Am I a bad writer?

[x Trevor x]

I have written two stories so far and one round robin. I have gotten no reviews and no feed back except for one on The Escape and my round robin hasnt even been added to and I also added my own chapter to another members round robin and now it seems people have stopped adding to that members aswell. Am I a bad writer?

[franticity]

I can't exactly speak from experience, since I haven't read your works, but typically, people read something, and then their first reaction is "hey, that was pretty good." And that's it. And they move on to the next story, not even bothering to comment or review it. That doesn't mean that you're a bad writer, that just means that people in general are ignorant of the need for response that writers typically have. Some people just don't understand that feedback in any form is a good thing.

[Jack Scribe]

I have written two stories so far and one round robin. I have gotten no reviews and no feed back except for one on The Escape and my round robin hasnt even been added to and I also added my own chapter to another members round robin and now it seems people have stopped adding to that members aswell. Am I a bad writer?

Hi, BBE,

 

Bad? In whose terms and what definition? And feedback? How can someone find your stories? I did but it was like participating in an Easter egg hunt.

 

One of the big reasons you're not getting acknowledgment for your stories is that they are buried in the efiction bin. Unless the author is a secure, popular, in-demand writer, you must constantly make people aware of your material.

 

Number One: Where's your signature at the bottom of your posts? Check out authors like CJames, Nicholas...or myself, for that matter. CJ and Nicholas use every inch to promote their stories. Most readers don't take the time to research where to find a story and without a prompt...guess what...you will not be read. Be creative - you are marketing yourself and what you want to say.

 

Two: find an editor. In the brief review of one of your stories, I was taken back by your lack of basic punctuation. Also, I noted that you drift between tenses. Trust me when I tell you a basic fact in Internet writing: you have only a few paragraphs to 'grab' a reader. Grammatical errors/oversights turn me off in a fast Manhattan minute.

 

Three: find an editor.

 

Finally, let me just toss out a suggestion: create another pen name. I know, picky, picky, picky. The first thing that registers when I see BabyBoyEffect is an image of a pedophile. Sounds crazy...but that's my initial image.

 

From the other forum, I have followed your personal travails. Hopefully your BF keeps clean and you're out of harms way. Good luck!

 

Writing can be a wonderful form of expressing yourself. And, I totally agree that feedback and recognition is a BIG DEAL. But, you've got to ignite the excitement of a potential fan base. I will also tell you that, as a "seasoned" writer, most readers don't pass on their reactions.

 

Jack

 

P.S. If you want to PM me and tell me to go "F" myself, go ahead. I'm just baring my thoughts from one guy to another.

[Krista]

Hello

 

 

You've made a lot of posts here and I honestly think you don't have self-confidence in your writing skills just yet. I don't know how long you've been writing, but there are a lot of things here and people that could help you if you ask around. If you're unsure about your abilities then you may look into the Editor/Beta reader program. They can help you fix some parts of your writing.

 

If you're writing to recieve "fan-mail" or "reviews" then you'll never be satisfied with what you get. If you worry about why you're not getting any feedback on stories then that will only stress you out to the point where you won't want to continue writing. So if you're struggling with your attitude towards your own writing then I suggest that you take some time to look back over what you've wrote and see what you can improve upon. Don't worry why you're not getting the feedback. You're new to the GA Author Status. It's going to take some time for people to take notice of your story.

 

Patience is the best thing to keep in mind. Don't worry about things that you can't really control. Not getting feedback in one of those things. Just leave a small note requesting feedback at the end of your chapters to let people know.

 

Not getting feedback doesn't mean that you're a bad writer at all. Your type of stories just may not have as large of a fan base here at the site. This place doesn't have the number of readers that Nifty does right now, even if it's growing.

 

 

Anyway, good luck.

 

Krista

[NickolasJames8]

Honestly, until I read this topic, I had no idea that you (or anyone) had added chapter 12 to Kevin's Big Moment. One of the most important things you should do to get people to read your stories is to make chapter anouncements. If you don't, how will people know that you posted a new chapter or story to what you're working on?

Another thing I would add is this....take Jack's advice about the signature. You can add a link to the story you're working on, and people can link to it straight from your sigi. A good editor is always a good idea, too. Trust me, I know this from experience. It'll also help you to improve your gramatical, punctuation and spelling skills, and editors make nifty beta readers

The most important thing you can do is not give up. The first story I posted was straight up garbage, but with the help of a great editor and my will to stick it to the people who said I couldn't wrote worth a crap, I got better. There's always room to improve, and I don't think there's a way to stop learning and growing as an author. The thing is, you have to learn techniques to help yourself out.

When I write fiction, I tell myself a story for about a week (or longer in some cases) and then I sit down and start typing. As I add chapters, I read what I already have and then I tell myself the story again, up to the point where I left off, then I let my imagination run wild.

Krista's right about feedback, too. It comes with time, and when you get it, it's because you earned it. Whether it's a flame or a compliment, you'll almost always get the feedback you earned. You can ignore the flames if you want to, but I think it's a bad idea. Most of the time, when I get flamed, I can find some kind of good advice, and if enough people are telling you something's wack, it's wack.

Another important part of feedback is your reply. No matter what kind of feedback I get, good or bad, I always thank the reader for taking the time to give my story a chance and for letting me know what they think. You can't get offended, even if your feeligns are hurt, because like I said before, your audience is telling you what they want.

I hope this was helpful, and sorry if it seems like I was rambling on. But I know how you feel, and I've asked myself the same question you asked a hundred times. I shall now go read what you added to Kevin's Big Moment :pickaxe:

[JamesSavik]

Are you a bad writer? Of course you're not a bad writer. I never see you at the meetings.

[Bondwriter]

Adding my two cents: first of all, I'm just talking about what you write, not about you as a person whom I don't know, so don't take anything as a personal remark, but as constructive criticism. This is quite important, as I intend to be supportive yet sincere.

You do have skills to develop to be a writer. You also have to work hard.

 

First, use a word processor and the spell checker. It's perfectly OK to have problems with commonly confused words. But if you can get rid of typos yourself, you save time for your proofreaders/ editors.

 

Then Jack's advice to get an editor is to be followed. There are indeed resources here, use them to improve. It would be useful too to have someone help you out as you go with your stories. For instance, in the Escape, there is a need for developing certain scenes. I think that you may easily double the length of the story so your characters have more flesh and the action is more vividly described.

One advantage of working with an editor is that it gives you motivation. So go and ask for one.

 

I second Krista on feedback. Though I don't have to complain about getting lots for my anthology entry, I got more from other places, just because of the genre. And it didn't come overnight. And I had a story posted on another site last week, in seven days it got 5972 hits (this site provides a counter for the authors) and just two people who gave feedback, though it has the same type of feature to provide feedback as eFiction. And actually, one was negative by the way!

 

Toot your horn. I too found out with this thread you had contributed to the round robin. The round robin can be promoted with an eFiction announcement, and there's a thread in Nickolas James' forum under "Shared Authors". Use your signature as Jack said. And in the eFiction discussion there's yet another thread.

 

So, hang around, get in touch with people, and know it will take time and work to get results.

 

Hugs,

F.

[x Trevor x]

Thanks for all of your advice and jack I can assure you I am no pedophile lol the name is simply an alteration from the movie ButterflyEffect You have all made some good points to me and I think I can and will do everything you all have told me now you all say I should get an editor? Okay who wants to be my editor? Lol

[TalonRider]

Thanks for all of your advice and jack I can assure you I am no pedophile lol the name is simply an alteration from the movie ButterflyEffect You have all made some good points to me and I think I can and will do everything you all have told me now you all say I should get an editor? Okay who wants to be my editor? Lol

You can try posting in the Editors Corner for an editor. If you don't get any takers in a few days, contact me via pm or email and I'll see what I can do for you in getting an editor.

 

Jan

Editing Lead

Writer Support Team

[Jack Scribe]

You can try posting in the Editors Corner for an editor. If you don't get any takers in a few days, contact me via pm or email and I'll see what I can do for you in getting an editor.

 

Jan

Editing Lead

Writer Support Team

 

BBE, that's a very generous offer from a talented man. Check out his recent posting in the Editor's forum concerning verbs.

 

Here's something I drag out once in a while for general consumption. The Pecman is an active member at Awesome Dude and a credible source for reference. Tips on Writing Gay Fiction:

 

http://www.asstr.org/nifty/information/tip...ay-fiction.html.

 

Of course I was joking about the name. However... BTW, your sigy now has a good promotional look to it.

 

Jack

[Lugh]

I have written two stories so far and one round robin. I have gotten no reviews and no feed back except for one on The Escape and my round robin hasnt even been added to and I also added my own chapter to another members round robin and now it seems people have stopped adding to that members aswell. Am I a bad writer?

 

 

good... bad... so subjective...

 

One thing you must remember is that you do not write in a widely-popular genre. Because of that, you will have a smaller reader base. A smaller reader base means two things: fewer readers who will actually send in a note and more loyal readers, assuming they like you.

 

 

I agree with what the others say: you need an editor, a beta reader, and some serious grammar lessons. A little help in the plotting/characterization department wouldn't hurt either.

 

Lugh