The Agony and the Ecstasy (of posting a story)

[Rob_Royale]

I know you're kidding us but, just saying, I've never gotten a 4.9.

Not to beat my chest but I've gotten a perfect 5.0. Of course, that was when I had like three people rating the story, and it lasted for about ten minutes, but hey it was a heck of an ego boost!

 

[gunhilltrain]

Not to beat my chest but I've gotten a perfect 5.0. Of course, that was when I had like three people rating the story, but hey it was a heck of an ego boost!

But it didn't last, unfortunately. Even if it had, somebody would have one-bombed it I guess. I don't think I've reached 4.9 even temporarily. I think I have had a couple of red "H's" that didn't hold. But people mostly stop voting after about two weeks, so there is stability after that. Sometimes people will give a "favorite" after months or even years have gone by. I've had a couple of those recently.

 

[oneagainst]

So, I managed to write a 100,000 word story in just two months last year, over 5 parts. The new story, over 8 parts has taken the last 10 months so, a lot longer to get over the line.

Nicely done...!

But what do you guys think? What is it that you enjoy/not enjoy about what we do here?

I’d love to get your views.

It's all about riding the wave, and seeing what you end up with. I wrote Alena's Game over the space of 2 weeks between travelling to and then from a funeral, mucking out a house full of memories. It was absolutely a cathartic counterpoint. I'm done now with The Light Between The Trees and I just can't bloody wait to start the publish cycle on that one, because I think it's my best to date.

Happy for everyone to read it. Happy if the only one who ever reads it is me.

 

[Djmac1031]

Not to beat my chest but I've gotten a perfect 5.0. Of course, that was when I had like three people rating the story, but hey it was a heck of an ego boost!

I have a perfect 5 rating on a little Authors Log essay I wrote talking about my experiences writing.

ALL six people who actually read it must have really enjoyed it.

 

[Duleigh]

I have a perfect 5 rating on a little Authors Log essay I wrote talking about my experiences writing.

ALL six people who actually read it must have really enjoyed it.

I set Mr. Train a screen shot of my Novella that sat on top of the world with a perfect 5 for a month with 35 votes. The day after I took the screen shot my "fan club" struck...

 

[alohadave]

Writers can keep on churnin’ till the butter comes, but at the end of the day is the butter worth it? Is it the same old oleo that a thousand other writers churned out, maybe just with the hope that it will garnish a lot of viewers and stars? I think I’d rather look at a story I just finished and say, you know what? that was worth the effort I put into it TO ME, I like what I did there, that was a little bit different than the run-of-the-mill b.s, that got MY juices flowing, even though it might flop with Lit readers. Fuck ‘em. By tomorrow most readers will have forgotten your story, but hopefully you won’t, because it ACTUALLY MEANT SOMETHING TO YOU.

There are many like it, but this one is mine.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have a perfect 5 rating on a little Authors Log essay I wrote talking about my experiences writing.

ALL six people who actually read it must have really enjoyed it.

Sorry, I thought I knew where (almost) everything on Lit is. Where is the Author's Log? I know another site actually has a "blog" for everybody, which can be useful.

 

[tenyari]

By tomorrow most readers will have forgotten your story, but hopefully you won’t, because it ACTUALLY MEANT SOMETHING TO YOU.

I strive for the readers who can still tell me about the stories I wrote 2 decades ago, and compare them to what I've written more recently. That I have some of those means I've done something right writing wise.

But what do you guys think? What is it that you enjoy/not enjoy about what we do here?

I'm desperately seeking to get a lot of ideas out of my head so I can move on and stop obsessing over them.

I'm hoping to encourage someone else to write a story I'd want to read. Everything I write is basically 'a story I wish I could have been reading instead, but nobody else wrote it, so I guess I had to.'

I have points to make, and opinions to bother people with. And some part of me still thinks it's important to do that for some reason.

Nothing is worse than having a really cool dream that I can only half remember. So I sit down and fill in the missing parts and put my name on it.

My stories do connect to a fetish-fantasy about how I wish I could have gotten away with living my life. If there is a multiverse out there and I get to be reincarnated - somebody fill out the form that sends me to one of the worlds I've written about. Hopefully it'll make it through the acquisitions and assignments division before my next turn comes up.

A lot of my stories... will never get out to the world - because they are just my attempts to make sure some idea gets remembered so I can keep enjoying it in my daydreams and lucid dreams. But even still, I'd prefer as many of those as I can manage do get shared someday.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Sorry, I thought I knew where (almost) everything on Lit is. Where is the Author's Log? I know another site actually has a "blog" for everybody, which can be useful.

I think Djmac means that was the format of the essay (like a blog), not the Lit location.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I just finished a sequel to a story I wrote over a year ago.

It's taken me months to finish, yet it will still be, by LE standards, relatively short: four, maybe five LE pages.

The original story got high praise and lovely feedback.

Thar said: it's been well over a year. Much of the original audience may never find the sequel. And we all know sequels tend to get skipped by new readers searching for a story.

So I have no illusions about it becoming the LE equivalent of a "best seller."

I just hope the audience that does find it appreciates it.

Yes, I wrote it for myself, because I wanted to. Not out of some obligation to those who requested a sequel.

But I'd be lying if I said i didn't care at all whether the readers appreciate and enjoy the effort I put into it.

There's nothing wrong about wanting to be told you did a good job. And nothing wrong about feeling pride and happiness when that happens.

Don't be too pessimistic.

I have gone six years between a story and its sequel and been successful.

 

[Djmac1031]

Don't be too pessimistic.

I have gone six years between a story and its sequel and been successful.

I wouldn't call it pessimistic, just realistic.

 

[Djmac1031]

Sorry, I thought I knew where (almost) everything on Lit is. Where is the Author's Log? I know another site actually has a "blog" for everybody, which can be useful.

Sorry, should have worded that better.

I wrote an "essay" titled Authors Log and posted it in the "reviews / essays" category.

In other words, a non-sex non-story in a category no one reads lol.

 

[Duleigh]

Don't be too pessimistic.

I have gone six years between a story and its sequel and been successful.

I have a few stories I posted in 2006 and 2008 - maybe I should give one a sequel.

 

[Duleigh]

Sorry, should have worded that better.

I wrote an "essay" titled Authors Log and posted it in the "reviews / essays" category.

In other words, a non-sex non-story in a category no one reads lol.

Tell me about it. Every now and then a reader knocks the dust off my essay on veteran suicide.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Sorry, should have worded that better.

I wrote an "essay" titled Authors Log and posted it in the "reviews / essays" category.

In other words, a non-sex non-story in a category no one reads lol.

Thank you, I was wondering if that was what you meant. People do read that section, and based on my experiences there, the readership tends to be reasonable and generous compared to the craziness that goes on elsewhere. They will accept almost any esoteric topic I choose to post there.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have a few stories I posted in 2006 and 2008 - maybe I should give one a sequel.

Sometimes that happens. Years will go by, and then suddenly an unexpected idea will show up. The human mind is hard to explain.

 

[silkstockingslover]

I write for fun, to create fantasies I know I will never live and to have others read my work.

I write in a variety of categories I enjoy because it broadens my readership and I hate to admit it but although I don’t really care about scores that much, I do like seeing comments and getting emails.

I like when a story I wrote resonates with readers. Funny, sometimes a story I write I am sure will be popular and I am wrong and then I’ll write a one off in a few hours and it becomes very popular.

In the end, because so few leave comments and email, you have to write for you first (something I have forgot at times over the years).

 

[gunhilltrain]

Tell me about it. Every now and then a reader knocks the dust off my essay on veteran suicide.

I was a bit confused by your wording too. You mean they find your submission much later and they like it.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I write for fun, to create fantasies I know I will never live and to have others read my work.

I write in a variety of categories I enjoy because it broadens my readership and I hate to admit it but although I don’t really care about scores that much, I do like seeing comments and getting emails.

I like when a story I wrote resonates with readers. Funny, sometimes a story I write I am sure will be popular and I am wrong and then I’ll write a one off in a few hours and it becomes very popular.

In the end, because so few leave comments and email, you have to write for you first (something I have forgot at times over the years).

Most of my fiction is fantasies that I will never live either, even if the settings and some of the minor characters are reality-based.

 

[Djmac1031]

Thank you, I was wondering if that was what you meant. People do read that section, and based on my experiences there, the readership tends to be reasonable and generous compared to the craziness that goes on elsewhere. They will accept almost any esoteric topic I choose to post there.

Shortly after I posted my first few stories here, I thought it would be fun and helpful, for me if no one else, to write about my experiences and what I was learning as a writer, and to provide some background and insight on the stories I'd written, how they came to be.

I quickly realized there was going to be no real dialog with it. Unlike other social media platforms, it's really difficult to actually engage with other readers or writers, except through these forums.

Like I said, only 6 people actually read one of them lol.

It's fine. I consider them little diary entrees, a slice of a moment in time.

But I originally planned to write them regularly but quickly lost interest.

Although I may do another one soon since much more time has passed and I think I've learned a lot more.

The only real people who MIGHT be interested in actually reading them would be regular readers of my stories, and only if they actually cared about what I had to say about writing them.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I have a few stories I posted in 2006 and 2008 - maybe I should give one a sequel.

Phineas T. Barnum once said, "Always leave them wanting more."

I write with two objectives in mind:
1. Leave then wanting more
2. Leave a good impression

 

[Djmac1031]

Phineas T. Barnum once said, "Always leave them wanting more."

I write with two objectives in mind:
1. Leave then wanting more
2. Leave a good impression

Leaving them WANTING more doesn't always mean we should GIVE them more though lol.

This, coming from a Star Wars fan, a franchise loaded with endless sequels and offshoots lol.

Sequels can be fun. They can also be utterly useless.

Look at the Alien franchise. Everything after the second one was completely worthless to me, demeaning the original two with each new movie. Especially Prometheus. Did we really NEED an origin story for the Alien species?

Sorry, tangent rant lol.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Shortly after I posted my first few stories here, I thought it would be fun and helpful, for me if no one else, to write about my experiences and what I was learning as a writer, and to provide some background and insight on the stories I'd written, how they came to be.

I quickly realized there was going to be no real dialog with it. Unlike other social media platforms, it's really difficult to actually engage with other readers or writers, except through these forums.

Like I said, only 6 people actually read one of them lol.

It's fine. I consider them little diary entrees, a slice of a moment in time.

But I originally planned to write them regularly but quickly lost interest.

Although I may do another one soon since much more time has passed and I think I've learned a lot more.

The only real people who MIGHT be interested in actually reading them would be regular readers of my stories, and only if they actually cared about what I had to say about writing them.

I've seen a number of people describe their writing experiences and development. Sometimes they also post in the How To section, which is also mostly non-fiction. But I reached a point where I realized I could post almost anything (except for hard-core politics and certain religious topics) and the site would accept them and they would do pretty well with the readers. I mean, I have a history of the Checker Motors Company on here (they built taxis until 1982.) It was partially based on my own experiences driving them, but I had to do further research to get the details.

 

[alohadave]

Everything after the second one was completely worthless to me, demeaning the original two with each new movie.

Have you seen the Assembly Cut of Alien3. It fixes some of the issues with the theatrical cut. But that was a mess of a production through and through. To this day David Fincher won't talk about it.

Especially Prometheus.

Covenant managed to be worse.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Leaving them WANTING more doesn't always mean we should GIVE them more though lol.

I whole-heartily agree.

It takes talent to know when to quit, even a good thing.