A question... · 10:24pm May 20th, 2020
Have I... peaked? Like, you know when some people reach a certain point in life they can't go any farther?
It's just... well, with some of my recent stories, neither the view or upvote count have been fairly high. Mind you, this does always seem to happen after I do a hugely well-received story and maybe I'm just failing to live up to reader expectations.
I like fame I do, even if I am writing for fun. It just shows me that people actually care for what I'm writing. It's the need of any author, I suppose. To know that people like their work.
I also suspect finding my 'niche' has backfired on me. I'm known for two things these days, slice of life and drama. That also means I can't do anything beyond that and not catch my usual readers off guard. I want to branch out, like I seriously do, but it feels like I just can't at times. I feel, well trapped really.
No other word for it.
Ugh, sorry for dumping my issues on you. I just needed to vent.
I know how that feels. Getting stuck in specific genres is a common problem for authors. To which I say; if you want to experiment, go ahead.
I have often found that, just when I think I've peaked and have no new concepts, a new idea will pop into my head, often in the strangest of places. I've got a fair few in the bath!
I don't know what to say. I've tracked your Aerial Avenger story and I've been meaning to read your Lightning Dust story, I just haven't gotten around to either one yet
I hope that things work out though. I like what I've read of your work and I'd be interested to see you branch into other stories and genres.
In moments like these I would think at least one new change of pace. Like, do something random to let it out my mind go crazy a bit. Then come back with a new better idea or a good plot to a story.
Like, remember when you did the Doctor Hooves was babysitting? Maybe you should try to let it out your random thoughts a bit to change a pace and then come back with possible new ideas for drama or the same Sentai style you usually do. It's friendly advice, and I understand how do you feel. So I hope you get away to cheer yourself up a bit.
If you're looking to branch out, I've actually found that doing speedwrites has helped me greatly. I guess it's because you really don't have time to doubt yourself, you just need to grab an idea and go with it. I did my first horror style pieces through the group and it's a great training ground for me to experiment and do stuff I don't normally do, plus I get good feedback from everyone else to improve.
I think it's just the site as a whole, not you personally. Activity overall has died down over the years, and though I'm less confident about this next premise, I think it's probably declined a bit since the show stopped too.
It's never been a consistent business anyway. Myself, I've written a lot of stories over the years, and the distribution of views and ratings seems mostly random and scattershot (then again, I'm all over the place in terms of subject matter, genre, and so on too). At a glance of your "About" page, I don't see any obvious larger trend there either, so if there's a smaller sub-trend, it might be a temporary random deviation and will go back to normal eventually.
Largely, I'm resigned to the chaotic side of this whole writing malarkey. "Business" here is going to be complex, confounding, and mostly unpredictable. Roll with the punches, figure out what's under your personal control when it comes to writing and publishing, wish yourself luck beyond that, and keep yourself occupied: that's about the long and short of it.
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This is entirely fair, site activity has declined in the recent events and I can't imagine COVID-19 has helped matters either. Really dampens the mood, brah.
But yeah, as you said writing's fairly hit or mess. It's a lot of luck, even if you know how to play the FIMfic game. Sometimes you strike out a lot of the time. Makes those home runs all the more impactful.
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Funny, that's where I got my idea for my Soarin/Ember story.
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Isn't the first time I've gone beyond the comic, as you might have guess from Transformations.
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Me and... random, don't tend to go well. I like a sense of logic in my pieces, like something has to make at least a little amount of sense.
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I might have to try that, thanks man.
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Clearly great minds think alike!
Afraid of branching out but losing readers? Get a secret alt account. Tons of authors have one! I would have one to write stuff I normally can't! Once......I figure out how to make an alt. With the same email account.
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Yeah, but that in itself creates a new problem. Getting that account well known.
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For sure. If you need a link to the server, let me know!
I have no idea what you're talking about. There's never a certain peak for anyone. Maybe that's the highest they get, but there's always higher possible limits to reach. Also, I don't think slice of life and drama are really limiting. It's not a bad idea to try out something new, but there's more than enough breathing space in those genres to explore an infinite number of ideas and themes. But go ahead and try other things if you want.
As for not getting enough attention, I don't think it's a reflection of your skill or your followers' interest in you. If your goal is really to attract attention, just use really unique and clickbaity premises with descriptions that grab the readers' attention immediately, and let your skill guide the rest.
I agree with a lot of what people are saying on this thread. The fans are not showing up as the once did. I started following you because of Wild Access. You have done several stories that have been nice including your Transformers one. I know you have branched out into other fandoms but I think that until the next MLP generation comes along or this site becomes more then primarily pony we will see a drop off of the people coming this way.
Edited for correct franchise.
I still think you have more than a few hit stories left in you before hitting your peak its more us than you everyone is looking for another Willed Access that we had a harder time appreciating your other works (or at lest that was my case sorry). Also when it comes to your niche I think action is also a strong suet of yours because my god can you tell a good fight scene.
Nah mate, I for one have been busy writing other things and have not gotten around to reading anything of yours in a bit. Give it time, its a stall, they happen.