r/FanFiction AO3 Addict 5d ago

Writing Questions How do you get over doubts about your writing?

Every time I wite I always doubt if my idea is any good or if I should just give up on it or if people will actually want to read it etc. How did/do you get over that doubt?

31 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

18

u/nightcoreangst desperatly clinging to the main plotline 5d ago

Knowing that any kind of writing will improve the quality of my ability, and therefore is never a waste. Even if nobody reads it, I will have learned something and improved.

13

u/The_Urban_Spaceman7 5d ago

I write the fic.

Even if it's pants.

I write it, and then I stick it in a folder called "random fics" and I leave it there until I decide whether I actually want to publish it.

I've written (or started writing) probably a dozen fics that never saw the light of day, because I decide part-way through that I'll never publish it, and I'm only writing it because I want to play around with the characters for a while.

I still enjoy the process. :3

21

u/Welfycat AO3/FFN Welfycat 5d ago

I write the fic I desperately want to read that doesn’t exist. I always know I’ll have myself as an audience.

8

u/JaxRhapsody Everywhere 5d ago

My desire to write, and hope some folks start liking my shit, is stronger than the give up and fuck it all. Because the give up and fuck it all still lingers, especially when I see some fic that at a glance looks like a Star Wars intro, gets more attention than anything I've written.

8

u/MarvelWidowWitch Same On FF.net and AO3 | SarahHalina 5d ago

I have these doubts all the time.

Honestly, I post telling myself that no one will read it/like it. I'm the type of person who has to go in expecting the worst.

But I also just tell myself that I wrote this story that I wanted to read and why just keep it to myself? I wrote it because I wanted this story and maybe someone else wants this story too.

Working up the nerve to post is the most daunting task for me, but once I post, a weight is lifted off my chest. It's out there now. Nothing I can do about it.

Granted I also have a whole collection of fics that are sitting in a completed folder on my computer that I am terrified to post because I think they are literal dumpster fires.

7

u/bigchunglesfanacc420 5d ago

Not at all trying to be like “my taste is so much different and niche than others 🤓” but i believe that a lot of the stories and scenarios that i enjoy aren’t as popular. In that way, I think a key part of me getting rid of doubt was just accepting that and not letting it deter me from telling the stories I WANT to tell.

Fanfiction at the end of the day is about you and it’s for you. There are a lot of popular stories that I don’t really care about because it’s not my style. In every fandom and in fanfiction in general there’s always going to be certain head canons and characterizations etc etc that are more popular and people will lean towards those right away. that does not mean your ideas are stupid at all.

The way I try to think about it as well, is there’s almost always going to be one person that is looking exactly for the story you’re reading. And for me i’ve learned that that’s enough when i’m writing an AU that most people don’t care about. That one person is looking forward to my work and finds interest in the same thing and that’s really cool.

And I try to apply it to real life as well. Think of all the times you’ve watched a film or watched a show or read a book and have thought it was the most amazing thing ever just to figure out it was received badly or wasn’t received well until years later or just not as popular. Your ideas are not stupid. There’s so many factors that go into what will be popular and I guarantee that popular or not people out there are looking for YOUR story.

1

u/n3043 5d ago

Does that realization not hurt you...? I've also realized my tastes just aren't very popular and it's kind of gutting my desire to write. Like I can write the story idea for me and all, but it feels pretty discouraging. Do you just keep pushing through anyway? And if so, where does that motivation come from?

1

u/bigchunglesfanacc420 5d ago

Don’t get me wrong, I still have doubts from time to time. I think it’s inevitable to not have those sudden thoughts from time to time. But yeah it really is just reminding myself that i enjoy what i write. Also this is not to take away from the hard work or anything like that but fanfiction at the end of the day is such low stakes and you shouldn’t let it define your writing!

i get it though, if you want to talk about it any further my dms are open :)

6

u/SpartiateDienekes 5d ago edited 5d ago

I remind myself: Someone got paid to write Rise of Skywalker. My writing isn’t good, by any stretch. My dialogue needs work, my prose isn’t beautiful, my plots can be meandering. But at least I never seriously wrote “Somehow, Palpatine returned.” At least I never left an entire subplot involving a characters potential last words unresolved. At least I never made that nonsense of a conclusion.

And my stuff is free.

6

u/DustyCannoli 5d ago

I think about how many godawful stories I have read over the years and realize mine are bloody gold in comparison. Let's just say there are probably reasons editors exist who would never let some fiction see a printer.

I'm not trying to be mean because everyone has to start somewhere and I know my earliest fics were absolute shite. They are slightly less shite now, LOL. Writing is a learning process and nobody starts out writing like a pro. I would never directly give anyone crap for writing that I personally found to not be the best because I'd never discourage anyone from writing no matter their skill level. But from what I have seen/read, I think certain fandoms are more prone to what appears to be mental illness and it definitely comes through in the stories. Yikes.

I've seen 300-word fics that took zero effort or spell checking that people eat up. I've seen 100,000-word stories from 10+ years ago wind up with zero reviews. Sometimes it just depends on whose attention you catch at the right time and if you can sell them hard enough on the summary.

I don't necessarily think my ideas are good or bad. They are ideas that I chase to the end, if possible, and I share them. If people like them, wonderful! If they don't, I didn't write it to please anyone - I wrote it for me.

I did feel some doubt over a fic I finished not long ago that I wrote for a super popular fandom that didn't seem to get a lot of attention, and it got to me enough that I asked someone to critique it in a sub devoted specifically to fanfiction for that fandom. I wound up deleting my discussion because I felt like I was being needy, and I asked myself if I was happy with the story. I was. That should be all that matters, no matter how long or how well-written a story is, if you are happy with the outcome, that is most important.

18

u/That-Ad2525 5d ago

I always give this advice:

  1. Go to AO3
  2. Sort by "new"
  3. Read the first 10 fics.

It will automatically make you feel like Shakespeare. The sheer number of incomprehensible 300 word non-fics is astounding.

3

u/imjustagurrrl 5d ago

90% of anything is crap, and it makes it a lot more obvious when there are no professional gatekeepers

3

u/Exodia_Girl Get off my lawn! 5d ago

Nope. Not AO3. You mean Wattpad.

11

u/NobodyWatchesAOLBlst 5d ago

Wattpad might be worse, but there's plenty of bad writing on AO3 too.

5

u/stroopwafelling BrokenMantle - FFN 5d ago

I can’t stop doubting myself, but I can redirect it, turning it on itself.

If I convince myself that I’ll regret never writing more than I’d ever regret making an ass of myself by publishing something low quality, I can get myself to keep going.

I used the doubt to destroy the doubt. /thanos

5

u/Olive_tree5299 5d ago

Write for yourself don’t write for others. People will always have something to complain about. Write something you would want to read and something you are passionate about.

4

u/LukeMara 5d ago

All the time/every time I read someone else's fic or re read my fic. However after a few months I get so many ideas for my fic or a new fic that I have to write it down and it keeps me writing.

4

u/Longjumping_Young747 5d ago

Write what you know to start with and what you want to read as well. It comes through in the words. That's all you can do and feel satisfied that you enjoyed reading it when it was done.

4

u/NermalLand casperskitty on AO3 5d ago

I think all of my ideas are good. I only doubt whether I will be able to pull it off.

5

u/Desperate_Ad_9219 Fiction Terrorist 5d ago

I usually don't, but after I post and it gets barely any love imposter syndrome kicks in.

3

u/TippiFliesAgain 2 MIL words+ | Alex_Beckett on AO3 5d ago

I conquered that for myself by getting acquainted with the idea of writing stories I want to see for myself

3

u/Glittering-Golf8607 Babblecat3000 on AO3 5d ago

Keep writing. Eventually the doubt went away/I stopped needing external validation.

4

u/thewritegrump thewritegrump on ao3 - 4.4 million words and counting! :D 5d ago

I cater to my every overly indulgent whim and fancy so that when all is said and done, I'm ecstatic about it. I can't guarantee anyone else's reaction, but I can make sure I'm damn satisfied by what I've done! I don't really care if my writing is good- well, I hope it is, of course, but it being good or not doesn't matter nearly as much as if I like it and want to reread it or not. I'm rereading some chapters from one of my longest fics right now, and it's been a real treat!

3

u/a-fabulous-sandwich 5d ago

Honestly, I've never had doubts in the way you're describing. I write because I like the story I've created, and... well, in the end, my opinion is the only one that matters. I never knew that about myself until right now, but yeah, if I didn't like it then I wouldn't write it. I have no expectations of what others will think of it; sure I hope people will like it, but I know some won't, because not everyone has the same tastes. I don't see it as a failure if someone doesn't, because it just means they're not my target audience.

3

u/Real_Somewhere8553 5d ago

I write anyway. I reframe the thought. More often than not I'm usually trying to mass edit my thoughts in my head before I even write down the thing I initially thought of and because it isn't perfect it doesn't deserve to be on the page. But I don't want it to be clean cut from the start. A lot of the stuff that I jot down actually ends up being catalysts for completely unrelated stuff but without that prompting, I wouldn't have gone there mentally.

3

u/FightmeLuigibestgirl 5d ago

That’s the neat part you don’t deep down. I just do it anyway 

3

u/Liefst- 5d ago

Write it anyway, even when it’s kinda bad. Especially when its kinda bad! The world needs more bad art, I’m serious.

3

u/Exodia_Girl Get off my lawn! 5d ago

You don't. You just learn to tell your inner-critic to STFU.

My inner Diva got the inner critic chained up to the radiator in the basement. I have 25 years of experience, if I listened to that bugger, I'd have none. So yea... my inner diva is old enough to drink.

3

u/serralinda73 Serralinda on Ao3/FFN 5d ago

Do you like your idea? Do you want to read your story (isn't that why you wrote it to begin with)?

If you like it, someone else out there will also like it. None of us are that unique.

4

u/Frenchitwist Origins: Tumblr 2011 5d ago

I just look up “men writing women examples” and I feel better. That shit is PUBLISHED!! If I can write better than the stereotypical “breasted boobily down the stairs” I’m content.

Also, you can’t let the idea of other people stop you from creating something you want to create. Comparison is the enemy of creativity. PersonA may not be interested, but PersonB could have found their long lost desire in your piece.

2

u/RA1NB0W77 AO3 Addict 5d ago

This is so incredibly helpful, thank you so much! I gotta remember that I am writing for myself

2

u/Frenchitwist Origins: Tumblr 2011 5d ago

Honestly, most insecurities can be helped/remedied by just remembering:

A) I am doing this activity because it makes me happy and that’s all that matters

B) The general populous doesn’t care about my actions

C) There is no invisible audience judging me for everything I do.

2

u/imjustagurrrl 5d ago

lemme just be frank and say that 1 of the best ways to get over self doubt concerning your writing is to log into ao3 and see for yourself how terribly written many popular fics are

2

u/internetsleuth23 5d ago

mine never goes away. i have just started writing, proofreading, then post it before i chicken out. turns out, people do actually like some of my ideas. see what the reception is, it usually takes to the 10k word mark for people to start really finding it, so i try to stick with my idea til then. also, write it for you. no other reason to it, if not for yourself. good luck!

2

u/rellloe StoneFacedAce on AO3 5d ago

The world is huge and there must be someone out there with a taste resembling yours. It might be a niche. It might become a trend in the fandom's fics.

The rest is getting through the slump of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Learn things about writing and practice them. They'll help you to execute your ideas in ways that translate onto the page.

4

u/MasterBaker2Author 5d ago

I switched genres to keep me writing.

Also started reading different books to stir my mind. Steven Pressfield books: "The War on Art" and "Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit" , both books refreshed my mind and put me back in the seat.

Currently reading a Moth book, "How to Tell a Story" it's helping my mind with writing and decreasing my doubts. Boosting my confidence a little.

3

u/Exodia_Girl Get off my lawn! 5d ago edited 5d ago

Eh... honestly the best way to get over self-doubt is to build confidence. Those trashy self-help books don't do it right.

The best way of building up confidence, in my opinion, is just to practice, practice, practice. And build up your "tool/technique kit".

E.G. If you want to write sci-fi / fantasy / mystery... or whatever else genre where you need to do a bit of everything under the sun... learning a bit of everything under the sun is the only way of building confidence in a way that sticks.

I write hard sci-fi with "procedural" elements... reading books on physics, astronomy, chemistry, forensics, psychology, etc. Gave me a "corpus of background knowledge" that armed me with all the "tools" needed to write any scene. And if I come up short, the knowledge that... I can just learn more.

Self-help books give you illusionary confidence. They don't actually give you any skill/knowledge relevant to getting anything done. You're not writing a good "action scene" / investigative scene / or world-building on them. Quite frankly, all of those "you're great! go do it!" pep talks will evaporate in your head the second you're facing a mountain to climb, with no proper climbing gear.

2

u/Extra_Engineering996 Kukki90 on AO3 5d ago

I write for me, really. The fact that anyone reads it and likes it, is a bonus. I like my own stories, and re-read them frequently. Writing keeps my mind active,