New writer, how does anyone get readers here?

[SapphireStargazer]

After trying to share my writing on several platforms, my conclusion is that getting more than a few readers means compromising your own authenticity and delivering a product to be consumed rather than a passion project. If you aren't willing to give up your authenticity, then write what you want and just wait. You probably won't get popular, but eventually somebody will find your work.

 

[DireBadger]

After trying to share my writing on several platforms, my conclusion is that getting more than a few readers means compromising your own authenticity and delivering a product to be consumed rather than a passion project. If you aren't willing to give up your authenticity, then write what you want and just wait. You probably won't get popular, but eventually somebody will find your work.

I am completely the opposite. If you aren't writing for other people to read, you are simply playing with yourself. 'Compromising your own authenticity' is a code phrase for 'being too lazy to improve my writing and patting myself on the back because I could come up with an excuse to pretend it's morality'.

Reality is often harsh. If you were writing it solely for yourself, it would have never left your hard drive... putting it here implies a certain level of arrogance we all share, and then turning around and saying you are writing for yourself is basically insulting anyone who dares think badly of your work in order to preserve your sense of superiority.

I am not trying to be your enemy; I just wish more authors would acknowledge their own arrogance. Hell, I am arrogant as hell, and I am convinced that my books are way too good to be on ScribbleHub... but I try hard to minimize that arrogance and keep to the working evidence that not many people read them, so I have something to improve.

Arrogance in a writer is useful; it keeps you writing, just try not to let it blind you.

 

[SapphireStargazer]

@Shelbie if you're not trying to make an enemy... well, let's just say that your tone does not come across as someone who wants to be friends. Calling a complete stranger arrogant isn't really the way to go here.

I don't think my writing is "too good" to be shared. In fact, I struggle to see it as worthy, and I can assure you that after a lifetime of working on it, I am not too proud or arrogant to work on it some more. You can make all the generalizations you want, but you will never be able to categorize everyone. For instance, I make no judgments about you or your motivation for writing and sharing. I don't honestly care what your motivations are. As long as you're comfortable and happy with what you're doing, then that's all that really matters at the end of the day. My point is, there are many people whose goal is cater to an audience for views. Instead of writing what they themselves want and creating the things that they're truly passionate about, they seek out what will be most popular and will get them the most attention, and then set about creating that.

If a person's motivation really is getting the most attention and engagement possible, then that's okay. That's just not my goal. Would I like more engagement? Yes, I would. Will I write something I don't wholeheartedly believe in simply because it's what loads of people want at the moment? No, I will not, because for me, engagement for engagement's sake is not what I'm striving for.

If you're one of the lucky people who happen to be truly passionate about the same things that will currently make you popular, good for you. You win both ways.

 

[Eldoria]

If a person's motivation really is getting the most attention and engagement possible, then that's okay. That's just not my goal. Would I like more engagement? Yes, I would. Will I write something I don't wholeheartedly believe in simply because it's what loads of people want at the moment? No, I will not, because for me, engagement for engagement's sake is not what I'm striving for.

I appreciate your unwavering commitment to your original ideas. The literary world truly needs more experimental work to enrich fiction and avoid being trapped in mainstream tropes. However, I also know that the road is lonely and silent. You know... many authors out there complain about not getting attention and quit after writing less than 10 chapters. So, if you can keep writing, that would be amazing. Writing fiction is certainly not easy, and surviving the silence is even harder.