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silveradept[Welcome back to December Days. This year, thanks to a suggestion from alexseanchai, I'm writing about writing. Suggestions for topics are most definitely welcome! There's still a lot of space to cover.]
Putting a work out into the world is a scary thing. There's been a lot of confidence expended in the writing part, in getting it complete, in getting it looked after and shaped into what the final thing will be, and then getting enough put together to push the post button and actually let it live somewhere that someone can see it. (And, hopefully, enjoy it.)
Then comes the waiting part, and frankly, humans are still rubbish at waiting. It's part of the reason why there are exchanges and fests and prompt calls and kink memes and all sorts of invitations to creativity happening all the time. That way, when something is done, you can dive into the next thing without having to worry about how the last thing is going to be received all the time. For traditionally published authors, I'm pretty sure they're already hip-deep in the next book by the time the current book actually gets officially published. Deadlines and all of that.
Sometimes, you post a work, and it's exactly what the fandom is looking for at that time, and there's a lot of activity and kudos and comments and recommendations, sometimes even with a bit of a long tail of those things as the fandom happily chats for a bit about what kind of work it was and the things they enjoyed about the work. I've managed that...once, I think.
Some works are very nice and appreciated by their fandom and get some residual things here and there as people are combing through the archives of a fandom or are looking for the kind of story that you've put down for them. I have a few of those pop up here and there, and it can be rather charming to have a kudos note or a new comment on a work that's years old. (Charming, hah. I love it when that happens, let's be honest.) Sometimes you are on the long tail, and the people that get out that far to you enjoy the work, but it's not going to be anything more than the long tail.
And then there are some works that you put out there, that you enjoyed writing and think are good, but because you're not a Big Name Fan, or a published author pseud, or someone with a remarkably large lot of followers to provide feedback and appreciation, or you're writing outside the genre or fandom that you're known for, they just...sit. I've got a few of those, too.
Some of it is because I'm writing for a small fandom that's unlikely to ever get any larger, which might mean all the people in that fandom went "it's a new work!" and read and enjoyed it and left their feedback and there's nobody else who necessarily is going to go looking there. Sometimes it's one fic in a megafandom that gets a blip on the dash and then disappears into the aether without having received any real time in the sun. (Another reason I like writing for exchanges, I realize -- there's a guaranteed audience of one, at least.)
Given how many tools get built in for external feedback, like comments and kudos and hits, it's easy to mistake external feedback for a judgment of worth on the work. If a work doesn't gather much for external feedback, does that make it worthless?
Nah. We explored some in the last post about how a large amount of audience fit a given work are lurkers that won't actually do anything but enjoy the work, and who tick the hit count up with their presence, but that's it. And for each step of greater interactivity, a significant portion of the audience falls off - some will touch the kudos button but nothing more, some might kudos it and recommend it somewhere else, and only a few would leave a comment. Each comment might represent many others who thought the same thing, but didn't actually type anything.
It's dangerous to believe that the external feedback is the only thing to gauge worth by. Each time you finish writing, you've engaged in a process of practice and skill-building that makes you a better writer. And the thing you're posting is something that you presumably liked enough to want to share it with others. I think this is whatjenett was getting at in comments on an earlier entry about how even a fandom of one might have others who will be delighted to know that something exists, and realize that it was a thing they didn't know they wanted to exist until that point of reading. Or are delighted to see that someone has posted something in this small fandom they've always been interested in. It might not generate any feedback, but maybe it inspires someone else to start or continue their own creative journey. Or your fic might get them to start watching or reading the canon (and possibly be disappointed in the canon itself, but that's not your fault).
The feedback is nice, don't get us wrong. Please do give feedback. But if there isn't any, it doesn't mean the work is a failure. You Are Still Good Enough. More often than not, that's a thing I have to tell myself, because there's always a part of me that wants to say if it's not as good and wildly popular as someone else (often whatever clearly very popular, well-kudoed and well-commented work happens to be in the same fandom) work, then it's not good. (Brains, friend.)
alexseanchai, I'm writing about writing. Suggestions for topics are most definitely welcome! There's still a lot of space to cover.]Putting a work out into the world is a scary thing. There's been a lot of confidence expended in the writing part, in getting it complete, in getting it looked after and shaped into what the final thing will be, and then getting enough put together to push the post button and actually let it live somewhere that someone can see it. (And, hopefully, enjoy it.)
Then comes the waiting part, and frankly, humans are still rubbish at waiting. It's part of the reason why there are exchanges and fests and prompt calls and kink memes and all sorts of invitations to creativity happening all the time. That way, when something is done, you can dive into the next thing without having to worry about how the last thing is going to be received all the time. For traditionally published authors, I'm pretty sure they're already hip-deep in the next book by the time the current book actually gets officially published. Deadlines and all of that.
Sometimes, you post a work, and it's exactly what the fandom is looking for at that time, and there's a lot of activity and kudos and comments and recommendations, sometimes even with a bit of a long tail of those things as the fandom happily chats for a bit about what kind of work it was and the things they enjoyed about the work. I've managed that...once, I think.
Some works are very nice and appreciated by their fandom and get some residual things here and there as people are combing through the archives of a fandom or are looking for the kind of story that you've put down for them. I have a few of those pop up here and there, and it can be rather charming to have a kudos note or a new comment on a work that's years old. (Charming, hah. I love it when that happens, let's be honest.) Sometimes you are on the long tail, and the people that get out that far to you enjoy the work, but it's not going to be anything more than the long tail.
And then there are some works that you put out there, that you enjoyed writing and think are good, but because you're not a Big Name Fan, or a published author pseud, or someone with a remarkably large lot of followers to provide feedback and appreciation, or you're writing outside the genre or fandom that you're known for, they just...sit. I've got a few of those, too.
Some of it is because I'm writing for a small fandom that's unlikely to ever get any larger, which might mean all the people in that fandom went "it's a new work!" and read and enjoyed it and left their feedback and there's nobody else who necessarily is going to go looking there. Sometimes it's one fic in a megafandom that gets a blip on the dash and then disappears into the aether without having received any real time in the sun. (Another reason I like writing for exchanges, I realize -- there's a guaranteed audience of one, at least.)
Given how many tools get built in for external feedback, like comments and kudos and hits, it's easy to mistake external feedback for a judgment of worth on the work. If a work doesn't gather much for external feedback, does that make it worthless?
Nah. We explored some in the last post about how a large amount of audience fit a given work are lurkers that won't actually do anything but enjoy the work, and who tick the hit count up with their presence, but that's it. And for each step of greater interactivity, a significant portion of the audience falls off - some will touch the kudos button but nothing more, some might kudos it and recommend it somewhere else, and only a few would leave a comment. Each comment might represent many others who thought the same thing, but didn't actually type anything.
It's dangerous to believe that the external feedback is the only thing to gauge worth by. Each time you finish writing, you've engaged in a process of practice and skill-building that makes you a better writer. And the thing you're posting is something that you presumably liked enough to want to share it with others. I think this is what
jenett was getting at in comments on an earlier entry about how even a fandom of one might have others who will be delighted to know that something exists, and realize that it was a thing they didn't know they wanted to exist until that point of reading. Or are delighted to see that someone has posted something in this small fandom they've always been interested in. It might not generate any feedback, but maybe it inspires someone else to start or continue their own creative journey. Or your fic might get them to start watching or reading the canon (and possibly be disappointed in the canon itself, but that's not your fault).The feedback is nice, don't get us wrong. Please do give feedback. But if there isn't any, it doesn't mean the work is a failure. You Are Still Good Enough. More often than not, that's a thing I have to tell myself, because there's always a part of me that wants to say if it's not as good and wildly popular as someone else (often whatever clearly very popular, well-kudoed and well-commented work happens to be in the same fandom) work, then it's not good. (Brains, friend.)
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Date: 2018-12-25 09:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-25 04:28 pm (UTC)Stay warm!