It's not you, it's me.
Keeper's 400th blog post and (haha) it is about:
Reasons Why Readers Don't Comment
(don't take me seriously)
1. "I am lazy."
2. "The chapters are boring but I still want to see it through."
3. "I am busy. I have tons to do. But I still want to read. Read then run."
4. "I am intimidated. I might make a fool of myself if I drop my comment in your awesome story."
5. "I am not reading it anymore. I just don't want to hurt your feelings by unsubscribing."
6. "I subscribed but I can't go to AFF anymore."
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Kidding aside, I just want fellow writers here to know that sometimes, it is not only the story that has a problem. It's not you, it's me. Of course rant fic writers and writing workshop owners will have hundreds of reasons of why our stories fail, from plot holes down to the font type. (But then why stay subscribed when the story doesn't appeal to us anymore?)
A few friends have blogged about this. I blogged about this and had an epiphany *cough*strike*cough* Here I am again! xD
Why do we post stories here? That question is different from, "Why do we write?".
We could come up with various reasons for the latter. It is fun. It is my escape. It relieves me from stress that is called life. I want to be a novelist. I could go on and on but would these reasons answer the first question? If we just want to write, we could do so without publishing it online. Many of us here have stories that never made their debut.
But why do we post it here in AFF? Simple. We want other people to read our stories. We want to be heard. Or for the more serious ones, they are testing the waters- how well will the public receive their stories. And it is the number of subscribers and comments that tells writers whether their stories are being read or not. Well for me, it is the comments since I am certain that not all of those who subscribed are reading.
Writers need some kind of affirmation in one way or another, an encouragement or a boost. Sometimes or most of the time, comments spur the writer to finish her story. I admit that I update fics that receive comments a lot faster and more frequently because I know that others are enjoying what I'm writing. (For Kahae, it is stiki. I dunno, but everytime stikboi comments, the next chapter begins to manifest. He is always in hiatus though and just pops in once in a while.) So even if I had fun writing the other stories, if I realize that I am the only one enjoying it, I can always put it aside and come back to it when I have more time.
I came across this author who sets up a poll. If poll reaches this number of votes, she updates. I am not subscribed though, I just stumbled upon it. Haha. While I don't really agree with her ways, I kinda understand why.
However, the lack of comments should not be the reason for one to quit writing altogether. Perhaps, one could stop posting here and still find a way to write.
Moreover, having no or just a few comments is a normal occurrence already. So much has changed in just a span of one year. I noticed that readers now don't leave comments as much as before. I have been here since september 26, 2010. Nowadays, if you get one or two, one should be happy (haha) especially if you are not writing or .
From March to June, AFF is dead. Same time last year I joined an anime forum to join their monthly short story writing contests. AFF is very quiet then and so I had to find another playground.
Let us not be discouraged with the lack of readers or comments.
Let us not be discouraged with the lack of readers or comments.
It's not you, it's me.
-Keeper, the troll
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