The Kindness Bench for SimLit Writers - For All Games!

Agh I love this thread idea. I always felt strange searching for help in the Writer's Lounge. I'll try not to make my first post full of venting (but boy do I need it-).

@Rainydayz179: SimLit takes time and effort, and it is pretty discouraging to see it go unrewarded.

Sometimes I feel better looking at my page hits. Or gushing about the work done to a listening friend.

@Rainydayz179 I often feel like that.

Some things that can help a bit:

Remembering that most people on the internet are lurkers and they aren't going to comment, but that doesn't necessarily mean that no one is reading and enjoying it.

Remembering what a friend told me once about the WordPress stats page showing lower numbers than another stats program she had for her blog.

Remembering that a lot of people will read the post later, rather than when I first post it.

And, also, the biggest lesson for me in the last few years:

Learning that people all have different tastes, different expectations, different boxes that they are trying to fit into through their consumption choices. So it's not a personal judgement on you or your work at all if they don't read it. No matter how well you write, you're not going to get someone with prejudices against Sims stories, against work presented on the internet for free, against whatever genre you're writing in, against your blogging platform, against you, or whatever else they're being irrationally prejudiced about, to look at your work. And the most important thing to remember about that is that it's their loss, not yours.

*takes nap on bench*

I have issues committing to a story. My mind goes mad with ideas and I always think of new stories.. but none of them connect, nothing intertwines and nothing has an ending. And when I think I have a good thing going... nobody reads it.

So, I feel yah @Rainydayz179

@InfraGreen Thanks for your encouragement. I think watching the stats page was one of my mistakes. A post that I was super excited about got literally no views the day I posted it. I never know who to gush to about my work because usually I'm so far ahead in my writing compared to where my readers are in the story.

@MedleyMisty Thank you as well. I'm one of those that normally just lurks on others blogs but have tried to make an effort recently to comment on posts because I know how good it makes me feel when others do it. I recently moved blogs from Blogger to WordPress. It's kind of depressing looking at the stats page and I think I'm going to have to force myself to stop because of that. My old blog still averages 200 hits a day but pretty much all of those are for the runaway teen challenge rules. You're right even I don't read others stories as soon as they're posted other than a few exceptions. I try to look at it like I'm writing for me and if others read it then it's just a bonus but sometimes I really want someone else as excited as I am about something ya know?

@Rainydayz179

You're not the only one. Every now and then, I look at what I've written, and feel bad that no one seems to want to say how they feel about it. (Yes, I get the views and the likes, but that usually doesn't tell me if they actually liked it, or if they're just doing it out of pity) I know it sounds selfish, but I guess I just need the reassurance that what I've written isn't completely terrible.

I've had plenty of posts written out and then deleted due to changing my mind. In fact, I would often go into the Settings and debate just...deleting the whole blog. ("No one would miss it...") Why I backed out at the last minute, I don't know for sure.

So don't worry. You're not alone.

@BabyDollAnne I know exactly how you feel. I swear people must just roll their eyes every time I start something new because I do it so often. I usually start off saying yet another challenge. Do you think that your failure to complete any of them is due to feeling that nobody is reading it?

"rednenemon;14910103" wrote:
@Rainydayz179

You're not the only one. Every now and then, I look at what I've written, and feel bad that no one seems to want to say how they feel about it. (Yes, I get the views and the likes, but that usually doesn't tell me if they actually liked it, or if they're just doing it out of pity) I know it sounds selfish, but I guess I just need the reassurance that what I've written isn't completely terrible.

I've had plenty of posts written out and then deleted due to changing my mind. In fact, I would often go into the Settings and debate just...deleting the whole blog. ("No one would miss it...") Why I backed out at the last minute, I don't know for sure.

So don't worry. You're not alone.

Wow I too have hovered over that delete button more than once. I often wonder who I'm tying myself up in knots for in the first place?

You're so right that getting feedback from someone, anyone would make it all so much easier. I forced myself not to play my legacy for 2 weeks just so I could get feedback on how to improve moving into the second generation. When I didn't get that feedback I keep wondering why I wasted all that time?

"Rainydayz179;14910106" wrote:
@BabyDollAnne I know exactly how you feel. I swear people must just roll their eyes every time I start something new because I do it so often. I usually start off saying yet another challenge. Do you think that your failure to complete any of them is due to feeling that nobody is reading it?

Maybe. But nobody reading it is never exactly going to encourage us to write it, is it? xD

"rednenemon;14910103" wrote:
@Rainydayz179

You're not the only one. Every now and then, I look at what I've written, and feel bad that no one seems to want to say how they feel about it. (Yes, I get the views and the likes, but that usually doesn't tell me if they actually liked it, or if they're just doing it out of pity) I know it sounds selfish, but I guess I just need the reassurance that what I've written isn't completely terrible.

I've had plenty of posts written out and then deleted due to changing my mind. In fact, I would often go into the Settings and debate just...deleting the whole blog. ("No one would miss it...") Why I backed out at the last minute, I don't know for sure.

So don't worry. You're not alone.

Aack! I'm just lurking as I'm on nook, but I had to pop out to say to you, dear @rednenemon , don't delete your blog! I seriously love it. I don't often comment because I need to process and internalize the story first which takes time and which is also why I read so slowly. But I am seriously in love with your story and would feel heartbroken if it were gone . I'll try to be ready to share real thoughts and feelings about it with you in our circle soon. Thank you for writing it. It's a gift for readers.

"rednenemon;14910103" wrote:
@Rainydayz179

You're not the only one. Every now and then, I look at what I've written, and feel bad that no one seems to want to say how they feel about it. (Yes, I get the views and the likes, but that usually doesn't tell me if they actually liked it, or if they're just doing it out of pity) I know it sounds selfish, but I guess I just need the reassurance that what I've written isn't completely terrible.

I've had plenty of posts written out and then deleted due to changing my mind. In fact, I would often go into the Settings and debate just...deleting the whole blog. ("No one would miss it...") Why I backed out at the last minute, I don't know for sure.

So don't worry. You're not alone.

*hugs*

I will be reading it soon, so I hope you don't delete it before I get to tell you what I think about it.