Popularity on AFF

I just want to vent out my frustration again lol! Anyways what is annoying me at the moment is this thing that I have noticed in AFF users. So this morning someone posted a blog that I somehow came across with. He/she blogged about how no one is commenting or subscribing their stories……. ARGHHHHHH.

I admit when I first joined AFF I was exactly like that, well maybe worst. I complained how nobody would comment or subscribe to my story which I worked hard on. I’ve only been on this website less than a year and compared from when I first started I have improved immensely. Now I have achieved hundreds of subscribers and thousands of views on most of my stories. Every day I am growing as a writer and I am proud of my work and what I have done.

Let me tell you guys a story, the reason why I joined AFF is because for ages I have been living with many thoughts float around my head. Like I would build up a world in my head and let a character live through it. One day I decided to write my thoughts down on my PC (lol so old, the computer), and I continued to do so for years. Until my mother decided to send the PC away and bought me a laptop, it erased all the stories I wrote on that computer. After that, for years I let my fantasy continue to roll in my head causing me to get distracted easily. I guess people could say I was pretty much out of everything or have no interest in anything, but really I just replayed all these scenario I have made up in my head.

 One day I was wondering why my younger sister is always up so late. I asked her what she was doing all night one morning and she told me it’s because she reads fan fics. I was like WTF??? Fan fics? What are fan fics? So pretty much my sister taught me what they were, and one day I thought that I should start writing again. So I googled k-pop fan fics, because my sister is a One Direction fan who only reads one direction fan fics. Luckily I came across this website where I began to write and found my love of writing again. I know I’m no great at writing but I enjoy what I do and I love it.

Mainly the reason why I decided to join is to express myself, to release these inner thoughts. I love making a world up that I always wanted to live in. I admit I got carried away when the first fic I wrote got amazing response and then the second fic got more positive response and probably the most successful fic I have written. I admit after I wrote my second fic I started to get mad when people didn’t read my third fic. In all honesty I was wrong to be mad, and I was wrong to abuse my readers into telling them to comment or sub at the end of each of my chapters.

Somehow I have come to realize what I came to AFF for, and that comments and subs are not really needed. I mean who cares if no one comments, or subscribe? Who cares to be honest. I know some people achieve to be popular on this site, but to be popular you don’t have to be desperate about it. I know some people are going to object to me but this is my opinion.

1. I hate how authors would say in authors notes or blogs “Why isn’t anyone commenting? Or is this good enough? No one is commenting because my chapter is bad.” I hate that!! Like who cares if nobody comments, you wrote your story you don’t have to praise everyone! You don’t have to doubt yourself!

2. I hate it when people post on my wall promoting their fic or messaging me to. It just annoys me when people do that. For someone who isn’t popular I get so excited when I get a notification saying I have a message or wall post when really it’s just people promoting their story to get more views or subs. It honestly is hard for me to explain, but hope you understand. I honestly am here to be myself, to make my own world that I wanted to be in, not to be popular. I guess aiming to be popular is a different story but asking your readers and annoying the crap out of them to see your fic is a different story.

So pretty much, if your story is great enough, people will read it and you will get the comments and subs. If not, you still have to keep trying. I just have to say that people shouldn’t be here just to become popular, people should be here to release their inner fantasy. Honestly I know everyone does this but now it’s annoying me. As I have mentioned before there are several people complaining on blogs making it obvious. Like staphhhhhhhhhhh. I honestly don’t care about people my fic because it’s my fic! Readers can choose to hate it or not. I know I may be the only one that feels this way, I know some will disagree with me because people are on this website for different reasons but I came here to write what I feel. It annoys me how people only write fics for popularity. I can’t explain it but I just needed to vent my feelings out so #YOLO to the haterz
 

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hae_DM #1
lol .... just knew they're reading our story is the best part of author's life, that's on my mind :). for the 'comments' thingy xD,, i just love how they expressed their mind to me, even it's cursing. fyi I DO LOVED WHO CURSED ME BC OF MY STORY LINE...lol
Miss_Lin #2
I totally agree
darkstar839 #3
There are a lot different views on this topic XD... I'll try to make my opinion short and quick. I actually ask the readers to comment becuz I wanna what they're thinking... I just really like scrolling down reading comments. Honestly I even read comments on other author story becuz I like to know what other people think. And yeah I kind of don't like it when ppl advertise, I usually look at it and half the time I never look at it again. Sometimes the story is good but people just don't comment xD Like one time I recieved the most subs aft writing one chapter and a upvot but there was only one ironic. I guess most of my readers are silent. But that doesn't stop me from writing, I just write for fun. I kind of don't take stuff and let my imagination flow on this site.
dream_keeper88 #4
Sometimes authors want readers because what is a story without them? It doesn't automatically mean they are craving for popularity. And the "if your story is good, you'll get comments" is not true or does not apply to everyone with good stories. There are a lot of good stories out there, way better than featured ones, that have very few comments. There are stories with so many subbies, but only one reader comments. Well, I pity those who beg for comments and subbies. They shouldn't be doing it. I never asked but I hoped and it is sad that even if you wrote 5k words you get ignored. Like you sang in front of an audience, who took free tickets, and when the performance ended, there was no response. Only silence. Writers are usually melancholic types. They are creative types; sensitive to their emotions. And they are their greatest critics. They already beat themselves up for a an update and then the silence makes them question their words and ability. It can't be helped. Feedback is their gauge on how well their story is received. Anyway, most readers here are silent. They were more responsive in 2010 - 2011. It just needs a lot of getting used to, adjusting since the site is now bigger. Or the plot and writing style is not to the majority's writing. Web articles need a lot of white spaces and has to be brief and direct to the point. I run my text through a readability calculator just to make sure.

Those who cheat to gain upvotes and get featured and who plagiarize are the ones who crave popularity. And I don't get why someone needs to advertise a fic with a hundred subbies.

/stranger passing by/
feng_hua #5
Nah, I was like those people now... lol, but I never ask them to subcribe, I just ask them to, like, comment so I can know that my story is good enough.
When I remember my past, I want to back to my old self, when I first found this site (first one was winglin.net) I make a dbsk story, allthough my english is really bad, there are many users who give comment. At that time I'm not thinking about popularity, but now, I think of them and all my work was a futile, since I'm not do that from heart.
But, when I re-think again, and do it from my heart, there is many users who read my story and even ask for me to update soon! x)

Lol.. Sorry for blabbering.. -_-
4EverLittleMsFanGirl #6
I agree with you..
whattodoaboutonew #7
in terms of people noticing a fic, it is also a factor of luck for those who are starting out (let's say in their first 6 - 12 months of starting on AFF). there are so many stories out there that a story is very easily lost within all those 'latest updated stories' list. So if a writer has luck, then the writer will get an interested reader who will subscribe and then be curious of the other fics written by the same author.
In my opinion, what comes first is the luck of being noticed, before any judgement on quality of the story itself is made.
And a good story will not always receive lots of comments - it depends on the reader and his/her inclination to make comments.

I've wandered about the blogs now and then too and I've seen a lot of posts like yours; and I've written a few too. The general pattern is that people often start for the enjoyment of writing stories, and then they go through a period of wanting to be popular, and then some go back to writing for the enjoyment of stories (often after taking a break), or they stop writing

woah! i wrote a lot in response.
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