I am faced with a dilemma.
I have 2 pieces that are nearly finished, but I am hesitant to publish either of them.
One is a story based on a comic that I doubt many people have read or even heard of, and the other is a story about my grandmothers struggles with the Catholic church.
And while I have stories in my collection that didn't get a lot of attention, and much fewer comments or kudos, it's another thing entirely to publish something I KNOW won't be very successful.
So I could just put them aside, and try and finish something else, but I think these stories are going to bug me if I don't finish them, and once finished they will bug me about being published.
so there is my dilemma.
Comments
So...!
So those are stories that are to be finish and post not for the kudos or comments. They are stories you put out there for yourself because they need to be there. Any comments and kudos are just extra.!
I'd say post them.
Loving Hugs tmf
Yes I agree -
Sometimes a story needs to be completed for peace of mind. Go ahead and publish the stories if you are happy with the quality. Who knows, you may be surprised with the response.
If your muse is anything like my muse
When she sets her teeth in a story, she won't let you do anything else worth while. My muse is a bit of a prima donna. It's her way or no way.
I made the mistake of noodling around with the continuation of "My Summer in Pantyhose" I cranked out 5K words; 2 chapters with out even trying. I tried to lay it down and work on something of my own. But no dice. My muse didn't give me anything and what wrote on my own just fell flat and laid there moaning. Nothing would do but I keep working on finishing that.
Now I'm able to work on my own stories.
So; finish and publish and move on.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Reminds me of a saying
In my old line of work, I used to say, “Some fights are worth having, even when you know you’re going to lose. Other fights are worth walking away from, even if you know you’d win them.”
Some stories are worth posting, even if you know people might not like them. They say something that is important for you to say. Whether or not other people want to hear it isn’t as important.
— Emma
Just about all the time, we write =for= ...
... ourselves.
Rarely, I think, do we write 'for' other people. Some reasons at [1].
Just about everything else, we write it for ourselves.
An "'author's intro" paragraph and a Wikipedia link should cover the 'obscure comic'. I tried to pick the most-likely-to-be-obscure comic from my childhood ... and here he is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_O%27Shay. So much for "obscure".
For this story, "getting it out" is the success. Kudos and comments are just 'icing on the cake'. (And the way random stories get popped out, you may be getting Kudus a decade from now.)
-
Your Grand-Mother's story ... Yeah ... that story pretty much Must Be written, and to the extent not disruptive your family, shared with them.
You might need two versions, The full story, as full and detailed as you can do it, so it's part of your Family History. I'll guess 'Grand-Ma' is your Mom's Mom? Either way, run it past her. See if she can add stuff.
And, as they say, write a "redacted" version that you might or might not post here.
With luck, that will get the stories 'out of your face', and you can do other things.
== === ===
[1] "Writing for other people"
When we need/want a paycheck from writing ...
- Conan Doyle/ Sherlock Holmes
- Charles Schulz admitted he was hopeless at just about everything - except writing the comic strip Peanuts
When we write as a gift ...
- A.A. Milne writing Winnie-the-Pooh for the real Christopher Robin
When, as others have said, Our Muse/The Story 'force' us to set them down.
- Master Harper of Pern 'forced' his way out thru Anne McCaffrey.
To Publish, or not to Publish ...
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to hide our light under a bushel to avoid silence or outrageous negative comments ...
Or by publishing, to take up arms against a sea of critics ...
To publish not ... to sleep, and thus to die a little ...
To publish, and to our own selves be true ...
And what light comes through yonder Windows? It is Kudos and comments, and they are the Sun.
...
---
Some days, my Muse and Bacchus go down into his Special Reserve Cellar ...
As a publisher...
...I'm always in favor of publishing. Perhaps, I am biased, who can say?
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Writing versus posting...
Speaking for myself, there are definitely some stories on my computer that will remain there. For various reasons, those are just for me. I needed to write them, but just because a story gets written doesn't always mean it has to be shared.
I tend to be fairly experimental when I write, so not everything I write will be for everyone. So, I long ago accepted that "success" for a story didn't mean being showered with praise. To be honest, as long as one person really "gets it," that's enough for me. I hope for more, but that's enough.
But I do think there's something to be said for letting a story loose in the world, even if it's personal or a niche interest. Sometimes readers surprise you by sharing an opinion, hobby, or interest, and when that happens, that can be very special. You may not be able to always expect that outcome, but you can hope for it. And hope is often enough reason to share a story. :)