Far too frequently, I've found that there are three major reasons why someone has quit writing fan fiction. Reason one, that interest of that subject has -quite simply- died, is completely understandable (as I've gone through that phase in life a number of times myself). Reason two, albeit also understandable, is a bit more confusing to me.

The second reason is the fact that they give into pressure from other people (for example: flamers and people who are, quite frankly, jealous). It just boggles my mind. I always thought that writing fan fiction was more of writing for self interest, not for a popularity contest.

I'm not one to toot my own horn. I know how daunting a task of writing under pressure can be. I got my share of "Not good enough, dammit. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" and other such complaints & flames in the past, especialy concerning my earlier fan fiction writing centering around my first Sailor Moon related created characters. And yes, at times, I've been brought to tears due to it.

The third major reason for a lack of fanfiction is time. A lack of that precious commodity of which we are only alloted 86,400 seconds (1,440 minutes or better known as 24 hours) in any one given day. It's also known as the "My job/real life/something that's more important has consumed my time, and unfortunately the fanfiction has to suffer because of it" syndrome. Unfortunately, I've not only had this happen to myself, but have also seen it happen to a few of my favorite fanfiction authors (namely the author of Shinzui/Sailor Orion's story whom of which I can't remember her name).

The thing is, I've learned to deal with it and at times, duke it out with the best of them. Comments that just irk the living daylights out of you should be taken with a grain of salt (and a dash of pepper). If people are just going to complain and gripe about what you wrote (or even about how often you don't write), shrug it off...or as the Partrige Family sings: "C'mon, Get Happy!" It's not worth a flame war. But it's worth it to know that somebody's interested enough in what you've wrote to comment on it.

Questions? Comments? Wish to flame me? Contact me through the guestbook or e-mail me at .

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