Young writers, be careful. Opinions are not facts.

I want to share an experience of mine, because I think it might be useful for writers who feel insecure about their current skills. One day, on a subreddit, I was discussing how to look positively at other forms of feedback when there are no comments on your fic. And then someone said something more or less like this: “If you write your fics the way you write here, no wonder you don’t have any comments.”

And man… that hurt a lot. It’s not relevant to recount how that conversation continued (let’s just say that person had no trouble understanding in another language that I was furious). But the worst part was how it affected me, even though I knew that take wasn’t true. I had already received comments in the past and no one had ever implied that my English was strange or incomprehensible. Even so, it froze me up; I started feeling ashamed to update my fic.

Until one day I decided to publish a one-shot anonymously and surprise! Positive comments. There were people who liked the way I wrote, after all.

My point is: don’t let negative people interfere with your writing. Because I think if I were younger and more insecure, that malicious opinion would have stopped me. Fanfiction is a space of freedom for everyone, and in that space you will find people who will like your work.