Splitting your time between open vs closed canons

[g_uava]

For fandoms of open canons -
Pros: Activity whenever there's a new installment; more inspiration/ideas from the latest developments; potentially having more eyes on your fanworks and more fanworks by others to enjoy.
Cons: Anxiety over your speculations and fics being 'jossed'; anxiety over sharing controversial opinions/fanworks; pressure to formulate opinions on the latest developments on a weekly basis to stay active.

For fandoms of closed canons -
Pros: Being able to see the big picture of what canon is all about; less pressure to churn out reactions/fanworks to stay active; convenience of binge-watching.
Cons: Less activity; fewer engaged fans as people start drifting away to new canons.

How do you divide your time?

Comments

[aoftheis]

I seem to end up in the latter just by virtue of almost always picking up a new canon (and/or a new fannish interest that prompts me to check out the canon) years after the initial peak of the excitement.

I feel you on this, do I ever! The last few fandoms I've been active in, I came to a couple years after the activity had died down (Yuri On Ice, Free!, and other anime fandoms). And when I got into SG-1 fic a few years ago, I'd missed the boat by about a decade — I was going through archive.org digging up old fic, that's how dire the situation was, I felt like an archaeologist. *g* Like you said, it's fun to confront a huge archive of already-there fic, like having a mountain of new library books, but once you get through the fic you really begin to crave something new/interaction/sharing your thoughts with others.

[doranwen]

I've done that! (the archive.org thing) I'm always discovering a "new" canon years after everyone else has. Sometimes I'm lucky if I can find another person to talk with about it…