Fur Affinity Forums
Hi other writers! I just want to open up a discussion about writing and the potential anxiety that comes with doing so/how you handle it if you make your work public. Just to hear others opinions on the subject. I'm not looking for advice or anything. I just want to see other people's experiences.
I'll go first.
I write stories as a hobby. I used to make a webcomic that was available to the public, but I have been taking a very long break away from it because my perspective on sharing written work has changed drastically over the years. When I started making them, I was much bolder and was confident that people would enjoy my work. Now, the idea gives me palpitations. No one criticized me harshly or anything like that, but I've been going through some self-examination and realized what vulnerabilities I had been making public. When I write, it comes from some personal stuff and I tend to go to dark places. Granted, I haven't experienced all the things that my characters go through (I'm sure to do careful research when I tackle experiences outside of myself) or if I have, they often have it worse than I ever did. I'm growing afraid that when I write about serious subject matter, whether I experienced them personally or not, that I could potentially harm/trigger people who have gone through these things IRL. Realistically, I could hire sensitivity readers to catch things and make sure my writing is tasteful, but I am very bad at initiating social interaction with strangers and I also know that avoiding harming people is impossible because no piece of media is ever perfect on that front. This will probably need more time and introspection to get over, but I do miss creating for all to see.
I've been focusing on another personal project with my best friend as a co-author and am heavily vetting who I'm allowing to read it. It's a project that I'm very excited about on one hand, but I know it may also be one of the darkest things I've ever written. I have one reader in mind who I am sure can handle it and I can trust to be gentle in her feedback, but I'm terrified that someone could read it and when they get to the parts that deal with very serious and real subject matter, it may send them spiraling.
TL;DR I realized how personal everything I write is and also am afraid my work could cause damage if let it loose on the public.
I'll go first.
I write stories as a hobby. I used to make a webcomic that was available to the public, but I have been taking a very long break away from it because my perspective on sharing written work has changed drastically over the years. When I started making them, I was much bolder and was confident that people would enjoy my work. Now, the idea gives me palpitations. No one criticized me harshly or anything like that, but I've been going through some self-examination and realized what vulnerabilities I had been making public. When I write, it comes from some personal stuff and I tend to go to dark places. Granted, I haven't experienced all the things that my characters go through (I'm sure to do careful research when I tackle experiences outside of myself) or if I have, they often have it worse than I ever did. I'm growing afraid that when I write about serious subject matter, whether I experienced them personally or not, that I could potentially harm/trigger people who have gone through these things IRL. Realistically, I could hire sensitivity readers to catch things and make sure my writing is tasteful, but I am very bad at initiating social interaction with strangers and I also know that avoiding harming people is impossible because no piece of media is ever perfect on that front. This will probably need more time and introspection to get over, but I do miss creating for all to see.
I've been focusing on another personal project with my best friend as a co-author and am heavily vetting who I'm allowing to read it. It's a project that I'm very excited about on one hand, but I know it may also be one of the darkest things I've ever written. I have one reader in mind who I am sure can handle it and I can trust to be gentle in her feedback, but I'm terrified that someone could read it and when they get to the parts that deal with very serious and real subject matter, it may send them spiraling.
TL;DR I realized how personal everything I write is and also am afraid my work could cause damage if let it loose on the public.