Most Common Writing Errors (ONGOING)

Writing Fanfic: Harder Than You Think

This chapter talks about why writing fanfic is harder than you might think.

Read the disclaimer if you haven't already.

An additional disclaimer for this chapter: I will be talking about reader habits in this chapter and why they can make writing fanfic harder. I want to state very clearly that I don't mean all readers. I don't even mean half of them. Writers wouldn't exist without readers, and I think I speak on behalf of writers when I say we appreciate readers more than we can say.

This chapter's only purpose is to raise awareness about toxic shipping and expectations and how that impacts a fanfic writer. If you aren't a toxic shipper and/or you don't place unrealistic expectations on authors, then I'm not talking about you.

Most of this is based on my experience, so your experience may have been different and you are welcome to disagree.

I think everyone knows that writing in any capacity is difficult, but many look down on fanfic because it's "easier."

Yes, it can be easier to a certain extent because you have characters to work with, and in many cases, themes, worlds, and plots to incorporate into your world as well. So maybe you don't have to do as much creative work such as creating a character or world from scratch.

However, fanfic writers struggle with two things original story writers (mostly) do not.

Shipping and expectations.

When reading a fanfic, something I've noticed as compared to when I've written original stories is that readers are more insane with shipping.

I've been writing online for over a decade, so when I say original stories, I mean originals I've written on other websites, not Wattpad.

This isn't an example toxic shipping, but it is intense shipping: my story, Like Crazy. The second something bad happened to Jimin, my entire comment section got filled with "Namjoon x Y/n" "Jungkook x Y/n" "Yoongi x Y/n." 

Why can't it just be "What's Y/n gonna do now?"

And, if I'm being honest, I deleted the Namjoon x Y/n comments because they genuinely concerned me, joking or not. Slight spoilers: he literally murdered one of her closest friends right in front of her and burned her town to the ground. Why would they get together-

It was a bit disheartening to see my comment section full of people immediately moving on to Yoongi x Y/n, or Jungkook x Y/n, or Namjoon x Y/n instead of thinking about Y/n, or hell, even Kastor. Kastor and Park have probably the best relationship in the story behind Y/n and Jimin. Poor Kastor, bro.

Whether it was a joking comment or a serious one, I've never written stories for sake of shipping characters. I write stories that happen to have ships in them. I want to write thought-provoking material that transcends the average fanfic on Wattpad. I love writing romance, which is why I include it in most of my works (even works without Y/ns), but story comes before ships. I'm not going to change the plot or ending for sake of appeasing a ship.

And I mean no offense to my Like Crazy readers who did this. You guys are awesome and I love you all; without you, Like Crazy would be a blip in my history. None of that is meant with ill intent. As a writer, I hope you understand I have feelings too and sometimes comments can make me feel a certain way, good or bad, whether the commenter intended it or not.

Shipping is a prominent part in fanfic. It's the main reason why so many readers read fanfic to begin with.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to read ship fics. Read whatever you want, it's your personal time and the thing you enjoy. I'm not about to tell you to stop reading what you like, y'know?