How to attract readers' attention, a half-baked guide regarding metadata and the like: · 5:20am Nov 30th, 2017
Disclaimer here:
This is not a guide on how to write better. Improving how you write is a matter of time and practice. This guide is a culmination of general observation and trial-and-error as to what people look for in a story and what will net you a higher view count. I'm not a spectacular writer, but I do know how to recognize what people want to see.
* And yes, I realize the inherent irony in posting this as a blog rather than as a forum thread.
I've seen it time and time again, and I'm always asked the same question:
Why aren't people reading my story?
It may simply be that the quality of the story is too severe for anyone to want to read. And while that might be true in certain circumstances, it's usually not the case. Do you want to know why your story isn't getting featured?
It's because no one wants to read it. It's too bland for people to notice that it exists.
It's a hard truth to swallow, but it's the reality of the general audience of Fimfiction. If you write a crossover, you lose a chunk of the audience. If you write EqG, you lose a chunk of the audience. Gore? Lose your audience. That being said, this cyclical hell can be avoided by recognizing several factors:
You need to advertise, like, big time:
One reason no one might be reading your story is that you aren't doing a damn thing to make it noticeable. This is especially important if you don't have many followers. Because without an established audience, you are relying on people looking toward the "new stories" list. And that's a purgatory you don't want to be stuck in. Join groups, make blogs to remind existing followers that you're still alive, and get other people hyped to read your story before it's even published.
Your story needs to look nice:
Humans are simple creatures; they see pretty cover art, they click on it. They see a conveniently succinct story, they're more inclined to read it. They see a story with uncluttered tags, they're more inclined to read it. The fact of the matter is, the quality of the writing is not the most important factor in determining the reception of a story. This doesn't mean you have an excuse to write random shit, but you can take solace in knowing that mediocre stories can, and often do, hit the feature box.
Write something people actually want to read:
Look, I'm all for people writing what they want to write. But if you don't look at it from an outside perspective to determine if the general audience will like it, then you won't get very far. You have to write what a lot of people like. You know why shipping fuel is called feature bait? It's because people are more inclined to read that than they are a horror novel. That's not the fault of the system, it's your fault for not recognizing what people like.
Let's use examples of my own stories to explain how metadata effects viewership:
"A Negative" is a rom-com AU between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, where they are both royal guards and Fluttershy is a thestral. It is, admittedly, a strange premise to work with. But it's my highest ratest story as of right now.
This isn't coincidental. It's shipping between two popular canonical characters, in a familiar setting with an appreciated genre, with a storyline that's weird enough to get you interested but not weird enough to turn you away. Bonafide bait right there.
Now, I'll use a not-so-good example of my own writing:
This story's plot is at best unoriginal, and at worst, contrived. The cover art is cute, the description is to the point and the writing is, in my opinion, pretty good. But, it's not really something everyone will want to read all at once. It features an angsty teenager Scootaloo struggling to find her place in the world. If it sounds like you've heard this story before, that's because you have.
What's funny is that this story still managed to get featured for a short period of time, but it was so brief that I don't even mention it in the description. (Where I usually keep note of the feature dates for my own sake.)
So is the story good? I think that really just depends on what you're looking for. I'm sure that Scootaloo fans loved it, but anyone else might just think of it as something that could be thrown under the rug. I tried to incorporate themes using my own style of writing, but it's ultimately up to you whether you think something like that is worth reading. This all ties back into using your judgment to determining what your audience wants to read.
Endnote:
I write this begrudgingly, frustrated at the plain ignorance that some of my fellow writers seem to emanate. Don't let this be a sign of discouragement on your behalf. I don't think this theory I've developed is absolute in reasoning, and there's always going to be examples that will prove me wrong time and time again.
If you ever find yourself wondering why your story didn't do as well as you thought it could, be honest with yourself. Don't lament over everything you did right and suffered regardless; instead, think of everything that you didn't include in your story that could have made it a more enjoyable experience for your reader.
Giid
Thanks, man! Ill use some of these tips.
Good stuff.
One important thing to remember amidst all this self-advertising and guiding people to read your story: do not bait-and-switch. Don't tout stories as something they are not, and if you end up reshaping the story (and hence the outcome, in the case of periodicals), make sure to update the description/short description.
Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty accurate... I mean, the reason I haven’t published any stories to go on FIMfiction is precisely because it’s not the type of story most users would read...
Salient points.
If anyone is discouraged from having to get good cover art though, by not having the money to commission or time to find any, consider crossposting to fanfiction.net—there's a fairly stable group of dedicated MLP readers over there as well, and the way the site is designed avoids putting covers in places of prominence.
Realization in 3... 2... 1...
I should’ve promoted Samneo The Water Dragon’s prequel story, instead I was just desperate. Then again I fucked up to begin with...
Welp, looks like I’ll have to do something that’ll really get people talking.
Step one: Write clop
Step two: Get semi risky/ borderline smut pic
Step Three: catchy bio. This bit is critical you must use poor grammar and terrible punctuation.
Step four: sit back as the shower of fuck wits who have read a hundred other stories with the same plot and layout flock to up vote your story.
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Step five: ???? profit?
If you want to be a talent less hack like me write clop.
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4738182
Did you meant lit(?)
In other note:great blog jack, I'll take this into account before submitting my next story.