Miaa:
As an author who use to “game” for likes it wasn’t my intention to just make it to the top of the board or whatever
When I first started posting on ff I had worked really hard on my first 2 stories yet they both didn’t probably add up to more than 30 likes combined
That was really discouraging and since within a week of ending my stories they were both no longer on the list either
I honestly was asking for likes so I would one be more motivated to write and two so it would become more relevant in as many lists as possible
I never pressured the comment section tho
The comments were for anyone who was keeping up with the story
I would as them where they think the story should go next (since I was writing it as the likes grew) and try to add as many of their ideas as I could
The reason that I later on changed my 5 likes per chapter to 10 likes isn’t because I was “farming” for more likes it was because it was hard for me to keep up with adding a chapter for every 5 likes
I understand everyone’s point in this form
But not every writer out there that’s asking for likes is doing it to get to the top of the leaderboard
When I was working on my 5th or 6th story I suddenly started getting so many hate messages on this issue
Which really affected me mentally and made me delete all my stories from ff
I honestly couldn’t open ff without feeling uncomfortable and unsafe for weeks
I use to find ff as a safe place where we could all share our stories and fantasies
I could have easily started an earnings account,posted a chapter a week and made a little money out of my stories (Which is probably the only way I’d get back to writing on ff if I by some miracle feel comfortable)
But that’s not what I really wanted to do in the first place
Anyway I hope I didn’t leave anything important out
Xoxo-Mia
As an author who use to “game” for likes it wasn’t my intention to just make it to the top of the board or whatever
When I first started posting on ff I had worked really hard on my first 2 stories yet they both didn’t probably add up to more than 30 likes combined
That was really discouraging and since within a week of ending my stories they were both no longer on the list either
I honestly was asking for likes so I would one be more motivated to write and two so it would become more relevant in as many lists as possible
I never pressured the comment section tho
The comments were for anyone who was keeping up with the story
I would as them where they think the story should go next (since I was writing it as the likes grew) and try to add as many of their ideas as I could
The reason that I later on changed my 5 likes per chapter to 10 likes isn’t because I was “farming” for more likes it was because it was hard for me to keep up with adding a chapter for every 5 likes
I understand everyone’s point in this form
But not every writer out there that’s asking for likes is doing it to get to the top of the leaderboard
When I was working on my 5th or 6th story I suddenly started getting so many hate messages on this issue
Which really affected me mentally and made me delete all my stories from ff
I honestly couldn’t open ff without feeling uncomfortable and unsafe for weeks
I use to find ff as a safe place where we could all share our stories and fantasies
I could have easily started an earnings account,posted a chapter a week and made a little money out of my stories (Which is probably the only way I’d get back to writing on ff if I by some miracle feel comfortable)
But that’s not what I really wanted to do in the first place
Anyway I hope I didn’t leave anything important out
Xoxo-Mia
I appreciate your honesty.
When I posted in this thread voicing my concerns, I was worried that behavior would set a precedent to other authors to do the same. I personally do not enjoy voicing out on the forums of any issues. I enjoy this site and its' story section, and want to see it improve for all users and creators, no matter the experience level.
I understand the frustrations of having hours of writing be unseen. As it happens to plenty of stories in this site, myself included. The competition to keep updating your work to remain visible is one of the largest issues I have on the stories section. I wish there was some sorta overhaul where stories front page can be sorted out from 'New', 'Just updated', 'Popular', 'Premium, etc, without using some silly search mechanic. (Not many users utilize properly) There are thousands of stories that are in a purgatory state because they have too little views to be easily found/searched.
Rather than feeling guilty/embarrassed/scared, strive to improve your writing and storytelling skills. Prove the dissenters wrong, and create something to be proud of. No matter what skill level, there's always room for improvement. People appreciate a well crafted story, leading to natural readership. Perhaps try other avenues like DeviantArt as well, as I find some success there too.
This whole thread was a learning experience for everyone, and I hope this will inspire users to create better stories.
4 years