“What I Learned Writing Stories for 30,000 Readers Online”
I never would have imagined that something I wrote as a personal escape would resonate with thousands of readers. This experience has been as humbling as it has been rewarding. Knowing that the story mattered to one person would have been enough to continue writing, but the fact that it reached thousands has been surreal. Writing for so many people has been a wonderful learning experience and something that I will take with me for the rest of my future endeavors.
Looking back, there are many things that I wish I knew before going into online writing. I hope to share my small experience with others, who may be in similar positions or are considering taking up writing for a narrative audience.
If there’s one goal from this blog post, I hope that it helps someone, even if it is in the smallest way. Overall, I will be writing about my own personal experiences from this fun adventure. Take whatever resonates!
- Writing, Criticism, Audience, Community
A fact that is important to take away is that writing is a skill. You need to work on it and constantly learn to improve on it. It is an incredibly fulfilling skill that is a wonder to dive into. And I highly encourage everyone to develop their own style and technique.
Personally, I always wrote while growing up. But, I think that my interest in writing started in high school and solidified itself in college. When my friends started to notice my stories, I was encouraged to start publishing online. At that time, writing was an outlet amid all my schooling. Haphazardly, I published stories on various online platforms.
- Don’t be like me. Be smarter and have a backlog if you plan to follow a posting schedule. It is not worth the lack of sleep and overall, your quality will suffer in the end. This also helps prevent burnout!
- Overcoming the fear of posting your work online is tough. I started noticing the reluctance for criticism when I started receiving comments on the story structure or grammar mishaps.
Understandably, I was upset at first because “What do you mean my plot is too broad and my character should have done this?” But… they were right. Of course, I’m not saying that every critique of your story should be taken as gospel. At the end of the day, your creative direction should be considered with anything you publish. In my case, I wrote for my own enjoyment and under no contracts. I assume that this varies from each writer though.
A lesson that I learned in college is that we are only one perspective. I can’t begin to empathize on how important this is. All my professors drilled this fact into our heads from day one. Readers are a wide audience with their own opinions and suggestions. While you can preserve your voice with writing, it is important to consider how the wider audience will interpret your story.
For Example: “That’s sick!”
My interpretation of it is formed from a younger generation of “Wow, that’s so cool”. So, it is positive and comes from a place of appreciation for a skill, action, or event.
However, my mother interprets that sentence from a negative understanding— someone performing a horribly gruesome action or making a vile comment.
- It’s a similar concept when it comes to public writing. If you think something could be taken opposite to your intention, then it probably will. Editing heavily is a lifesaver that I found out the hard way. Don’t be like me. EDIT.
In fact, a comment that I got once read along the lines of:
“I don’t understand the carriage scene and couldn’t picture the fight.”
What do you mean you don’t understand → More like, where did I mess up in writing that made the scene unclear for the audience?
- For background, this scene was supposed to show the character fighting a monster while escaping on the carriage at full speed. Although I knew what the scene was supposed to encompass, that does not mean it translated to the reader. Unfortunately, they cannot read my mind, and this is their first exposure to a chapter that I had planned. It is safe to assume that I did not perform well in describing the scene.
The best comparison that I was able to use to make this point clearer is…
Imagine explaining medicine to someone who has never studied medicine then expecting them to come to the same understanding as a doctor.
OR
Imagine explaining to a friend a series of events that happened, without their own knowledge of any of the places or people involved in the story
It is a lesson to realize that your singular perspective is not as trustworthy as you think. There is always room to improve and the ability to learn to guess how to engage your audience properly is needed.
- After this interaction, I decided that it would be best to get a secondary pair of eyes for this. Asking around for an extra hand in editing and proofreading was an excellent investment in the wider trajectory of the story. I got help from a handful of people, who all offered different advice.
- However, my best tool and advice came from the readers themselves. Thanks to the help of a few dedicated readers that took a chance on a younger writer, I was able to improve tremendously on skills that I never thought I’d be able to practice.
I’m far from perfect as a writer, but the guidance and support from readers has been a blessing in its entirety.
Learning to form and engage this community has been wonderful. There were a few readers that I responded to frequently through chapter comments and profile messages. They were the first to read each chapter and left genuine feedback on what they thought about it, which inspired me to keep writing. I always wanted to upload for them and try to provide the best quality possible. I still consider myself lucky to have been able to achieve this level of community.
I still think about their thoughtful interactions everyday.
2. Milestones, Personal Reflection, Advice for Aspiring Writers
This is a milestone celebration for myself on a series that I genuinely enjoy. The number is not important when you are enjoying the progress that you are making for yourself.
As a writer, I have come to recognize that every chapter has been a reflection of my own struggles, doubts, celebrations, and lessons. Progress is not linear or structured. Instead, it is a characterization of your own takeaways and effort to get to where you want to be.
For anyone that may be reading this and considering trying online writing, I highly encourage you to take a chance. You never know what you are capable of until you try.
Kayanne Marti 
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