The Art of Sims Storytelling

"CitizenErased14;14343777" wrote:


Another thing that bothers me/makes me feel insecure is when readers don't react to things the way I intended them to. Especially my characters. CathyTea will remember the day I got super defensive about that in the Writers' Lounge haha. I know not everyone will like every character, but when people say they don't like a character who's supposed to be likeable/sympathetic it really makes me wonder "what did I do wrong?!"

I wonder this too sometimes. Why didn't someone react the way I did? I just wrote a chapter I thought was epic and awesome and no one commented or people got the wrong idea. I hope my readers will like my character and I try my hardest to make them relatable, but I know not everyone will because everyone has a different background, experience, etc. There is a very talented writer I had been following (and I won't name names) but I got to a certain point in the story and stopped following because the topic and situations made me uncomfortable, mostly because of my own personal background with the subject matter. It has nothing to do with this writer's ability whatsoever, but there are certain things that are just hit a little too close to home for me to read about and unfortunately, that means abandoning a story halfway through.

"ra3rei;14343848" wrote:
For me others peoples work doesn't create insecurity, but more pushes me to write even better.

I agree. I am inspired to take more time to craft my writing and to try harder because I want to improve.

@CathyTea I think you have an excellent point when you say "how weird" it is if authors of books had relationships with their readers the way bloggers do with their readers. Authors of printed fiction have to wait for reviews from critics or letters from fans these days, but bloggers, are we setting ourselves up for disappointment and insecurity, if we're expecting immediate results? Perhaps if I was more patient, I'd be less insecure about stats, amount of followers, readers, commenters, etc. Have I been conditioned because I live in a society that likes instantaneous results and microwave comment bursts? Maybe I'm taking this too far, but I have a tendency to over-analyze.

@MedleyMisty Sorry I posted my comment about not being a professional writer before reading your comment: "See, I get insecure when people claim that they are not professional writers." Writing is my passion and my life. I want to make it my work someday. In the meantime, I'm heading to grad school in the spring. I am all over the place with genres - everything from non-fiction, mystery and crime, science fiction and fantasy, poetry, and most recently, SimLit. Some of it I've been doing for years and others I've been doing just recently. Writing is a big part of who I am, but I don't consider myself a professional because I've never made it a full-time job or occupation, and I have 2-3 small works published.

I think it's totally cool that you take your SimLit seriously, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all of us on this particular forum are here. I also take my SimLit seriously... as seriously as my other writing, which is why I try to rotate and stagger what I work on - moving between my three spheres of writing (which all have incredibly different audiences - nonfiction relationship help and encouragement, my SimLit blog, and my novel writing).

I only really know one other person IRL that plays the Sims and he doesn't read my work. My husband knows I play the game, but I haven't shared my stories with him yet. It's not that he doesn't care about my writing because he's extremely supporting, but it's because I'm kinda private about my writing. It's my own little sphere of influence. My own little world. It's hard to invite others, especially IRL people, into that, even if it is my husband. I know he would be supportive and read it, but I'm not sure I'm ready yet. Is that bad?