Without trying to be negative I think that the writing medium seems to have a big problem here.

After some investigation I have noticed the fact that even tough a lot of writing material is produced here everyday. But almost no one cares enough to read/enjoy it.

Without being offensive a lot of threads here are thinly veiled excuses to get noticed. For instance "post an X of your work" "what would x character do if he was in an hotel..."

If getting a simple critique it's very difficult even more getting people to actually care about your story.Actually enjoying a written story could take pages and pages to develop properly and hours to be properly enjoyed.

The amount of people willing to make that investment is minimum and even those people that are willing to do the effort aren't enough to satisfy the amount of stories that need to be read.

Enjoying a written story specially if it is long like a novel need days to be "digested" by the readers. This is a problem other arts don't have. Reading requires to use your own imagination in order to get it's full potential and time to assimilate (that's the charm of reading) those process of course require a lot of time that not many people are willing to give.

In fact people are generally more willing to enjoy "fast arts" than written arts. After all it's much easier and less time consuming to hear FUR ELISE, watch Citizen Kane or looking at the Mona Lisa than reading the full book of War And Peace(the former are much more faster to enjoy). Most people don't have the habit of reading and it gets more hard to get people to read original and new content.

Therefore it's much much harder for writers to find their fans. Remembering the example of Harry Potter much people wouldn't read a book if it isn't trendy or popular.

That's the reason most people here are starved for attention and almost none regardless of wheter or not they are good at writing or not they hardly ever get noticed.

TL:DR

supply>demand

The weakness of writing (that is also it's main strength) is that people need to invest a lot of time to enjoy written stories. As opposed to other arts like music or drawing that at most require minutes to be properly enjoyed and not many people are willing to.

Proof your probably got lazy about reading this after you saw the wall of text.

edited 13th Nov '11 9:52:47 PM by FallenLegend

The problem I think is this attitude - give us what you have written! No story ideas, don't be a lazy asshole, etc. (I'm tired of it by the way, making writing some sort of obligation.) And when we do offer our writing, it often gets overlooked anyways. Except when the writing is from someone we already know, someone popular. And we want to get swept up by what is an extension of their personal energies.

The few rarities writing is looked at outside these conditions, it's usually for "critique" (asked for or not), a brief commenting, or.. if chance is nice, real appreciation.

Writing isn't a medium where it "grabs" you automatically, as the visual arts do. You have to focus on the boring text, to let your imagination reconstruct the imagery— this lack of convenience contributes to why it's hard to get attention, and with the possibility of low-quality mediocrity to discourage, people make idea threads instead. They're so easy to do and quickly comprehend, these what-ifs?

Behind every thread's title, we don't know what is the content going to be, unless we open it. When we're half-expecting it to be yet another typical thread (not writing), we're actually tempted to overlook when there is a thread for written work.

I remember proposing a new section for Writer's Block, a subfora where all the written work goes, so forum-goers know where to look if they do want to read. I wonder why it hasn't been considered yet.

edited 13th Nov '11 9:35:29 PM by QQQQQ

I don't believe the problem is that drastic. I agree that there aren't a lot of people interested in reading as opposed to watching television or playing video games, but there's still a large amount of readers out there. Also remember that most writers also tend to be readers by definition, so it wouldn't be too hard to find readers on forums such as this full of writers. The trouble, as you mentioned before, is getting people to care about YOUR story. Just like in the field of movies and television, and all other markets, one product is in constant competition between all other products. For a beginner writer, it might seem like a daunting task to find somebody to read your work, but not due to a lack of readers, but due to a lack of interest. If they can find a reader, they probably wouldn't make it past the first few pages, because beginner writers don't typically write amazing works right away. I would argue that the real weakness of writing is that every one thinks they can do it, but very few actually can.

I will also lay this out, if anyone like me is reading this: I won't tell you to "keep writing" out of blind, generic advice-giving's sake. As Job would pray to God even after being shunned to a wretched life. What kept me going after this time - is the burning desire to share the unique contents of my imagination, to at least someone, so that they would want more of it from me. That is a noble goal. And I would continue writing under this faith; even if it seems like no one is interested, the feelings which you had in the writing itself would be worth the journey.

I'm with Wacky. There are very few stories mentioned here that I would actually be interested in. Writing is extremely competitive because everyone thinks they can do it because it doesn't require any special equipment.

So... yeah.

Written fiction can definitely be as "attention grabbing" as any other medium. But it doesn't have to be, which is nice! More opportunity to surprise your readers, subvert expectations, etc.

While it's probably slightly discouraging to have your work seemingly "ignored", it wouldn't be my foremost concern as an amateur writer. You're not doing it for the money, and hopefully you're not doing it solely for the attention - you would be writing for the sake of it. For the fun, the sense of accomplishment at creating something, whatever floats your boat.

I mean, that's not necessarily what the thread's about, but I feel like the excessive desire for external validation is where the question stems from.

And yeah, I think a lot of beginners feel like good writing is easier to pull off than visual art/music/whatever, but I don't think there's really a "surplus" of writers compared to, say, the kids on deviantART with galleries full of mspaint Sonic OC's.

It's really very simple.

The majority of you would be wasting my time.

This is no reflection on the quality of your work (or perhaps it is, I can't say). And it has plenty of parallels in other media. Sturgeon's Law is only the beginning. Once we have passed that barrier we arrive at whether or not you're actually writing about anything I'd care to read about. And often, very often, the answer is no.

Do you perchance go see every movie that comes out? Do you willingly listen to every new song that arrives on the radio? No. They don't interest you. Same thing goes for writing.

I wouldn't have been that blunt, but this is pretty much true. Alternately:

For the majority of you, I would be wasting your time.

See, many people have things that they like, specifically, be it a genre or style or subject. Some people become devoted enough to that subject that they, to some degree, gain a level of amateur expertise on the subject. Outside of that category or set of categories, however, they are likely to have a diminished understanding, if not an outright misunderstanding, of the themes and requirements necessary to make a great work. For example: I love "weird fiction", but I couldn't tell you the first thing about romance novels outside of what I know from parodies of the genre; it follows, then, that I probably couldn't accurately critique one outside of the obvious, non-genre basics.

So, yeah, that's part of it...

I find that I agree with both Q and Night.

I dislike the thought of writing being an obligation, and I find that when I try to write when I have that mindset, the result is never up to par with my personal standards. I write spontaneously, but I also let ideas percolate a bit. Perhaps too much.

Like Q, I write because I want to share my imagination with even just one person. I don't write to compete with others. If their work is better quality or garners more interest than mine, I'm okay with it.

As far as writing threads, I'm afraid that I do the same. I have a tendancy to overlook, and I always (always) feel like I'm bragging too much (or a form of such) when I contribute to threads like "What would X do in the above situation" or what have you.

While I like reading the work of others, I also find that I'm a bit jealous. Of their output and their creativity. I will always look in hopes of finding a gem in a dunghill (and I do), but often I find myself going into "critic mode."

And I have noticed also, as others have pointed out, that the work that gets attention is those who are popular, and already known. I greatly enjoy getting swept up in their work, but sometimes I have a small pang of wistfulness, that someone would get so caught in my work.

And maybe sometimes people don't expect to get noticed. Not in print. There are thousands (or millions) of books nobody reads anymore, and probably never will. But TV and movies are still big, and I think that if you can put a vision into words, then you can put it into images. And have the tiniest chance to get noticed.

And if still nobody cares or wants to pay to consume it...at least there's the author's sense of accomplishment in at least getting it done.

edited 14th Nov '11 9:46:31 AM by Keybreak

There's a bigger issue in play here, I believe. Yes, TV and movies will attract more attention and thus a bigger audience than books. What does the audience get in return, though? Superficial twaddle. Have you ever finished watching a reality show and felt that your life had changed? I'll guess No. Have you ever finished reading a book and felt that your life had changed? I'll guess Yes, once or even several times. Maybe your life didn't change, but your view of the world, or of other people, or of yourself, did.

People who waste all their spare time on television are not worth your time. A corollary of Sturgeon's Law is that 90% of your potential audience has crap for brains.

Don't insult the audience, that's no nice. So they waste their time on the idiot box, if they by chance catch something good from what they're used to, that's worth it.

edited 14th Nov '11 10:07:20 AM by QQQQQ

People still tend to think so.

Not me—I think that people are just busy. Books take a lot of time. And they can't stimulate as readily as moving pictures.

And maybe...I don't know. A lot of people these days like to feel like they're near other people.

(Just to give an alternate perspective on reading here: I love reading, on a deep and abiding level, but I tend to read multiple things at once, meaning that rarely does any one thing have my undivided attention. When attempting to follow a longer work, this can be highly inconvenient. Hence, I read a lot of short stories.)

...I don't know, you guys. Perhaps my time is wastable or something, because I don't mind reading troper works.

Okay, so yes, I rarely leave comments and make forum posts, but I'm out there. Isn't that what this is supposed to be, a place where amateur writers show their work to other amateur writers, with a few discussions about fiction spread out here and there? It's no help when no one wants to be on the reading end of the stick.

And about that whole interest factor Night and JHM were discussing...when I select a book, I'm picking up the genres I love, which are literary fiction, magical realism, essay collections (more of a medium than a genre, I guess), and humor. On my own time, I almost never read the three most popular genres on this forum: science fiction, erotica, and fantasy. I push my own personal interests aside to check out what everyone else is doing. I feel it's supportive. Silent support, since I never comment, but support, nevertheless.

edited 14th Nov '11 11:08:13 AM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

Personally, I go all the way out to try things I never did to learn. Earlier on, I disliked Fantasy and SF because I never felt much for the characters, only for the atmosphere (which the gobbitygook terminology gets me lost). But now I synthesize the best of SF with psychological drama, and whatever else I stumble across on.

Often, the best would lie in unexplored territory, and I like to be surprised.

Wait, erotica's a popular genre here? (So far as I know, there's just me, Zeal, and Mayan writing it. That's fewer people than write slice-of-life.)

My own suggestion: if you can't find anyone to read your stories, find the stories people do read, and practice writing by writing stories like them. You may not be able to get much good criticism, but you'll be able to get some, and from there, you'll be able to improve your writing skills (hopefully allowing you to get readers for the stories you actually want to write.) Most people do this through fanfiction, but I think writing for Literotica is better in some ways, since it allows you to practice introducing characters and settings not already known to the reader. (Of course, Literotica also has higher standards than the average fanfiction site, so it's a slightly harder challenge.)

edited 14th Nov '11 12:03:34 PM by feotakahari

Of course, if you have no interest in either fanfiction or erotica...

I just assumed, to be honest, considering some of the forum titles here...

In terms of readership, that's probably a good assumption.

^^ What? Oh, don't be sil—*looks at threads* Um, huh.

I have tried to be a regular reader of stuff here, but I often don't have the time or stamina.

To be honest, I haven't seen that many science fiction authors around besides myself and Major Tom.

^ You might also look at what I've written under the SF veil. But the flavour of it is varied; Major Tom writes like Michael Bay, you (what I've seen) write like it's an Alien Ambassador episode from Star Trek, and I write like David Lynch.

edited 14th Nov '11 9:11:00 PM by QQQQQ

I write SF too... occasionally.

How SF must one be, exactly, to meet Q's standards?