Asking for Feedback · 8:37am Aug 21st, 2020
So I’m going to more or less get straight to the point with this one. I’ve been writing for around two years now, and I struggle with getting any kind of regular comments on the majority of my stories. It’s starting to get to me a lot more than it used to, and I really just need feedback. Writing is my way of relieving stress from my day to day life, and life’s been rougher than usual lately. As a result, I’ve been getting more attached to my writing than I usually am. I’ve been trying so hard to get my work out there to no avail— stuff like advertising on social media, posting in servers, adding to and posting in groups, etc. and I haven’t really seen anything back yet (in fact, the last two threads I made wound up getting buried without any kind of response or reply.) I don’t want to be desperate and beg for feedback, but I really just need to hear what people think about it. I know it’s asking a lot, but is there any chance I could get feedback on some of my stories?
Dreamers in particular is a story that I’m really struggling to get feedback on, and I’d appreciate that more than anything. I’m sorry if this feels kind of venty or selfish, I just needed to get it off my chest.
Hey Tiki, sorry to hear you've been struggling lately with your writing endeavors. It's a struggle I found myself caught in as well.
Longer stories like your Dreamers story tend to be harder to get feedback on due to their length, I believe. Even if you're looking for feedback on one or two chapters alone, it's tricky to give accurate feedback without the full scope of the story. I think I heard some advice at one point about sticking to smaller fics while trying to improve your writing skills. Of course, write long stories if that's what you want! But smaller stories will generally be more palatable, and help you get the feedback you need in specific areas.
Also, have you tried asking around in editor groups? Groups like Authors Helping Authors are great for collaborative feedback. In the past I've hopped onto forums, met other writers, and opened up a dialogue about the projects we're working on. There's also some fanfic Discord groups out there with helpful, experienced writers.
It's nice that writing is a stress reliever for you. I'd also recommend writing some things that are meant for your eyes only, like a journal, or some flash fiction that the world will never see. Maybe you do that already, which is great! More practice never hurts.
I feel your struggle, and hope you don't get disheartened. Feel free to reach out to me if you want to chat more about it sometime! I'm also kinda rusty at writing, but I could try to give some of my thoughts on Dreamers as well. Just point me to what parts you're looking to get feedback on.
-RLC
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I've definitely done a mix of writing smaller stories, which work well, but ultimately the longer ones are the ones I care the most about. I have made a few threads in groups in the past, to mixed results. managed to get a small burst of comments once, but that fizzled out ultimately. The last two threads I made wound up getting buried with no response, and I just don't want to make more threads in those groups right now, at least not so soon. I tried writing things just for myself, but I honestly don't enjoy that as much. I don't know what it is about it, but I like talking about my stories with people more. It's not as fun if I write something just for myself and it doesn't go anywhere. Feel free to give thoughts on it if you'd like, I can't really think of anything specific, I kind of just want to hear back on that in general. It's a rewrite of my first ever story, and I really want to just have it not underperform so much.