Heading into December... here's what's ahead: · 1:06am Nov 29th, 2016
Hey folks. An update on writing progress and future works:
With new chapters of Call of Duty: Equestrian Warfare, Rise of Firefly, and Five Star Service in the bag over the past week thanks to a week off from work, The Lawyer and The Unicorn is up next. Both Leo Archon and James CyberLink have done some work in my absence from it, and I will be checking and incorporating their work as the new chapter begins to take shape. Past that, I'd like to release a new clopfic in time for the holidays again, just as I did for Unleash the Magic last year, and probably something along its lines.
There is, however, something that's bothering me... and that's the lack of comments I'm seeing on recent chapters I've released.
A 7,000 word chapter of Five Star Service I released on Sunday morning has garnered 200+ reads... and only two real comments about the chapter proper that wasn't by me, or a prereader. I sincerely thank those who did comment, of course, and a special shout-out goes to AJ_Aficionado for another of his very fun longpost running commentaries he always takes pains to do for my new story chapters. But two comments otherwise and just nine total, including two by me and three by prereaders? That's by far the lowest total I've seen on this story in the past year. So few comments is very discouraging on a story like this, folks, especially this late in the game. An author thrives on feedback, and particularly when a story is nearing its end as this one is, I would really like a bit more feedback on it, good or bad. When I don't hear anything, I have no idea how it's being received and I have less motivation to write it. That's true for all authors, not just me.
I guess I could chalk it up to it being released over Thanksgiving weekend and people busy with family or traveling, but I've released over holidays before and gotten plenty of feedback. So this seems... odd. There was plenty of comment-able things in that chapter, everything from a cameo of Ever Ring to the showcasing of Cadance's powers to the first appearance of Platinum Corona. So this silence just doesn't make sense to me. Was it enjoyable? Or was there something people did not like? If you don't tell me, I don't know. You don't have to make it a longpost, even a single sentence or a simple "nice job!" is appreciated, believe me.
Sorry to vent a bit. Be assured none of this will stop me from finishing off the story, or working on the others, but just some food for thought. Feedback is the currency in which an amateur author or fanfic writer is paid and without it, much of the enjoyment of writing vanishes.
I've had the story in my "read later" pile. With updates being steady again, I'll bump it up the list, and I'll try to remember to comment.
It's virtually impossible to find someone who's going to make comments as long as mine, but a thoughtful reply on even one section that holds special meaning to the reader can be a huge moral booster.
I can't shake the feeling that fimfiction.net as a whole is in decline: long ignored site issues, promised changes last year that haven't been delivered on (like new character tags) and a general feeling of detachment from the mods. They changed the site so that readers basically enforce the site rules for stories (welcomed by many a writer who's been frustrated by the moderation queue) and since then the site feels like it's running off inertia from high traffic. There's no passion here anymore. The community is absolute garbage and largely driven by 4chan personality cults. It's a symptom of the vacuum left behind by the people who run the site, in my opinion; people who just don't have the time for this anymore.
It had to happen eventually, I suppose.
Firesight, I would like to apologize for my laziness. I enjoy your stories very much, and think you're an awesome writer. I'll try to be more attentive and provide feedback in the future.
Admittedly, what was SUPPOSED to be a slow Thanksgiving day and dealing with the occasional 'Do you have any Cool-Whip' customers turned into a 'I am almost unable to close on-time because we got swamped!' day instead.
Feedback: Just read chapter 13 for TLATU. If Firefly and Wind Whistler should ever again be summoned for the purpose of a movie night, they should definitely see Band of Brothers, or some other showcase for modern tactics.
4321686
It's no problem. I certainly appreciate the fact that you've gotten into multiple stories of mine! Hope you're enjoying TLaTU so far, and thanks for the fave.
4323586
Sorry to hear. There are times I am eternally glad I don't work in retail or the service industry.
4324196
Hmmm. I like that idea. I don't think it'll happen in the current story, but maybe a future one, as I do have other appearances of them planned.
4321304
Great! Look forward to hearing what you think of it.
4324202
Side story: Firefly and Wind Whistler help take down ISIS
Or, use her heavily in a cross fic for Operation Turnabout
4324203 as for me,i'm working on getting caught up in FFS,so i'm less apt to comment as i'm going to the next chapter as soon as i finish the one(i did comment on the new firefly stuff right?)
anyways,i really enjoy your writing,it is some of the best,to the point that you have a reader for TRoF who is not on the site,or even in the fandom
4324202 I was thinking a bit more about my idea. What I was thinking was that it might fit in the T&T arc.