Tales of the Parodyverse

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Anime Jason

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Member Since: Sun Sep 12, 2004
Posts: 2,834

Subj: Proceed
Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 at 11:38:52 am EST (Viewed 2 times)

Reply Subj: I needed it anyway in case...
Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 at 11:13:45 am EST (Viewed 920 times)

Quote:

I think there's much to be said these days for developing a solid online base with easy-to-access and ongoing content as a marketing tool for other paid for material. I'm aware of several authors who seem to make a useful second income from that kind of thing.

Right now I still have trouble drawing people to it. Art is much easier to draw people to because people are primarily visual, and it doesn't take quite as long to look at. I guess someday it could serve as an online "resume" of sorts, providing the right person stumbles across it.

That's why I was posting primarily to the PVB, because it had an audience of readers already that didn't have to be drawn in first. But now I have nothing to lose taking a shot at posting on my own site again, because nobody was reading World Class and such here anyway.

I do want to write some PV stories too, but like I said, I get stuck in a hole where I have to write it first to *maybe* get people to read it, but because I'm not positive about that I don't put much effort into it. And then nobody reads it because it's not very good. So I only write for PV now when I feel internally compelled to.

I think you're right at this stage in developing what's to come next in your writing output. That may be a refinement of ideas, characters, and stories you've already addressed or it might be the next generation, but either way that future lies beyond the shared-universe and conventions of the Parodyverse.

I think we have to recognise that the former PV posting community has largely dispersed and moved on. It's nice to touch base occasionally with old posters and old characters and situations, but its very unlikely we'll see a resurgence in regular posting as it was back in the day. That's not to say that the board serves no purpose - I trust you'll continue to cross-post or signpost here new work that you do - but a larger readership will depend on a different strategy.

As a reader of your work I've seen an evolution of style and content in the last half-decade. It's what I'd expect of a writer who is more mature, confident, and experienced. I think there's probably still another generation of development until you reach your "essential" writing voice, and that will only come away from shared-universe or fan-fiction writing, using characters derived by you in situations devised by you, in a world created by you. Those are things you'd need anyway for eventual for-profit publication.

At this stage, my best advice would be to just write, write, write. The discipline is more important than the content just now. You're good at distilling and revising later. Now you need the impetus to keep at the keyboard. 6000 words a week minumum = 1 novel in 12 weeks (allowing for 15% to get cut plus another 10 weeks of additional drafts). Proving to yourself that you can deliver that, a satisying stand-alone whole with start, middle, and finish, in your developed style, is an important rite of passage.