Why nobody cares about your story...

...Because you don't care about other's.

I am sure everyone of you has an amazing story in your hearts to tell.But most of you are strangers to each other.That's why hardly someone else will care about your story going by the premise alone(and even then). To quote a relevant post:

If you actually showed genuine interest on someone's story , or at least commented on someone's premise. I assure you that at least 7 times out of 10 someone will care for yours too.

As someone on this site said "Everyone wants to write, but no one wants to read". I say this, if you want to be read you have to read first.

Just my two cents. This is just advice not a rant or complaining (in fact I don't have a story ready yet to show at all so it hasn't happened to me). This is just something I have noticed.

edited 15th Oct '12 12:22:53 PM by FallenLegend

I agree with you to an extent.

Just because someone doesn't comment on a story does not mean that they are not caring about it. They probably won't comment because

A) They're not sure how the writer would take it,

B) They don't want to end up sounding hurtful/discouraging, or

C) They're busy with other things and don't have time to make a comment.

That's just my two cents.

edited 15th Oct '12 12:15:00 PM by Masterofchaos

Completely agreed.

Lurkers are awesome, for example in the visual art thread they don't comment at all...But I thank them for at least checking my stuff :D.

Altough I read some someone on this site saying

This advice is not for everyone. I am sure of that (just for people that feel this way ).

edited 15th Oct '12 12:26:40 PM by FallenLegend

No.

... Care to expand on that "no", Night?

I understand. I also understand that most people are busy/procrastinate a lot.

To be honest, I read many concepts here which I find interesting (and many not so interesting ones too, of course), but I don't have a lot of time, unfortunately.

There will be a day when I'll ask for a review on my books, but I'll also offer one at the same time.

As the creator of the thread, I attempted to give feedback to others in the beginning, but I eventually got busy with college and stuff, so I kinda forgot about that thread. However, no one gave me any feedback on that thread (other than Parable's question). So, yeah.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:29:41 PM by Teraus

I agree to an extent, like Master Of Chaos said, I do try to read other people's work but I often can't make a comment for various reasons. That and I try to avoid thinking of myself as a critic and I hope that whenever somebody does read whatever feedback I post it comes across as an opinion instead of some law.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:24:15 PM by darthnazgul

I would think it would be self-evident.

One does not sell books by reading books or fawning on other writers or even criticizing other writers. One sells books by writing good books. Many people won't know or won't care if you read their work and there is no reason for them to reciprocate just because you did.

Much of what I write is the lone island of non-fluff adrift in a sea of girl-girl romantic stories. I do not read the works that surround it in that particular area of the 'net, nor would I wish to. Yet I still have a steady readership, despite having long since scaled back my visible presence on that site.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:27:40 PM by Night

@ Night

I am talking about this site. "Not about being famous, selling books or being professional"

But as any adivce you are free to take it as you want. No debate will come from me if you disagree.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:33:51 PM by FallenLegend

I suppose that what the OP's talking about applies to threads here on this forum, but as Night points out, in the wider world, it's not really applicable. What other fiction you read and talk about, in the greater context of "getting known" in the writing of fiction, is only relevant in the same way that anything that you talk about is, which for many people is completely immaterial. Now, talking with people may be helpful, but that's something very different in nature.

Oh, well then, yeah.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:34:17 PM by JHM

True. But most people don't feel motivated to start reading a random story from the internet, even if it seems interesting, unless they searched for it themselves. It is a selfish line of thought, yes, but giving them feedback tends to make them more interested in whatever you have to say.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:34:09 PM by Teraus

Exactly I am talking about this site/ internet. Profesional level is another topic I won't get into.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:35:57 PM by FallenLegend

The pity is that it's equally applicable here. Maybe you offer criticism here, maybe you don't (I generally don't post about my actual work so much as about writing philosophy anyways), but the bottom line is still that nobody really cares about what you have to write unless they have reason to think they'll enjoy it.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:38:03 PM by Night

The main problem here is that there are a lot of stories. I'm sure there are many good ones, but unless you have no life or are obsessed with reading, it's unreasonable to expect everyone to start reading every random story that appears.

I agree, not everyone will read eveything.

edited 15th Oct '12 2:06:03 PM by FallenLegend

I prefer to just answer questions and share general opinions. I don't share much writing, and I don't read much here. I'm just kind of here.

I'm best at examining/providing feedback for large concepts, trope use, and dialogue, because that's where my own writing strengths lie. I lack experience with relationship/romance subject matter, and don't read them, so that's beyond my purview.

You're assuming everyone is capable of providing strong feedback for every topic and genre that appears on this site.

Further, this is a low-traffic site, and the writers block section is in my experience the most sparsely populated. In the more traveled forums (say the fanfiction section, especially the pony fanfic thread), it's very easy to get lost in the stream of comments.

Admittedly, in any segment of the internet your own popularity is a function of referrals, I'm not arguing that. This site, however, is simply not designed that way; if I comment on a thread then all you see is my profile link (if I have one) and a PM button. There's no easy way to find the other things I've posted like other fora.

So basically, I agree with you and I also disagree with you

edited 15th Oct '12 5:07:14 PM by CleverPun

I'm much more comfortable with a one-on-one correspondence with writers I'm editing for rather than on a forum. And, to be honest, I'm one of those assholes who lurks much of the time because I don't have anything constructive to say.

That's alright I am advicing not arguing.

edited 15th Oct '12 7:46:55 PM by FallenLegend

I recall, back in my print fanzine days, having a fellow critique a comic story I did that, from his comments, he hadn't done more than casually glance at. Most of his critiques and questions would have been invalidated/answered if he'd just looked in the backgrounds or read the word balloons. Getting such critiques can be quite infuriating.

Heh, yeah...those are indeed very annoying.

I actually did my first critique on someone else's work on Deviant Art and found it very enlightening. I highly recommend doing it at least once. After looking through someone else's story, getting engaged in it's storytelling and approach, it makes it infinitely easier to make your own more interesting.

It's very easy to read books and other media and think of it as 'perfect' but when you see a real person's real errors and oversights it makes you recognize your own that much more.

edited 23rd Oct '12 11:01:03 AM by Dimanagul

As repugnant as this characteristic of mine was, I admit that in my younger days I was a review whore, in an attention-seeking manner. I've even done it when reviewing others' stories, even though I was genuinely interested in their writing and reviewed their work as well. I still feel I carry that ugly trait, however, though nowadays I do not write as much myself.

A public forum tends to be a lousy format for constructive criticism, especially because everyone involved wants it but does not have time to give it...also, a lot of people have the "attention whore" problem that's already been discussed.

What the OP is talking about is the precise reason I created the Writer/Critic Dating Service thread, and why I got it pinned...forums are a great medium for meeting people, but critiquing is still best done one-on-one.