Oh, you know what? Seriously?

[ladybug_archive]

I honestly don't know if I'll post any more Perry stories to FF.net when I finish getting up The Broken Ties. I haven't heard from Harry in days. I'm wondering if he's not going to be reviewing anymore. I really valued his comments; he enjoyed my gen approach. And reviews from others are often sporadic; they don't always review each chapter. I like at least one review per chapter; I don't think that's asking too much. And for the climax, I kind of thought there'd be more of a turn-out than one review on the first half (and so far, one on the second half); I thought all the regulars/semi-regulars would say something.

And I'm obviously doing something wrong here; my hit count for the past couple of chapters has been way down, like to the point of losing half my audience. Even without a lot of reviews, I was thrilled by my hit count. I thought they would at least stick with me through the end of the story, even if they wanted to leave afterwards.

I'm very curious: Is it really so all-important to have Perry/Della in every chapter? Is that really the only thing most Perry fanfic writers and readers care about? Sometimes it feels that way. I've tried to have the spotlight on all of the main characters, but admittedly this is Hamilton's story, his and Paul's. And Hamilton is the one Vivalene tries to kill in the climax. I'm sorry if the majority of the fanbase doesn't like that, but I won't apologize for writing for Hamilton the most and making him the main hero of this fic. (He deserves to be the hero sometimes. I'm giving him his due.) I can't be what I'm not; I'm not a fan of romance, nor can I figure out how to write as many (platonic) Perry & Della scenes as people want. But I try. I put in extra scenes because I know they're wanted. I extend scenes with them when I can. And sometimes I feel like that's not even appreciated and it doesn't matter to some of them because I don't have Perry & Della (or Perry/Della) as the main, or one of the main, factors.

Actually, I tried, with this story. The villains didn't want them to meet because they were afraid the spell over everyone's memories would start to weaken if they did. Perry and Della's bond was key to everything. I put in scenes wherever I could, but to be honest, it was often difficult for me. I don't connect with them the same as I connect with Hamilton (even though I love them all). And if the majority of the fanbase can't connect with Hamilton and is tired of trying via my stories, then I guess never the twain shall meet. I wouldn't enjoy reading stories where Perry/Della was the main factor, unless there was something else that captured my attention. And I wouldn't expect anyone to read my fics if they didn't want to. I guess in the end, I just feel disappointed and discouraged, especially since I did have a pretty good-sized audience until a couple of chapters ago. I can't figure out what the problem is, unless it does have to do with the way things moved towards the climax and what happened in the climax itself.

I love the fic myself, make no mistake about that. I'm very proud of it and I think it's a good piece of work. And of course that's the most important thing. But that doesn't mean I don't want others to enjoy it too.

I'll be honest; even though I write these stories for myself, first and foremost, when I post them to FF.net it means I'm hoping, even expecting, a bit of commentary and some outside interest. When I post them to Livejournal, on the other hand, I generally don't expect reviews at all. Heck, I don't know if anybody even reads the stuff on Livejournal, since I don't have a hit counter like I do on Blogger.

(However, if I've posted to, say, a Monkees comm and don't get reviews, I probably won't keep posting. I'll figure there's no interest, especially since I can't see a hit count. I don't expect reviews in a place like 31_days, but I do in a fandom-specific comm.)

I did get some inspiration for 31_days. I'm thinking that for the first time I may try the challenge of writing a short fic for every one of the days. The fire/ice themes, I've decided, might serve Hamilton and Mignon well. But since I don't think anyone gives a flying fig about their interaction, and probably most of them have never even seen the episode with Mignon, I really don't think I'll bother putting them on FF.net. Unless I have a change or heart and/or become convinced there would be interest, I think these ficlets will only be on 31_days, as a sort of personal challenge to myself.

I'm reminded of the Princess Tutu ficlets I was writing for 30_deathfics. Some did go on FF.net too, it's true, but others were comm-exclusive.

And in the end, I'm still very indecisive about writing another Perry mystery for FF.net. But the possibility isn't completely canceled out, either. The plot I have in mind for the next one would make it more Perry's story than Hamilton's (and that isn't me giving in to the fanbase; it's just the way the plot would work), but there probably still wouldn't be enough Perry & Della scenes to satisfy the shippers. And there's my concern that I wouldn't be able to to come up with enough plot to carry the story through to the end. I don't want to leave it hanging.

I just don't know what to do about it.

Comments

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you think it sounds interesting.

I myself generally look for what makes me happy, I have to admit. (And usually I don't find it, so I write it myself.) But I'll stray from my comfort zone if I see a summary that looks intriguing, even if it's not something I normally write or read.

Pushy readers are aggravating. There's a lot of them on FF.net, it's true, but there's a lot of nice people too. The Perry fans are pretty nice, but it seems like a lot of them really do have a one-track mind towards Perry/Della romance.

That's good if you know your LJ readers are always interested and reading, despite not commenting much!

Ahh, it always seems like the projects a writer loves best are the ones the readers don't gravitate to much. Such a pity. That sounds like an interesting crossover fic you have going there.

I agree. The next problem is, figuring out what I want to. LOL. I want to give these 31_days prompts a whirl, and I will, but I would hate it if I tried cross-posting them to FF.net and they sat there with no reviews. I have this almost OCD thing about things on FF.net needing to show a review count. It looks so depressing when they don't. On LJ it doesn't matter so much, usually.

[rose-of-pollux.livejournal.com]

I myself generally look for what makes me happy, I have to admit. (And usually I don't find it, so I write it myself.)

This is my way of working, too. I just got really, really lucky with the fact that after I started writing LeBeau-Newkirk friendship fics, others started to write them--but it did take some time for it to snowball, though. I hope the same thing eventually happens to you and your fics. *hugs*

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Yes, what happened with those fics popping out after you started was just awesome! I did inspire one writer to start her own mysteries, so I'm happy about that. (You know the funny part? She does have Perry/Della as a romantic couple, but I think I've written more scenes for them than she has.) She's very kind to Hamilton too; I'd like to think we're starting a trend.

**hugs back.**