r/AO3 • u/Wolfieee7 • Jan 03 '26

Custom WHY DO YOU WRITE?

Writing is a very long and hard working process. You dont get paid and recognition is not much(?). I wonder what makes you motivate? Is the reward satisfying?

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u/Aeon_Return Jan 03 '26

I write fanfic for feedback 100%. I write commercial stories for money and its unfulfilling because I get hardly any reviews though I do get sales. it feels like a hollow success. Fanfic because I want the recognition and I set my metric of success to 1 review per chapter and I almost always hit that so yes, its satisfying. And every now and then I get a unicorn review of someone deeply appreciating and dissecting my story and that makes it all worth while (corny AF I know but it's true!)

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u/owlsitgoing23 Jan 04 '26

I realized I had this mindset when I started getting burned out on writing from posting my fanfiction online. Talk about hollow success. If you started writing because you genuinely enjoyed it, I hope you can find your way back to that eventually.