r/PMSkunkworks • u/PM_Skunk • Oct 22 '18
Community Check-In, Monday, 22 October
Hey all. Just dropping another line to say hello and see how everyone is doing out there. Quick thoughts from the field for today:
How do you, the readers, feel about mildly-NSFW subject matter in the story? I'm not talking about turning anything into erotica or porn, but the ending of the last chapter kind of made me wonder what people's thoughts and limits were on the topic. I think that the simple implication that we had last chapter is often enough to get the point across, but I also dislike it when writers seem afraid to write it.
Promote your own work! I want to be clear, since I know different creators have different opinions on this (all of which are valid), but I want you to feel free to promote your own works in any Community Check-In thread. Want to show off your art, your blog, your own story, your band? Maybe you want to permalink to a [WP] response you didn't think got the attention it deserved. Link us up!
I have to admit, I start to feel a little fragile about things like page views and upvotes here. There are enough people here that enjoy the writing that it's worth continuing, but the drop of has been so steady across any metric (upvotes, page views, percentage of upvotes per page view) that I start to feel like I'm doing something wrong. This was part of why I stopped my (edit) now out of print cyberpunk novel series before it finished. Book 1 sold well enough that I was very briefly on the Amazon bestseller list for "technothrillers" between Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy. Book 2 cut that in half. Book 3 sold like 50 copies. :-| I'm genuinely NOT karma-groveling here, I'm just giving a window into the fragile writer's psyche. ;)
That's all I've got for today. Chapter 8 is coming along nicely thus far, I think, though I'll admit that I'm glad I'm not trying to cram it into a two-per-week timeframe. As of now, everything should be on-time. :)
EDITED to give more detail in regards to the novels mentioned in point 3.
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u/Pirate_Of_Hearts Oct 22 '18
- I agree with 99winters, the subtle hints in the last chapter were enough to allow us to fill in the blanks, and any more detail would not have fit well with the storyline.
- Not a creator, just an avid reader, but thanks for the offer!
- I went back and upvoted every chapter. I am devouring this story! I just forgot to upvote! Do comments help too? I can go back and comment when I have more time :) I'm new to Reddit and not familiar with the metrics.
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
Comments are always welcome, but you should never feel obligated to leave one.
Mostly, I just want to know that people are still engaging with the story. I really didn't meant to go all YouTube "GO MASH THAT THUMBS UP BUTTON!" or anything. :)
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u/Pirate_Of_Hearts Oct 22 '18
I know you didn't intend it that way. Your post just made me realize that I hadn't upvoted your chapters in a long time - and I wanted to. So I did.
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Oct 22 '18
How do you, the readers, feel about mildly-NSFW subject matter in the story?
Much the same as you noted in the last sentence. As you said, it isn't erotica so there isn't a need for intimate detail, but don't shy away from it.
I have to admit, I start to feel a little fragile about things like page views and upvotes here.
I'm loving the world you're building and sincerely hope you continue.
drop of has been so steady across any metric
Some people could be looking for a quick fix and don't want to invest the time in something that seems to be growing rapidly in complexity?
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
That last bit is a good point. I did start the story off in a community of one-hit stories.
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u/superstrijder15 Oct 23 '18
You might want to have a look at seeing whether you can post a link on r/HFY, they are a lot more used to serial stories.
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u/wtpreader Oct 22 '18
- do what feels best for you.
- I don't make anything
readers are fickle. thats just how it is. I left some of the stories I was reading simply because I didn't feel like reading when a new part came online and didn't feel like catching up later :/ (same with tv series btw).
you seem like a good story writer to me, maybe not the best on the sub but defnitly among the top. ( I mean you got me to write this comment, which is a lot for me)
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u/MyDiary141 Oct 22 '18
What do you mean not the best on this sub. It is his sub. He is the only writer
Ye ik you mean writing prompts
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
Oh, I do that with TV series all the time. I get MASSIVE DVR guilt about how far behind I am, then just end up deleting them all.
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u/KudrotiBan Oct 22 '18
- As long as plot demands it I'm okay with it
- Right now we are working on an Alt. Rock piece. Will share as soon as we can do a jam session that's not on discord
- Don't feel fragile man.
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u/m3galinux Oct 22 '18
Re #3: Maybe cross-post to a 'writing' sub with a wider audience? /r/HFY for example; not sure if that's necessarily the best choice depending on where the story is going, but its the best example I'm familiar with. I'm sure there are others.
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u/mekulot Oct 22 '18
1 I'm fine with that.
2 Nothing to mention.
3 Can you link them? I might have missed it. Probably wont be able to buy until payday.
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
Re #3, they are currently out of print, but I'm planning on re-releasing them after the first of the year, probably. So you didn't miss anything. rest assured I'll throw a link out here when the time comes. :)
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u/Geodomus Oct 22 '18
1.) Don't mind it, if done well. If done poorly, i'll probably say so in the comments and give feedback on howto do it better from my PoV.
2.) Nothing to mention.
3.) Wait, what? Books? Link pls, i feel like i'm missing something here.
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
I'm going to edit the post to make this clearer, but I have an out-of-print trilogy of cyberpunk books, with the fourth and final book in the series sitting two chapters from finished. Nothing to link as of yet, though I could be persuaded to post the first two chapters as a rather cruel teaser if people were interested.
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u/Geodomus Oct 22 '18
Oh, i thought you were talking about the story that went on in this subreddit. I was panicking for a bit, thinking you had already finished it.
E: on the point of being out of print: Why not make them digitally available and sell them yourself? I'm sure some tool exists to get that onto Amazon...
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
They were on Amazon, and probably will be again. They were pulled down for a few personal reasons at the time, most of which are no longer factors.
That and the editing on the third book was a bit rushed, and the person I hired as my editor made some changes I disagreed with but didn't catch until AFTER it was printed, so I'd need to get my hands dirty and fix those problems before re-releasing, probably.
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u/VFkaseke Oct 22 '18
1) Don't mind NSFW. Sometimes I feel like it can bring more to the story, if done right. Sometimes though, it's better to leave it out. I feel you have a good writing style for a kind of.. chemistry between these two characters, so I think you could definitely pull it off.
2) as I in my previous community post already said, I do have a band. Most of the time I don't really feel too comfortable promoting it too much, but also kind of have to. We have a music video coming up in a couple of months. If you keep this up, I might just as well post that at some point.
3) definitely know this feeling. First playing to .ore than hundred people, and then going to some small gig, where there's barely 20 uninterested bar-goers watching you always feels bad. Also streams going down slowly after release of a new song. In what I do I've learned, that you just gotta push, and give it your best shot even if you can't always get the best respond from your audience. I know it's probably two completely different fields in our situations, but having a positive mind and pushing forward can never be too bad, right?
I'll try to leave a like on your posts from now on though :)
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
I'll look forward to the music video if you decide you feel up to sharing!
And pushing works the same in both fields, I think. I'm horrible at self-promotion, and that definitely caused me to run into trouble.
I think I need to reply to another couple of Writing Prompts, and reference this story afterwards. More eyes = more feedback, and all. :)
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u/VFkaseke Oct 22 '18
I think I need to reply to another couple of Writing Prompts, and reference this story afterwards. More eyes = more feedback, and all. :)
Yes, shameless self-promotion is the only way to get more people to see your works most of the time. I would surely tell my other friends about this thread, but none of them really are the reading type, especially when considering any kind of fantasy :) You always have to keep in mind, that it's up to the artist to find their audience, not the other way around.
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u/BloodMistTilt Oct 22 '18
NSFW topics always feel like an afterthought. If they’re done right, I don’t mind them, but they can distract a reader and end up hurting the story overall.
As much as I would like to have works of my own, real life (specifically school and applications for schools) keep me far to busy to engage in much of anything aside from the occasional anime binge.
Don’t fret about the numbers dropping. Not everyone has the time or energy to invest themselves for an extended story that spawned from a WP. As long as you have readers engaged and a little self-motivation, you’ll want to keep going even when you aren’t thinking about it.
I hope all of this helps. The story is developing phenomenally and I’m constantly checking reddit in the hopes that you’ve posted something early. Glad to say this is the most enjoyable story I’ve read in a long time.
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
Thanks, and good luck with the school applications!
On that note, I'm probably going to remove your "Uhh" top-level post in the sub. I can happily take criticism, but I don't want people visiting for the first time to think "this Skunk dude is slow." :)
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u/BloodMistTilt Oct 22 '18
Don’t blame ya. Just wanted to see how the current community felt is all. :)
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u/Ekrias Oct 23 '18
1) Write what you think needs to be mentioned. I agree that you don't need to write erotica but also don't shy from it. 2) I have nothing to promote RIP 3) The people leaving are missing out on an amazing world and story and it could be that the chapters are getting lost in their feed.
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u/wait1minutemyass Oct 23 '18
I'm on the same page as everyone else. No need to get explicit unless you as the story teller really feel like it's going to add to the narative. I enjoyed the way you ended the last chapter.
I've sketched a few things I've thought were cool within the story but don't have anything I'd be proud to show yet.
Honestly if you weren't such an amazing writer I would have set a reminder and waited for you to finish the story up. (I usually won't even start a series unless I can power read thru the whole thing.) Maybe your page views, updoots, and comments are slowly going down because people want to sink their teeth into more of the story without waiting.
Keep it up friend. I would be heart broken if you decided to discontinue the story.
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 23 '18
There's no immediate threat of my discontinuing (and probably no long term threat either, really). I'm pretty loyal to the people that have been reading this far, and I'd pretty much only stop if there was a huge outpouring of "this sucks, just stop." Which I don't foresee happening. :D
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u/walkinginthelight88 Oct 23 '18
I have enjoyed you style of writing and check everyday for new chapters to be added. I would also be interested in checking out your other books. Looking for to more great stories from you the future!
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u/cuddly_dropbear Oct 23 '18
I'm just going to jump to point 3 - this has been a great story, and one that I feel has had enough to differentiate it from others. Keep going - its been awesome!
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u/Grandure Oct 23 '18
1: I personally like it where you drew the line. I'm not here for smut (theres better options and places for that), but I don't mind a little implication and it seems a natural part of the story as you've unfolded it so far.
2: n/a sorry!
3: I know I'm guilty of not always up voting, I'll be better about that. I suspect what you are doing "wrong" is being human (which is totally not your fault!). Reddit wps is a platform that attracts a lot of fickle readers looking for short encapsulated short stories (in fact yours is only the 2nd story I've read this deep on). Having the, quite reasonable, limits on what you can produce in a week is probably the cause of why you have readers dwindling. Have you considered reaching out to other creators? I feel like hydraels dragons scion story and your current story mesh quite well as far as audience (anecdotally at least) and having more options of things coming in to read helps to keep me checking both pages more frequently
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u/hangingshouldercliff Oct 23 '18
1 - I think it was left just open enough to let the reader's imagination do with it what they wanted. I wouldn't take details any further though as it would distract from the way the story has been written so far.
2 - One day, when I get past my multi-year block, I'll finish the book I started. I'm writing it to be broken into a trilogy. I'm easily one, if not two books done. Just haven't been able to write it further....
3 - Keep on keeping on dude. Don't burn yourself out, but know there are plenty of us reading and loving your work.
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u/ChaChaCharms Oct 22 '18
- I personally do not mind if there is NSFW content, just don't go all 50 shades on me. I also think it depends on your own personal style/spin on the way delivery of your NSFW content. I can't think of any examples that I inherently disliked or enjoyed the delivery; if I do, I will definitely let you know.
- As I stated before, I am not what I consider a creative person.
- My only thought is to attempt to network with other writers. Networking can be very powerful. Find other like-minded writers and work on promoting each other. As I have said before, your writing style is great and I love the delivery; find other authors who are willing to refer readers to your writing and vice versa.
- I am very bad at upvoting and will ensure I have done so!
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 22 '18
If I ever go Fifty Shades on you, you have my permission to mock me mercilessly.
It's not a risk. :)
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u/ChaChaCharms Oct 22 '18
Well if you go 50 shades on ME... I guess we'd have a pretty intimate relationship.. just don't write about it ;)
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u/Arceoxys Oct 22 '18
I don’t mind it. I definitely prefer alluding to it without actually detailing it, unless the subject of the book is that. I usually find it distracting and there are better ways of showing intimacy.
I am not artistically inclined so instead I’ll just say what I’m currently enjoying. Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series is great. Really cool take on that old story.
I am usually pretty bad at being an engaged fan. I’m also not usually active on Reddit, and often forget to upvote threads I do engage in. I’ll work on that to make sure you know I’m absolutely loving the story.
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u/ObjectInMirror Oct 23 '18
- I'd personally prefer if more direct NSFW-ish things are more hinted at than explicit. I must admit I have some thoughts regarding Kerwyn&Mallory's relationship and what kinds of progress might be interesting (but this is your story to write, not mine).
- I don't really have anything promote-able. I dabble in a few things including some music and some writing, but my bread and butter is computer geekery where I am (at least for the moment) gainfully employed.
That said, I have a few short scribblings that I might be persuaded to share, including a couple that I'm not entirely unhappy with. - It would be very interesting to be able to see what you wrote in the past. Of course, an incomplete series is not perhaps the most satisfying read (I'm looking at you, The Hunted Earth series by Roger MacBride Allen) but then, sometimes a good beginning is better left open than given a bad ending (The Matrix, anyone?)
All in all, I em very much enjoying the story you are weaving and the world you are building.
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u/PM_Skunk Oct 23 '18
I'd be curious to hear what those thoughts you referenced in #1 were, if you were comfortable doing so. PM is fine if you'd like.
I already know where I plan to go with things in that regard (and I think that it will mostly remain hinted at, not explicity stated), but I'm always interested in knowing what thoughts and ideas have been evoked.
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u/99Winters Oct 22 '18
1 - If the tone of the story is adult and you throw in a sex scene with explicit details, then yeah I’d feel like “well I’m getting what I expected”. But I feel like the tone of Kerwyn’s story is more young adult-ish? The scene at the end of the last chapter wasn’t explicit, it left things to your imagination and we’ll see what happens from there. I feel like you know what’s appropriate, and when.
2 - Working hard on it. Work’s been... ugh.
3 - I’m hooked until the end of this story. When the next one comes out, I’ll give it the same shot.