselves into everything they do. it is wrong, and meaningless, to compare one form of art to another. i do not believe numbers and clout determines the value of a work at all. there are plenty of works on the site that are brilliant, that i look up to, and deserve the recognition more so than me! i encourage anyone who has read my work to please, if you haven't already - explore what the site has to offer. support other writers, and give them the love you've so graciously given me. they deserve to have art created for their stories, to have people excitedly running for their updates. as we're moving into this age of growing fanfiction and the acknowledgement of it becoming more acceptable, i want to aid in any way i can to draw attention to the amazing works of literature that ao3 has to offer.
please take what i've input here and sit with it, for a while, even if you don't feel compelled to act on it. writers deserve support, not shame, and i hope that the surge which happened to me and my writing can open a gateway for recognition of others, instead of discouraging them.