#i write because i love it
I just completed an interview with a researcher looking into why fanwork creators participate in the fandom, and how it affects their writing. And it made me realise that the way I think about my own fics might be different to how other fandom participants (whether writers, readers, or other creators) do.
I put my work into this world with zero expectation and zero entitlement. Zero. I’m not sure if people realise this means I would continue to post my fics even if I got no kudos, no comments, no bookmarks. I would still post fics if I got no feedback whatsoever. I do not post my fics with the expectation that I will receive anything back from the world. I do not post my fics believing I am entitled to comments or even page views.
I post fics because I think, “I wrote this, and I love it, and I will put it somewhere in the hopes someone else will find it and also love it.” I do not expect that person to interact with me in exchange, or give me a comment or a bookmark. I expect nothing, and I believe I am not entitled to anything. Fandom is a deep and roiling ocean, and I just put my message in a bottle and let it fall into the waves.
Art for the sake of art; beauty for the joy of beauty. My message in a bottle wasn’t written because I expected a reply. It was written just so I could watch it float along until it left my sight. I believe fandom is not about, “I wrote nice comments, where’s my update?” and, “I wrote a fic, where’s my nice comments?”
Stand on the shore and shout at the sea; it doesn’t care. I owe you nothing, and you owe me nothing, and yet we continue to give each other things. That,to me,is the beauty of fandom.
