Is It Bad That I Spend Four to Five Hours a Night Writing Fan Fiction?

speaker-0: Hi, I'm Allison. This is Dear Teen. You ask, I answer. Honestly, I'm here with a teen today and we're gonna tackle a question from another teen. What's the question today?

speaker-1: Is it bad that I'm spending four to five hours a night writing fan fiction?

speaker-0: Hm. I'm curious, what do you think of that question?

speaker-1: I think it's a it's a good question. I just don't know anybody personally that writes fanfiction so I don't know why it would be bad. I don't know the elements of it that make it a bad thing. right off the bat, I honestly it's different. for example, I know that I spend four to five hours just on my phone doing nothing. So I feel like if you're writing and thinking of things creatively, I feel like that's honestly better

speaker-0: The first time I was actually introduced to a student who used fan fiction and was asking me about this. So the question that the student had was: I'm using AI to write fan fiction, but I've abandoned all social media. I'm not on social media at all anymore. I don't have TikTok anymore. I don't have Insta anymore because I find so much joy in writing. And I was incredibly curious. I was like, wow, that sounds actually kind of cool and kind of good. And the first time I heard about it, I didn't know that students were really doing this, and I want to ask you do you even know what fan fiction is?

speaker-1: Yeah, it's like a continuation of like shows or books or like basically like a fandom that's like unfinished by I guess original writers, producers, whatever.

speaker-0: That's right. And I think that I was not as knowledgeable. I thought I knew what it was, but I didn't quite have it right. And as I dive deeper into the topic, there's fan fiction and there's fan fiction. So I guess I would also have to say it depends on how old the person is that's writing the fan fiction. Yeah. Because some of the fan fiction can be incredibly raunchy and incredibly poorly written and incredibly sexualized and harmful.

speaker-1: That's the image that I have in my head of what fanfiction is, to be honest.

speaker-0: Okay. So no, it can be it can be also just very creative and really well written. So there's like a spectrum from what I would call really bad fanfiction to really amazing fan fiction. And the student I'm going to talk about now actually showed me their fanfiction. It was actually really good. And it was not like that at all. It wasn't raunchy. It was really well written. But the issue was they were writing it with AI. So like AI was part of the storytelling narrative. I'd

speaker-1: I just don't understand how like 'cause obviously I use AI to help me write like things for school and whatever, but I don't understand how if you're creating the story in your head how A AI helps you with that, like

speaker-0: Yeah, AI can be like part of a character. Like you can be

speaker-1: okay.

speaker-0: Like you can be one character and they can be another. That's one way you can do it. So you can like dive into a fantasy world where you're like almost role playing. That's one way of doing it. There are many different ways to do it. You can write it yourself and just have it give you feedback. But this is actually where I wanna make a difference in what they're doing because I do find this question kind of complicated. To answer because why would I say writing is bad? Writing is really good. If it's taking you away from social media and some of the content that is really harmful, why would I think that's bad? That sounds actually kind of good. However, I do have some alarm bells as an adult and as a social worker that go off in my head. And so I start to like take a step back and think this question isn't that easy to answer. And I just I know that you are now a older teen and a university student, but I want you to just kind of take your mind back to when you were in high school and think four to five hours an evening on a high school when you have homework, friends. Is that feasible?

speaker-1: I mean like I feel like it is. Like even me, like I have high like I had high school I had friends and that but still like I made more than enough time to scroll on like Instagram or TikTok for however many hours that would be. So I feel like yeah.

speaker-0: Well statistic clearly say that you are not alone. However, what were you missing out on? I mean, what could have you been doing? Let's let's talk about what you should be doing. What do you think a teen should be doing?

speaker-1: I well yeah, obviously like going outside and doing things, but what time are they writing this thing? 'Cause I thought it was like four to five hours a night. That's to me like two AM, three AM, four AM. I feel like you okay, y okay, yeah, you should be sleeping then.

speaker-0: You know, there is a mental health crisis. I'm sure you've heard people talk about the mental health crisis, right? Do you know that it to be true? I mean, do you feel it around you a little bit?

speaker-1: Yeah, I think so.

speaker-0: So the issue is I actually don't think people your age are getting enough sleep because you stay up on your phones in bed scrolling at night and doing I have no idea what on your phones. Anyone who's listening, any teen who might be listening to us, each of you has something different. Somebody's gonna be totally into gaming, another person's gonna be totally into watching some YouTube influencer they love. Another person is gonna be have some online company, someone else is gonna be an influencer, someone else writing fan fiction. I mean, there are a zillion things that you could be doing online, but there are a lot of other things that you need to be doing and one of them is sleeping. Do you know how much sleep you should get a night, even at your age? Mm, more like ten. wow.

speaker-1: Always thought it was eight.

speaker-0: No, it's more than that. Because you're still developing, you're still growing, your brain is still developing. Until you're twenty five, you're really your body is doing a lot of work. I'm not a medical doctor, but I have read about this a lot. And so I think I can say with quite some confidence that I mean, eight hours is in some cases can be okay, but it's between eight and ten and I would h I would aim for ten. And the younger the teenager is, the more sleep they need. Yeah.

speaker-1: So I guess then if yes, sleep is like the concern, then that's definitely an issue. But also like I feel like there's a difference. Okay, if you're doing it with AI, that's like concerning just because you're on the screen for that long and whatever. But I feel like if you're writing it properly, still if you're staying up that late, I feel like it's kind of okay because at least you're not like stimulating your brain like as intensely with like the blue light and all of the like content.

speaker-0: So I kinda wanna make a difference between two different kinds of content and writing to help answer this question. If you're writing on a pen and paper in a journal, if you're writing ideas, or even if you're using your computer and you're writing, I think if you're writing by yourself and you ask AI to give you feedback, I think that that could be acceptable, especially as an older teen. I don't like younger teens using feedback. from AI, I think they should do the work on their own. But I can understand that. However, if you're writing it With AI, I'm not sure you're really developing all the skills. And if you're being part of the story, you might be diving into a story and spending too much time online. And AI can be really sycophantic. It tells you that you're amazing all the time. Have you had an experience with AI where it told you you're amazing? Yeah.

speaker-1: can't really it's just honestly like anything that I do or sometimes if I like go to AI and then like grade this paper for me for example it will immediately start by saying like if I don't put a rubric or like a like a syllabus in or like like a mark scheme it will immediately be like this is amazing like nah I like praise you first and then give you feedback but I never really used AI feedback because I didn't find that it was like I don't know I just never really used

speaker-0: I know that a lot of people do. I'm gonna read a statistic to you. Came out this year. So it's from twenty twenty six. It's from a PhD candidate at Stanford University named Myra Cheng. And across eleven different models, she looked at AI and the how it was sycophantic. And it endorsed users' positions forty nine percent more often than humans did. It also endorsed problematic behaviors forty seven percent of the time. I get that it's fun. I don't want to like take away from your fun. I get that it's fun and I prefer you to be doing that than on some of the horrible content that there is on social media.

speaker-1: That's what I was gonna say 'cause I feel like it's like especially in our generation, I feel like there's no there's nothing we can do almost like correctly. Like, okay, fine, I think if you're using AI to help you write, like maybe that's not the best way of doing it. It's better to do it creatively and what like just by yourself, I mean. But then again, it's like, okay, as opposed to what option then just like staying on the computer until like five AM, on the phone, on the iPad, like whatever. It's just like I feel like we have more pressure on us to like stop. going on like all social media and stop going on these things even though that's like everything that surrounds us. So I feel like when we're doing things that are creative and using these new resources it's considered like like it's just like I don't know how to explain it, but I just feel like it's harder to do things like because we're so surrounded by all of these like unhealthy influences.

speaker-0: That is very well said and very interesting. And I think that you have something there that's really valuable because you grew up with all of these things around you and constantly new things like emerging, you know? Every year there's something new. Right now, Instagram has instance that's like new two weeks ago. You know, it's constantly something new. And then there are adults like me who are like, be careful, be careful. And you're like, but what am I supposed to do? I don't want to sit here and say, like, wow, that's so horrible. You can't do that. I think that what you need to do is ask yourself a few really big questions. First of all, like, what do you like doing? Like, what do you want to do? And if you're like, I actually like creating music and I use this tool to create music, or I want to create movies, and I'm going to use this tool to create movies, and this is where I want to go with my profession. So I think it's really good. And it's taking you somewhere and you're doing something really cool. I think that. doing using tools online can really enhance your work. However, if it's taking you away from what you want to be doing, then I find it problematic. I would say social media most of the time is taking you away from

speaker-1: Yeah, I agree with that.

speaker-0: So then the question is, are my base needs covered? So your base needs are, do I hang out with friends in person?

speaker-1: I feel like then yeah, if you cover all I guess like what you were saying, like your base needs, such as like seeing people in person, going outside, whatever. And then you're spending like okay, I think four to five hours then if it's with the computer as well, yeah, that's like a little bit excessive because you should be sleeping. But I think if you're covering all your base needs and then you're spending a few hours at night doing this thing which is already creative, like whether it's with the computer or not, I don't think that it's like that that bad if you're doing all of these other things.

speaker-0: So base needs are hanging out with s friends without screens and like doing fun stuff together. That's like a base need. Maybe making sure you move physically a few times a week and doing something active would be a base need. Making sure you eat food.

speaker-1: They meet in the house is at least once a day as well.

speaker-0: Yes, please. Leave your room and your bed at least once a day. That's a very good idea, definitely. Leaving your room, leaving your bed, getting fresh air, doing sports, eating healthy, eating with other people at the table without screens, getting enough sleep. These are like base needs. And then you need to obviously do your schoolwork, your homework, things like that. And when all of those basic needs are covered, then if you have like a hobby that you do and there's a screen involved with it and you're talking to people about it, I think it's fine. And that's the last point I wanted to mention. I don't think it's good to do this with AI by yourself. So if you're doing it and you're sharing it with others, even if you're only sharing it with like two of your best friends and your mom and your dad or something like that, that's fine. But I don't think it's good to be talking to a chat bot that many hours, even if it's creating, if you're keeping it to yourself. Because I think other people should be proud of what you're doing. And why are you hiding it? And then that makes me wonder what's happening that you're not proud to show this. So I think that. That's really important. And the people who love you in your lives, if they do see problematic behaviors when that you're sharing this, can have a conversation with you about this is really good. How about you try writing

speaker-1: As a

speaker-0: it on your own or how about we try something together and maybe pull you out of it a little bit more? Does that make sense to you?

speaker-1: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me.

speaker-0: Do you think this is applicable for other things other than fan fiction? 'Cause I think it is.

speaker-1: think it is as well just like like not no necessarily bad habits but habits that are made like that can turn into bad habits because of how you're doing them.

speaker-0: Well, I have had an amazing conversation with you today. If you have a question, something you think about at midnight, something you would never want to say in front of class because maybe you're embarrassed, send it to askdare teen at gmail.com. There's an anonymous link in the show notes. No names, no judgment whatsoever. I'm Allison. This is Dear Teen, and thank you to our teen.