Was it worth writing a story?

[DuncanMc]

Hi fellow authors!

So I toyed with my first story idea for ages before putting ‘pen to paper’. A 7 part story with very little feedback (a total of about 6 comments, 2 of which were very angry).

Was it worth it for all you writers out there to go to the effort to get published? I am a little underwhelmed. I haven’t shared my story with anyone in ‘real life’.

Anyway, I’ve watched the reader totals and ratings with interest. They all end up between 4.2 to 4.57 which isn’t too bad I suppose for a first try, but the reader totals are all over the place. The 4th installment has over 6000 views, the 7th only 900ish. Time in print doesn’t seem to be the cause. Is it my choice of key words in the description?

Finally, I wrote the story because it’s my fantasy. Not that I’d really want it to happen, (you know what I mean), but if you have time, any feedback here would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Duncan

 

[Djmac1031]

Yes. It was worth the effort. Even if only you read it.

The simple answer to your question is: readers are fickle. You posted a seven part series.

Some stick with those things, many do not.

And the average reader isn't clicking on Chapter 5 when it posts if they haven't read one through four.

 

[Phantom300]

If your first efforts are scoring consistently in the 4's, that's pretty good. The variety of views and ratings can vary depending on the category they are in as well.

Was it worth it? Only you can answer that.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

It depends on what you're writing for. Obviously, you were writing for scores feedback and adulation - the approval of others. You did not receive the approval that you sought, although there is still time I suppose. It looks like at least so far that the answer for you is no, it was not worth it.

Next question?

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Hi fellow authors!

So I toyed with my first story idea for ages before putting ‘pen to paper’. A 7 part story with very little feedback (a total of about 6 comments, 2 of which were very angry).

Was it worth it for all you writers out there to go to the effort to get published? I am a little underwhelmed. I haven’t shared my story with anyone in ‘real life’.

Anyway, I’ve watched the reader totals and ratings with interest. They all end up between 4.2 to 4.57 which isn’t too bad I suppose for a first try, but the reader totals are all over the place. The 4th installment has over 6000 views, the 7th only 900ish. Time in print doesn’t seem to be the cause. Is it my choice of key words in the description?

Finally, I wrote the story because it’s my fantasy. Not that I’d really want it to happen, (you know what I mean), but if you have time, any feedback here would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Duncan

I just read your first chapter, and I think you're an excellent writer.

I noticed the same thing that you're encountering with my chapter stories. The first chapter usually gets several comments and votes, and by the final chapter hardly anyone is still interested, no matter how well the story was initially received.

Lately, I've decided to write longer stories, so there aren't any follow-ups.

I've also noticed that Non-consent stories don't get a lot of feedback. You may want to try a few other categories, and you might get more readers and more comments.

I hope to read more from you. You're very gifted. And I wouldn't give up if I were you.

 

[SimonDoom]

Your primary concern should be your own personal and artistic satisfaction. Reader reaction, while not entirely unimportant, should come second.

My first story had an underwhelming reception. Not too many views, and the score never cracked 4.5. I was a bit discouraged, but I kept writing. I'm glad I did. The results since then have been very rewarding, and the rewards often have nothing to do with numbers.

One recommendation I have for new writers (it's too late for you) is DON'T start with a series. Start with short standalone stories so you can get your feet wet and try different things without too much investment in a protracted story line. It's not at all unusual for views to drop significantly from one chapter to the next, but new authors often don't quite understand this and get discouraged.

 

[alohadave]

It's worth it for me, because I want to be a writer. The votes and comments are great, and I check my scores multiple times a day just like everyone else (and we all do it, no matter what they may tell you), but I'd do it without that.

They all end up between 4.2 to 4.57 which isn’t too bad I suppose for a first try

Those are good scores.

The 4th installment has over 6000 views, the 7th only 900ish.

This is normal, and is to be expected. It happens literally everywhere when serial submissions exist. It's incredibly consistent unless your series goes viral.

but if you have time, any feedback here would be greatly appreciated.

I glanced through, and one thing that popped out at my is your chapter headings. Each part has chapters starting at Chapter 1, but your chapters are ridiculously short. I'd take out the chapters completely and let each part be one chapter. Especially when each part is only 2-2.5k words.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Was it worth writing a story?​

If your yardstick is views or number of comments, then probably not.

Don’t get me wrong, I like it when others appreciate what I do. But I don’t write for that.

Write for yourself. It’s the only way to stay sane.

Em

 

[Smuttyandfun]

If your yardstick is view ls or number of comments, then probably not.

Don’t get me wrong, I like it when others appreciate what I do. But I don’t write for that.

Write for yourself. It’s the only way to stay sane.

Em

That may be true. But I think all of us waited pretty anxiously to see how our first story did the first time we had anything published.

 

[Djmac1031]

That may be true. But I think all of us waited pretty anxiously to see how our first story did the first time we had anything published.

Agreed. Plus it can be rather disappointing when we first realize LE isn't Twitter or Facebook and we're not getting that immediate dopamine hit from instant feedback.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That may be true. But I think all of us waited pretty anxiously to see how our first story did the first time we had anything published.

I acknowledged that surely, no?

Em

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Agreed. Plus it can be rather disappointing when we first realize LE isn't Twitter or Facebook and we're not getting that immediate dopamine hit from instant feedback.

True. But I think we'd be lying if said we didn't enjoy getting even a few comments and hopefully a few favorites, too. Just to let us know that someone else is enjoying what we write.

 

[EmilyMiller]

True. But I think we'd be lying if said we didn't enjoy getting even a few comments and hopefully a few favorites, too. Just to let us know that someone else is enjoying what we write.

Of course - and I said that. My point is that can’t be the only reason to write.

Em

 

[Rob_Royale]

Readers here are not afraid of a 20k word story. Seven parts was probably overkill.

 

[Djmac1031]

True. But I think we'd be lying if said we didn't enjoy getting even a few comments and hopefully a few favorites, too. Just to let us know that someone else is enjoying what we write.

Again I agree, just pointing out the differences.

Post a comment, joke, meme or whatever on Twitter = instant feedback.

Here? You submit a story. May take days to actually post.

From there, you're waiting for readers, likes, Favorites, and comments.

At BEST, your first comment may take HOURS to show up.

At worst, they never show up at all.

Views may start high at first, but can dwindle just as quickly.

Same with ratings. You could be doing great, then along come the one bombs.

It can be disillusioning if one's not prepared for it.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Of course - and I said that. My point is that can’t be the only reason to write.

Em

I totally agree. I just think that all of us, no matter how long we've been writing still enjoy some form of validation, be it comments, or scores or by someone favoriting a story.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Again I agree, just pointing out the differences.

Post a comment, joke, meme or whatever on Twitter = instant feedback.

Here? You submit a story. May take days to actually post.

From there, you're waiting for readers, likes, Favorites, and comments.

At BEST, your first comment may take HOURS to show up.

At worst, they never show up at all.

Views may start high at first, but can dwindle just as quickly.

Same with ratings. You could be doing great, then along come the one bombs.

It can be disillusioning if one's not prepared for it.

I think that anyone who has written on here for any length of time knows that things move slowly, and that one-bombs happen. The LW crowd are nasty, and all the rest. I'm just saying that I think it's a shame to tell a new writer if he's looking for validation, then maybe it's not worth it for him to submit his work on here.

 

[MyBareTorso]

I write stories for Literotica because it gets me off. I love it when people read (the more the merrier!), comment (most of the time) and vote, but they're not driving factors in why I spend time here. If you enjoyed writing your story, then I'd say it was definitely worth it.

 

[tenyari]

So many threads that basicity ask the same question of 'why do you write this stuff'?

And almost everyone has the same answer, everytime; they write the stories they want to read, for themselves - then share them.

And yes, doing that is always worth it.

Me... I not only write the stories I want to read, in many ways there are several parts of them I wish I could live. My stories typically being set in 'genre fiction' they're obviously not auto-biographical. But I often wish I was in that world in some way or another, living some aspect of that fantasy. So obviously I don't write in the harsher genres like MC, non-consent, and so on. As such I think I get a different kind of reader, and they're kinder to my stories if I've given them good drama, emotional pull, and fantasies to dwell on.

They're notably less kind to my stories when I make them short. Other writers in the genres I write in often have multi-chapter stories where each chapter can be 10-50k words, and you can see from 5-100 or more chapters.

One sneaky thin about very long stories on this website: the voting is on the last page. People who are not into your long story, I suspect, just give up and click out before they reach that page... Maybe that is why most of the comically long stories in the SciFi, Fantasy, Nonhuman, and such categories tend to have pretty high scores - even the ones that I look at and see lots of very basic grammar mistakes in.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Hi fellow authors!

So I toyed with my first story idea for ages before putting ‘pen to paper’. A 7 part story with very little feedback (a total of about 6 comments, 2 of which were very angry).

Was it worth it for all you writers out there to go to the effort to get published? I am a little underwhelmed. I haven’t shared my story with anyone in ‘real life’.

Anyway, I’ve watched the reader totals and ratings with interest. They all end up between 4.2 to 4.57 which isn’t too bad I suppose for a first try, but the reader totals are all over the place. The 4th installment has over 6000 views, the 7th only 900ish. Time in print doesn’t seem to be the cause. Is it my choice of key words in the description?

Finally, I wrote the story because it’s my fantasy. Not that I’d really want it to happen, (you know what I mean), but if you have time, any feedback here would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Duncan

Of course it was worth it! "They all end up between 4.2 to 4.57 which isn’t too bad I suppose for a first try." This must be the 20th time I've told someone this: those are excellent scores for a first try, especially since it's every chapter in a series.

Reader views usually go down in later chapters of a series. However, views, unlike other metrics, will slowly drift up over a long time.

Six comments is pretty good for anything. I often get none at all. Thus, you have nothing to worry about and you should encourage yourself to do more.

 

[ronde]

Hi fellow authors!

So I toyed with my first story idea for ages before putting ‘pen to paper’. A 7 part story with very little feedback (a total of about 6 comments, 2 of which were very angry).

Was it worth it for all you writers out there to go to the effort to get published? I am a little underwhelmed. I haven’t shared my story with anyone in ‘real life’.

Anyway, I’ve watched the reader totals and ratings with interest. They all end up between 4.2 to 4.57 which isn’t too bad I suppose for a first try, but the reader totals are all over the place. The 4th installment has over 6000 views, the 7th only 900ish. Time in print doesn’t seem to be the cause. Is it my choice of key words in the description?

Finally, I wrote the story because it’s my fantasy. Not that I’d really want it to happen, (you know what I mean), but if you have time, any feedback here would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Duncan

I write because I enjoy writing so it's very worth the effort for me. The votes and comments are just icing on the cake.

Regarding the decreasing number of views for a story broken into chapters, I've found that if I actually "end" a chapter, meaning I've wrapped up all the loose ends of the characters and situations, the number of views of subsequent chapters drop off quickly. One reason for that is if you've "ended" one chapter, in the next you have to either recap what happened before or your readers will get lost in the first paragraph. Once they can't figure it out, they'll just back-click and probably won't bother to read the subsequent chapters.

It helps to put a "hook" at the end of a chapter. A "hook" is just a line or two that should leave the reader wanting to know what happens next. That will attract readers of your prior chapters. It doesn't have to be a preview of the next chapter. It can be something as simple as, "When she left, I wondered what was going to happen to her so I resolved to find out".

Another way I've used is to use the first couple paragraphs to reintroduce the characters with a short explanation of how they got where they are. If the reader has read the prior chapter, this helps them remember and they'll keep reading. If they haven't, it might send them searching for the prior chapter(s).

 

[Britva415]

unless your series goes viral

Does that happen?

"Viral" implies that viewership explodes because people are handing it to others, and on and on. Is there even a medium in which Lit stories get amplified by word of mouth/link sharing?

Does it happen in off-site social media, or is it just viral among people who are already on Lit?

Or are you just using "Viral" to mean it gets popular for some reason, without this social-spreading amplification?

 

[alohadave]

Or are you just using "Viral" to mean it gets popular for some reason, without this social-spreading amplification?

This

 

[Djmac1031]

The other thing to remember is: just because your series lost readers as it progressed doesn't mean it won't eventually find new ones.

My longest running series is currently at 26 chapters.

Has the views / ratings numbers dropped considerably over time? Absolutely.

That said, it still has a small but very loyal readership. And I'm fine with thar.

It also still picks up new fans, especially after I've published a brand new story.

If someone finds my new story and likes it, they sometimes check out my other stories.

I've watched, several times now, a new reader binge read my series in "real time" as they add each successive chapter to "Favorites."

And that's a great feeling. Not because I got new "views" or "favorites" or comments.

But because my stories connected with another person.

Keep writing. Your audience will find you.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's always worth publishing a story, if you want to be a writer. The OP's experience has happened to us all, but expectations differ.

Lower your expectations (Lit is feedback lite), treat readers as a bonus (they're fickle, anyway), and write for your own satisfaction. If you lose enthusiasm it will show in your writing, and readers will spot that - if you don't care, they won't either.