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Recently an author asked if her writing sucked. Since writing is such a personal journey let's make that "Do I suck?"
Every author on Big Closet should look at Sue Brown's latest story . . . the second book of Football Girl.
It is as good as there is on BC. Yet, her latest chapter which was posted over two weeks ago has "only" attracted 1,475 hits, 88 kudos and 14 comments.
Many, many stories attract two to three thousand hits within the first two weeks of posting.
I say "only" 88 kudos because a story that has had 1,475 hits and is as good as this one should have 1,475 kudos. None of my stories have ever attracted 88 kudos, so I want it clear that 88 kudos is nothing to sneeze at . . . like the backside of your elbow.
Also 14 comments out of 1,475 hits leaves me wondering how those other over one thousand readers could be so callous as to not be moved by this story.
Authors only "suck" if they allow others to dictate their attitude. Post your stories and know this . . . BC isn't perfect but it is one of the only places where you can publish your story and find an appreciative audience. If that audience is merely a handful that is a lot better than the awful fate of writing for no one.
Jill
Comments
Ummmm...
Would 1000 comments and 1500 kudos on a good story make any sense, or have any value, were they to become the norm?
I read, I smile, I finish or don't finish... I comment when I'm so moved, I kudo (odd verb) when a story is exceptional.
Michelle
Comment
Every so often in one of my interminable serials I receive a comment out of the blue from an author I hold in high regard. To me, that indicates that they are following the story. That is a delight.
So as Michelle says, that exceptional plaudit should remain exceptonal. Otherwse it becomes devalued.
Sucking
I have a loyal and select fan base...in other words, I have a small number of readers who follow my stories, leave comments, pricelessly send me personal messages to discuss the tales, and wallop the Greek button. Every author writes to be read, and these people (you all know who you are, stop sniggering at the back there, detention places are STILL available!) make me feel a far better writer than I suspect I am.
That communication is part of what spurs me on. The chance to say "No, that wasn't a mistake, this is how I meant it" or "oh bugger, I better change that" are almost as valid as "This story spoke to/for/of me"
So, to all those who have kept me going, I thank you. As Jill says, I have found an appreciative audience. End of.
being appreciated
As someone who just really started publishing (although not writing), I love, love, love receiving comments, even if they are corrections or from people who found problems with the story. Those help me improve my craft (I hope). And of course, a positive comment or kudo really encourages me to keep writing. That being said, I am slowly getting to the point where I know that comparing myself to others here is a bad exercise, one that only will bring me down. For example, each successive chapter of "The Lucky One" has dropped off in terms of comments and kudos, but the fact is I have such FUN writing it, I am going to finish, even if the last chapter doesnt get the applause the first did.
"Treat everyone you meet as though they had a sign on them that said "Fragile, under construction"
dorothycolleen
A Bucket of Negative Pressure Worms I Have Opened
Good, we have a discussion going. Sue Brown's stories are tailored to a genre of story that is very appealing to many on this site. De gustibus non disputandem est, or as the Polynesian elder said to his son as they finished up a roast of Captain Cook, "One man's meat is another mans poi, son." I think the numbers you gave are a quite positive reflection that Sue's stories are among the most appreciated on this site. They make us feel good, and we all want to feel good, the few curmudgeons out there excepted.
I am totally incapable of writing the wonderfully sweet, humerous and well thought out works that Sue and many authors on this site turn out. Each of us has different criteria for what constitutes a story worthy of a kudo or comment. Of course, the latter are reserved for the very positive or very negative. I think the PM should be put to more use for the constructive criticism route.
My concern, probably over the top, was that there were 60 hits, now closer to 600, and there was nothing in the way of feedback. That has since very satisfactorily changed. With few exceptions, I don't think there are many authors who would deliberately post something that they felt was bad. I would hope that each author is trying to accomplish something. The question would be, did we do what we set out to do. You mention the 1500 or more hits her last posting received, and mention it in a negative sense. Some of my things are lucky to get 400 hits in the same period. That's okay. I have a small group of readers, and I respect them for their knowledge and understanding. If they comment, that's all I need.
Portia
Portia
It's tricky
As I may have noted on a previous occasion. Some of us are juggling reading, writing and actually living and sometimes we just don't have the time to give a story the sort of attention it really deserves. Unfortunately.
I try my best, I really do, but sometimes I just give kudos (where it is earned) and move onto the next in the limited time windows I have available.
Uh, you'll have to excuse me, I have to go peel vegetables.
Penny
Do I Suck?
Me, I write a story to entertain others. When I enter a contest or challenge, it's for the fun of it, not any reward.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
I'm sure I speak for others.
I, personally, do not read most of the stories posted. Either because they are serials with sections too short to truly get into (for me. I'm a speed reader, and if it takes me less than two minutes to read, I often don't touch it), or the quick synopsis at the top doesn't sound like something I'm really into.
I'm not going to get into which ones I like, or why I don't like the others, because that's not the point. The point is that _good_ authors write what they like. Mediocre authors write what people will read. (A lot of the "NYT Best Sellers" are done by mediocre authors.)
So, if you don't think you're getting enough feedback or kudos - ask for feedback or kudos from the readers. Otherwise, just keep writing. It may be that you'll have to keep writing for a while, or you'll change your writing style, or people's tastes will change. Just enjoy the fact that people ARE looking at your work.
As for criticisms... To be blunt, they're actively discouraged on this board, at least in public comments. There are a couple of stories that I've read on here and other sites that, frankly, stink. I couldn't even tell if their plot was good enough to allow a good editor to assist with the writing. I won't tell you WHEN I read them, or who wrote them, or anything else about them, because _I_ don't want to lose my access to the board. One of the reasons for criticisms to be _public_ and not just private is to encourage other people to expand upon them, debate them, and often try to find ways to correct the problems that are being criticised. Some people are just too darned sensitive to anything that even hints of something they could possibly construe as an attack on another person - even if the other person in question is actively soliciting those kinds of responses. Part of it is possibly the background of issues that many members of this site have. Abuse, of any kind, can sensitise people. I certainly have my hot buttons, even though they aren't anything like what people on here seem to have.
Mind you, I've seen some trolling as well. I don't know if there's any way to come to a happy medium between the need for care and the desire for feedback. I'm just glad I'm not the one that's doing the balancing.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I've said this before...
Authors published by print publishers often receive few commendations or letters either. There are writers in the world; most of them are voracious readers as well. There are readers in the world as well, and many of them wouldn't write a grocery list if they had a gun pointed to their heads, much less a plaintive plea at the bottom of a story. Lots of people like to go watch professional football; how many want to go out on the field and get bruised?
Many seem to forget that comments are a form of publication as well, and people can and do comment upon them, often adversely. If one doesn't like being "bruised," perhaps the decision not to play is not completely unwise. I personally would rather see a private message, which I can be absolutely certain is not aimed at an external audience (as many seem to be) and which can be as honest as the writer cares to be without fear of mockery or argument.
Many of the "criticisms" which disappear are not "disappeared" for being critical, but because they spark rancor and invective from others, and it's usually best to trim the entire tree when things get ugly. I completely agree with Erin's general policy of encouraging friendly comments, but being active in discouraging "flame wars" and other bitter exchanges. If the application of the "rules" seems uneven at times, it's because it's difficult to keep up with the large number of comments made on all the stories living here on BC. Partly because the "libraries" of each author's stories are highlighted, so people read the old stories. I see new comments on stories which are quite old, at least in Internet years.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
thankfully I don't count hits
If the number of hits is the guide, then I should quit, which I will not. One of my postings, a short snip of a tale, has garnered the a high total of 135 hits to date. It was posted in June of 2008.
Statistics.
I must confess if I received 1475 reads and 88 kudos for one of my stories I'd be bloody pleased.
On average I get 1 comment per hundred reads and I am thankful for that.
Beverly Taff.
Growing old disgracefully.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I don't think Jill was saying that Sue should be unhappy with her results. I think she was using that as an example that number of reads doesn't translate into comments / Kudo's.
Sue's story is considered to be very popular here, and Jill pointed out one of the best.
I think that Jill as she often does is simply pointing out, something we all need to remember as author's here, that comparing these stats to each other is an effort in futility. Even within our own stories, it often makes no sense as to why one story gets more hits, comments and kudos then another.
Yet we (myself included) agonoize over it when we don't get the response we all would like, which really at least in my case isn't hits, they don't mean that much to me, but in comments. Kudos are nice too, but I really, really like to know who my readers are...
Hugs,
Kristy
Perhaps I have low standards.
Some of my more popular stories have as many as six thousand reads, but for the most part many of what I consider my better works hover somewhere around the one thousand hit mark, even after a year or two of being posted. Do I feel that I suck? While I'm personally not satisfied with the quality of my writing, I consider myself to be quite successful when it comes to how my posts to the site are accepted.
Let's face it, though all of our work falls under the general heading of being TG, we all write within our own little subgenres thereof. Different stories appeal to different people, and combined with the cyclic nature of reader's tastes authors will naturally fall in and out of favor as preferences change. That's the way things go. I'm happy with my response, because the people who do read and comment on my work generally have very positive things to say, and really quality of input and response to me is at least as important as amount, so the fact that there is a group of people who routinely comment my stories tells me I'm doing something right for my target audience.
Melanie E.
Sometimes we May
Not suck, but we may still not be good. Ideas won't always work, characters may not entrance or wear out their welcome, situations may seem contrived, prose may not flow, story lines extended past the point of stretching, or numerous other things.
Ahhh Arcie Emm
You've described my work to a "T". Thank you for reading. Besides -- shouldn't all the prose on this site be decsribed to a "T"?
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I for one don't think so
You seriously undervalue yourself, my dear.
You are one of the authors on my 'must read' list.
Penny
I would absolutely have to
I would absolutely have to second what Penny says.
A story by Angela goes right to my top of read list.
Hugs,
Kristy
Not to mention...
Readers are fickle lot they will love what you write one week and then be interested in something else entirely. There is no logic or circumstance it just is.
So much to read, so little time and only one of me :)
The English Teacher
So much to read, so little time and only one of me :)
The English Teacher
Does it matter
I was always under vthe impression that a writer produced his/ her own story, whether it is based on fact or a work of fiction.
I`m not a professional writer, most of my stories are done on the spor of the moment as for hits and kudos, we can`t force people to read or like our stories so if I get low hits I write a different type of story kudos? how many people actually hit the button, I for one do but i don`t expect everyone else to.
I posted part 1 of of story on the 4 june and so far it has 2029 hits and 64 kudos, but so what, the stories are there if they don`t want to read them thats fine with me.
Don`t get disheartened and stop. just write what you feel
Hugs
Jackie