Am I doing too much?

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I have just sent Football Girl 14 off to Gabi for her editing magic. Also I have Changes 13 ready to post early tomorrow.

Having checked the number of stories I have post so far in June, it totals 15 not including the above.

It appears that my stories are well liked and I thank everyone who takes the trouble to read vote and pass a comment.

What does worry me is am I overdoing it? Is it too much and is it fair to other authors that I post so much? I love writing and I would hate it if other authors, perhaps new ones post and find that their works are overshadowed by my posting of stories.

I do not consider in any way that my works are any better than anyone else’s and I don’t want to hog the front page of BC if that means that others are not getting a fair deal.

So what I am asking is; should I spread my postings over a longer time period?

Hugs
Sue

Comments

Too prolific?

Sue
Personally I think you worry too much about nothing. If you had several stories in work and was having conflicts in writing then you would need to cut back. If you enjoy the writing, then write, even if few if any read them (not a problem with your works). If a new writer is concerned about their low readership, then study more read more about writing get an editor and proofer, LEARN more of the art. A writer should write for themselves first the rest is gravy. Hit counts can be misleading. I see a story download at work and read, get home and download to save for my future enjoyment and later find I missed saving a chapter so load any chapter to find the missing chapter giving a 3 or more hit count plus for anyone reading the comments.
By the way I do enjoy your work even if I rarely make comments, One of the silent majority.

Chelle_MM

RE Too prolific?

Thanks for your thoughts Michelle.

I am a worrier, that's my problem I suppose. I could worry for England. I hear what you are saying but it does worry me that I am hogging the limelight by posting so much. I do enjoy writing and its more than a hobby to me it's a passion and an outlet for what I love doing. But I don't want to tread on anyones toes and the last thing I want is for people to think, 'oh no not another chapter!'

Hugs
Sue

Trust Me

It's quite the opposite, as in; Oh Boy! A new chapter!

Please keep it up Sue as long as it pleases you.

Well, I'm not intimidated by

Well, I'm not intimidated by prolific authors. I mean, there's one author who has posted a chapter a day to her story, and if I was going to be worried about getting overwhelmed by posts, that would be the one I worried about first.

Parts to stories, especially where there is a cycle of Story A, Story B, Story C, Story B, Story C, Story A or something similar don't bother me, since I do the same thing. I know I have plots making in my head that I want to get down, like I just wrote a scene for Samantha part 8, when I don't have 6 or 7 even started yet, when I should be focused on sissy part 18 or so.

So, no, you aren't too prolific. I might get irritated if I post a new part of one of my stories, and within an hour it drops off the front page from everyone else posting at the same time, but not one author posting their stories.
----
May the Stars Light Your Path
Maid Joy
http://joyphillip.davensjournal.com/

No worries

People love your stories, Sue, and to be honest I don't think you'd have a problem if you posted more often, even. You have an easy to follow writing style, and fun characters. Not only that, but you're posting stories in a variety of different plot threads.

Keep posting, and don't worry about anyone else. It's a nice thought, but the front page is fairly big, and stories usually get plenty of hits before disappearing.

Melanie E.

Do as you like

In my very own, "highly qualified" opinion, I opine that you should just be as prolific as you like. My roomie and I are rolling about laughing until we cry. She is trying to correct my English to that it is the propah Queen's English English, and she is complaining that I shall never get it right. :(

We are loving your story but she insists that Liverpool is much superior. My self I know little about it, though we did go size up the boys playing on a team and decided that their posteriors are quite nice. :)

M'salama

Khadija

Keep Writing and posting

Sue,
I enjoy good writing. You are a good writer and very creative. Unfortunately, ceativity is not something we can turn off and on. As long as the well is overflowing and you enjoy writing, take advantage of it.

I'm glad you keep posting. I was reading "Working Girl" when Fictionmania crashed and did't finish it until I found BC, about 4 months later. As an avid reader, it is frustrating waiting months for the next installement.

Another point of view, your postings that actually benefit other less prolific authors. Why? Your postings generate site traffic. You bring readers to BC. Without site traffic, no one would get an opportunity to notice their stories and have an opportunity to read them and comment.

When I log on, I look for the next installment of series I reading. (I am following about 15 different series and some have not posted in a while.) While perusing the site, I check out any new postings that look interesting. I read enough to see if I like the story. I have found many great stories based in genre I would never have considered, such as anime(?). That is why I'm following so many series. Until about a year ago, I would never have picked up a romance novel, now I'm hooked.

So, PLEASE, do not feel you are "hogging the front page". Some budding writer will be inspired by your quality writing and make an effort to post that first story. We, the readers, benefit because we have a source of quality entertainment that encourages good writing and creativity.

I, for one, am honored that you share you gift for story telling here at BC. Thanks for many hours of enjoyable reading. Keep writing and posting.

Lots of Hugs,
Trish-ann

Hugs,
Trish Ann
~There is no reality, only perception~

If you are concerned...

about having "too many" things posted at any one point in time - there is a simple solution for you. Just write more and post less often. (Okay, I may not be happy with this, but...) Seriously, you could cut your # of posts in half by just posting 2 chapters at a time.

There's a LOT of stuff being posted these days. I find I'm reading much less of it than I used to be. Some of yours IS among the things I look for. So, as I said, if you slow down I lose out. (That said, I don't read all you - or any other author - writes. Hope you don't mind.)

Just my half cent's worth. (if that much.)
Annette

Am I doing too much?

Sue,

Please continue to churn out the good stuff. I HIGHLY appreciate you efforts. "Am I doing too much?" No way, Jose!

BTW, is another story of Home Alone's heroine in you? Something in her early teens would be nice.

G/R

As a member of the SBFC...

As a member of the SBFC (Sue Brown Fan Club) I would just like to say I really look forward to reading your lovely stories. I don't have any problems with the rate you are posting them - as long as you are happy to write them, I will be happy to read them.

Pleione

You fill a niche

Sue, you fill a niche. I am sure there are others who frequent here that do not read everything authors put up, we all have our interests. I am discriminating about what I spend my time on and scan over the tags and summaries. If I get really bored I might read comments and they may stimulate my interest in a story I'd otherwise have passed over.
I promise you when I see Football Girl or Changes I read it right away. No danger of saturation :-)
Those stories that do not or can not post frequently leave my short attention span at a loss where I must go reread the previous chapter to get back up to speed.
Thanks for what you do.
-Christine

What Christine says

about Football Girl and Changes for me hits the nail on the head you cannot get too much of a good thing and those two stories are among my favourite stories presently being published on Bigcloset/Topshelf

If i come across other stories i like the look of on Bc/Ts Then in almost every case i either read it there and then, Or i make a mental note to come back at later date to read it when i have more time!

Thanks Sue for showing us how good you are at telling stories...Long may it continue

Kirri

Hogging the limelight

No, you hog the limelight by writing too well, not by posting too much :-)

Readers will only become bored with slackly written or uninventive material. The real danger is that you will become so practised at your craft that you will produce ever more well written and inventive stories. Poor authors can then become dispirited, of course: but that is their problem, not yours - or ours. If they are incapable of improvement, should they be writing at all? In any case, you can only really learn from bad authors, not from the best. (You can learn to emulate the best authors, but not by copying them.)

I disagree with MichellA who says that "A writer should write for themselves first". An author should write FROM themselves, but FOR the rest of us, the whole of humanity - to write the stories that others would write, if they were able to.

In a very real sense, you are redressing the balance for the bad authors :-)

Never Too Much, Sue Brown!

joannebarbarella's picture

I don't know how you do it, keeping all those balls in the air at once. Prolific in your case=good. There are several authors here who post often, like those wicked Welsh ladies (you're not one of THEM, are you?) whose work I always look forward to.
By posting, you do not push out any other writer. You just give us more to pick from, but I find that choice easy. I'm always waiting for yours, so stop slacking, introspecting and all that and get busy with your next episodes,
Joanne

Make Hay While The Sun Shines!

I'm not even sure what hay is, other than something for horses and cows, and some kind of tired comeback when someone yells, "Hey!"

Well... yes I am. Anyway, that's not the point. I love these two stories, a lot.

The point is, your creative juices are flowing, and like any muscle, it asks to be exercised. As long as you're enjoying the "burn," follow your muse!

(There! I think I just broke the world land-speed record for mixed metaphors.)

I enjoy your work

And there is no such thing as "too much"!

Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue

It balances out the cosmos

... after all there are times I do not see anything for over a month out of you so it balances you see.

But then again as an avid reader of your works, I am kinda prejudiced :).

Kim

Many thanks

To everyone who commented.

As you all seem to feel that I should continue posting stories the way I have been in the past month, I will carry on while the muse takes me. It might dry up one day but I hope not!

Thanks again for your support, but please look at and comment on stories from new writers in particular as it's great to be appreciated and encouraged.

Hugs
Sue

Nah! ;)

I don't see any need for you to change your posting habits, unless you want to. It takes a real glut of postings happening all at once for a story to get buried before anybody has a chance to see it. One writer, no matter how prolific, can't do that on their own, not even Angharad!

I don't mind my stories getting pounded by yours, I expect it. I know mine can't compete with yours or Lilith's! Besides, I'm posting almost as often as you these days, and may post even more often once my new project gets off the ground. Just write 'em however works best for you, is what I say!

Saless

"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America


"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America

I won't lie...

...and say that your volume and quality of work aren't intimidating. They are.

The thing is, it is a >good< sort of intimidating, the sort that keeps me thinking, "How can I write like her?" You are, rather than an obstacle, really, an inspiration (and a target of ever so much jealousy! :-D ). If I >can< manage something like even half your quality, and just a tiny fraction of the amount you write, and when I finally manage to do so (someday in the far future >.< ) you are still writing, then that will be an absolute delight for me.

>PLEASE< keep writing! ^__^ Don't worry that you're doing to much. It makes a better goal for the rest of us to reach for!

-Liz

Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"