What Am I Doing Wrong? PLEASE TELL ME. (WARNING – ANGRY RANT/WHINING AHEAD)
Okay, what am I doing wrong? Honestly? Why do people care less about my writing that I put actual creative effort into, and more about the most basic frakking thing I can make: Taking a screen capture of an internet show and using a demotivational poster generator to make a poster out of it, like THESE:
In their first day up on DeviantArt, these get anywhere from 3-4 times the number of views a chapter of my story gets. On top of that, I hardly ever ask for comments with those and get ’em easy enough, yet when I ask for comments on my writing (usually my stories, though oftentimes with my blog), asking people what they think or if there’s anything I can do to improve my work, I’m EXTREMELY lucky if I get a comment from anybody outside of my personal circle. And it doesn’t matter what I do, how I pander, who I ask for RTs on Twitter, or who actually goes out and advertises my stuff (and yes, this HAS happened on occasion without me having to ask), I can’t get people to give a damn. Nothing changes.
Do people not understand that this is the only thing I’m good at? Just writing? And by the way, without a job (having Asperger’s Syndrome and a GED as my best achievement in school doesn’t exactly inspire people to hire me), this is basically what I do for a living, and I don’t even get paid for it? It’s a hobby, plain and simple, but while I wait to join a course run at a place that has failed to help me in every conceivable way for EIGHT YEARS, it’s all I have to do everyday so I don’t go crazy! And even then, I find myself not wanting to do it because apparently it equates to jack shit!
So please, I am begging every person that reads this, tell me what I can do to improve my work. Tell me what I’m lacking, what I need to be better, why people might not care about the work I’m actually passionate about. Because if nobody is gonna care, then I pretty much have no reason to have anybody follow me on here, on Twitter, on Tumblr, or on Facebook.
Posted on July 16, 2013, in Miscellaneous and tagged Demotivators, deviantArt, Facebook, Recreation, Social Networking, Tumblr, Twitter, Writing. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Jyger's Rant 
I don’t think your stories need any changing. Whoever these jerks are,I want to find them and sock them all in the jaw for ignoring my wonderful writer boyfriend!
In my opinion, your writing is fantastic. I like to write stories and stuff, and yours is certainly better than mine. The motivational posters are good, sure. But something that takes effort is much better. And any of the stuff on this site that you make, is fantastic as well.
Nothing really. As a writer, I like your Pokemon stories. I can understand if the lack of feedback is maddening but trust me, it’s perfectly normal. I find it frustrating too. Maybe you should post your works in other places like a forum (maybe Serebii or Bulbagarden?). I’m sure there’s an audience for you out there. You just haven’t found them…
As someone who just came onto this post through DeviantArt, I can at least partially explain so far as that site goes. It’s a visual site. When I am looking through someone’s profile, I glaze over any writings for two reasons. First, I’m typically not interested in reading when I visit DeviantArt. I’m just looking for visual stimulation. Second, they’re presented as thumbnails with a wall of words in them, so there’s nothing to grab onto with my eyes. This specifically happened with your profile. I completely tuned out the writings, and my eyes jumped from image to image.
I don’t know if they give you the option of adding custom images to your literature’s thumbnails, but if they do, I would look into that. Hook people with the pretty picture, then reel them in with the stories.
Aside from that, Matt’s right. It’s normal to have very little audience build-up as a writer (and an artist in general.) Writing is a heavily-saturated field in a medium that takes more time to digest. I personally don’t have the time to try and read someone’s stories without knowing if it’s worth reading, and that goes for many people. So you’re stuck in a catch-22 of needing more exposure and acknowledgement, but you need more exposure and acknowledgement to get it. I can sympathize.
Long story short, it’s not your writing that necessarily needs improvement, but your marketing skills.
Hope that helps some!