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Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

That feel when you write a fic and then no one comments on it.

/sulking

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

:( What fic is it? I don't get a lot of comments on mine, but I do get some. I try and keep in mind that everyone's in different timezones, so it's likely they haven't seen it yet. I do wish I'd get some detailed comments though, but I try not to think like that because then I tend to give up and not touch the fic again for a few years.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Same. It's especially bad on ao3, because I can see how many hits there are vs kudos/comments, so I can't help but wonder if my writing is just so awful that people are immediately mashing the back button after reading the first line ^^;

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

I have a skin that hides that if you want.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

I feel you. It's worth remembering that not each hit is an individual reader. some of them might be re-reads from people who already left the max feedback.
(Not that I'm 'that guy' who skews the ratio in one window while F5ing my own stat page in the next >>)

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Saame. I keep rereading my own fic because it's in the proper order on AO3 and because that's pretty much the only place it's alltogether, so I have go keep going back to reference bits and things, so I have given up on my stat count and have made a dark skin that hides all of them. Unfortunately, it hides the # of chapters and language, so I can't tell how long something is or if it's in a language I can read.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

If you are logged in to AO3 and you posted the fic(s) in question under your own account rather than the meme's anonymous account, then your page views don't count as hits on your own stories no matter how many times you refresh. :D

But yeah, a lot of hits are people rereading who can't leave more kudos, and it would get silly leaving a comment every time you read a fic. Like, "Hi, this is the twelfth time I've read your story in the past month and I have completely run out of things to say, which you already knew because the past six comments have said the exact same thing only with a different number at the top!" *headdesk*

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

ikr... especially when not even the OP comments. :-(

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

I have learned to keep my expectations low and try write for myself first. If I'm feeling really discouraged, I try to remember how many times I read something that I enjoy that I don't kudos/comment on. This both akes me feel better, makes me really appreciate every kudos or comment for the special little thing it is, and actually gets me to take that extra step more often as a reader to let the writer know I'm out there, like paying it forward.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
SAAAMMMEEE

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, yeah, I know that feeling. The first fic I wrote for Daredevil, I posted the whole thing at once here on my birthday, in the morning, and spent all day checking for replies. NONE! Not one! I was so devastated. I did get one reply the next morning, but still. I kept wondering for days what I did wrong and why nobody except the Lone Reviewer liked my story.

*joins the group sulk, gives out group hugs*

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Aw, anon! <3

Link your fic, and I'll give you some belated birthday comments~

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Awww, thanks, anon, you're too kind!

http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/1296.html?thread=1981968#cmt1981968

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Ugh, same. A couple people commented for the first few parts of mine but then they all kind of went away by the end?

And I thought, well... maybe people were turned off by the content (it's pretty much 5000+ words of torture porn/noncon), but like... if that's the case I don't understand because it's literally what the op asked for and what everyone in the thread was looking for. XD

Like??

Or maybe I'm just super bad at writing and scared everyone away by how awful (technique-wise) it was. People were looking forward to it and then all I got was silence in response so I feel like it was a disappointing fill.

/pity party

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

oooh that actually sounds like something id be intersted in reading, anon!

link?

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I definitely know the feeling. What's even worse is that when you write something ridiculously long, like 18,000 words, and get maybe two comments on it. It just seems wrong that you spent hours upon hours on something that no one seems to like much. And then you see someone else's story that you don't even think is written that well, and it has, like, 40 comments.

I try not to get discouraged too much, but I have my moments where the disappointment seeps through. Then again, I mostly write angsty gen whump that tends to focus on the same set of characters. Not everyone might be into that.

Also, you need to remember that people are inherently lazy. I'd say that at most ten percent of readers will leave a comment in the first place, probably less. And shamefully, quite often I myself don't comment on fics that I liked. Doesn't always have to do with the fact that I don't want to, sometimes it's just the technology that gets in the way.

I often read fic on my smartphone in bed when I'm about to go to sleep. Commenting with the phone is more cumbersome and difficult than with a normal keyboard. I often don't bother because of the extra effort. Longer fics, I usually download as epub and read on my eReader. Which is usually offline, and even if I did switch the WiFi on, it's terrible for browsing and especially typing things. I *never* comment when I'm on the eReader.

You also need to consider that not all of the hits you get on a story will mean that the person read it all the way through. They might just read a few sentences and then go away again if they realize it's not their cup of tea.

In the end, all you can do is be grateful for those few readers who do make an effort to comment, and maybe even reply to thank them. And also remember to comment on someone else's fic you like the next time you come across one.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Anon who commented above about low expectations and writing for yourself here again. :)

This is a well thought out response. Regarding a poorly written fic with 40 comments vs. a long, well-written one with only a few, I think you also have to take fandom likes and dislikes into account.

For example, if I wanted to pander and get a lot of comments from people here, there are definitely certain types of prompts that clearly everyone goes nuts for (like stories about Stick, or Matt/Foggy fluff, or Foggy whump). And there's nothing wrong with those - I've filled a couple of prompts like that, and they can be fun. But if I wanted to write a great Ben-fic, or a fic that gets into Karen's complexity, or a Marci fic, I bet you I'd be lucky if it got half the attention that something more fan headcanon-y and frequently discussed would, even if it was epic and worthy of the show itself.

Sometimes people aren't there for the writing itself, so much as the concept, or the romance, or the straight-up smut. Which is fine, because it's why new, young, or amateur writers can feel so comfortable in the fanfic community.

I've found that as someone who generally writes PG or teen-rated stuff, and dislikes crazy AUs, and loves to explore gen relationships and stay canon, I'm just kind of stuck hoping that the rare people who are actually are into those types of fics show up. My favourite fics I've ever written that I'm the proudest of always seem to be the ones that people comment on the least. Which I have learned to be okay with, because I write fics that interest me and that I find fun to write. Otherwise it just wouldn't be worth it to me to do.

Doesn't mean that sometimes I don't spend the first couple of hours after a fic goes up on AO3 refreshing my inbox thinking "Why don't you love me?" though.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Yep, this is true. As the person who writes the Daredevil selfcest in this fandom, I have incredibly low expectations (because I know most people aren't into it) and it's mainly me writing for myself. It's always a surprise when people tell me they've read the thing though.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

(I for one am dying for good Ben or Karen centric fic, anon! I'd read and comment the hell out of that, lol)

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

SAYRT - Another "trick" how to get more comments is to post longer stories in chapter-increments, so that people comment on each chapter separately. But I don't like doing that, so normally I don't, screw the comments. Yes, of course I love getting feedback as much as the next gal, but after, what? -- 10-plus years of writing, I'm fairly confident and comfortable with what I write.

Agree on the fandom preferences, and I know what you mean. I think some authors also have kind of a "following", if they're very prolific and have written in other, popular fandoms before. If you've already got your own little fanfic clique around you, it's easier to get more comments. (FYI: That's not me.) :-P

I'm not sure who you are, but it sounds like I might have read some of your stories, since I'm a fairly uncompromising gen type of person. Canon-compliance is my thing, and I seldom venture outside the areas that are clearly canon-divergent. AUs don't normally interest me, and neither does the smut or the non-canon slash. I will read Matt/Foggy if it's not explicit or "weird", but gen is really my go-to place.

And I'm not saying there shouldn't be a place for any of that. Your kink is not my kink, and that's okay, right? To each their own, we all know how to skip certain fics and not click those that we don't fancy.

And don't get me started on my pet peeve of grammar, spelling and formatting. I can literally not read a story that doesn't have proper line breaks. I just can't, no matter how well it might be written otherwise. Luckily, I've seen very, very few in the Daredevil fandom that weren't top notch, so hooray for that! I'm also super happy that there's such an abundance of wonderful fic in general in this fandom. You don't find that very often. I'm having the best of times with all the great stories, be reading *or* writing.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

(You should post a link to your fic, anon!)

I agree with this comment. I used to be really lazy about commenting or leaving kudos, but I've been more mindful of it lately because this is such a young fandom with only a small percentage of people willing to actually write fics for it, so I want to be as encouraging as possible.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

SAYRT - Not sure if you mean me, but if you're talking about the 18,000 word story I referred to, that would be my fill for the "Matt has shingles" prompt: http://archiveofourown.org/works/4275270

It has five comments now (excluding my thank yous), and they're all lovely, and I'm real happy with that. More are always welcome, of course, but please don't feel obliged. Not every story/writing style is everyone's cup of tea.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh god, yes. It's such an easy thing just to press the kudos button, or to say 'I really enjoyed reading this."

we all gotta look out for each other!

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

^^^^
I wrote a, like, 10k word fic that didn't get any comments until a month after it was posted.

Re: Wanna commiserate?

[(Anonymous)]

what fic? o_o