What makes a story successful?

Perhaps a bit of an overreaction there. CS's original question was based on observable metrics, and that seems to be how many are responding. Little to do with our own individual feelings of accomplishment, or lack of same.

There is also a difference between singing in the shower for your own enjoyment and singing in public. The former requires no validation to continue whereas the latter doesn't continue long if met with stony silence.

I shouldn't even comment on the irony of bringing up this argument for purity on the eve of a story challenge; you know, those things where authors compete, get judged, winners (and losers) are published and awards handed out.

My comments weren't directed at CS or any particular individual. And the comment/views obsession has been a factor here for many years, not just recently.



Not a valid analogy as the majority of authors have multiple submissions, a great many of which have received a healthy number of comments. It would be more understandable if they were making their first ever submission. And the stony silence you refer to isn't accurate either - the discussion hasn't been about getting no comments or views but more along the lines of what the algorithm is to maximise comments and views.



Of course one is quite entitled to view the Challenges in the way you describe but as we have pointed out repeatedly, almost each time we have a challenge in fact, they are designed to be a bit of fun, to stimulate the creative impulse in authors and to give the readers some involvement. That's why we introduced anyway.

I think that was mostly tongue-in-cheek.

I will say that I want to be that author who writes purely for her own pleasure, but I can't deny how thrilling and validating it is to receive comments or favorites (views seems pretty random, in my experience). Even an indication that a given reader has read several of one's stories in a row (with more than a few seconds in between) as seen on the stats page is a decent proxy for knowing that someone appreciated your work (which is why that one of the "author features" I wished for in a prior thread was the ability to see more of that history). Particularly, if someone reads through one of my serials, I will assume they liked it. I wish they'd take a moment to leave a comment, but even if they don't, I'm happy to see it in my history if I happen to catch it.

I think it's only human nature to crave that kind of praise and validation, though different personality types need it more than others.

Not denying any of this, it's simply a matter of degree.


There's 5 more to be going on with. At some point I'll code the ability to extend the list. UPDATE: should now be extend-able up to last 25 entries but only if we have a record of them.

Anyway, will leave the debate to rumble on, I've not started loading the Challenge entries yet

Me too, and on top of that, I totally get why someone wouldn't leave a comment. Kink fiction isn't like regular fiction, it pulls at people's innermost desires and is something people have been trained to hide in public. So putting your feelings in writing about it makes you feel really exposed, and that makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable. Even saying "I liked that story a lot" is deeply revealing, so it's understandable that lots of people don't want to do it.

It's awesome to hear, as an author - thank you to all you lovely commenters!! <3 But like Rosie said, if I see the same readers go through my series over and over, that's a compliment in itself, and not leaving a comment doesn't mean they didn't like it

The only really important feedback feature on the site is the comment facility - it's what creates meaningful communication between authors and readers. As my first stories were published on a site with no feedback features whatsoever, I can tell you it makes an enormous difference (It was a Swedish site - those guys are far too shy to chat about these things in their own language). The rest of the features are more for fun, but although I find them interesting to ponder and interpret, I would never try to write a story just to attract views or favorites. My experience is that the stories that really touch people (as indicated by the comments), are the ones I like the most myself.

Februs

Sorry, Februs, didn't mean to start anything. Was just trying to contribute to the discussion. My bad.

Well, I think it's a bit of both. I don't think anyone writes stories they really don't like, just to get views. On the other hand at least I aim to please as well. I want to write fantasy (even though it's unpopular) but I also want to write stuff that makes people happy and makes their day. Spankos need to be cheered up as well and if I get lots of favorites I know that I made at least a few people happy and by that this planet a little better.

No that's fine, absolutely no need to say sorry. Would be extremely boring if everyone felt the same about everything

LOL. I am a numbers person and no matter what I do, say or write, things are judged on numbers. For example the square root of 2 is 1.414. And no I did not just calculate that on my computer, I know it off by heart, just like I know the square root of 3, 5, and 6 etc. I refuse to change at this late in life and no one will make me change my mind, even if it is a anal view of the world.

Each of us do what we need to do, and when I stop doing it the way I want to, will be the day I leave this site. I never expected any one would answer my question because as many stated, there is no real answer.

Success is based on how each individual author wants and so it should be. Good point to remember is we are all here to have read, write and comment more as the theme states, and most importantly to have fun.

CS