Smiley Town, Episode II: Attack of the Grin [Now with over 1.5 million page views!]

[Crystal Tears]

Odd question… have any of you ever had a fan that actually turned you off writing a certain story?

I’m only asking because I just watched the trailer for the installment of STARCRAFT II, and it reminded me of my fic I was writing based on it. I actually stopped writing it because of this one guy (who will go unnamed) on fanfiction.net. Though he claimed to love the fiction, nothing I wrote was ever good enough. It wasn’t even real things to critique, it was nitpicking over decisions I made *in the game*. Most of the things he’d complain about it, it wasn’t worth reading. I don’t know why though I took it somewhat personally (probably because it was constant).

Now, for those of you who don’t know, when I started writing this story, my sister got very sick and I didn’t exactly feel inspired to write. Anyone here would surely understand the reasoning behind my writers block/lack of inspiration. So, when I finally did put together the next chapter (taking me around 6 months), he decides to complain about it (both the chapter, and the gap between chapters) despite him reading my ff.net profile page thing that explained that I was terribly busy, uninspired and overall just not wanting to write.

I sucked up it, attributing it to me being sensitive. My love for the fic dwindled, and then, right when I felt like writing a bit more and maybe resurrecting my inspiration, he sends me a PM.

And tells me, fans (more specifically him) expect to wait just 1 – 14 days for a chapter.

ARGH.

Anyways… Just needed to vent about it, I suppose. Toodles~

[Gavin Luper]

Odd question… have any of you ever had a fan that actually turned you off writing a certain story?

I’m only asking because I just watched the trailer for the installment of STARCRAFT II, and it reminded me of my fic I was writing based on it. I actually stopped writing it because of this one guy (who will go unnamed) on fanfiction.net. Though he claimed to love the fiction, nothing I wrote was ever good enough. It wasn’t even real things to critique, it was nitpicking over decisions I made *in the game*. Most of the things he’d complain about it, it wasn’t worth reading. I don’t know why though I took it somewhat personally (probably because it was constant).

Now, for those of you who don’t know, when I started writing this story, my sister got very sick and I didn’t exactly feel inspired to write. Anyone here would surely understand the reasoning behind my writers block/lack of inspiration. So, when I finally did put together the next chapter (taking me around 6 months), he decides to complain about it (both the chapter, and the gap between chapters) despite him reading my ff.net profile page thing that explained that I was terribly busy, uninspired and overall just not wanting to write.

I sucked up it, attributing it to me being sensitive. My love for the fic dwindled, and then, right when I felt like writing a bit more and maybe resurrecting my inspiration, he sends me a PM.

And tells me, fans (more specifically him) expect to wait just 1 – 14 days for a chapter.

ARGH.

Anyways… Just needed to vent about it, I suppose. Toodles~

He sounds like a douche, and he's not the kind of fan you would really want, although I know that writing fanfic means most of us will take anyone we can get. Nonetheless, I'd put him in his place: you don't deserve to take that kind of crap. If he gets offended and abandons the fic, so be it. If he reigns in his behaviour and stays on, then it's a good outcome. Either way, I'd suggest it's probably better than what's happening right now. You shouldn't have to put up with that shit and personally, I wouldn't. You don't need to be overly confrontational, just direct.

This hasn't happened to me before, although in my years modding here I have seen it happen to other writers and fans (I won't name them). It produces a toxic kind of environment and doesn't make either the writer or the reader feel good. I would just say something directly and tell him its your creation, not his, so if he wants to keep enjoying it, he should back off the nitpicking and show some damn respect.

Hope that advice helps?