For Writers - Blog Posts

To everyone who puts up fanfic only for it to not get a lot of likes.

IMAGINE THIS: You are sitting somewhere public, writing your story. Someone random walks up to you, asks to read what you are writing, they read it, then they say they like it.

Imagine that feeling every time you put a new chapter up, only for it to get 3 likes. JUST IMAGINE 3 RANDOM PEOPLE TELLING YOU THAT THEY LIKE YOUR STORY!

People have so much pressure to go viral, or to make something and for it to get MILLIONS of likes.

But most people don't get that. The majority of the population will never get that. And that's a cold hard fact.

But hang onto the feeling I mentioned earlier. Every time you get a new like, you brighten up someone's day with your writing. Your work was so amazing that someone took the time to read it, keep reading it, and tell you that they liked it.

My point is, (I know, this was very long lol) every like or comment counts, no matter how many or how little you get.

It’s worth mentioning that the hole probably didn’t show up by dumb luck. I can only imagine it was worn down by a reoccurring flow of water, until a hole for the water to flow in was finally created.

Which is a good reminder!!! It’s not just chance that make good art. It takes a lot of effort and hard work, especially at the early stages when there isn’t a hole and it feels like everything you make isn’t going anywhere.

So keep at it!!! Keep pouring effort into the things you love and make your own damn hole!!!

Words worth reading and repeating ♡

your work matters, and you're not a very good judge of it.

you can have the fancy degrees and the years of experience. you can have zero idea what you're doing and nothing but a song in your heart. the way you view what you write will never be how i view what you write. which is why you gotta write whatever feels real and good and honest to ya.

i forgot this. it's really lonely to be an author. the world you slice through to carve into a page - it can't ever be fully realized. sometimes the sun is butter yellow, and i can never spread it onto toast to serve to you. i can never describe fully the feeling of a new england october, only that a place that is often too-cold is suddenly full of a strange and visceral warmth. if you're not a writer or an artist, the experience is like this: take a flower and study it. without eating it, cook me a meal that tastes like this flower.

so i didn't know how good the book is, only that i hoped beyond a hope that anyone out there might get a kick out of it. maybe someone nice will review it every few days, i thought. i just want it to help any 1 person.

i did a reading recently where far too many people were kind and thoughtful and so gentle with me that i got into my car and burst into tears. i've had a very rough year, and this experience felt like a hug. so many people telling me they love what i read from the book. and in it, listening to the laughter as i read - at jokes i have long since stopped thinking are funny - it sent a bird straight through my heart. oh shit, i thought. i've been so unnecessarily cruel to myself.

you have no idea how many people read your work and don't respond because they are too shy or busy or unsure. i have webcomics i've never commented on that i've been checking on weekly for actual years. there are artists on spotify i will never be able to see in concert. there are paintings in galleries that i couldn't afford but wanted to kiss. i love what you have made, and i have no idea how to tell you. i love you, and it hurt me and helped me and also sent me back home. i wish there was more time and more ways to shine the light back to you.

be gentle. you have no way of knowing if you're good enough, so you might as well make something that feels good to make. someone will love it. and that love is never wasted.