Post by mintedstar/fur on Apr 12, 2017 13:56:51 GMT -5
She didn't start out as a fan. She wanted to be a writer. She wrote a story many years ago, which, in hindsight, was never deserving of the fans it had.
She started out entering a contest. Become a fan to get a fan. It wasn't a well thought out contest, because there wasn't any loyalty between the writer or the reader. But getting two fans from that contest enchanted her.
Those fans posted once and never came back.
It was the third fan who stayed in her mind years later. The third fan who she remembered the name of. Because that fan hadn't come from the contest. They had come because she had asked them to.
Mosstail was her editor. A forum friendship she didn't even know she had made until years later. It was loyalty between a reader and a writer.
She remembered the words. Hey, Mosstail, could you come look at my fan fiction? No one is reading it.
And the return answer was Yes, or course. It was willingness to see your fans own attempt at writing.
And later, when Mosstail's fan fiction was finished and only she, the author, and Firestar5!, another fan, remained, the same request was made again, for a different fan fiction.
And this time both Mosstail and Firestar5! came. The loyalty between readers and writers.
She never thought of being a fan when she came to these forums, she only wanted to be a writer.
She never knew that the two could so perfectly go hand in hand.
She came here, not knowing how to be a fan.
She was the same as her own first fans. Leaving and never coming back. Or the fans that never posted at all.
Then she met the authors, truly tried to talk with them and learn from them. And she found how that loyalty was returned.
What Mosstail did was never a favor. It wasn't in return for points in a contest. Because she knows now. Now that she is both a fan and an author, that you owe your fans only your best writing and your fans only owe you there attention. But when you get to know the author and them you, both of you start to wonder...
What can you write? What lengths can you go? How good can those characters be?
And then, she started to form those connections, between a reader and an author. Just to see how far the other would go. She knew how good they could be as soon as she came to the topic, as soon as she started reading, she knew how good they were already.
And she cheered! Go on! Be better! Grow as a writer!
And she was so very happy, when the community that had always been welcoming, recognized her as a fan. And later, when she felt she had grown, when she knew that they too had been cheering her own. She too wrote.
And she looked back, seeing all the moments that had brought her here. The journey that had broken her heart at the beginning. And then she had stood up, and said, "No! I won't be that fan again! I'll tell them, ever day if I have to, how they have improved since yesterday. If I have the ability to see how good they are and will be, let me tell them that."
And she had found that being a fan was a reward. It was a gift. She was helping these people grow as writers. And they were helping her grow as a reader and even as a writer in turn.
---
So, yah, just how Minty sees the relationship between a fan and a writer. Just wanted to share this with you guys.
She started out entering a contest. Become a fan to get a fan. It wasn't a well thought out contest, because there wasn't any loyalty between the writer or the reader. But getting two fans from that contest enchanted her.
Those fans posted once and never came back.
It was the third fan who stayed in her mind years later. The third fan who she remembered the name of. Because that fan hadn't come from the contest. They had come because she had asked them to.
Mosstail was her editor. A forum friendship she didn't even know she had made until years later. It was loyalty between a reader and a writer.
She remembered the words. Hey, Mosstail, could you come look at my fan fiction? No one is reading it.
And the return answer was Yes, or course. It was willingness to see your fans own attempt at writing.
And later, when Mosstail's fan fiction was finished and only she, the author, and Firestar5!, another fan, remained, the same request was made again, for a different fan fiction.
And this time both Mosstail and Firestar5! came. The loyalty between readers and writers.
She never thought of being a fan when she came to these forums, she only wanted to be a writer.
She never knew that the two could so perfectly go hand in hand.
She came here, not knowing how to be a fan.
She was the same as her own first fans. Leaving and never coming back. Or the fans that never posted at all.
Then she met the authors, truly tried to talk with them and learn from them. And she found how that loyalty was returned.
What Mosstail did was never a favor. It wasn't in return for points in a contest. Because she knows now. Now that she is both a fan and an author, that you owe your fans only your best writing and your fans only owe you there attention. But when you get to know the author and them you, both of you start to wonder...
What can you write? What lengths can you go? How good can those characters be?
And then, she started to form those connections, between a reader and an author. Just to see how far the other would go. She knew how good they could be as soon as she came to the topic, as soon as she started reading, she knew how good they were already.
And she cheered! Go on! Be better! Grow as a writer!
And she was so very happy, when the community that had always been welcoming, recognized her as a fan. And later, when she felt she had grown, when she knew that they too had been cheering her own. She too wrote.
And she looked back, seeing all the moments that had brought her here. The journey that had broken her heart at the beginning. And then she had stood up, and said, "No! I won't be that fan again! I'll tell them, ever day if I have to, how they have improved since yesterday. If I have the ability to see how good they are and will be, let me tell them that."
And she had found that being a fan was a reward. It was a gift. She was helping these people grow as writers. And they were helping her grow as a reader and even as a writer in turn.
---
So, yah, just how Minty sees the relationship between a fan and a writer. Just wanted to share this with you guys.