Fandom Commentary - Tumblr Posts

I don’t know who needs to read this but…

If your fic is unfinished, you’re okay. If your fic is on long-term hiatus, you’re okay. If your fic is straight up abandoned, you’re okay. If you punch out a thousand WIPs and rarely finish any of them because you work best with juggling stories, you’re okay. If you only ever publish oneshots because you like short and simple stories, you’re okay. If you only post longer, multi-chaptered fics after they’re complete, you’re okay. If you don’t post anything at all no matter what you write in private, you’re okay. 

There is far too high a standard for fanfic authors (and other creators) in fandom lately. This idea that if you start a WIP, no matter how long or short you’re planning it – or how long or short it ends up being – you HAVE to finish it, you HAVE to update on a schedule basis, you HAVE to have a plan. And that’s just wrong. 

Fanfiction is for many authors a testing ground, a place to practice writing. Sometimes that means starting a WIP that never finishes because the author realizes they didn’t plan ahead enough or the story’s plot went way in over their heads or simply don’t have enough motivation to finish, and THAT’S FINE. Others punch out ficlets and oneshots that rarely get attention or reviews and THAT’S FINE. Fanfiction is not the publishing world, nor is it a resume. It’s a place to express yourself, whether in short bursts, longer epics, or a bazillion unfinished projects, or anything in-between. 

If you’re writing fanfiction, or drawing fan art, or creating other fandom works, no matter what your method is, no matter whether you finish or not, you’re doing okay. I promise.