Transitioning

One bonus of belonging to a fanfiction community is the feedback. I believe that helped me thrive and now that I’ve left that, comments are sparse and likes are simply invitations to check out another’s blog.

I’m not sure what your opinion is of fanfiction, but that’s where I started. In fact, “The Choice” is basically my attempt at extracting the fanfiction from the fiction which includes changing names and certain details that only make sense for those of that particular fandom.

I started writing when I entered a fandom and read so many great fanfiction stories that I was inspired to write my own. I loved writing those stories. They were a chance for me to come up with different what-if’s, dabble in different genres, and express the different stories I could see play out in my mind.

Now to my point: I’m in the process of posting my 2nd draft of “The Choice” and now I’m questioning myself. I recognize that I am transitioning from a fanfiction writer to one that will one day publish. The fanfiction community I was a part of was filled with dialogue, reblogs (meaning they saw your story worth reposting onto their blog), and encouragement from fellow writers. We knew it was hard to carve out time from our busy lives and produce updates to ongoing stories. I don’t know of many writers that post their story before they publish it making the writing process a lonely venture. Sure, on tumblr, I’ve seen young aspiring writers post that they wrote so many pages one day and might even post an excerpt or quote. However, most of the construction is done where no one is looking.

My question: Should I stop posting my 2nd draft of “The Choice”? The likes I receive aren’t encouraging because I don’t believe the likers are actually reading the post. Forty-two chapters of the original story are out there (it’s unfinished, because I want the ending revealed when it’s published) for anyone to read. There really is no reason why I should continue to expose the process of “chipping away” at my story unless I’m receiving feedback that I can use.

I realize I’m transitioning from a writer that received encouragement and immediate feedback with each update of my story to a writer that doesn’t receive those things.

So does it make sense that I transition from a writer that shares each development to one that waits until I have a final product to share?

By Angelique Grey