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Poke, Poke, Poke
May. 4th, 2023 01:03 pmOne of the most infuriating parts of having a large body of work online is that it causes people to poke and prod me for more of a specific thing. Sometimes they read a work that is more than a decade old and demand more of it. Or they find a single line in a fic that they think is absolutely fascinating, and act like I’m silly for never exploring it.
Or I edit a single line in a fic when I’m reading my own shit and I get ten emails about it because how dare I change a sentence in a work that is eight years old. I’ve clearly ruined their whole life and made things difficult by changing a few words. I’m not even exaggerating about this. I did that and I got emails within a week. I got an email about it last week actually where the person was searching for a fic that had that specific line in it and they just couldn’t find it and they were so sure it was my fic and can I please help them. It was so overtly obvious they were complaining about it and not just because it was the FIFTH email they’d sent me about the same line of dialogue I’d edited in the first part of the Sentinels of Atlantis.
I know, as a writer, that I can’t predict what a reader will get out of my work or what parts they will ultimately become very attached to. I also know that people read the same things over and over again (much like they watch the same media repeatedly) because it helps with anxiety. If they read something new, they might get a nasty surprise. So, I do understand the comfort that can be had in finding an author you trust to warn appropriately with a large body of work you can swim in when the world is difficult.
But, for the love of Pedro Pascal, please stop prodding me for shit you want to see. It drives me nuts.
Or I edit a single line in a fic when I’m reading my own shit and I get ten emails about it because how dare I change a sentence in a work that is eight years old. I’ve clearly ruined their whole life and made things difficult by changing a few words. I’m not even exaggerating about this. I did that and I got emails within a week. I got an email about it last week actually where the person was searching for a fic that had that specific line in it and they just couldn’t find it and they were so sure it was my fic and can I please help them. It was so overtly obvious they were complaining about it and not just because it was the FIFTH email they’d sent me about the same line of dialogue I’d edited in the first part of the Sentinels of Atlantis.
I know, as a writer, that I can’t predict what a reader will get out of my work or what parts they will ultimately become very attached to. I also know that people read the same things over and over again (much like they watch the same media repeatedly) because it helps with anxiety. If they read something new, they might get a nasty surprise. So, I do understand the comfort that can be had in finding an author you trust to warn appropriately with a large body of work you can swim in when the world is difficult.
But, for the love of Pedro Pascal, please stop prodding me for shit you want to see. It drives me nuts.
