I'd like to start off by saying how glad I am that this group exists. This won't be a complaint thread, but it will touch on issues this group was based on.

I used to enjoy writing. I loved the feeling of weaving an intricate tale that I poured my emotions and energy into. The feeling of creating original characters (I'm one of those dreaded HiE writers your parents warned you about), and writing out the canon characters in different situations was an uplifting and happy one. I'd even go so far as to say that it made me feel accomplished. Until one day...

 ...I began to notice the more popular (and talented) writers: Cold in Gardez, shortskirtsandexplosions, Bad Horse, et al. Then I became aware of the fact that I was an amateur. Granted, I knew that before I started writing, but I wasn't concerned with it. I was just writing and enjoying the feeling of creating something, but a switch was flipped in my mind, causing me to compare my [lack of] skill to these "site gods".

 I then became obsessed with wanting to be on the same "level" as these authors, with visions of grandeur floating through my mind. I wanted to write the next "Past Sins" type of story, ultimately skyrocketing my popularity to the heavens. Unfortunately, I knew that it was an unobtainable goal for me, because it would take far more work than I wanted to do to get to that level; writing was merely a hobby for me, and I don't have a fancy degree from a big university like some of the popular writers do. I didn't want to study every iota of information about writing, just so I could write better; I wanted to do it by just writing, but I knew that it wouldn't be enough.

So I stopped writing. I tensed up with hatred and jealousy at every popular story I saw, wishing that it were me with the popularity, the thousands of upvotes and followers. I knew that even though my skills weren't terrible, they weren't enough to craft the elaborate and deep stories that these writers were able to achieve. I knew that I was inferior. I created a group of my own for people like me who doubted themselves, and felt inferior to the more popular writers on the site, but it hadn't helped me overcome my insecurities.

Then I found this group. I thought that it would be worth a shot to post this thread, reaching out for help and advice on how to bring back the fun I used to have with writing, and not focus on being (or wanting to be) popular.

The tl;dr of this post is just that: I need any and all help and advice I can get to get back into writing, because I miss it, and I'm not being fair to my fans/followers by not continuing my projects.

3747104 everyone wants to be famous, but it's better to just have fun.

3747104
Here's a blog. Works for me everytime whenever I get a case of stage fright. When I'm writing/publishing, I always have a ritual to call every single fucks to every nagging hang-up that wants to freeze me up and make sure I don't finish a thing. Fuck that. A writer is someone who writes. That's it.

If you ain't writing, start writing. That's all you have to do. A writer writes. Take comfort in that.

3747104
Past Sins and shortskirts are overrated if that helps.

Just do whatever the hell you want.

3747104
3747110
Fame is a jerk. Unless you want to break the bounds of logic (which you can't) you cannot get it. Even those fancy writers are just faces on a totem pole. Advice is to just keep going. No matter how famous, just do your thing. You may not have throngs of followers, but people will appreciate you if you find the right ones. Simply put, no one is truly famous, so why try? Just enjoy writing.

3747104 Rather than wanting to be like them, take pride in the accomplishments you have achieved. You have already stated that you have fans/followers eagerly awaiting your next work. That should be motivation to continue your writing, because you have people who already have your back. Even if your work does not reach the level of other writers, enjoy and cherish what you do earn. When you consistently provide your readers with quality work, more will come.

Instant gratification is known to kill a lot of ambitions, don't let it happen to you. Work for your goals.

3747125 that was what I was saying.

3747104 Oh man, I thought we already went over this in skype. Yes, getting noticed for your work can get pretty good for you, but you shouldn't let that be your motivation to write, or doing something that you like in general. You wouldn't believe how low in self-esteem I had when I was drawing after a while before I got into writing because of how so many works of my favorite artists were better than mine.

I'm trying to get back into it as I have the time, but one thing I've learned that I'm trying to drill into my head is that if you want to get better in something, then you've just gotta do it. A lot of activities and hobbies in this world take practice before you get a good feel of it and start to produce better works. You can't really get anywhere just sitting around and mope about how you may never be as good as other artists or writers. What's also important to keep in mind is that you can never be like anyone else, and there is no 'level' of artistic creativity to reach. They are themselves as much as you are yourself. You have as much power to create your works your own way as other artists of any medium create theirs.

You can use other people's works to help give you an idea on how you want to write your stories, but don't think you'll become a complete copy of the artist you're referencing from if getting recognition is your intention (otherwise it may be copyright infringement).

Remember why you got into writing in the first place, don't let other people's fame get you down. Like many others before and after me will say in this forum, just enjoy yourself.

3747104 Writing is always meant to be fun, if you can't have fun with any of it then your trying to hard. No story is great unless you intend to show people what you can bring to the table. If you overdo it, you'll just end up frustrated all the time.

Fame is overrated. Just write for yourself.

3747104 I wanted to unpack this TLDR version of your post (yes I read the whole thing, but there was something rather interesting hidden here):

I need any and all help and advice I can get to get back into writing, because I miss it, and I'm not being fair to my fans/followers by not continuing my projects.

This is a statement about fulfilling social obligations. That, somehow as an author your readers are actually entitled something from you. That your return is directly correlated to that obligation and not the love of the work. Yes, writing is work, and that is an important distinction between good stories and crap stories. A reader can see the work that went into them while they're reading them.

Rather than focus on 'fame' as an acknowledgement of quality, which isn't always true of FIMFiction, I wanted to address the other end of this spectrum. The work itself that you have said you're not willing to do.

The nature of obligation is such that you are meeting what you perceive expectations to be, regardless of your own investment in it. A person who is not invested in the task will generally contribute the minimum amount of effort to meet these expectations. This is what you have described when you said that you're not willing to do the work to become as noteworthy as another (arbitrarily chosen) author.

I can provide more than enough advice to help you improve your writing, but the most important piece at this time, is: To honestly and unflinchingly ask yourself the hard question "Should you even bother coming back?"

From what you've described I don't think that you should. That may sound harsh, but in the long run, what you're looking at is resentment building up to another eventual departure, leaving yet another sour taste in your mouth for writing fiction.

3747350
I'll send you a PM regarding a few of the things you mentioned in your comment when I get home. Having to type it all out on my phone is a royal pain.

3747104 I used to be like that. I jumped at every upvote and dread every downvote.

The half red rating bar on my two latest stories is a proof that I'm over that. Now, I just write the stories that need to be written.

So, ask yourself. Will you be able to live with yourself if you don't write the stories you want to write?

Someone once asked Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, what he thought of all the fame that the world's most famous spy got him.
"Ashes, my boy. Ashes." was the reply.
Fame should be the last thing you worry about. I've said it on this site before and by Bob I'll say it again; Quality over quantity. Worry about the work. If your work is truly worth reading, fame will follow. But first you must work.

3747104 So you're an HiE writer too? there does seem to be quite a lot of us. All I can say is that it is best to concentrate on writing the best stories that you can. there's no real point in worrying about how much better someone else is, instead find those you can draw inspiration from and just do your best to tell the stories you want to tell. I am also an HiE writer that does human x pony romances, I am also an amateur that needs help with editing in sometimes big way.

I have drawn my inspiration from Geodesic Dragon, Greatodyer, Radiant Dawn, and Jaydex the Shadow Knight. One of my stories now has Jaydex's attention and I am a little blown away by that. Just write solely for the joy of having done so, the rest will come on it's own.