Writing Woes - or What do I do when nobody comments?

[aearwen2]

Those who read my LJ for fan fiction only might want to skip this one, because this entry is going to be an author (who currently writes fan fiction with the aim of eventually breaking into the actual business end of writing for profit) moaning and groaning about the trials and tribulations of trying to get feedback.



OK - here's the deal:

I have a story - a FINISHED novella, set in the Second Age as described in the Silmarillion - that deals with a character that few authors have ever dared touch. As I presented it to my current online writer's workshop (Lizard Council), the first four chapters received very decent comment and concrit, which was exactly what I was hoping for. There was great approval and overall encouragement to "Keep going!"; lots of "I'm glad you're the one writing this, and not me,"

Then I posted the last chapter - and not a single word. Nothing. It's been up for comment and concrit for almost a week.

Crickets.

Now I'll admit I established a slightly "off" tone to the philosophy behind the piece at the very start, something those reading and commenting said was different than the way they had ever thought of things, but it was good. The thing is, in the wrap-up, this philosophy needed to be spelled out very completely.

I knew it would be at the very least controversial. I make no bones about not following in a Judeo-Christian world view, and this story reflects some of my own, personal beliefs and philosophy that clash rather obviously with the aforementioned world view on the topic of the nature of Evil specifically. The two kind souls with whom I shared this final chapter before putting it up at the Lizard Council both disagree fundamentally with the philosophy, but said I did OK at presenting it; and both told me, "after all, it is your story."

And, bless her heart, mevrian and I had a very nice, LONG and completely enjoyable discussion on the nature of Good and Evil, which is the very crux of this philosophy that I present.

But from my other LC lizards, bupkis.

I feel I have 3 options open to me at the moment:

1. Decide that Along Came A Spider should never see the light of day anywhere, that it was exercise in the use of adequate pre-writing research, in selecting a very difficult character, climbing into their mind completely, and writing their story without apology or whitewashing their deeds even while explaining what might have been their thoughts and motivations that pushed them to do such horrible things. I would keep it on my hard drive, perhaps share it with those few brave souls who don't mind reading an interpretation of basic, fundamental beliefs that will NOT be mainstream, and let it go.

2. Decide to publish the thing anyway, and let things just happen as they may, flames and/or outright boycott be damned. This option means that I might as well resign myself to the idea that folks (1) vehemently disagree with my philosophy, and (2) either don't want to get into a situation where they might need to argue about it, or want to face off with me and let me know exactly where I'm wrong and why it says so in their particular Holy Book. In practice, this means that, when I finally post the last chapter, what I'll get from my otherwise quite supportive readers is either crickets or flames.

3. I can let the story rest for a while - go forth and work on some of my other WIPs that don't deal with quite so controversial subjects - and then come back to Spider when my perspective is more objective, with an eye to perhaps tweaking it to make it a little more in line with other folks' philosophies without capitulating on my approach to my character's final encounter or betraying the philosophy itself per se.

One way or the other, I do not regret writing Spider at all. I'm just serving fair warning that, even though I've offered tidbits of it in this journal previously, you folks may never see it.

And last but not least, I need to decide whether or not to simply pull it from the Lizard Council as one of my "failures" there.

Thanks for listening. I think I'm done whining now...

Comments

[lissas-elves.livejournal.com]

It's always depressing when you get no feedback. Problem is, of course, that there could be totally harmless reasons why nobody critted (personally, I find it takes lots of energy and I'm usually too tired), but one does tend to suspect 'the worst'.

In a situation like this, I'd go for solution #3.

However, your story does sound very interesting. If you feel that it might be of any use, I'd be happy to read and comment? Have absolutely no religious axes to grind (as a matter of fact, I wouldn't have expected religion to be an issue at the LC, either).

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Perhaps the usual commenters/feedbackers didn't come around crit it just yet? It can happen, but I wouldn't assume a story that might be controversial equals a failure. I've been there with one of my works, but every view on the Tolkien legendarium is worth exploring, imho. So hey, chin up!

[alassante.livejournal.com]

I haven't started reading that one on LC. To be honest I haven't had much time to read or crit anything the last two weeks but I would love to give you feedback if you can give me a few days to read the whole story.

I know how you feel about not getting crit especially when you're excited about finishing something. And you hate to *ask* for help, even if you need it. But don't be so hard are yourself. Its about lack of time or attention of the critters than it is anything wrong with your writing.

[nierielraina.livejournal.com]

First off, your story is set in the FIRST age, not the Second. :p

You know how I feel about it already. Though I totally disagree with the philosophy, I can still appreciate where you've gone with the tale and I certainly enjoyed it. You did such a wonderful job on it! I think you need to be true to yourself and your beliefs and reaction be damned. I still think you are expecting a far worse reaction than what you'd actually see, however. I have found most Silm readers are pretty tolerant with only a few purists who actually scream and rant in reviews. But then my experience in the Silm community is limited.

It's your tale, and so I can't tell you what to do with it, but I think it would be a great shame for this to languish on your harddrive. An author's note should suffice to keep flames at a minimum. The story is so well written that I think that will outweight any other concerns.

Sorry I've not commented on the last few chapters. It's been kind of a stressful week (as if you didn't know LOL). I love this story though and I think you should stop worrying, let it sit at LC a while longer and I think it should go up on a few different archives such as HASA and SWG.

*hugs*

[peredhellover.livejournal.com]

Hey, aearwen, I’ll admit I’ve not read it. My life until recently has been rather crazy, and I’m just now starting to consider trying to get myself back into the fandom. But from the description alone, it sounds intriguing—I’ve always enjoyed writing that takes a look at things from a different angle than the ordinary and challenges the reader to think outside their comfort zone. So, my first reaction would be to go with option two, but then again, I’ve never been averse to stepping on a few toes.

One thing I do know is that you are a talented writer, and leaving the fic languishing on your hard drive would no doubt be a real shame.

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

Previous comments deleted due to their surfeit of verbiage. FWIW concrit may be found on the LC.

[galantha-nivala.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I don't think you'd get flames decrying the difference in philosophy. You might get a few people scratching their heads because they don't get it.

The story gives a very interesting way of looking at things. I haven't begun to comprehend how the philosoply would affect one's worldview, or how a culture based on this philosophy might have different ideas of...not to much good and evil, but repentance, shame and the desire for forgiveness.

I thought it opened a really interesting dialogue.