the lunatic you’re looking for

@Sirens_Scales @dmnexppwp Want to add "write for yourself" is a double-edged sword which people who give that advice rarely acknowledge. Connecting with people is a healthier motive than achieving perfection. There's a benefit to writing others. It's a balance imo.

@Sirens_Scales @dmnexppwp That's a really good description of the craft! I enjoy the process and that's why I keep doing it, I'd do it if I had no internet access to entertain myself. I guess in a way I'm my first reader. I agree we all want people to love our work! For me it's the cherry on top.

This is dumb and vulnerable and I may regret asking and delete, but here goes anyway: fic writers, how do you deal with the heartbreak of having a project you were very excited about absolutely flopping? I had a bunch more planned & written. I can’t bring myself to open the doc

@Sirens_Scales @dmnexppwp You're amazing too! I'm really impressed by how thoughtfully you've engaged with so many responses to this! It feels so rare to find people having conversations on the internet anymore and here you are!!

@dmnexppwp @ViciousKnish I think one of the saddest parts of this discourse is I’m meeting all these amazing people who I have 0 fandoms in common with 😂 You’re amazing

@Sirens_Scales @dmnexppwp Not invalidating you at all, ADHD works a little differently for everyone and I find other people’s experiences with it really interesting, especially when they’re different from mine!

@Sirens_Scales @dmnexppwp This is fascinating because I also have ADHD and while it does make intrinsic motivation harder achieve, it also kind of makes it the only kind that works for me. External motivation is 1000x harder for me to translate into action.

@tired_ginger Like I’m not defending the behavior it’s just weird to see people talk about this as a problem with Fandom These Days when the early 2000s were brutal.

@tired_ginger When I saw “don’t like, don’t read” in the 2000s it was mostly in the context of gay ships or other subject matter that might be controversial. Not the perceived quality of the prose. And I’m not saying it wasn’t rude, but it was socially accepted.

This is the infuriating conversational shift around fanfic. Obviously there is no obligation from readers to finish everything they click into. That back button is right there. See yourself out. But if you get on the internet to sneer at writers, you are making fandom hostile.

@livthedragon Tbh my motivation has never dwindled bc of lack of interaction. I know it does affect a lot of people and I agree that’s natural but it’s not universal. I’m not a machine bc fic isn’t a product.

I hate when people say "write for yourself" after people express disappointment in lack of comments or kudos. You can write all of the fics you want but your motivation will start to dwindle if nobody interacts with your stuff. It's disheartening. We aren't machines.

@dmnexppwp @Sirens_Scales sorry lol I mostly lurk on here because I’m too verbose for twitter

@ViciousKnish @Sirens_Scales babe i ain’t reading all that but i agree everything has many shades and a lot of things can be true at the same time! writing is very selfish in itself bc i only care about saying what I want to say, too all the love and support to the fellow author!

@dmnexppwp @Sirens_Scales I think when most people say "write for yourself" they mean it's helpful to have an internal motivation to fall back on when you don't get the response you hoped for, because so much of that IS luck.

@dmnexppwp @Sirens_Scales It's not a matter of being a "real artist" or not. Wanting to connect with people by telling a story is a wonderful motivation. But it's not performative pick-me behavior to have a different relationship with writing.

@huckledenn emergency medicine full stop I watch other medical dramas and I’m like stop making out and get back to work. this is not me being anti-ship I just like the medicine that much. I think I’m an outlier tho lol

do you like the pitt because you like emergency medicine or because you like shipping an attending with a medical student.

@aozorawaltz I don’t see how John Carter makes it through COVID when he’s immunocompromised from the anti-rejection medication he takes as a kidney transplant patient. Because you know he’d insist on working.

every day i wake up and i am grateful the pitt wasnt adapted as a continuation of er because i dont think there is a possibility john carters story wouldnt end in suicide

@saidthestrling @n3wsk1n It’s libertarian philosophically but it’s not exclusively libertarian. It’s not out of character for a liberal. I think of Abbot as more or less a Bill Clinton dem.

@ViciousKnish @n3wsk1n breaking the law so a teenager can get an abortion is extremely libertarian tbf but yeah i mean he’s part of SWAT so maybe he’s like, a biden dem

many of you are not prepared to accept the strong possibility that jack abbot is a registered libertarian