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Question Re: Personal Writing
7 months ago
Hey, just a question for people that are interested in stuff that I would do for myself rather than for commission. This involves both the sponsored-story stuff as well as the rare occasion that I manage to do something for myself outside of that.
I love to write things involving my characters and my ideas, but I often run into three major issues with them.
1: My personal story ideas, the ones that I want to do for myself, tend to be the stuff that is the least-viewed and least-favorited (and, by interpretation, least liked) of all the things that I do, even compared to some of the more out-there commissions. Admittedly, some of that is due to the fact that my kinky stuff is more story-based rather than immediately fetish-y, but the fact that it falls so low is discouraging.
2: My ideas tend to be more series-based (short or long) than one-offs, which means a longer commitment toward seeing them done. The fact that few people seem to be interested in them means that there's less feedback, and also less sponsorship toward them. Which leads to:
3: My ideas stagnating and no longer interesting me because they've sat idle for too long. For me, sharing the idea and getting other people to enjoy it is half the fun. If I'm just putting it out there and shouting into a void, it's more interesting to shift over to some new idea rather than continue something that gets almost nothing in terms of interest.
Now, all of these things are 'me' problems. It's not up to everyone else to like something I make just because I made it. Every author, hell, every creative takes that risk whenever they make something. We shoot it off into the void and hope that it finds an audience somewhere, always with the risk that nobody likes it at all. I know that, and I have always known that, but that doesn't mean that it's any less discouraging when there's nothing under the submission after it's been up for months, or years. And that discouragement means that it's very hard to keep moving forward with a story when it takes me weeks, if not months between chapters, and the interest is slowly dying, and it feels like there's nobody in the world that wants to see the idea.
It kinda ends up leaving me feeling kinda like a shitty writer, if I'm completely honest.
So, I'm trying to figure out a way to make it a little bit easier, both for me to keep a story going and for those that want me to do that have a way to help. To do that, I have a few questions, and I have a request or two. The questions first.
Question 1: When it comes to my stories, what are more interesting? Stories involving random characters going through kinky situations I come up with, or stories about my characters in similar situations?
Question 2: Do you prefer series or one-shots when it comes to new stories with my characters?
Question 3: When I do more stories involving my characters, would it be more interesting to do origin stories, or just do slice of life/modern events with them?
If you wouldn't mind answering some of those in the comments below, that would be really useful for me.
As for the favors (outside of answering the questions), I mostly just...really want this.
If you enjoyed something I wrote, please say something. If there is something I did well, please leave a comment. Because it's one thing when I put something up that someone else commissioned and it doesn't do well. It didn't have to; so long as the client liked it, that means that the story succeeded in what it was meant to do. But when it's something I do for myself, there's more of my heart in it, and seeing it just disappear feels like a little piece of me is dying.
If you can't, or don't have the time, I get it. I can't push for it, and you have no reason to say much. But if I didn't ask, then I had little right to be bothered.
Thanks for your time, and thanks in advance if you read through this and respond.
I love to write things involving my characters and my ideas, but I often run into three major issues with them.
1: My personal story ideas, the ones that I want to do for myself, tend to be the stuff that is the least-viewed and least-favorited (and, by interpretation, least liked) of all the things that I do, even compared to some of the more out-there commissions. Admittedly, some of that is due to the fact that my kinky stuff is more story-based rather than immediately fetish-y, but the fact that it falls so low is discouraging.
2: My ideas tend to be more series-based (short or long) than one-offs, which means a longer commitment toward seeing them done. The fact that few people seem to be interested in them means that there's less feedback, and also less sponsorship toward them. Which leads to:
3: My ideas stagnating and no longer interesting me because they've sat idle for too long. For me, sharing the idea and getting other people to enjoy it is half the fun. If I'm just putting it out there and shouting into a void, it's more interesting to shift over to some new idea rather than continue something that gets almost nothing in terms of interest.
Now, all of these things are 'me' problems. It's not up to everyone else to like something I make just because I made it. Every author, hell, every creative takes that risk whenever they make something. We shoot it off into the void and hope that it finds an audience somewhere, always with the risk that nobody likes it at all. I know that, and I have always known that, but that doesn't mean that it's any less discouraging when there's nothing under the submission after it's been up for months, or years. And that discouragement means that it's very hard to keep moving forward with a story when it takes me weeks, if not months between chapters, and the interest is slowly dying, and it feels like there's nobody in the world that wants to see the idea.
It kinda ends up leaving me feeling kinda like a shitty writer, if I'm completely honest.
So, I'm trying to figure out a way to make it a little bit easier, both for me to keep a story going and for those that want me to do that have a way to help. To do that, I have a few questions, and I have a request or two. The questions first.
Question 1: When it comes to my stories, what are more interesting? Stories involving random characters going through kinky situations I come up with, or stories about my characters in similar situations?
Question 2: Do you prefer series or one-shots when it comes to new stories with my characters?
Question 3: When I do more stories involving my characters, would it be more interesting to do origin stories, or just do slice of life/modern events with them?
If you wouldn't mind answering some of those in the comments below, that would be really useful for me.
As for the favors (outside of answering the questions), I mostly just...really want this.
If you enjoyed something I wrote, please say something. If there is something I did well, please leave a comment. Because it's one thing when I put something up that someone else commissioned and it doesn't do well. It didn't have to; so long as the client liked it, that means that the story succeeded in what it was meant to do. But when it's something I do for myself, there's more of my heart in it, and seeing it just disappear feels like a little piece of me is dying.
If you can't, or don't have the time, I get it. I can't push for it, and you have no reason to say much. But if I didn't ask, then I had little right to be bothered.
Thanks for your time, and thanks in advance if you read through this and respond.
A2: I like series more. That way, you can relate with characters and build a sort of....I dunno how to say it, but rapport , ig with them?
A3: Once again, I like both
As for commneting and reviewing....yeah, I should do those😅😅. And I would, because I like doing that. Its just that I haven't been active here much lately and I won't be for quiet some time, coz I am very busy rn.
Still, I will start when I return with more time (hopefully soon)
Cheers man!!!
And I completely get being busy. I really have no right to push anyone to comment, but I felt like, if I didn't say what might help me stay motivated, I didn't have the right to be annoyed. Speak up with what you want, right?
2 I usually prefer one-shots but that’s not entirely cut-and-dry because sometimes only the second part in a series really gets to me.
3 The thing that’s gonna get me to read or not read is the specific kink involved (and gender of the characters, which I consider to be a kink). Kinky slice-of-life is a fav of mine when it meshes with my interests.
It’s a lot to ask of a reader to spend even five minutes with a character without knowing for sure that the character will be put in a (usually kinky) situation the reader is interested in. The more literary or less kinky a story goes, the more it has to compete with mainstream media, a cutthroat place where whole teams of credentialed creatives are vying for scraps of reader attention. People here want stuff that advertises itself as something they want but aren’t being given by the mainstream. Idk, I’m just rambling now, but I respectfully do not think the things you’re asking about will have much bearing on whether a story gains a readership, if that’s why you’re asking.
I am well-aware that most people are here for kink, and that's going to be the deciding factor for whether they pick up a story or not. I have been doing this since 2013, and I know that my audience are people looking for ways to get off. I don't dispute that.
What I'm trying to do here is define the other variables at play. Considering my own kinks wander all over the place, I'm aware that some of them are going to miss part of the audience because of that. I can't control that side of things unless I want to commit to a specific set of kinks to concentrate a specific sort of audience, which I don't really want to do.
What I'm doing with these questions is seeing, outside of "Does this story hit my kink or not?", where interest falls. Like, is there any interest in a more consistent cast of characters from me, provided that they're involved in the kink that a person likes, or is seeing more of an endless cast of different bodies walking through the kink people like the more appealing choice? Do people want to see more one-offs, with new people cycled in, or do they want to see a kinky storyline develop further and further?
Because if I know that, then I know what is and is not likely to get something, provided that the kink/gender stuff is suitable. If my audience is primarily more interested in one-offs, things that are over and done quickly, then I know I need to let to go of some of the long-term series getting much attention. If, on the other hand, people are more interested in seeing something develop and build over the course of a series, then that means that I'm free to start looking at long-term storylines rather than seeing how to wrap something up quickly. It's not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination, but if I know what other factors are in play and if there are any common/majority opinions, that helps me in knowing what works best for my audience. It's not a perfect solution, nor necessarily even a completely workable one, but it's more information than I currently have.
As for the literary bit, that one is going to be hard to help, because - I'm going to be honest here - I'm not writing hump-and-pump stuff for myself most of the time. My particular flavor of asexual doesn't really get along with that so well, so when it comes to writing for myself, there's more build-up, more getting into things, more developing and making things make sense before we get around to that kind of thing.
It may be a thing that just doesn't work for most audiences, or maybe it's something that needs better targeting. Either way, I'm aware that I am rambling a bit too at this point, but honestly, I felt the need to do something to try and get a handle on stuff, because just shouting into the void with the few things I do for myself has been driving me crazy.
Wrote whatever you feel like, I say. You need to do some for yourself too, you know?
At the same time, without some encouragement, there's little point in getting it out of my head, for me. After all, even when I'm doing my absolute best, there's always something that gets lost in translation. Without knowing that someone else has liked it, that the story was worth something to someone, it's hard to feel encouraged when there's nothing but silence. I end up feeling like I made the story idea worse than it was in my head, and it reached absolutely nobody, so what was the point?
I'm happy for the people that can just write for themselves, and sometimes, I can do that, but only for so long before I need something to matter to someone else. That's why I'm asking these questions, to find out what might be controllable variables that might get a few more eyes on things.
I have my comms, and I always put my best foot forward.
Then when I need a refresher, something to satisfy a desire, or silly idea, I write it. Yes, the collabs make money, but you still need to be creative aside from giving input with clients. As long as you're satisfied with it and enjoy it, that's all that really matters.
Q2: I love long series, but if it's not something I'm commissioning I tend to lose track of it because I don't check FA very often these days. I'll read the chapters that are posted, but a month later when I'm looking at your gallery again there's a decent chance I won't remember the title and notice that the story I'd been enjoying has new chapters.
Q3: Both can be interesting. I find that for characters I'm not familiar with origin stories sometimes grab and hold my attention a little better. But for characters I know better slice of life or modern events can be really interesting.
Yeah, the bit about the series coming out slowly, or being seen less often, is a problem. I really should be uploading more, and I want to fix that, too.
All very useful. Thank you.
2. One-shots are better I suppose. I prefer series because I want to see how things are going to progress but now that my funds are limited, I can't fund the series I want to anymore.
3. I like origin stories when there's a history that's needed to know ahead of other stories involving them, but otherwise I like stories that progress things forward.
2. Off the cuff, I'd say one-shots first and if I like how things go I'd hope for things to continue on and go into a series. Kinda hard to say since I like at least some buildup before any action happens, then figuring out how I feel from there.
3. Both? How a character became the way they are is interesting, but if I'm encountering them for the first time then quickly understanding who they are matters more. It's a thought that came to me after reading one web serial novel that tends to pass the camera around different focus characters and colors things through their viewpoints. It does a really great job of it.
Question 1: If the story has kinky themes, the kinks are more important to me than the characters*. I'll generally pass over fetish material that doesn't appeal to me, even if it involves my most beloved characters. This is true even if the story is largely plot-driven but features kinky themes.
* Of course, being attracted to men exclusively, I'm almost never going to read kinky stories involving female and intersex characters.
Question 2: A long series can be fun, but the organisation is a challenge on FA. Honestly, when I see a new submission entitled something along the lines of "[Series Title], Chapter 11", I'm way less likely to click on it. I prefer being able to navigate an entire story on one page. One example of an implementation I like is the website Metabods, which will append each new chapter of a story to the bottom of a webpage which contains the story in its entirety. It's a good example of a site whose design actively encourages me to dive into ongoing series and catch up on the previous installments.
Perhaps on FA, you could create a "master submission" for each series, whose source file gets updated with each new installment. In any case, I think making it as easy as possible to navigate a series as a single cohesive story is key to attracting readers.
Question 3: I don't have a preference here per se, but I feel like any origin story needs an engaging plot of its own. For example, one can think of Isaac Asimov's Robot series as a group of novels on the origin of the Galactic Empire. But each novel is an engaging detective story in its own rite. There's a central conflict that each story sets up and resolves, beyond simply detailing the origins of the author's universe. I think that's an excellent way to go about it, because I love learning about character and institutional origins along the way to resolving a story's central conflict. :>
A2: One-offs are fine since they're low investment. With series I feel like the biggest obstacle for me reading some of them is when a lot of parts are dropped in short order. I think more than three or four parts in one go feels a bit daunting.
A3: I'm gonna say I lean more towards the slice of life/modern events with a character. I tend to just not find myself curious enough about how things got to status quo to be concerned with the question of how we got there.
Hope that makes sense.