Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Should I pause the story?

I'm posting this because I'm concerned about particpation in my story, "Finding Clark Kent." The comments folders have been small lately, although I realize that's a general issue during Kerth season. There have been fewer suggestions in each one, however, and that worries me.

What's more telling is that there have been fewer voters in each poll. The numbers have declined from 25 in the first poll to 18 in the second to 15 in last week's to 11 in the latest.

So, I'm wondering what's going on and what I should do about it. Is it my writing? Too violent (I can tell you, I haven't enjoyed that aspect of things myself...)? Too boring? Too frustrating? Too something else that isn't coming to mind offhand? Is it just Kerth season? Are people too busy? I know I'm behind in my own reading, but that's nothing new. I'd hoped that posting one short part a week would make it easier to keep up, but are people falling behind, even so?

Let me know what's going on, what you think I should do, or whatever else is on your mind. If you prefer, you can email me at hatman@lcficmbs.com

Please don't be shy. I prefer honesty and directness, and I'd rather know what you're thinking than sit here wondering what's going wrong.

Thanks for your time.

Paul

I noticed that too, and few comments... but I'm going to keep reading

Maybe is the Kerth season....

Jose

I, personally, never sent comments (was always too late), but I did vote. It's been a bad Internetical period for me and I don't spend much time reading. Actually, I'm going to read part 5 *today*.

Maybe you could use a pause until the Kerths are over, as I suppose that they consume quite much reading time. But, once they're over, you MUST continue!!!!!!!!!!

AnnaBtG.

I say keep going and use what participation you have. You said yourself in the beginning it was an experiment ... and one of the things we're seeing is that one might not be able to maintain a high level of participation over the several weeks that the story might take.

I don't find that surprising, myself -- look at long epics that are posted as they are being written. These stories always see a reduction in comments in the middle parts, especially as time goes on. So I think the same thing is happening here. It doesn't mean the story or the writing isn't good; it's just par for the course with long, written-as-we go stories.

So keep going and have fun with it.

Kathy

Paul, I've been reading as posted and generally been commenting, but I haven't always voted in the polls.

Basically, I think one of the problems has been the lack of many real choices for Lois. Should Lois investigate the ship... or what? or not. Should Lois investigate the hospital... or what? or not.

Her choices to date have not been a choice of actions, but rather a choice of action or no action.

Perhaps you've been a little too dependant on the gentle readers to come up with all the possible choices. Maybe you need to force the situation a bit. Throw out some hints as to which way things might go.

We gentle readers are basically a lazy bunch and we don't want to have to think too much. We like to sit back and just enjoy a fic as it unfolds.

Yes, this is an experiment, but like Kathy said, it's hard to maintain the same involvement over a period of time. I'd say, since this is an experiment, just because it isn't going quite the way you had hoped doesn't mean that it should be abandoned. After all, you haven't taken it to its conclusion yet. You may prove that the gentle readers don't want to be actively involved in the plotting of a story they are reading. Most likely you won't be able to show anything definitive since particpation will probably ebb and flow.

Bottom line. This is still your story and how it should or shouldn't continue should be up to you.

Tank (who realizes that he probably contradicted himself several times but what can he say, he's old)

I wasn't sure if I should be answering this one because I wasn't participating right from the get go <g>...but I see that some of the voting options seem to be directed at the mes in this, so...

I haven't participated in this one from the start or read the story so far because this kind of 'pick an option' story has never appealed to me. Going right back to those multiple choice ending books that were so popular some years ago. They just frustrated me and having to pause to check out which way to go next in the book just jerked me out of the story and destroyed the mood.

So I was waiting for the story to be finished, so that I could read it as a normal story, without the distractions that this kind of format gives me.

I am looking forward to reading it though, once it's complete, so would definitely say keep on writing.

LabRat

jose, thanks for your support.

anna, good to know you're reading. for the record, it's never too late to send in comments, but i won't push you. i'm not too good about commenting myself. as for pausing, i'm still not sure what to do. sounds like at least a few people are behind, the boards in general have been much quieter due to kerth season, and i've got a lot of catch-up reading to do... otoh, i'm not sure how much pausing would help. might lose a few people to the pause itself. besides, i have to consider the regular readers, too...
in any case, i'm definitely planning to continue, so don't worry about that.

kathy, it is an experiment, and experiments should leave room for change and improvement. that's what i'm looking into here. like i said above, i've got no plans to stop writing. i included that as an option because i wanted to cover as many possibilities as i could think of, but i wasn't planning on giving up. i'm just trying to find out what's wrong and what i can do about it.

certainly, i expected participation (particularly the comments folders) to decrease after the first part. it's the continuing decline that has me worried. i'm having a harder and harder time putting the polls together, and i'm seeing fewer and fewer votes. i'd hoped that the number of voters would remain somewhat steady. it seems like it requires less than commenting.

anyway, i am having fun (except when i get overtired, which makes me moody in general), and i am planning to keep going.

tank, you make a good point about the polls. it's something i'd been worried about before. i'm still not sure what to do about it, though.

you said that maybe i should add in a few suggestions of my own. i have done that here and there, but nothing major. part of the problem is that i know too much. odds are that if i add something in that the readers didn't think of, then either it'll work really well or it won't work very well at all. the former case is kind of like cheating, and it also creates pacing problems. the latter case will just lead to reader frustration... people claiming i led them up the garden path by adding in an avenue of investigation that led nowhere.

part of the problem is also that i'm just not very good at a-plots. i need the reader suggestions to help give me direction. i'm not sure what options i'd come up with, really.

the problem is still that there aren't many options. i've tried to give definite clues, so as not to risk leaving the readers helplessly adrift, but as you said, doing so narrows down the possibilities too much. i don't know how to fix that.

i was hoping for something more this past week. i was hoping to get a list of ways to approach the hospital. i did get surveilance vs. undercover, but i was hoping to have more options to work with. it would have been a good time to add them in myself, if i'd come up with possibilities in time for the poll.

hmm, actually... would leaving more time before making the poll help? it seems like i get most of my comments on tuesdays anyway, though.

well, i wasn't exactly planning on doing whatever this poll said. this one is all about information gathering. i'm trying to better understand my audience and to identify possible problem areas. still not quite sure what's going on or what, if anything, i can do about it.

i just want the story to go well. that means writing it well enough to keep people's interest, and it means getting people involved enough that i get all the participation i can (which makes the story better, which keeps people's interest more, which...).

anyway, moving on...

labby, thanks for your comments. so looking for active participation throws you out of the story? it's an interesting perspective. i never thought of things that way. thanks for posting, despite that problem. your encouragement is appreciated.

speaking generally...

thanks to everyone who voted, posted, or emailed for your input.

as i've said a couple times already, i'm definitely continuing. got the first few pages of part 6 written friday night. haven't had time yet to write more, but i should be able to do that this week. so, i'm hoping to post on monday. we'll see how it goes. meantime, those of you who are behind, now's your chance!

of course, i'll probably be spending my available time catching up on kerth reading, but... uhm... it's not hypocritical of me to ask you to keep up with my story because... er... i've been reading it even before it hits the boards, and i'm behind in my kerth reading, too. yeah. that's it.

okay, time for me to try to get some sleep. hopefully i'll be concious enough to do some real writing tomorrow.

thanks again for your input.

Paul

Paul,

First, an apology. I have not commented on either of your last 2 sections. This doesn't indicate a lack of interest, or even the Kerths, just RL. Not that anyone has noticed, I'm sure, but I have not commented on any posts in a little over a week.

But I'm back, now, and reading with a frenzy. I'm glad to see you decided not to pause. I am enjoying this story very much. Absolutely loved Lois' conversation with Martha! LOL I could just hear that playing out in my head. A nice little bit of comic relief. Very welcome, considering how much work my brain cells are going through, trying to come up with solutions and suggestions!

You say you are putting clues in here, but I must say they are very well hidden! Usually, my husband and kids hate watching mystery movies with me, because 5 minutes into the movie, I blurt out who did it and why. With this story, all I have are questions. How did they get Superman? Do they know he's Clark? What about the drugs? How does the ship fit in? Does the ship fit in, or was that just a wild goose chase? Who is the secret admirer? (I have a theory here. His job title sounds almost like he was hired to take care of Costmart's latest acquisition: Superman.) Is he friend or foe? What's this hospital all about?

Anxiously awaiting Part 6!

- Vicki

Sorry, RL had me away from the INTERNET for about a week taking some classes. Then when I get back from classes, I have some major catching up to do, implement a new security protocol and train someone as my backup so that when I take classes again the office won't be left high and dry while I am gone.

When I had the time to start printing off my LnC soaps er...fics, I noticed that you hadn't posted for last week and I was concerned that something had happened to you.

I was gladdened and saddened by this poll. It meant that you were OK, but it also meant that you weren't FEELING OK.

Trust me, I am loving this story, but most times by the time I get to reading the comments others have already come up with most of my ideas (not that I have that many).

But I do vote every time I have a chance.

James

Paul, I haven't been reading because life has been so hectic recently, and what little free time I have had has been on my own story. Rest assured, I always look forward to anything you write, so please don't stop. I did read the first part, and I have kept an eye on the comments, and to tell you the truth, I'm getting very curious to see what you are going to do with this.

Nan

Sorry, my real life has been pretty hectic ever since the fire, so I haven't had much time to read any fanfiction. I have several books by my favorite authors that I haven't had time to read, either.

I'm moving to a new apartment tomorrow. After that, real life will be getting back to normal, so I'll have time to read and write fanfiction soon (hopefully.)

I should have written this a week ago. I'm sorry about that. Been busy writing part 6 and doing my kerth reading and... anyway, I just sort of kept not doing it. But here I am, trying to catch up.

Vicki, no need to apologize. I'm just glad you're still reading. Sorry you were so busy, but I see you've managed to catch up, so that's good. Thanks for the comments here. Sorry about the confusion with the clues. There haven't really been many about the subjects you mentioned here. I was just talking about the ones that you saw in part 6. I must say, though, that there have been some good guesses on the part of various FoLCs about many things. I won't say which ones, but there are some good ones out there.

James, sorry to hear you were so busy, too, but I do want to thank you for your support.

Nan... wow, thanks. That's quite a compliment. Glad I've got you intrigued. I hope I can live up to expectations.

Emily, I hope the move went well, and that life is improving for you. Thanks for taking the time to write in here.

To everyone in general, I just want to let you know that part 7 will be late. I haven't been feeling well lately, for one reason or another, and I've been putting time into Kerth reading. So, I haven't gotten anything actually written yet.

OTOH, my MRI on Friday turned out to be over 2 hours long. Lying flat inside a more or less featureless tube for all that time, I had nothing to do but think (and, after a while, listen to some Springsteen they managed to pipe in). So, I did get everything plotted out. I just need to write it up. Not sure how long that'll be. It's looking to be another long part, and I'm flying down to Florida on Tuesday. Be there for a few days, then Mom and I will drive back to NJ over the weekend. (I'm going to try to make it to the Kerths while we're on the road, but the connection won't be good or reliable...).

Anyway, hopefully I'll have it up soon. Sorry for the delay.

Paul

Being somewhat claustrophobic, 20 minutes is a lifetime in one of those things. I'm glad you had something to think about and I look forward to reading the fruits of your thoughts.

James