every day i am percieved™️ There is a reason for...

invisibleanonymousmonsters:

biggest-gaudiest-patronuses:
zadabug98:
biggest-gaudiest-patronuses:
timeywimeywerewolf:
biggest-gaudiest-patronuses:
veeaziel:
every day i am percieved™️
There is a reason for this though!
The original tweet summarizes it pretty well. Fanfic tends to be popular among certain types of neurodivergent people (aka people most likely to read excessively as a child, and have burnout as an adult) for the same reasons that we tend to hyperfixate–neurochemical signaling (I hope I’m using that phrase correctly). What I mean is, for people who are really dependent on changes in dopamine/serotonin/neurotransmitter levels, who have low levels or wonky neural reward systems (perhaps the most common types of neurodivergence)…people like us rely on dependable external sources of those neurochemicals. In order to function, we spend a lot of our free time trying to level out our brain chemistry using things that can reliably bring us a steady stream of joyful moments (rewards) without costing too much of the mental effort that is already in short supply.
significantly: the investment of reading has to be balanced with a steady “return on investment”–and this return has to start fairly quickly. because again, we don’t have a lot of attention/energy to invest on tiring things. we have perpetual “low batteries” in that regard.
that doesn’t mean these stories are “simple,” or that they lack complexity or value–only that the reward has to come in short regular intervals, and it has to have a low “upfront cost.” these stories are only “easy” to read in the sense that the effort we put into them is rewarded in a timely manner. which is why fanfic stories are so perfectly formulated for neurodivergent readers–they are often beautifully written, but skip a lot of the upfront costs (of introducing new characters, of world-building, of getting the audience emotionally connected to the story elements).
the nature of fanfiction is that the reader has a pre-existing relationship with this world and these characters. that–combined with the shorter average length of fics–means that fan fics very quickly start rewarding the reader in a way that traditional fiction struggles to. that’s not a bad thing! ~~and maybe it’s something more traditionally published writers should be paying attention to.~~
Fanfic, as a genre, has been uniquely helpful and accessible to many neurodivergent readers who would otherwise struggle to immerse themselves in stories. I’m glad so many of you have found a way to love and enjoy reading again! The important thing is that you are spending time inside stories you love–the way those stories are published or presented to the world is just one detail. The fact that you find joy in the process of reading (or listening!) to stories–that is what matters.
I feel understood 🥰
a bunch of people have reblogged this with the default “i feel called out” reaction….and i know when we say that we mean it tongue-in-cheek….but this comment sorta blew my mind & shifted my perspective up and to the left a little thank you♥
The Serotonin is stored in the Ao3
The Serotonin is stored in the Ao3
Ok. This makes me feel so much better.
I used to read SO MUCH when I was a kid/teenager. I wouldn’t talk to my friends at lunch sometimes because I loved the book I was reading so much. I could read a book a day. I would finish my homework as soon as possible so I could read.
Then I went to college and reading was ruined for me. I was assigned hundreds of pages of reading every week. I couldn’t read recreationally because I felt like I was still doing homework. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. All I wanted to do was turn off my brain and watch TV or movies.
I’m now 28 and I still have A LOT of trouble reading. I never have the urge to pick up a book. I zone out. I have to read the same page for 5 minutes because I can’t focus. It’s like I have ADD without actually have ADD.
It makes me feel like a piece of shit because I literally just stopped reading. I think I’ve read 5 books in the past few years and it took me forever to read each one. People ask me for book recs on here and I’m like, “I have none.” I’m either writing fics or reading fics.
So thank you for this post.