Chances are, if you write fanfiction, you have given thought at some point to your craft as a writer. I say this with confidence, based on 2020 data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey: 90% of you agreed that you "take [your] writing seriously when writing Tolkien-based fanfiction." In fact, writer's craft is so deeply embedded into the institutions of fandom that it can be easy to miss. How many of you use a beta reader? Have joined a writer's workshop or some other craft-focused discussion of your work? Asked for concrit? Read and reread your work umpteen times, tweaking and changing it to coax laughter or tears from your readers, to keep them turning the pages, to help them see Middle-earth and its people through your eyes?

Craft is a complicated aspect of the history of the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. Part of this, when Tolkien fanfiction moved (and exploded) online in the early 2000s, was the bad reputation of fanfiction overall and the desperation of many writers to prove they weren't the stereotypical badfic writer, i.e., they cared about craft, they were different, they deserved the right to exist as fanfiction writers. (This was also a time when it seemed rights holders might bring an end to fanfic at any moment.) Additionally, in a fandom saturated with new writers due to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and growing access to the internet, many fandom institutions tried to stem the rising tide of writers—and turned to "writing quality" as the way to do it. Given this, it is no surprise that most writers internalized the value that their writing was serious business and that craft matters.

But, for about 5% of you, this perhaps isn't familiar. You didn't agree with the survey statement about taking your writing seriously, and you are a growing group. In this month's Cultus Dispatches column, I looked at survey data about writer's craft. It was unsurprising and even a bit boring—until I considered the emerging group of writer's who don't care much about craft. If they don't want to become better writers, then what does motivate this group to create fanfiction, and how do they differ (in both demographics and motives) from Tolkien fanfiction writers overall?

You can read "Fanfiction and the Serious Business of Writer's Craft" here.