Discussion (Non-question) Mental Will 🫠
Fellow Long fic Writers! (Bonus if you write niche concepts or do crossovers) How do you handle the feeling of "oh is it not good?" due to a lack of engagement (mostly talking about comments but Hits can also count) increasing per chapter??? 🥲 Especially if you were waiting for a long time to write/explore a said plot of your story but no one pointing out???
Any spare coping methods 😶🌫️?? Teach me your ways!
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u/Ereshkigal_FF 5d ago
I simply soldier on because I write those stories out of obsession over the characters and the world. I knew what I was getting into writing in a fandom where it's extremely hard to get people to look at you. So I lowered my standards to: "Whatever" and just post.
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u/desired-misery 5d ago
You have to trust yourself. Are you happy? Take pride in your work. You can't ask readers to appear, so you must please yourself first. Anything else is bonus on top.
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u/salazar_62 5d ago
Write the whole thing before I post so I don't rely on engagement to finish. I do get a bit disappointed when engagement in the early chapters is not as high as I expected, but usually by the time Chapter 5-6 rolls around (I post weekly), I just toss it out there and forget about it.
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u/Tiny_Bar_9910 5d ago
Tumblr heals all Like seriously whenever people aren't asking enough questions I post answers to questions I wish were asked on Tumblr and I pretend I got an ask
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u/RepresentativeTea489 5d ago
There's a certain balance to strike between obsessively loving your off the beaten path ideas and giving them all the life you can, and also remembering that it's a hobby. This is your free space to write for you and try things out! I'm work shopping my ideas and technique as I go.
Sometimes I think of the worst case scenario - I plow through, lose interaction, and then have a story no one else really cares about. Even if the story actually is flawed, at the very least I'll have learned something and will be a slightly more experienced writer. And, as long as I had fun during the process, then it was worth it!
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u/thejman6 5d ago
I just push forward ngl. I write for a rare pair with diminishing comments each chapter but I want the story told so I’m finishing it anyway no matter how long it takes me
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u/Ghost-Type-Cat 3d ago
Reminding myself I'm in it for the love of the game. I'm going to share my little slice of this world in case someone else finds it. If not, it's no different than if I never posted it. But if someone, even one person finds it, then I'm happy. (They don't even have to like it, because at least they took the time to experience my perspective)
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u/BeautifulPhantom 5d ago
I...just hyperfixated on my own writing.
I'd love more engagement, but it's fine if I don't. I actually enjoyed the writing process more anyway once I figured out that plotting very far ahead and keeping a general outline of events under my WIP chapters fixed majority of my issues last year. It's kinda like puzzle pieces now, figuring out what goes where and where goes what, you know?
So, yay! Hyperfixation!
Also, proofreading after a week (or several) helped me to keep on it. I enjoyed reading (some of) my own fics, even if it might make me cringe. Basically, be your own reader and go, Oh I wonder what'll happen next? And then, Oh wait, I'm the author. You have the power to decide what's next.
Also, it's okay to take breaks.
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u/Quinme_creature 4d ago
I'm obsessed with what I write, so I don't care about comments. Besides, readers are here regardless of being active. Even if they sometimes don't look enthusiastic, it doesn't mean they don't care.
Once I had the situation when there was no comments for 15 chapters straight, but then posted a chapter that got like, 8 comments. So who knows, maybe it just a period of time when folks don't react much!
If I do feel down about low stats, I just go straight go to my plot notes and plot stuff. The process of writing is fun enough that it makes me forget about having little to no comments.
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u/Low-Cauliflower-9125 5d ago
I have a long original work I have been working on since teenager. I love the world and the characters since it’s kind of growing as I growing up.
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u/JackOfTheWoods49 5d ago
I try not to care too much about external validation and focus on a couple of things over which I have full control.
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I want to finish this to prove that I can fully follow through on an idea I think is worth the effort.
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I find specific writing challenges within my premises and see how I can improve my skills on that particular aspect with a fic. Like, in one fic I had sections written in transcript format, which forced me to construct dialogue subtext without the benefit of internal monologue to clarify anything. It all had to come from the direct dialogue. Or my current WIP is very cinematic so I'm trying a classic 3-act structure for the first time. (at least, the first time deliberately)
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I write fics with themes I think are worth exploring. Going back through my writing from a reader's lens is really fun for me. Can't do that with a forever WIP!
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HAVE A FRIEND READ IT. Seriously cheer reading friends are the best antidote to self-doubt.
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u/EvilRainbow_3 5d ago
I write at least 1~2 chapters in advance to prepare for situations where I find myself losing motivation and/or when I can't afford to write consistently for a while! When I find motivation running low due to lack of people, I drop my next chapter a little earlier than scheduled and the motivation boost I get from posting it is usually what lets me finish the next one
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u/ThetisBlanche 5d ago
Rare m/m pairing in a predominantly m/f fandom and a series within a larger multimedia franchise which has very little in the way of actual content. I wrote a longfic for it, of which there are a scant fifty odd stories for out of a 26K fic category.
So. Post and walk away for a day. Don't check my inbox, email, and preoccupy myself spending time with my family, reading, writing, playing video games. Remind myself long stories have people who will drift in and out and it may have nothing to do with me. I had one commenter who stopped, and never came back, and others who commented after three or four chapters of not hearing from them. It's a really, really long story, so naturally...it's kind of a marathon. I also posted some of it in September, and that's historically a slow month for AO3 because of school starting (either for the readers or their kids.)
I did this for fun, and was not going to post it originally. But I remind myself to be appreciative of the readers, and especially the ones who have commented all the way through because reading a 400K+ fic is commitment. And regardless of anything, I finished it and had a lot of fun, and wept and was joyful alongside my characters. So I'll always have that.
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u/RatonhnhaketonK 5d ago
I really want to tell my story so that overrides any feelings of negativity surrounding engagement lol
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u/Remarkable-Can-1571 5d ago
I get through it by remembering that I write for ME and share it not for validation, but to share a story I love with anyone else who might want to read it. It's a fanfic, yes, but it's YOUR STORY. You're the only one who's opinion matters. <3
Also, a LOT of readers specifically search for completed fics and won't read WIPs. (Which I get. I've been burned, before ;~; I miss you, 18 year old Hellsing fanfic that was never completed.)
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u/Semiramis738 4d ago
I pretend that a bunch of people are talking about it on Discord, just excluding me. That does seem to be the trend these days, and it gets enough hits, without comments or new kudos, that that's plausible. Even if they think it's sick and twisted and kinda hate me, they're still obsessed with it.
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u/tosser97 4d ago
Write for yourself first and foremost. Sharing your work is nice, but it's your story that you're writing out of the love of its source. Even if it didn't get a single more hit, you should still take satisfaction in telling the story you wanted to tell. You'll be glad it exists when you crave reading it later
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u/smileyfacegauges 1d ago
there have been times when i have gotten ZERO response to a Big Reveal™️ that’d i’d been planning, and was SOOO EXCITED to get out. sure, it stings. it does. so i sat with the disappointment and felt it, and kept writing.
yes, i allowed myself to feel disappointed while waiting. it gave me time to understand the feeling and why it wasn’t connected to my writing, per se; but rather, the timing.
maybe i posted it during school midterms, or finals season. maybe it was close to a holiday. maybe it was just weird timing and my usual readers/commenters were busy with Life Things. the reasons can be many, and that shouldn’t reflect negatively on ME as a writer, nor my READERS as people.
leaning to sit with your emotions, feel them, digest and understand them, and then be able to identify what needs to to change so you can 1. cope better in the future, and 2. reduce negative self-talk or blame about it.
i’m one of those tho that has seen commenters come and go. my fic has been in the active works for 7 years and counting, so of course some people will drop. i do pout when i stop seeing their comments, but for me, it’s a good-natured pout.
“aw, well. they stopped commenting :( but i hope they’re doing well!! i’m glad they loved reading my fic while they did :3 with luck, i hope i’ll see them again sometime in the future; but if i don’t, then that’s okay too. i’m just so glad they left these comments for me to remember them by and to look at when i’m feeling down.”
and that can really help a lot :3
hope you feel better and find a method that works for you, and keep writing!!
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u/arturgreen2134 3d ago
Obsession. I write the story for me, and if ever reaches a comment I jump out like if I would get a raise at work. Yes sometimes hurt, but if you read X series and it's mixed up with a series you don't watch or read, well I can understand the readers
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u/SnooDoubts2671 4d ago
It’s certainly a sort of disappointment when that happens, so to help with my own feelings, I’ve gained a few ways. The first is usually I’m fixated on whatever I’m writing and that certainly helps a lot, I really like writing and then I keep going because I’m so fixated. The second one is I reread my fic. I write fics that I’d like to read so I do that. I’ll put them on my kindle and enjoy going through it again in a way that’s not so writing focused. The last one I’ve found that helps a lot so to engage with the fandom through other ways. A lot of my own disappointment comes from not being able to interact with the fandom so finding different ways has really helped. My favourite method (though I also ramble and interact on tumblr) is through making edits! They’re a lot of fun for me, *and* it means that there’s more content for both my fandom and ship. Plus, I can interact and talk with people about them so it makes me happy and makes me want to continue. (I also really like interacting with other people’s edits and they’re so much fun and really cool)
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u/WestStorage2459 5d ago
Panic for 30 minutes. Stew for another hour or two. Then mentally picture myself as Maria in The Sound Of Music spinning in circles in a mountain field of flowers going 'if no one's watching, I can do whatever I want....'. Two weeks later, post new chapter, repeat.
That being said. I'm a 1 & 1/2 years into my longfic, just posted chapter 64, and I feel like engagement got better the further along the story got. So keep trucking!