my threads

[wicker]

Many of my threads seem to die because no one adds to them. I hate adding to my own threads. It makes me feel like no one likes my stuff. Anyone familiar with my work want to tell me why no one seems to like to work with me?

 

[hg3333]

Many of my threads seem to die because no one adds to them. I hate adding to my own threads. It makes me feel like no one likes my stuff. Anyone familiar with my work want to tell me why no one seems to like to work with me?

Hi, you added a couple threads to my 'Ring of Power' story and I enjoyed them (and continued it as well!) But I do have some constructive criticism for you:

First, you should double up your line breaks. It's harder to read your thread when the words are all bunched up against each other, so when you do a line break, put in two carriage returns instead of one. Readability is important to keep the reader's interest.

Second, you should go into a bit more detail sometimes. Brevity is good in some cases, but you could stand to expand on some of your sex scenes. In my story, you have the dialogue part down but if you would fluff up the descriptions of the act itself it could go a long way to making it more interesting and erotic.

Of course, take my suggestions with a grain of salt considering I'm not exactly a popular writer either here.

Though I would love to hear constructive criticism on any of my own stuff as well, don't be shy people! I like it rough, lay it on me thick!

 

[Zingiber]

Many of my threads seem to die because no one adds to them. I hate adding to my own threads. It makes me feel like no one likes my stuff. Anyone familiar with my work want to tell me why no one seems to like to work with me?

I can't speak directly to your work, but I have some observations about collaboration from my own experience.

There are many stories, and only a moderate number of writers, so the raw numbers suggest that you'll have to attract some positive attention in order to get contributions. You can attract attention via self-promotion (more typically this is as a story editor) or by contributing good, readable threads to stories that are themselves popular. More popular stories have more readers, and more frequent readers who might become collaborators.

You can state your story interests here and ask if there are others who enjoy reading or writing in those areas, or ask for recommendations about good stories of the types or themes that draw your interest. You might be able to put together a group of authors to develop a new story or stories that would fit your area of interest, so that you would be collaborating from the start rather than contributing a thread here and there and hoping someone will be attracted to build on it.

Sometimes finding a good hook question, or a good hinge point to break a thread where it will be easy to build on can be difficult to do well. Having a good prompting question, and a good stopping point for the next thread to build from can make a difference in whether a thread gets added to. Sometimes I've wanted to add to a storyline, but haven't been able to figure out how to continue from an awkward or vague stopping point in the last thread. How to finish threads well to make them welcoming to other contributors might be worth a larger discussion.

I've had some back-and-forth collaborations with a few authors where each of us has added alternating threads and branched out a bit, but they tend to go in fits and starts, as one of us gets distracted with other stories or other things.

Don't be discouraged if things start slow for you. Asking here is probably a good start.

Good luck!

-Zingiber

 

[niceguy2002tim]

Many of my threads seem to die because no one adds to them. I hate adding to my own threads. It makes me feel like no one likes my stuff. Anyone familiar with my work want to tell me why no one seems to like to work with me?

I took a look at your threads list and notice that most of the stories you add to are in the "mind control, scifi-fantasy, and fan fiction" categories. I rarely dip into those groups, as they're not my interest. I also notice you are a big fan of lilguy's stories... and again, they're not my cup of tea.

So as it was already said... adding threads to more popular stories gets more reaction. You have better odds of somebody seeing your work and adding on it.

-Tim (niceguy2002tim)

 

[gizmoo69]

Thought I'd add my two cents.

You must know that the CHYOO experience is a very slow process. It can take months from writing a story to having an addition. There are some things that you can do to help yourself, though.

- Plug yourself. Put links to your stories on this forum. It's all about advertising.

- Expand your story. I know you said that you don't like to add to your own stories, but you really should. It puts you to the top of the 'Freshest Stories' list on the CHYOO homepage, giving your story more exposure, it allows readers to become more involved in your stories, and it gives writers more points to join in. As Zingiber mentioned, giving good (and many) starting points for writers is crucial. I would say that you should aim for a story at least five pages deep before you can feasibly expect new additions.

- Add to others' stories. Not only does it get you noticed by the editors, but many of the more experienced writers (myself included) operate a thread-for-thread policy. Of course, whether other writers actually get round to adding to your story depends on their motivation, whether they like your story and point 2, but you probably have a 50/50 shot of getting a thread returned.

 

[Imhotep]

Many of my threads seem to die because no one adds to them. I hate adding to my own threads. It makes me feel like no one likes my stuff. Anyone familiar with my work want to tell me why no one seems to like to work with me?

I know exactly where you are coming from. I often feel the same way. In fact, I'd guess that at least half of my threads are ones that I wrote as follow ups to previous threads that I'd written. However, keep it up eventually someone will likely add to your threads If you're willing to follow the sage advice so far provided. Good Luck!

 

[wicker]

I'm also one of the VERY few it seems that likes time stop. Maybe that's a problem

 

[Zingiber]

I'm also one of the VERY few it seems that likes time stop. Maybe that's a problem

How about you turn that into another discussion thread? "Hey, who likes time stop?" and point out some stories and threads you've enjoyed, to see if you get any response.

-Z

 

[lilguy]

yours stuff is good


Least for me not everyone into Time Spot and mind control I notice.

Thing is your not the only one who dont get your threads updated

Lot of mind sit around for months
Think everyone here has some Threads that just lay there


Take the advice of what other said I guess

But got to say is, a lot of it luck, and just getting someone who in the mood to add that day

IT does suck thought sometime I know
Just keep adding to stuff

 

[jakelyon]

Post a link to your stories. I can't even seem to locate them on the site. I can't get anything to come up under the user name wicker?

 

[niceguy2002tim]

Post a link to your stories. I can't even seem to locate them on the site. I can't get anything to come up under the user name wicker?

He doesn't have any stories... just 100 threads he has added to other stories.

yours stuff is good Least for me not everyone into Time Spot and mind control I notice.

I am confused... what is the name of the story? Time Stop or Time Spot?

 

[Imhotep]

Wicker is a fan of "Time Stop" stories, and has no story entitled "Time Spot." He has more that 100 threads contributed to differant stories, mine included among them.

 

[Bastian]

I don't really like adding to my own threads either, but to be honest, I think thats the key to success. If you write a deep and involving series of threads people will start to add to it.

 

[TJChurch]

I don't really like adding to my own threads either, but to be honest, I think thats the key to success. If you write a deep and involving series of threads people will start to add to it.

I've always thought it the other way... If I take my own stuff far enough, someone will see it, think I have it handled, & move on.

 

[Torg]

I think the trick is to have enough but not too much. At least at the start. Get a few threads deep and then switch to a different storyline. Always stop on a non-obvious choice, something that could easily go at least two ways.

 

[24ward]

Always stop on a non-obvious choice, something that could easily go at least two ways.

I always thought the best stops were the obvious ones.

My personal favorite non-obvious choice was in one story in which the main character is chatting to a woman on campus and she asks if you know where the cafeteria is. The hook question: "Do you?"

HA!

 

[Torg]

I always thought the best stops were the obvious ones.

My personal favorite non-obvious choice was in one story in which the main character is chatting to a woman on campus and she asks if you know where the cafeteria is. The hook question: "Do you?"

HA!

The stops are obvious. I meant that you want to stop where there is a real choice, not one obvious choice and a bunch of dumb choices.

 

[amalgam]

Anyone familiar with my work want to tell me why no one seems to like to work with me?

Dear Wicker:

I recognize you as a signficant contributor to my earlier work, but I became irritated because you refused to provide a real email address with which I could discuss and offer critique. I suggested that you get one but you seemed to ignore me, thus leaving the comment box as my only means of communication.

[This was annoying because: 1) In order to communicate with you, I had to comment on your threads, which also requires a number rating, else the comment does not go through. This means that I had to artificially inflate or deflate the rating on my own story; 2) So as to not do this to myself, I had to seek out your threads in other people's stories; 3) But a single thread can only be commented on once, so I had to keep finding different threads; 4) Finally, the comment box is limited in the amount of text that can be sent.]

Eventually I tired of the extra effort. I accepted your threads but edited them heavily, and didn't bother messaging anything of significance. I'm sorry to have done that but it was just too much hassle.

So now, if you'll forgive this public diatribe, and because you have become reachable, I'll look forward to writing with you again, or at least help you proof your work.

Sincerely,



Amalgam

 

[wicker]

i have a good reason for not using a real email addy!
Also I realize few people are into time stop and mind control stories.
I don't like incest or femdom much unless the femdom is FF.
So maybe that will help if people want to work with me and vice versa.

 

[Gunde]

i have a good reason for not using a real email addy!
Also I realize few people are into time stop and mind control stories.
I don't like incest or femdom much unless the femdom is FF.
So maybe that will help if people want to work with me and vice versa.

Well, if you were to add a thread to anything I've written (or to any story that I'm editing), I'd be glad to add to it in return.
No, I have no sense of shame when it comes to recruiting writers...