I know the feeling! Sometimes I'll go through periods where people just don't care about the stuff I'm drawing and it feels awful

but part of that disinterest is kind of up to inactivity. if you're more active, people will feel a little more engaged. it'll always be harder for writers I think, but I notice the same principle in effect in that sphere here too. plus, when it comes to kink stuff, I think a lot of people are just way less likely to favorite than they are to just click through and enjoy it once

I think paying attention to views is a more useful metric anyway! the fact that any eyes saw it at all is really good, and a lot of people are just really quiet in their support

that all said of course, do take all the time you need! it never feels good to rush stuff

I do think views are important, but I suppose it's kind of hard to tell whether those people have actually read it. I'm not exactly entitled to views or favourites, though it's hard not to feel disheartened when something I've spent probably 100 hours or more on does not get much attention. From the point of view of the 'pay-off' per effort or time put in, writing has to have one of the worst ratios there :/

I apologize because I have no time to do anything with my time, all the time putting off a lot for later.
I do not want you to experience such sensations, but I understand and know that it often happens, and as you correctly put it, you have an audience and always will be.
Need some rest? When you decide things from outside and they become less and it becomes easier, I know from myself ...
I wish you good luck and all the best, as much inspiration and free time as possible.
Alas, this is all I can do :(
* tightly hugged his wings and rubbed your back with them *

Thank you

I think I'll get more writing done when my exam is out of the way in a few weeks. Right now, I'm just feeling a bit deflated.

I really like to be thrifty and with exams is not the case.
I, too, have been very nervous already 2-3 months before them ... not myself.
And Considering that I have them at work every year several times, I have a very ... "quiet life" ...

Luckily, I only tend to get exams in May/June, so the rest of the year I only have assignments to do, which I find easier :)

Well, you’re studying, as I understand it?
And I have it for work))

Yeah, the academic year is geared up to preparing you for the final exam of a module, so generally, there is only one or two per module.

I wish you good luck, you will definitely succeed :3
And I will take exams somewhere else for 20-50 years if they are fired not earlier :D

You too :)

Every single writer goes through this, hell, look at George R. R. Martin. The man likely won't finish his next book before his end...

But more to your point: don't stress about it. Creativity is one of those things that comes and goes in the moment. Focus on the things that matter most to you and circle back around when you have free time or when you just get the urge to put something down on paper (so to speak).

Too many authors stress over perceived expectations but the reality is that good writing, or at least engaging writing, comes at your own pace.

Every writer except Stephen King XD

I wish the writing pace for my novel was more King and less GRRM, tbh :)

Stephen King also has multi-million dollar contracts and publishing deadlines to meet. That is a whole different ball game...

My motivation to write waxes and wanes too! In fact, recently I canceled my entire Patreon due to a combination of lack of motivation and other time commitments like school and work. I would have preferred otherwise, but I was just kidding myself thinking that I'd get caught up with my obligation in a timely manner there.

For me, anyways, a lot of it comes from a desire to do other things besides writing, particularly enjoying video games, which I know is not as productive as writing, and yet brings a lot of joy to me nonetheless. I do write as a hobby and for the fun of it, and when the writing just isn't fun... Well, sometimes the video game gets to be less fun too after a while and I want to do other things. I guess it's necessary to just change things up once in a while?

Still, I can't really offer good advice for how to keep on the right path since I struggle with the same problem. As for rewards, I can only really recommend going mainstream if you want more bang for your time spent writing lol. The furry community is still a lot smaller than the rest of society, so only a fraction of a fraction of people are here. Though obviously you can still gain a few devoted fans with your writing

Maybe at the end of the day, you should just do what makes you happy =)

I often end up playing video games instead for the same reasons. I'm actually tempted to do a short general furry story, just to see how the reception ends up, but my novel is *supposed* to be the main focus... it just never ends up that way :/

And thank you, I'll try :)

I’m feel so sorry for you, that you feel that way! :’(

I think there's a lot of different angles that can add together to cause this sort of problem, and I don't know if I'm the best person to give advice, given how little writing I've really done. But I've read a lot about writing so I'm going to try!

I think some of the best advice I've heard about writing, which I think came from Brandon Sanderson, is that your first 10 books are going to be bad, so you should get them out of the way as fast as possible. Which is only slightly tongue-in-cheek. But the only way for someone to get better at writing is to get the first 100,000 words out. And then the next 100,000 after that will be better. And then just keep doing that over and over again until stuff starts selling. All of the most successful writers have piles and piles of stuff they published first that nobody cared about, and then one day they became "an overnight success" once they published something successful. And they had piles of stuff before that that never even got published in the first place.

If you ask people "Have you heard of Game of Thrones" you're going to get a very different response than if you ask "Have you heard of The Hero from the 1971 issue of Galaxy Magazine"

And even when a writer is successful, their first drafts of successful books are always terrible. And the 2nd and 3rd drafts are also pretty terrible. But then eventually they get to a version that's actually good enough to publish (or they hit the deadline and have to publish it). And once they get to that point and publish it, there's still going to be lots of people that don't like it. And always far far more people that don't read it. And there's definitely going to be more people that watch the movie/series than read the book, if there is one. A lot of people won't even know there is a book.

Which is all to say, I don't think it's useful to look for extrinsic motivation for writing. I think you have to want to write because you enjoy what you're writing, whether it gets noticed or not. And however much it does get noticed is certainly good, but I don't think that can be the main motivating factor. And the more you write, particularly for your own enjoyment, the better you'll get at writing and eventually the more people you're going to attract to your writing until eventually maybe you do have that following that you're trying to get. And maybe you will start publishing and selling novels. But there's going to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of words written before that point. Which I think can be demotivating if what you're trying to get to is a bunch of faves up front, but I think if you view writing as its own reward then it should hopefully be easier to motivate yourself to move forward. That you're writing because you have a story you want to tell, or a setting you want to explore, or characters you want to develop, or whatever else it is that got you to write the things you decide to write.

Which I don't know if that helps, especially because there's a lot of subtle factors that can stymie motivation, but hopefully it's something worth thinking about at least!

Thank you for the well thought out response, I appreciate it! I had heard that Sanderson wrote a ridiculous number of books before being published. Personally, I'd rather practice with lots and lots of short stories or novellas, as they are easier to publish here :)

I'm a big believer in the 10,000 hour theory, that most people can become proficient, even competitive, in a hobby they invest at least 10,000 hours in (with a few exceptions, obviously), so I absolutely agree that the more I do it, the better I'll get. I've had a lot of chances to practice different writing styles here, some of which have been more successful than others.

I think my main concern was that I have been bashing out stories here for the better part of 10 years, and I'm just feeling demotivated because it sometimes feels like they aren't leading anywhere. This is a half-truth, as I have gained more than 800 watchers in that time, for which I'm very grateful. However, I suppose I'm wondering how I can publish more ambitious stories, and how I can reach an audience who would actually read them.

One thing I have in mind at the moment: I'm considering writing a non-fetish specific story or novella, possibly with dragons or something, which would still be a furry story, but would (hopefully) have a wider appeal :)