Melanie Surani's Blog, page 3
May 13, 2020
hey, i recently posted my first drabble on my writeblr, and it was my first time posting original content that i was actually serious about. it didn't really get any attention and now i'm feeling very discouraged. how can i either get more traction on m
Look, posting your first work online is like posting to a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere hoping a passing car will slow down to read it (and they do, eventually). Even if you have a tiny following and several good tags, your first post is essentially to the local cork board alongside the want ads and lost dog posters. A drabble especially is the dead tree equivalent of a Post-It note. No one’s looking for it. The internet is not a packed amphitheatre waiting with bated breath for you to speak. It has no idea you exist yet.
I’ve said this before to other asks, if you need instant gratification in order to keep writing, find a different hobby because writing isn’t that kind of medium. Neither is art, nor music, nor filming; those creators all struggle too and always have. The rate at which you receive attention is no metric for whether or not your work is entertaining.
So? Keep writing because you enjoy writing, and keep posting because someone might want to read it. For every hundred creators who give up and disappear, the few who keep posting now have a better chance of being noticed. Is that chance probably still teeny-tiny? Yes. But at least they’re still there.
I can’t teach you how not to care about not getting instant grat. Life will teach you that, easily. The only way to care less about validation is to care more about your creation. That’s it. I and just about every writeblr I follow has given the same advice when receiving this question. Some of us, including myself, have made numerous posts about increasing traffic and getting attention. Those tips don’t matter at all if receiving attention is the only reason you post.
Post because you want to share. That’s different! Humans share to be friendly and helpful, not to get praise and compliments. Those are the bonus not the guaranteed reward. I don’t give advice because I’m seeking attention, I give advice because people like you have problems and hope I have a good answer. So I try to answer, I tag so others looking for that answer can find it too, and when I’m not happy giving out answers I close my inbox. Praise is an occasional bonus to this job, but mostly what I get are other people’s problems because that’s what I signed up for. And when I get criticism I still keep going because hey, I already don’t do what I do to suit complete strangers’ opinions! I just do it because it feels right to do.
TL; DR—If you signed up to be a storyteller and a writer, do those things. The praise and feedback are just a potential bonus.
This may as well be today’s theme, so I’ll reblog anything I’ve shared previously that has to do with this. I wish you the best in your decisions, anon!
May 12, 2020
Honestly, if it’s between this and people standing right up my...
Honestly, if it’s between this and people standing right up my butt, I love social distancing
May 11, 2020
May 10, 2020
For fuck’s sale, white people
For fuck’s sale, white people
"When it’s done right, fiction provides the authority to speak about deep things; at the same time,..."
- Lorin Stein (via keepcalmandwritefiction)
May 9, 2020
May 8, 2020
kirstenlarsonlesbian:I imagine Kirsten’s cats give her plenty of company while she does chores....
I imagine Kirsten’s cats give her plenty of company while she does chores.
