Maximum number of self-created fanworks for an unpopular fandom/ship

[g_uava]

What's the upper limit of fanworks you've created as a self-sustaining fan? That means relying on yourself primarily to sustain your own interest to complete your creative projects since your fandom/ship/favourite is so obscure that feedback and other fanworks to inspire you are hard to come by.

Also, would you have wished to have created more for the same unpopular fandom/ship, even if there remains few others who are just as invested?


The most I've created is around 30,000 words of fics and fewer than 10 non-writing fanworks (icons, gifsets, fanvideos) for a rare pair from an old fandom. It's so rare that there were (and still are) no other English language fanworks for the ship aside from what I've created.

I'm satisfied with what I've created and am glad to move on to another canon that involved tackling a new challenge in my fanworks. But if I were to write for the ship again, I'd more deliberately include a larger variety of fun fanfic tropes in my fics.

Comments

[sisterdivinium]

That's an interesting question! I'm not sure I can talk about a maximum right now because I'm still head-deep in my current fandom and rarepair. For now, AO3 tells me I've written 12 oneshots as well as my collection of ~50 drabbles (at present) entirely dedicated to the pairing. I did the math and apparently that amounts to almost 68.000 words already... With more on the way, as I have two oneshots waiting in queue to be written, a handful of new drabbles ready to go and the intention of eventually writing a multichapter fic (which is something I never do!) with no length estimate for the time being.

All of this while I'm currently pretty much the only author to write about them frequently and as a main attraction in a fic instead of a side ship the way others write them, if at all. A search with "otp: true" yields 33 results (as opposed to 87 with other ships included), of which 13 works are mine (in an environment of about ~4200 fics total for the whole fandom).

The attention I get is very, very limited but, on the other hand, it tends to be quite satisfying since these readers seem to care a lot more about the work I put into my stories. Last time I posted something more gen I was almost shocked by the superficial response some new readers had to it as opposed to the care my regulars have with my shippy narratives.

It's the first -- and likely the last -- time a ship has inspired me this much, even without the support from fandom at large (which hinges almost fully on the juggernaut ship that I care nothing for, oops) so there's still a lot of passion to sustain me even though I definitely don't get nearly as much feedback as I would if I wrote for The Main Canon Ship. It can be frustrating at times, sure, but I'm having my fun and I think that's what matters in the end.

After this question, however, I'll make sure to do a word recount when I'm done just out of curiosity for what my maximum unpopular ship efforts will have been! :)

[g_uava]

That's lots of fics in the pipeline \o/ It's a great reward for engaged readers who keep coming back. I've been in fandoms where there's one main/juggernaut ship and it's a real delight to run into that one passionate author who keeps putting out stories for a non-juggernaut. Less fun actually being that author, but at least there'd be fond memories and more ship feels shared.