Hell, to writers in general. Stop trolling each other, please.
Yes, fanfiction is a good way to hone writing skills and interact with other fans in a generally supportive environment.
Yes, given the hobbyist nature of the fanfiction genre, I would never expect or offer a rigorous critique…unless the author requested it with full awareness of what constitutes effective and useful criticism. Great fan writers don’t need a critique, and bad ones can’t usually benefit from it yet. I comment on great fan-written stories. I rarely comment on stories derailed by bad writing; if there are too many mistakes in the first few pages, I just stop reading. It would be pointless to go on, and equally pointless to review. I have the same policy about original fiction.
Recently, a fan writer named Katiedid pulled her work from the Archive of Our Own site, after several of her stories got apparently flamed by troll comments. I didn’t see them, and I’d only read a few of her works, so I can’t comment on whether or not the trolls were accurate or just being asshats. I can’t speak for her decision. I wish she hadn’t caved, but I don’t blame her. If anything, AO3’s more open admittance over the last few years has allowed in authors from other online communities where they may have picked up some bad social habits.
The Internet has trolls. That is never changing. I don’t think it should. Exercises in free speech are going to infuriate and emotionally trigger someone, somewhere. Efforts to constrain Internet speech most often seem to result in dumbed-down pablum offerings and even more witch hunts between groups. (Ah, tribalism, rearing your ugly mug again.)
Trolls are not usually real readers, anyway, but fringe group raiders looking for self validation and coup points within their own hierarchies. Both fan and original writers need to disregard troll comments…or learn to hit back with skill and glee. Take some lessons from original writers Chuck Wendig and John Scalzi, on how to moderate open comments.
Katie, come back to AO3 when you’re ready. Who cares what trolls think?
Thank you for writing this. I was sorry to see a favorite story gone, and didn’t know why.
That is horrible. I have been looking hard to find out what happened because I love all of her work and would read it over and over. People are awful, I hope that she has a way to find out how much she is missed.
I hope she does, too. And I really hope that the Archive of Our Own moderators come down HARD on the people responsible. We already have FF.net for sordid clique wars, we don’t need that nonsense ported over to our sandbox.
I urge any AO3 members reading this: if you liked Katiedid’s work and miss it, file a complaint with the AO3 mods. Maybe they can get in touch with her. The trolls will pick on someone else next, and someone after that. Comments on AO3 are limited to members or anonymous; members can be schooled, and anons can be mocked kn public.