sticky: i love you fandom.
You know, I've never been the sort of writer that attracts a lot of readers, and sometimes you do have the habit of comparing yourself to other people or having a bit of a feedback monster about things and as my mother always used to say, there will always be someone better and someone worse than you (why are mothers so annoying with their reasonableness?), but you know how it is, it's hard to be gracious human being all the time. (And sometimes I truly do wonder if I'm ever a good person. I try to be.) Sometimes you get stuck in a bit of a poor me phase.
But then I mostly remember that I am completely spoiled for feedback by the readers that I have. I get these amazing thoughtful comments from wonderful people that are worth so, so much and ugh, I do not deserve it. And I'm stupidly happy to have brought even one person to say some of the things that have been said to me. (And it's not just one, I am indebted to many of you.)
Much of what I write is silly, or purely for entertainment, but there are some things that have a lot of truth in them, for me, that hold a candle to how I experience the world, and that people appreciate that, when they are truly spoiled for choice when it comes to reading, is humbling and inspiring.
I write for many reasons, not just for the love of writing, but in a way, because it's my way of loving life (when so often I don't, in many ways), and my way of puzzling out the world which is so often incomprehensible. It's for myself foremost.
But I like to remind myself sometimes that I will always write for the one or two people who read. And I'll always truly be grateful for the one comment that picks up on something I intended for myself, that makes my day.
Anyway, this has been a post.
Tl;dr: thank you. To the writers whose work I love to read and the readers for whom I love to write, I'm endlessly thankful to share in fandom, in my opinion, the most unique, creative group of people that ever took up keyboards. It's the collaborative, social nature of it that makes it a joy. Too often, I think, writing is solitary, lonely or at least, done alone. But this is shared joy, and that is the best kind. ♥
Cross-posted to Tumblr. Apologies if you got the double up.