to everyone.
I haven't posted a story here in over a year. The main but not only reason is summed up here. I don't feel very motivated to put in lots of hard work just to get ignored. DHCF gets ignored at FM as it is, Stardust I might get a comment or two if I'm lucky, but here was different. At least I thought so till August of last year. Then it became apparent the want want want but can't be bothered to give crowd prevails here too. People who tried to reason with me, like saying I would get comments eventually, fail to notice something. Stories at this website have a short shelf life so far as commenting goes. 99% of comments come in the first few days(Unless Stanman belatedly discovers your stories) and this year TWICE has any of my work has gotten a comment here. That's a worse rate than FM(5 comments) and last year the stats were similar in 2011 too. So I've shut down. I've tried to get motivated again but so far have failed.
So there's an explanation. For the few out there who might care about it.
Comments
comments/kudos
I don't comment unless some needs to be said, but I give kudos out if I finished the story/chapter.
When watching my own stories, I also watch the kudos. I figure I get one kudos for every 50 to 75 reads.
To comment just 'I enjoyed the story' seems like a waste of hard drive space, especially since the kudos system says the exact thing.
Comments aren't everything
Yes, it's nice to get comments, as they show people have really engaged with the story. However, as Becky implied, just because people don't leave a comment, it doesn't mean they've enjoyed the story. It may be that they don't want to just post reusable comments such as "I enjoyed the story - it was well written and I completely empathised with the protagonist." It may be that they wanted to comment on one particular aspect but found someone else has done so and don't want to post a virtually identical comment. It may be that they're following dozens of stories simultaneously and want to enjoy all the latest updates in an evening (so for those, the lack of comments is a side-effect of the success of this site - more authors posting more stories more frequently!). There may be plenty of other reasons as well.
Check out the Kudos count - while it doesn't tell you what specific parts of the story they enjoyed (or didn't), it at least tells you that those people liked the story and were sufficiently motivated to click the button at the end.
The final statistic is the "read count" - in reality, a page hit counter. Someone reading a story is likely to leave at least two reads: one for the initial page load, then again as they check to see if anyone's written any comments. If it's low, check the read count of the stories posted either side - immediately before and after your posting. If they're showing a similar number of reads (or even lower), then it's likely your story wasn't noticed. This is another case of the site being a victim of its own success - whereas a few years ago, only a handful of stories were posted each day so people would (probably) scroll down the front page and read the teasers, now people may be more inclined to just jump to a story from the QuickCuts section (since the teasers start two screenfuls down).
It's not a recommended strategy, but some authors have found their stories have enjoyed renewed popularity after moaning about the lack of comments making them disinterested... to which I've always responded - why are you writing? Is it because you enjoy the craft, or is it to gain oodles of appreciative fans? Even if you've only got six regular readers, that's still half a dozen people who appreciate what you do - just because they're not in the same room as you while you read out your story, it doesn't make them any less significant!
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Staying strong...
...from past blogs and comments, I know that these past several years have been very difficult and painful for you and your family; loss and grief and disappointment all sap the strength from us. The thing we do crave, and I'd be surprised if there are any that do not, is affirmation; the words on the screen that tell us we've reached someone or touched someone or just given them a nice moment.
I cannot say a single word that might spur you on, but I do know some of what you feel. Perhaps I am, as one recent commentator at FM said, working through my own issues, as I write here; having said that, it hasn't been easy, but then again who here has had it 'easy;' especially those who have had the hand of fellowship revoked or a discouraging mean word spoken to them or a hug from a family member withheld? I read of one friend elsewhere losing the opportunity to sing in church because of 'what' rather than who she is.
We do what we can as writers; not just to satisfy ourselves, perhaps, but to speak into the life of someone who might trail slightly behind us in the journey we share or just to 'see' a smile where there were tears or a frown. I know you make a difference. Your talent hasn't changed and you have heard from folks all along who like what you have to say. That some of those voices are more quiet now may be more of a testimony of where they are at than what you've written. I hope you gain your strength to write once again because your writing matters a great deal.
Love, Andrea Lena
You are missed
I like most of your stories and LOVE many of them.
My suspicion is as many of your tales are rather long by BC *standards* they can get passed by in favor of quick reads.
Too many of us have 10 second attention spans or whatever it is claimed a goldfish has.
-- grin --
Mostly write for yourself and if you get some feedback... sweet.
I am happy to hear you are alive and well enoght to write us. Keep making fools of your doctors.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa