Ending a story?

I am having trouble figuring out when a character needs to stop being written about. I really like the character of Maria in Exchange Student surprise, so she keeps showing up.
And given my last story has over 100 views and no comments, I am thinking people are not enjoying the writing as much. Should I look at writing style? Boring story? Too long?
Any thoughts would be welcome. General thoughts about writing styles to specific suggestions.

I think you've answered your own question. If you are enjoying the company of one of your characters and there's more adventures they want to have then keep writing. As amateurs (in the strict sense) surely we are doing it to please primarily ourselves, and if others enjoy it that's a bonus. Once you start grading your writing by the views/comments ratio then you'll end up writing Smack-Oww stories just to please the majority of readers.
If, of course you have another motive, perhaps financial, then it's a completely different story and you need to write a completely different story

I have discovered that long stories do not have the same reception here as shorter ones. That is why I've taken to breaking long stories into "serials". They are written as one continuous story but I'll put breaks in to keep it as manageable chunks. The way this site opens stories is great when it comes to keeping them from being stolen and reposted but it just doesn't lend itself to stories that take multiple sessions to finish reading.

Another way of dealing with a story that doesn't want to end is to turn it into a series of stories. Say "exchange student vol 1" with that broken into chunk then vol 2, 3, 4 etc. Or maybe break it apart by time segments - Month 1, 2, etc.

But as long as you enjoy what you write you should keep at it. Just maybe change the format a bit for this site.

Is it a "labor of love" or a "love of labor" at this point? In other words, are you still enjoying writing about this character and do you have plot lines that feel viable? If so, then keep going. Judging the "success" of your story by the number of views, comments, and/or favorites is self-defeating.

It's hard to tell what's going to resonate with our audience; sometimes I put out something I thought would be provocative and the crickets chirped while other times an innocuous story generated a slew of comments. Just for shits and giggles I looked up my statistics. My stories have been read in a range of 127-967 times; likewise, one story got 38 favorites while I have a multitude without any. Does that mean that "127 reads" was that bad or "38 favorites" was that great a story? No, I didn't foresee either happening (although I certainly wish I could replicate whatever motivated all those favorites).

So don't worry about what the numbers show, just keep writing what interests you. Or take a sabbatical, write something else for a while, and then come back to Maria. I've been writing a lot of sequels lately to stories I wrote a while ago that I've revisited and now see the possibilities to continue that story. So maybe write about an entirely different situation, and then come back to Maria and see how you feel about her. But keep writing regardless...

Do as you like.
There's a site here that has an elaborate scoring system for stories but frequently a really good story (IMHO anyway!) will be scored rather poorly. There's no accounting for reader tastes. Write what pleases you. That's how I've done it in the past.

I never have any problem ending a

i would say that as long as you enjoy writing about a particular character, or on a particular theme, keep doing it. if you are tired of something, feel you have mined that vein thoroughly, call it a closed chaptet, move on.
After all, we are writing for fun, not trying to please some editor who is demanding particular types of stories. We don't have to write "potboilers." For those infamiliar with that term, refers to writers, particularly those who wrote for the old pulp publications, writing stories strictly because that type of story or genre was popular and they got paid. They might not regard it as their best work, or what they really wanted to be dedicated to.
As for whether or not one's work is being read,personally do not pay that much attention though I do check frequently to see if I have comments. I always try to send a popup thanking them, feel if they are willing to make the effort to comment least I can do is thank them. Hear so much about the decline of good manners and common courtesy nowadays, think its the right think to do.
At the same time realize some readers are not comfortable commenting or do not wish to do so for whatever reason, and thats all right too.

I would say that some stories reach a natural conclusion, a dramatic crisis, with plotlines nicely tied up, and needed character development done. At that point further writing in that story would be an anti-climax, so don't do it. Sometimes there can be a further development, another story to be told about the character or characters. Sometimes there can be a spin-off, with a minor character from the first story becoming the central character of the next. And sometimes one must just move to a new setting or character.

Mind you, some stories don't really have the classic dramatic climax, and can be extended as long as the author and readers are interested. More often this happens with a series of related stories, i think.

In any case, do feel free to keep writing as long as a story or character interests you. It will probably delight at least some readers as well. Neither views nor comments are really a good metric for reader reactions. But they are what we have.

Hotspur
Ha!

Goodgulf points out that longer stories posted here can struggle to attract readers and suggests breaking them into episodes.
I have also noticed this .
The dilemma I have is that the first part, maybe half, in my stories is often spent setting the scene, developing a context within which a spanking might plausibly occur.
Like many authors I write primarily for my own pleasure and for me plausibility is everything. I am less concerned about the detailed description of the '''event" since I feel that the more graphic this is, the less scope there is for the readers own imagination.
The issue is that once again, some readers appear put off by a first episode which does not include an actual spanking.
I am therefore inclined to post the story undivided and hope to hold the readers interest through to the end. I have also tried to deal with this by writing a couple of e-novels, which I have been pleased to find well received.