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Jan. 25th, 2021 04:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariThoughts Before Bed
Sometimes I wonder if the reason the comics and the streaming didn't take off was because I bought into the idea of "write what you'd want to read."
Closetspace, for the most part, is a fairly modest success. Despite peaking in 2005, it's managed to keep a good deal of readers despite the production problems over the years.
A Wish for Wings, however, is kind of a complete disaster, despite being a story that means more to me than Closetspace. I know of one or two people who read it and enjoy it. The rest of the feedback, when I get it, is negative. I've had a person tell me to my face it was "incomprehensible." I've gotten letters telling me to end the series so we can get Closetspace more often. When asked for feedback from new CS readers, I usually just hear that it's "not for them." People don't WANT AWFW, but I keep doing because I'm writing a story I want to read.
When I tried video streaming, it was more on a dare than something I set out to do. But when I did it, I took everything I didn't like about video game let's plays and threw it out the windows. No face-cam (no one wants to see my ugly mug), no constant commentary except for the occasional riff or interaction with the viewer (I had a "philosophy" on the channel that I was a friend of the viewer who sat on their couch playing games while they did dishes or folded laundry). But, honestly? People WANT that. Again, what I wanted didn't "sell."
I kinda has me wonder about some of my future projects. Genevieve for one has people interested...but, it's a story I'm writing for myself versus an audience. Voices of Authority is the next book if Genevieve turns out to be a good thing, and again, just a story I'm writing for myself. And that doesn't' really go to well in my experience.
Closetspace seems to be doing well despite the hiatuses over the years. I sometimes wonder if this is because it's old (it's one of, if not the oldest, still-running trans comic on the web at 18 years (19 in March)), or if it's because it had almost seven years of kind of intense pre-production before finally showing up on the web in 2001. (AWFW has points I want to hit and a loose-but-complete arc story, but getting to those points is mostly detailed on the spot).
Sometimes I wonder if the advice of "Write what you want to read" is actually bad advice when trying to go pro, given by people who want to read stuff that sells. :)
Sometimes I wonder if the reason the comics and the streaming didn't take off was because I bought into the idea of "write what you'd want to read."
Closetspace, for the most part, is a fairly modest success. Despite peaking in 2005, it's managed to keep a good deal of readers despite the production problems over the years.
A Wish for Wings, however, is kind of a complete disaster, despite being a story that means more to me than Closetspace. I know of one or two people who read it and enjoy it. The rest of the feedback, when I get it, is negative. I've had a person tell me to my face it was "incomprehensible." I've gotten letters telling me to end the series so we can get Closetspace more often. When asked for feedback from new CS readers, I usually just hear that it's "not for them." People don't WANT AWFW, but I keep doing because I'm writing a story I want to read.
When I tried video streaming, it was more on a dare than something I set out to do. But when I did it, I took everything I didn't like about video game let's plays and threw it out the windows. No face-cam (no one wants to see my ugly mug), no constant commentary except for the occasional riff or interaction with the viewer (I had a "philosophy" on the channel that I was a friend of the viewer who sat on their couch playing games while they did dishes or folded laundry). But, honestly? People WANT that. Again, what I wanted didn't "sell."
I kinda has me wonder about some of my future projects. Genevieve for one has people interested...but, it's a story I'm writing for myself versus an audience. Voices of Authority is the next book if Genevieve turns out to be a good thing, and again, just a story I'm writing for myself. And that doesn't' really go to well in my experience.
Closetspace seems to be doing well despite the hiatuses over the years. I sometimes wonder if this is because it's old (it's one of, if not the oldest, still-running trans comic on the web at 18 years (19 in March)), or if it's because it had almost seven years of kind of intense pre-production before finally showing up on the web in 2001. (AWFW has points I want to hit and a loose-but-complete arc story, but getting to those points is mostly detailed on the spot).
Sometimes I wonder if the advice of "Write what you want to read" is actually bad advice when trying to go pro, given by people who want to read stuff that sells. :)
