The Resurgence of Han and Leia Fans

I've noticed some changes happening recently. When I first used to come onto fanfiction.net to check and see if there were new stories, it would typically be days between seeing anything new. Sometimes even weeks. If you were working on a multi-chapter story and you just posted a new update, you could likely rest assured that your story would remain at the top of the page for at least a couple of days.

This is not the case anymore. At the moment, stories that were updated a mere two days ago are as far down as #8 on the page. After immensely long stretches of no stories, suddenly there is something new at least every day if not more. I think the first story I posted there only a year-and-a-half ago stayed on the front page for a couple of months before it got bumped to page two. It definitely doesn't take that long anymore.

It's so great to see so many people writing them and I think even more great that there are always new people showing up. I know it can be intimidating at first and often discouraging when trying to post your first story. First, of course, is that usually when you post your first story, no matter how good it is, you might not get very much feedback. This happens to even those of us who have been posting for a while and people "know" us and know what to expect. You really have no idea how much the smallest bit of feedback means until you start posting something.

There's no good solution for this problem. Begging for feedback usually doesn't help. It also doesn't usually help to ask for it in terms of a threat, as in, if you don't give me some feedback, I just won't post anymore. My advice is to just keep on posting your stories and try not to get discouraged if not a lot of people are saying anything. If you write good stories, eventually people will find them and read them. This takes a lot of patience, but if you are persistent, it's usually worth it.

Think of it as the "If you build it, he will come" mentality. Keep on writing, and eventually people will notice. That's just one reason why it's a bit tougher now with more people writing, because you have to sort of pick and choose what you read because you don't have time to get to it all right away. Not that long ago I'd usually be able to read every new post almost immediately because it had often been a week since anyone posted anything new. And people tend to go with what they know. If there are four new stories posted, and two are by people they've never heard of, one is by someone they know has written a few things they maybe haven't gotten into that much and one is by someone who has written quite a few stories that they always tend to enjoy, then it's pretty easy to tell which one they're going to read first.

Anyway, this post has become a bit side-tracked, but I wanted to get something else out there since we've been neglecting the kinds of posts this blog was really all about in the first place. As I said though, it's awesome to see so many new fans and I know that in a lot of cases these new fans were little kids even when the prequels came out, so it just goes to show you how timeless it all is. I actually had lunch with my mother and my brother the other day and we were talking about the blu ray releases. My mother mentioned how it must be strange for people who see the first three first and then the others because the special effects must be so much worse. My brother and I looked at each other like, no, that is definitely not the case. The prequels look more like cartoons than movies. There is very little in the original trilogy that looks "fake."

Well, welcome all of you new Han and Leia fans and of course all of you old Han and Leia fans. I think the only problem with being a Han and Leia fan is that it isn't something you grow out of. At least it doesn't appear to be. I bet a lot of "Twi-hards" who live and breathe Edward vs. Jacob right now won't care in the slightest in ten years. I can't confirm though, because I never cared about them in the first place. But there is something about the Han and Leia romance that makes me pretty sure I will never be able to flip through the channels and come across Empire knowing the first kiss scene is coming without stopping and watching. And then probably continuing to watch until Han goes into carbonite.

It's nice to have more company around here, so keep reading and writing and commenting on people's stories when you like them and commenting here! It's much more fun to get some conversation going. And of course thank you to our loyal followers.