Fan fiction

[u/Niche-ism]

Hi I’ve been sitting on. A fanfiction I have written for a long time now. Every time I go to review it I’m tweaking something and so I’m not sure whether it’s just me needing to let it go or there’s actually things that need tweaking?

It would basically be my first fanfic since I was a kid. The style is basically the same but I know there was a lack of maturity. I’m nervous and just want it to be well received. But once I put it out there I feel like I can’t take it back if I find something that could’ve been phrased differently or adjusted.

How do you know that your fanfic is good to go?

[u/Far-Awareness-8069]

I don’t think your writing will ever officially feel ready to go. We spend so much time editing and replacing and looking up a hundred different words trying to pick the best way to describe one color, that we sometimes lose the effect the chapter might have on fresh eyes. Kinda like rereading the same joke over and over, you might laugh less. If you can step away and come back and it’s a story you personally feel entertained reading, then I’d bite the bullet and post it. At the end of the day you’re not getting paid for it. As long as what you’re writing makes you feel something i’d say that’s perfect. 

[u/RambleOn909]

I wrote two. Well technically 3 and a half. Published two though he's ends up with a OC and not katara.

Youre a perfectionist. I do ths some thing. You have to just post it. Ive made minor tweaks to them after I posted them. It isnt the end if you post it. But you have to have grace with yourself.

[u/notanotherbrownskin]

Yeah it'll never ever be finished. You just got to get used to that. For me, I have a beta reader. After I hand it off to them I'm done. I don't fuss with it unless it's small grammer/formatting fixes.

Also posting helps. I have a few very dedicated readers who comment on every chapter. If I'm late posting I feel like I'm letting them down. And that people pleasing tendency and sense of disappointing people overrides the perfectionism.

I mean, Art is never finished. Ask any artist and they will say they can work on any piece until the heat death of the Universe. Being an artist it’s part of your job to decided - yes, this is done now.

[u/dumbledoresarmy7]

It’ll never feel perfect! I could spend hours agonizing over all my word choices when I write but instead I just edit once and impulse post it because I want to just get it out there. Once you start posting, it feels much better to continue! Especially when you see that people are reading/engaging with it.