I can't decide if this is meta or a rant...

[lyssie]

I've been seeing this... I don't know if I'd call it a trend, but perhaps it is one? But, basically, there's been comments in fandom_secrets and other places that generally boil down to:

No one writes the femslash I want to read.

Which is all well and good, but--look. What does that even mean?

Comments

[martinius]

I really have nothing to contribute except to say that this is an interesting discussion and oh my god, I really need to write more femslash. Like yesterday.

[soulja_of_love]

I've been reading femslash for awhile and follow certain writers because I like their style. When I read something by a new author and I like it I will leave feedback.

I've written a few stories and have received "requests" from readers to write a particular pairing. I tried it and failed misserably....lol I learned quickly that if the pairing doesn't hold interest for me then I have trouble finding a connection with them and I can't put down on paper my thoughts and feelings.

I hope to see more biracial pairings in the future. I get excited when a new Olivia/Astrid story is written. I've got an Olivia/Miranda story on my desk top that I may dust off and take another look at.

[cmk418]

I think that with any kind of writing, sometimes to get the ball rolling, particularly with rare pairs, you may need to write the first fic or drabble and get readers interested in the fandom or, if they're already fans, thinking about the pairing as a viable couple. femslash100 is a place where I feel comfortable working with different pairings and fandoms

[maryaminx]

I generally don't have much of a problem finding the *pairings* I want to read, it's the rest of the package. I cannot read 1200 word vignettes where nothing much happens, and WIPs (that start out as 1200 words, 1/?) drive me up a wall as well, so much so that I just don't want to invest anymore. If there were a resource that said "hey, this fic is 5k and has a plot", I would be all over that and be properly worshipful at the feet of the author, provided it's in one of my femmeslash fandoms. So if that resource exists, I can has url?

As far as writing goes...I write what grabs me, what forces me to write. I'm pretty low-volume everywhere, and I have an iCarly epic languishing on my computer because the drive to write it went away.

One thing that does get me interested in pairings that I don't know the canon is flail. I have a couple flisters who consistently post squee and gifs, and just having that enthusiasm shown to me makes me want to go out and read more.

[ariestess]

There are so many things I wanted to say in response to this post, but most of them have already been said. And the others, I'm having issues finding the right words to say them.

I write in a rare fandom, do my best to pimp it out, but no one really takes the bait. Does it piss me off/upset me? Hell yes! Do I complain about it? Yeah, but primarily offline to shatterpath. Do I keep writing and posting the pairing despite getting basically no feedback at all? Hell yes! I love the pairing/fandom, and no one can take that away from me. If others don't want to venture out into my sandbox, that's their loss and I'll keep making my awesome sand castles, even if I get a little lonely.

Then again, I tend to be more specific when I say "No one's writing femslash I want to read" and give examples. Or I just write it myself. Whichever's easier...