I know how you feel, OP--writing fanfic makes me a bit nervous, so I generally just don't write it. What I like to do when I feel like writing is going onto kink memes. If you like writing plot as I do, then a lot of kink memes these days also have plot prompts. You can fill them in anonymously, which will ease a lot of the strain, and more often than not, I've found that the other anonymous-es are really kind. Good luck!
:c I do the same thing, anon. I did it much more in my previous fandom, where I wrote fic and such, but this seems to be a pretty common problem. At least, from my experience with friends and acquaintances who write or create other art.
I'm the sort of person who always expects the worst, but I didn't want that to eat away at my enjoyment of fandom. I was absolutely terrified when I posted my first fic, but all I had to do was admit that I was very nervous and request that critique only be given when asked for, and everyone was extremely accepting of that. Even people I didn't know! c:
So, I think your fandom friends would be very accepting of your nervousness. c: It's nothing to be ashamed of. Just tell them. You might be pleasantly surprised.
It helps me to remember that folks giving concrit are usually on your side. They care enough to believe you can improve and they offer advice to help you that you can choose to take or leave. If a reviewer feels more entitled than that, it's their problem. :)
I get terribly bad social anxiety online. I don't even know why or when it started, but I cannot be public with anything creative and shake and suffer palpitations when RPing.
I think it's a major reason why I don't get involved in fandoms at all. I can only imagine what that would be like.
I understand completely. I can deal with my anxiety in RL, but when it finally started to overflow into fandom, it felt like I'd lost the only escape I had left. Now, I mostly just lurk, but when I occasionally steel myself past that twist in my gut and press the damn post button, I'm always terrified to see the reaction. It's stupid and irrational on all levels but it doesn't stop me from being scared of words on the internet.
=/ I'm sorry, op, you deserve better than this. So do I.
I feel you so much OP. That's mostly why I stopped posting anything I draw or write, now I just keep it to myself so I can do it for the fun instead of worrying about feedback or story structure if I don't want to. 70% of the time I stay anon just commenting here on FS too, not because I say anything trolly or I'm embarrassed of my opinions, but because I feel like if I comment logged in people will ignore me harder.
Eh, I'm in the same boat anon, freaking out at the criticism and everything. Sometimes I won't leave a comment that I want to on F!S because I'm afraid of how poeple will respond.
All I can say is, you certainly aren't alone, and you just need to learn to let any love of writing you have surpass any of the negative that might follow :)
I've thought about this in earnest in the past. Sometimes I think it'd be easier if I had a support system. I searched "social anxiety" in interests and got quite a few results. They look to be focused in real life though.
I think a fandom centric comm is a great idea. I'd start one myself,but I've only been on LJ for a few weeks and I don't think I'd really be the best person to run one. Any takers?
Hey, if you guys are still interested, I'd be happy to start a fandom-centric support comm for social anxiety on LJ. I think it'd be really cool if we all had a place where we could talk, and maybe even share our work when we felt up to it.
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I'm the sort of person who always expects the worst, but I didn't want that to eat away at my enjoyment of fandom. I was absolutely terrified when I posted my first fic, but all I had to do was admit that I was very nervous and request that critique only be given when asked for, and everyone was extremely accepting of that. Even people I didn't know! c:
So, I think your fandom friends would be very accepting of your nervousness. c: It's nothing to be ashamed of. Just tell them. You might be pleasantly surprised.
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although it's not as bad anymore, I can totally relate, both online and irl :/
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And I know that. I hate that it bleeds over from one to another. :(
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I think it's a major reason why I don't get involved in fandoms at all. I can only imagine what that would be like.
You're definitely not alone, OP.
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=/ I'm sorry, op, you deserve better than this. So do I.
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All I can say is, you certainly aren't alone, and you just need to learn to let any love of writing you have surpass any of the negative that might follow :)
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D:!
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Is there some kind of social phobia comm we can all join and share our paranoia together? Because that would be great.
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I think a fandom centric comm is a great idea. I'd start one myself,but I've only been on LJ for a few weeks and I don't think I'd really be the best person to run one. Any takers?
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