Here's to many more!
Why Fimfiction? · 11:19am Jun 15th, 2015
A writing group is where a bunch of writers get together, in person or online, share their stories and offer feedback on one another’s work. Any aspiring writer should know just how important it is to get constructive criticism on their work, but some of these groups can be very intimidating. I’ve had friends who’ve wanted to cultivate their writing habit, but were put off by the blunt, harshly critical nature of these groups.
Though it obviously works for some people, I personally don’t think that what a newbie writer needs is to hear every single thing wrong with his/her lovingly written first chapter. I was lucky not to have that issue, but as evidenced by my friends, it can be a confidence hit that takes a lot of the fun out of it. I think that what a new writer really needs is a friendly group of people who – yes – are still going to point out what’s wrong, but are going to do it in a gentle and encouraging manner.
I was very lucky to stumble across Fimfiction.net a few years back. It gave me a platform to write stories about characters I loved, for like-minded people who wanted nothing more than to read interesting, emotional fiction about those same characters. Everyone on the site either writes fimfiction or enjoys reading it. What does that mean for new writers?
Firstly, everyone here has that common interest. It’s very easy to make friends and find readers on the site, if you make an effort to be friendly.
Secondly, you’ll be getting feedback from people who are either writers themselves (meaning they’ve been where you are, and probably have some good pointers) or are avid readers (and people who’ve read a lot tend to know a lot about what makes a good story for them).
Thirdly, these people have an interest in seeing you succeed. Where other writer’s groups might be made of a bunch of authors who just want to get feedback on their own, masterful writing, you’re part of a group that just wants to explore a world they all love, by reading your ideas, your stories. They want those stories to be well-written and immersing, so they do their best to help you achieve that.
The most important thing, that I cannot stress enough, is that because people are so willing to enjoy a good story, when you publish one to Fimfiction, someone is going to enjoy it. And they’re going to tell you about it (maybe along with a quick grammar or characterisation tip). And it’s going to be a huge confidence boost for you, new or existing writer.
This is why I always recommend the site to new writers I meet. If you can get an interest in the show, or at least the fanfiction side of the community, you gain access to an amazing tool for developing your writing.
So there you go, my first proper blog post! What do you guys think? And what attracted you to Fimfiction in the first place - I'd love to hear people's thoughts and comments on this 
Awesome first blog post, you captured a lot of what makes this place a great place for new writers. Heck, I've had conversations with Bad Horse who thinks that this is an amazing format for all writers, and that this is the direction that original fiction should be moving somehow.
As for me... I'm a fanfic writer. I love to play with characters, both my own and other people's, so as soon as I found the show I looked for a place to write fanfic. Before this I was in a much smaller fandom, which was similar but on a much smaller scale. But it was for the same kind of characters and stories, so I don't know about other kids of fandoms.
3151724 3151724 Thanks very much bookplayer
Personally I never knew fanfic was a thing before FiM came along! It's cool to hear that this kind of environment is there in other fandoms though. A bit gutted that I didn't get in on anything like this when I was younger - might've influenced my choice of studies through college.
I share the thought that original fiction should move in this direction - I'm toying around with the idea of doing original stories in the same kind of format as I use for fimfiction. Still very much in the brainstorming stage at the minute (not sure where I'd go to build an audience, for one thing), but if it gets going I'll let you know