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Today another fine writer paused at the threshold to BC, spun on her high heels, and chucked in the towel.
Even though this ink-stained wretch. . .er. . . carpal-tunnel pained, sometimes kvetch. . .never employed clichés in her writing, her reason for ending her story mid-stream was shop worn — “general indifference”.
For the last eon, or longer, I’ve posted the following message in a variety of forms:
There is absolutely no correlation between the quality of writing and the number of comments left or kudos given for a particular story. Further, the number of hits a story receives means nothing regarding whether or not you’ve written a good story.
There have been great stories — like Dimelza’s “Mister” - that have received a lot of hits, comments, and lately kudos. But, unfortunately, there are many, many excellent stories that receive little attention.
Just the other day another fine writer asked me in a PM why her stories go largely unrewarded. That writer has a unique style that I find compelling, but she doesn’t get the large number of hits that others do.
If you have a need to be the best and think your writing is going to be rewarded by huge numbers on this site, it just might happen. But. . .if it doesn’t happen that doesn’t mean you’ve written a clinker.
I’ve had large numbers on some of my stories, but one of my best stories has yet to draw 1,000 hits — even though it’s been on this site for several years.
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/922/carls-eyes
There are many, many factors going into why people open your story, find something to comment about, or click the “good story” button. Most of these factors are whimsical, such as what else was posted during the week you posted your story, did you post on a weekend, what is happening in the world that might draw people to RL, etc. Readers come here with needs -- every reader has unique needs. The numerical success of your story is dependent upon how your story lines up with the needs of the readers that happen by here during the time your story is on the front page. What fails to attract big numbers one day might do extremely well at another time.
Write first for your own entertainment. Let the journey be its own reward. If the stars align and your story receives a lot of hits, lots of readers leave positive comments, and people remember to click the good story button, consider those events as a plus. — Don’t consider the lack thereof as a minus, because it just isn’t.
Jill M I
Angela Rasch
Comments
I had to write for myself.
There is one author, who shall remain unnamed, that had one story that did phenominally well. People here, including myself idolilzed her story. It ended suddenly; inconclusively and many readers were disappointed. The story had perhaps bee the best to ever grace the pages of BCTS.
She is currently working on another story and much to my disappointment it is attracting hardly any attention. Yet, that story is head and shoulders better than almost anything I have seen on BCTS. The problem with the story is it is not TG.
I think the fickleness of readers is horribly cruel and it really pains me.
My own stories have never attracted much attention, so pretty early on I had to decide that I would write as a cathartic for my own pain. My story, "Suddenly" did well, I thought, though was far below the score of other stories. Still it was from my heart, and that alone is enough reward.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Aaaaah
Why do I write on this site? Because I have to. I have a number of things I need, really need, to expose to the world. Some folk pass comments. Many of those comments are from people I respect, and they make my day, but they are not the thing that makes me write.
I have a...history. I have PTSD, in a bad way. The writng helps me excise the poison that the illness generates. It helps me be myself.
If I were to measure that on the opinions of a number of random people on an internet site, then, with no disrespect to the folk have found to be well above what I would ever hope for,...well, you know what I mean
I thought I'd add a comment...
Yeah, I've been known to do that, a time or two (add a comment). Not that your post needs one. I thought I'd say that I understand the author's decision to "drop" a story - at least here... I wrote a fairly well received VERY short story - in many ways, it was a joke (not the story, but the circumstances around it). But, it was well received and better commented than many I've had. At the time I wrote it, I had an idea for a longer story that started at that point... I eventually broke down, and started writing it. I decided that since the first was written in a stand-alone way I'd try to write each segment to come to a "real" stopping point. I posted a second story - and it was almost ignored... The result is that I'll likely not bother "finishing" that story. And, I'll not feel bad that I left something "incomplete"... So, yeah, I know where she came from.
Timing IS important. It seems that over time what is popular here changes. And, a long running story runs the risk of getting lost in whatever's currently the vogue. Now, it seems to be the RetCons. At another point, forced fem was more popular. It changes. I'd not be surprised to see that this also impacts the number of hits a story gets.
Your note about popularity & quality being unrelated - that's not 100% true, but for the most part it is. I've not seen any truely horribly written stories here. (They may be here, and I may just have been lucky.) But, I know, at least for me, that if a story is so full of typos, poor grammar and hard to read formatting, I don't end up reading it. Oh, I may open it, but I don't get far. On the other hand, a story can be technically a masterpiece, and yet unable to garner any sustained interest...
Personally, I'm sad whenever an author chooses to leave and/or stop writing - whether or not I read their stories. Some authors styles or subject matter just aren't my favorite but I'd prefer they kept on writing. See, I'm selfish, I like to read. Sooner or later, those authors might have written something I wanted to read. :-) See selfish.
Okay, I see I'm rambling. Took me a while, but I realized it. Sorry. I'll go crawl back under my rock.
Anne
i cant speak for anybody else
but I although I love kudos and comments, I am trying learn to not compare the number I receive to what anybody else gets. It's a mug's game - and one I cannot win, and all that comes of that is making myself less likely to be able to write anything at all.
I write because ...
... the stories need to be told. I write because the characters in them call out to me to make them live, and I have a responsibility to make that happen. I write because I need to - because it's part of who I am.
I love it when people respond to what I write, when they read and comment. But the stories would be written regardless, because they come from inside me. They come a little slower these days, but they still come.
Fleurie, I'm sorry you gave up on the "Van" story. I did like it, very much, and I don't remember if I commented, but if I didn't, I'm sorry. Now i won't know what happened next, and I really wanted to. The characters were strong and the situation compelling, and I really would have liked to watch it grow. I know it's selfish of me, but please reconsider. Remember, if Van Gogh stopped painting because the people around him didn't see his genius, we would all have lost so much.
I know, you're going to deny you're an artist. You've done it before. Stop, already. Anyone who's read what you've written knows you're very good. Seriously girl ... embrace your talent. The rest of us already have. *grin* And don't talk about hits and comments -- remember Van Gogh? I mentioned him in the last paragraph. Think about how BCTS works, then think about Da Vinci. Would anyone have noticed the Mona Lisa if it was first shown on a conveyor belt that kept moving every time another artist with a totally different style put her work on the belt? A lot of artists making the belt move faster, and suddenly ol' Mona is off-stage and out of the spotlight.
It's not Mona's fault, just as the attention paid to a particular story here doesn't necessarily correlate with its intrinsic worth -- often, it's more a question of timing and circumstance and just plain luck.
Please keep writing and posting. I'm a selfish wench, and I want more Fleurie ... please?
*hugs*
Randa
one of the side benefits of being posted by someone else...
The only story I have on this site was put here by a friend, while I was going through one of my self-imposed periods of solitude which was masked at the time as a marriage. Anyway, the nice side benefit of the fact that I didn't post it myself is that I don't get to see what other authors here do. I don't see the numbers of reads, or anything like that (do other authors get that?) Anyway, I have no idea whether or not it was popular, or not. It certainly didn't generate many comments.
Anyway oddly enough, I don't really want to know. That wasn't why I wrote it.
It doesn't mean I don't appreciate comments, but if I wrote stuff for people to like I'd probably write shorter, more accessible stories anyway.
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
not as think as i smart i am
Ok -- look
-- every thing that I've ever written is scheisse. (Those double S's should be that weird thing that looks like a capital B, but I didn't want to go looking through fonts just for that.)
I know this because stories that i think are scheisse get gazzzzilions more hits and kudos and votes(back when we had those) than things that I write do. (But, you know, those people just don't know what they're missin'. Poor little guys.)
I don't really think that I write better than Dan Brown, or even Stephen King, but, yeah, people that actually think that those two should have Nobels, Bookers, and Pulitzers, and even try to write that kind of stuff get more hits, kudos, votes than me. Idiots. And yeah, I'm out there trying to write like Hemingway and Chekhov and that English lady that jumped in the Thames -- well once and a while I do, mostly i just try to write like me, and that is very, very hard too.
I write because I love to read. I love to read the people that have loved to write. I love the people that play with their breakfast - or their words. I want that. I neeed that. I can't get enough of that. None of my favorite writers get lots of hit/kudos/votes. [And no, I'm not my favorite writer, not even among those that post on this site.] I don't know what is wrong with these people! They are warped! X2.
And those eyes weren't even the monster is that tale!!!!! But that is what we want? Or maybe it is. The guy that wrote that is richer than god. So some say he is, ergo, a great writer. SCHIEßE.** (And Dan Brown is almost a rich as he; but neither come close to Jo Rawling! Haha) Success, acquaintance --hell -- love, have nothing to do with ability. Even I -- and, gaaaa, am I a fool -- know this.
We who write are all full of our selves and our own drama. Especially those of us that write for here. Its true; just deal with it. I know that i'm truly not an egomaniac, gawdddd am I far from one, I'll out self-deprecate you without opening my mouth, but it takes so much to write, to throw something out there, to throw ourselves out there,to give to these assholes without even waiting to be asked, that it takes, in our writing it takes, being a flying flaming ego balloon from a Japanese monster movie! It is what we do, what we must do. And those flying flaming assholes that might, or might not, read what we have done; what we have poured ourselves into; that might, or might not, deign to comment, or might, or might not push that little vote button; THEY JUST DON'T KNOW. When something offered is bad, and sometimes, some places it is, they don't know how to say that; not here, not any site I've ever seen. When it is good, or only acceptable, only a few know how to say, "congratulations". Many, many fewer know how to say, "Thank you". The rest are creeps. Screw 'em; screw 'em bloody all.
But we live with it, or we try to -- we do. Because every once and a while there is that comment, that PM (Why do the best ones always want to be private? Are they embarrassed about liking my child? My creation?), that hits the spot. Just one, that's all it takes, isn't it? ??? Well, maybe just one that comes close to talking about the hidden thing we worry about, but will never mention. (I don't know why, a couple of peeps have committed on my wit ( ;) ), but no one has ever said, "Hey! That line was funny!" (OK, assuming I have a wit, it is weird and dry,that why I'd like to know when someone notices it.)Humor scares the beegeezus out of me.)
If all you want is hits, write a lot. It doesn't matter what, or how good, or nothing. Just write a lot, and you will get hits on everything every day. You want comments? Comment a lot. It doesn't matter what you say, just comment, say any thing, or nothing, but comment. It is a lot about name recognition. Get out there and attache yourself to people, and people will want to attache themselves to you.
OK, so, anyway, the tl;dr version: Screw them. Screw it. Damn the readers; full speed ahead!! You will never write any thing as good as what I've written but, hey!, we can deal with that, and there is no way that those that have never written will know s about it. And as we do more, and more, and more, we might, just might, get a smile from somewhere. Then it will all be worth while, but if we don't write, we never will.
Hugs, JS
*Ë™Çןıɯıs snoןnɔıpıɹ Çɥʇ dn Êžooן oʇ ɹÇɥʇoq ʇ,upıp ı ˙ʇÉɥʇ Çʞıן buıɥʇÇɯos ɹo
**there is an esset in that word. If you got something weird blame your computer. I get enough blame.
That post
I understand that one! Or should I say that by PM?
re Scheiße
The character is ß
^^; I didn't even have to scroll down the Character Map to look it up.
Yeah, I'm that lame. >.<
-Liz
Successor to the LToC
-Liz
Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"
i salute your l33t skillz
Thanks! I will definitely use that :)
not as think as i smart i am
double s / eszett
That character is very easy to type on my keyboard, just press the key to the right of "0"...
But maybe it's so easy because it is a german keyboard :D
M
Martina
Esset
You know I used an esset (or eszett as the Germans, who actually use them, call them) right there in the original post. It's not that hard; a bit of mis-direction, is all and was actually worried it would not work on some 'puters that aren't used to them (and I really shouldn't write anything after the second bottle of wine is opened.)
I'm guilty
Jan, I've certainly PMd you about your stories. Even when I don't understand them they make me smile. I only hope I commented in public too. If I didn't, I apologise.
Any writer who claims not to care about feedback is guilty of terminological inexactitudes. If they are writing 'for themselves' then why bother posting? In another life and, it seems, on another planet, I used to design things. They were electronic gadgets intended to measure and/or control other, more expensive things and I was paid to do it. Never the less I got an enormous kick to my ego when someone complimented me on a good job or, better, they actually worked. Everybody like a stroke ... everybody.
Feedback is important.
Robi
Feedback
If the main aim of writing is to get feedback / comments / kudos, you've got the wrong attitude.
As mentioned in comments above, some feel the need to write, either to get something out of their system, expose the world for what it is, or for a myriad of other reasons. Others write just for fun.
Either way, so what if a story doesn't get much feedback? Say a story only gets 39 reads, 12 kudos. That means at least twelve people read the story at least once, and liked it enough to hit the kudos button. You have yourself twelve fans. Look on the positive side - you may be writing for a very small niche, but there are twelve other people out there that like what you write. You're not shouting into the void - there are people listening!
Also bear in mind that the feedback a story gets can depend to a certain extent on how busy the site is on the particular day you post it, what day (in the week/month) you post it, what time of day you post it, the story title, the tags, the layout of the teaser block and no doubt a myriad of other factors unrelated to the content of the story itself. And if someone's been generous enough to leave a comment, that may create a positive feedback effect where people see the comment in the list of recent comments, and click through to the story itself.
So the key message (argh - you can tell I work in local government!) is: write because you want/need to - not because of the feedback you hope to get.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
what it is...or not...
Ah dear this is a fraught one and I haven't really thought this out...just ramblin'...I do that. Why do we write and what does it all mean and all that... I won't nor could I even consider speaking for Fleurie or anyone else... hell I'm not even sure I can speak for myself... I can recall back when Jill the author of this blog and someone I respect and consider a friend was thinking of pulling her stories from FM for personnel/philosophical reasons and others from here as well because they no longer met her standard of morality. My words not hers..anyway I said in effect that to pull hers would lower the overall standard, blah blah... I doubt I would even think of making that argument now. I've mentioned in passing to a few friends in recent months that I have considered pulling my stories and fading away.
Why you may ask, well that's not easy to answer. I probably won't anyway, as I said a while back somewhere, I'd just go away and there wouldn't be anymore. Would anyone notice? I doubt it, though my modest ego... yes I have one, says that a bunch of people would notice and a few might even comment on it, most would shrug if it was pointed out and some would make pointed comment on my level of drama queen-ness or whatever publicly or privately.
I guess I wrote initially for some degree of demon exorcism. Then to explore the idea of who I was in a story format. After that, especially with the various contests was just a way to test myself in ways I might not. I never even considered the idea of winning anything, that was never the point.
So.... things change and we do as well. This place has meant a lot to me for several years and I still drop in a few times a day. But lately I read very little and comment less. Part of that is my own headspace and part is the trend to overt fantasy. I get some degree of escapism and wish fulfilment, that's part of things of course. But it seems to have taken over. Yes there's exceptions and a few writers I would probably like a lot I have yet to read but the vast majority I won't even look at even if it might be good in writing terms. Is that a contradiction? Perhaps, but there it is.
I look at the world and try to make something out of what I see. It seems most now want to dwell in some mythical fantasy land that makes everything right as they might have wished. Who's right or wrong? Not sure there's an answer. Just to me it makes a place I...loved... hmm, was thankful for, maybe... less inviting. It's always a mix of course yet to me, the mix is off. As the other major site now apart from FM as the others fail I guess that's to be expected. But to me...well, not something I feel a part of.
Does that answer anything? Probably not, but there ya go. I'm an opinionated cow with a mild ego and a vague idea of time and place. What does it matter what I think anyway? But just maybe it points at why some things are not and some are, whether we like...or don't. We each do what we do and make our own choices. Maybe I'll finish a few stories I've had floating about for months or years in some cases. If not, well it doesn't matter all that much does it. There's always something else. I know I won't win any vote/kudo race..if that ever mattered. It is what it is and so am I. The why of it is mine and maybe a few get that.
Kristina
The waive of removing stories has made me learn one important...
...thing! That is, I now save the stories of authors I like first! I do this even before I have read them because you never know when they will remove them. The number of authors pulling stories for any reason has jumped to new heights the past few years.
I have grown tired of begging them not to do this and have come up with my own solution!
Save them all on Cd's as soon as possible! I also found out that many will remain in caches if I am a little too late in saving them. Some of the readers here helped me find a story of mine removed years ago and it was in a cache all the time!
So, all I can say is...go ahead and remove your stories. my only regret is not being able to read anything new by the author! Now that is a very sad thing.
Huggles All
Angel
"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"
"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"
Perhaps I ought to clarify ....
.... the reasoning behind my own blog in view of the comments both on it and here in answer to, and accompanying, Angela's remarks.
Firstly I know all about the difficulties in achieving recognition in the professional world. I have no desire to go there however. Never have and never will. It's not what I do. I write because I enjoy doing it. I am an amateur and glory in the freedom that gives me. The freedom to please only myself, to experiment, to follow my own star, develop my own voice etc.
In fact I have bored many in following this thread in a superfluity of comments urging people that vetting by an editor is not an obligatory precursor to posting a story. That it is one's own individuality that counts, that one should write for the hell of it and post with the same conviction. I have argued that reading books on how to write is not obligatory either and that abiding by the rules therein is following a false god. I have even, God forgive me, crossed swords with Angela on this very subject. :)
I have indulged here in much idle and totally inconclusive exchanges about the complete and utter disassociation between worth and readers' acclaim as indicated by hits, comments etc.
These points of view I still adhere to.
I did not mean to infer in 'End of Story' that I go because I am in some way miffed by readers' disdain over Chapter 2 in the 'Van'. Though its reception was probably too much for a camel with back problems.
The truth is that apart from DofC which has a strong Femdom element, such as everyone righteously deprecates, much of my writing has not attracted many readers, whether a ghost mystery story as 'Old Alhambra', or a love story, and perhaps my own favourite, 'Yellow the Leaves of the Rowan'. None of this matters because I have myself been pleased with them. Whatever warts and failings they may or may not have, I look at them and know I achieved what I set out to do, and in my arrogance believe that I did it well.
Over time though I have come to the conclusion that what I write does not chime well with what the majority of readers here at BC are seeking. (With the possible exception of DofC, but having done one in that genre I have said all I could say on it and abhor repetition.) If that is indeed the case then there is little incentive to post here. I hope still to keep in touch with friends here but maybe it is best for both readers and myself that I move on. To write a story to post here means that it must have a TV/TG theme. This is in some ways a limiting factor. If I don't post here I can really write only to please myself. About anything. No restraints, The world of imagination my oyster. I don't even need to post anywhere at all. To balance against that freedom is the fact that I am not untouched by the need to share what I have written in the hope of making contact with another on my wavelength. So if I do finish the 'Van' I may post it, or perhaps others, on Fictioneer.
It all depends how it goes. I am busy on other projects, writing childrens' books and photographic family histories - and living in general, so time is a scarce commodity. But I still have tales to tell, stirring uneasily at the back of my mind, and now I know I can let them run really wild in an unfettered world.
Lastly just a heartfelt thanks to all those here who over the years have taken the trouble to comment on my tales. Particularly when in doing so sympathy has been established and friendships made.
Hugs,
Second the Sentiment
I concur with Fleurie's statement, "Over time though I have come to the conclusion that what I write does not chime well with what the majority of readers here at BC are seeking." Like her my stories were outliers, not the sort that appealed to the one handed keyboarders or those waiting to be whisked away to fantasy island.
As much as folks like to say TS/BC is not at all like Fictionmania, TS/BC is drifting off on a different and rather unique trajectory of its own, one dominated by magic, sci-fi and comic book heroes. I have nothing against those genres, nothing at all. Readers read what they enjoy. TS/BC provides an invaluable service to many writers and readers by providing them a forum where they can share their stories and sharpen their skills. I have even found writing sci-fi to be fun and a challenge even though I do not pass muster with the ever vigilant Sci-fi gestapo who find my take on futuristic technologies lacking.
Having said that, do not be surprised when writers who dabble in stories that do not revolve around trips to the mall or 'presto-chango' transformations stop submitting stories here on TS/BC. Fleurie and myself are not the only writers that have pulled pitch and moved off in search of other venues. I do not expect any of us to be missed. One of the first lessons I learned in the service was that everyone is expendable. My dropping from submitting stories is much like the analogy a former commander once used when explaining this concept to me. He said it's like dipping your finger in a glass of water. It does make an impression, but only so long as it is there. Once you take your finger out of the water, the hole fills in and it is as if you were never there.
The same can be said of writers such as Fleurie and myself. No one here is going to miss us. The world is still spinning, taxes are still due, stories keep getting submitted here and folks are free to read good material for absolutely nothing and with no obligation to say boo to the person who took the time to write the story. For those who stay and continue to write here, I wish you the best of luck. TS/BC is still the best TG story site on the web, one administered by a selfless and dedicated crew of folks who do not get enough praise. It simply is not home for me and my sort of stories.
Nancy Cole
www.nancycole.org
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Warning:thread drift
Nancy, not to make this about you, but please drop a note when you do find a venue to flog your wares. I for one have loved each and every chapter you have posted.
Continuing the drift
I don't think you aren't missed, Nancy. There were, and still are, authors who are remembered and missed even if they literally vanished. I greatly enjoyed your stories, and your rather unique style added to enjoyment of both your and others' stories. Pièce de résistance, so to speak.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Yes, you will be missed! Both of you!
I hope you will be on some of the other sites, so I can read your stories in the future! You mentioned Fictionmania, so I will look there. I hate when authors leave and pull their stories. Personally, BCTS will always be a favorite site, but I do read others.
I read some of my favorites more than once, and when they suddenly disappear, it's like losing a part of a friend.
Best of luck, and I hope to read your work, wherever, soon!
Wren
Hugs Fleurie, I will miss you...
Sharing the years and posting stories here and elsewhere we've shared some great comments! LOL...
I think many of the writers here end up rolling their eyes at some of the repetitive comments railing against one thing or another within our "fictional" stories. :)
Then again, we roll our eyes for not getting any comments. Go figure...
I write because I want to write and that is that. When I don't feel like writing or a story just won't develop, I stop. Pauses in my writing are common as most people that have been here know. :)
Just don't take everything with you when you go OK? Leave your stories behind so others can enjoy them. Bandwidth is no longer a problem these days. LOL...
Huggles Fleurie, I miss you already.
Angel
"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"
"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"
It seems we go through this several times a year
Yes I'm sorry to see Fleurie deciding not to share her works with us after today, and I'm sorry Nancy Cole is doing the same. I can understand Nancy's reason, she's a professional writer and was kind enough to share what she did. Fleurie isn't and her reasons are her own, but just maybe there was no interest in going back in time. I write a story and think it's the best I've ever written, and you know what? It gets less reads than one I think of as nonsense but it resonates with the readers. I learned a long time ago that I write because I like to write and I do it to please me. If it pleases someone else then so much the better, but I can't worry about pleasing everyone. Yes, I've had stories with a ton of reads, and several with a bare minimum of interest, but I'm pleased with what I've done. I might have had a flame war with several readers, but I'm not about to remove my stories because of it. I share because I like to share. I knew going in that Assassin wouldn't get a large amount of interest because as I stated on FM this isn't a story you want to read if you're looking for the typical TG theme, but I want to share it anyway. I think what I'm trying to say is that some writers are very thin skinned and all it takes is a tiny pin prick to put them over the edge. I read the blog section everyday and see the fragility of this community and how easy it is to put someone over the edge. We're here to support each other, but if an author decides to stop writing then we all suffer, but it's their decision. The sad thing is I feel that it's like saying " I'm taking my marbles and going home because I'm not winning." Sorry but that's my point of view, Arecee
I pulled mine for my own reasoning
Yes, I am oneof those who pulled her stories. I did so for my own reasoning and would do it again if I add stories again. I am self destructive and the first person I attack when I am upset is me. A character flaw created by abuse and rejection.
I see my numbers when I write and I see comments. I used to get the comments of grammar or typo's and go back and change them.
I have added two new stories to this cite under a different name. I have a third one ready to go once it is edited.
I see the readership to each story to be at a high pace for the first few days then it slows down. I would be surprised if a story ever reached two thousand readers within the first week. Most og mine level out at around 1500 readers and some of the stories never reached a hundred. I pulled them because of personal reason, sent them to cyber space where they cannot be retrieved.
I've grown from that experience and now handle adversity in a new manner (peaceful and not directed at me).
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Kudos
I always leave a Kudo for the stories I enjoy, and when I really like it (or if a writer requests it), I leave comments. I enjoy commenting on stories. I admit it, there are stories I don't enjoy. I don't leave kudos or comments in these cases. I refuse to leave a negative comment. Just because I didn't like the story is not an indication that other readers would feel the same way. I've seen some pretty petty complaints (I saw one the other day with a complaint about 1 word misspelled. Only one?)
BCTS is such a wonderful site, with some extremely good authors (No, I'm not including myself. I have a LONG way to go, but I'm learning). Bailey, Postia, Erin, Angela...the list is fairly long. It takes a part of your soul to write, and while I love the comments, I really do this to just be a part of this wonderful family. If I don't get any comments or kudos, I won't bitch, but I'll know I've done something wrong. People here seem to be very caring. I've been helped enormously here, by many people. It IS a major thrill when my favorite authors say they have enjoyed one of my stories, and I hope it happens again. Thing is, in general, this isn't a competition. It's fun! Sometimes it's sad (I cry so often here, my wife says I need a cover for my keyboard. I'm such a fluffy bunny!). Sometimes I laugh myself silly. I love it all!
Write because you love it! I know I love the stories I read. I want to someday be able to say I've read them all, but WOW, there are a lot of stories here! I haven't even caught up on Bike yet, and I try to read a few chapters a night! Angharad just writes too fast!
I'll be here for a long time!
Wren