# What to do



## Kender3421 (Feb 7, 2010)

So, I thought I would throw this out on the forum and see what kind of response I get. I have, so far, written a few series of fiction on FA but I seem to lack an audience. So I have questions about what i should do.

My main problem is that I am ADD with writing. I start writing, notice something shiny, and forget all about it for weeks. When I come back to it, it no longer grabs me like it did when I started.

That problem has hit me again. I started a fantasy series, highly inspired by D&D, and it just doesn't grab me anymore. Add in to the fact that it only got 17 views in three months and I just want to drop the series and go back to my true love of science fiction.

Ideas:

Should I just write one shots instead of series?
Should I sit down and grind through my fantasy series?
Should I start from scratch?

I don't know what to do. I need ideas from my fellow writers.


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## Altamont (Feb 7, 2010)

Don't grind through your series, because that'll just intensify your distaste with it. Let it sit, mull around for awhile, and then come back to it. one-shots are tricky too. They can be nice for creative outlet, but I find they're rarely as satisfying. 

I guess I'd say start from scratch, but don't give up on what you've got. Let your new writing add some spark to your old writing, and hopefully it'll come back to you again


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## TakeWalker (Feb 7, 2010)

17 views in three months? That's great! Congratulations: your writing has not been ignored. Now ignore the stats and keep doing what you enjoy.


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## Xipoid (Feb 7, 2010)

Kender3421 said:


> SAdd in to the fact that it only got 17 views in three months and I just want to drop the series and go back to my true love of science fiction.



Hell, that's better than most of the things I do. Don't sweat views. Write what you want and do it well.


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## SSJ3Mewtwo (Feb 8, 2010)

If you do crave both views and feedback (I'm quite the attention-whore myself, so while I'm totally in the support of the 'do what makes you feel good' attitude this response won't be entirely in that vein.  I do what makes me feel good plenty, but when I want feedback I gun for it) then you have to make sure you ensure the audience you're targeting with your material actually _sees_ it.

If you don't like marketing speak, sorry, but that's the only way I can describe things.

FA is a BIG community, and it has a massive amount of submissions.  A new submission will leave the front-page in minutes if it's a busy day.  So if you want your works to draw eyes you need to make it accessible and noticeable.

I looked at a few of your submission pages (it's past midnight, so...sorry, I won't be offering any writing critique right now).  I have a few suggestions.

1)  Add in more in-depth descriptions in the Submission Description area.  Give your potential readers a summary of what they could be downloading and reading.  If the demographic you're looking to appeal to doesn't know what's entailed they might breeze right by it.

2)  Seriously bump up the amount of detail in your tags and keywords, and make sure the theme you select from the drop-down menu reflects the content as closely as possible.  FA's search runs off the keywords and tags.  If you don't have a wide variety of terms in there then the searches people conduct won't hit your stuff.  As well, browsing by theme is the other most common search method on FA.  If you don't have it under a theme that someone's looking for, it'll be next to invisible.

3)  Pimp your stuff.  Mention it to people, ask for critique, and draw eyes to it.  Don't be a pest, of course.  But if you think it'll pique someone's interest then offer it to them for their perusal.

Not a lot of people like doing that, but the sheer volume of work that flows through FA makes it difficult for new efforts to get noticed unless they're pressed.  After you build up an audience you don't have to do it as much, unless you want to.


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## Murphy Z (Feb 8, 2010)

What to do?

I'm actually working on three things now. So if I were you, I'd work with some old stuff and try and think of new stuff. If something absolutely isn't working or you're stuck, put it aside (don't throw it away) and work on something else.

If you have no preference, try both one shots and series. 

Or if you have to, just pick something.

Writing is full of trial and error. The best thing to do is keep on keeping on.

For more views:
Give other people feedback or even just a quick comment if you don't have much to say. You could tell them you liked their characters or descriptions or whatever. You also get to see what people are up to and can learn from them.

Maybe do a couple Thursday prompts if you think you can do a story on the topic.


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## Atrak (Feb 8, 2010)

Kender3421 said:


> So, I thought I would throw this out on the forum and see what kind of response I get. I have, so far, written a few series of fiction on FA but I seem to lack an audience. So I have questions about what i should do.
> 
> My main problem is that I am ADD with writing. I start writing, notice something shiny, and forget all about it for weeks. When I come back to it, it no longer grabs me like it did when I started.
> 
> ...


 

You know, I had this same problem up to last year. Then, in the summer, I finally said, "Screw starting a novel and stopping 2k words into it." I decided to write a stand-alone short story. I wrote it. Then I decided that I like it so much, I'm making a series off of it  . I have finished four of the stories, and am about half way through the fifth. And they have gotten longer everytime. Kind of like the Harry Potter series  . The third adventure was over three times as long as the first  . Also, having no internet or car helps.


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