Fanfic question

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**Arcsquad12**

Heyo, new guy here. Got a question for you all. Myself and three others are currently working on a linked number of stories set in 40K. Since this is a pretty neat place, we figured that DakkaDakka would be a great place to post what we have. However, since our Fics are ongoing, I was wondering if it would be better to make a Dakka Article for the fics, or make a thread where we could post our updates and get feedback from the community.

Any suggestions for some new guys on what would be the best way to get it out there?

**Perkustin**

No offence to the people that write them and the excellent work of admins/mods but i am not sure the articles section gets alot of traffic (apart from the painting and modelling ones perhaps). So i would recommend you make a thread right here.

**Arcsquad12**

Okay, thanks for the advice. Do you have any other tips for us? I'm scouting ahead for the others to get a feel for the community.

**LoneLictor**

Skip lines between paragraphs. You will get no comments if you don't do that. Otherwise it just looks like one big block of text that intimidates all possible readers.

**Arcsquad12**

LoneLictor wrote:Skip lines between paragraphs. You will get no comments if you don't do that. Otherwise it just looks like one big block of text that intimidates all possible readers.

Gotcha. All of our stuff is on FF.net at the moment, so reformatting it shouldn't be hard at all. How much traffic does this board usually get?

**LoneLictor**

Arcsquad12 wrote:
LoneLictor wrote:Skip lines between paragraphs. You will get no comments if you don't do that. Otherwise it just looks like one big block of text that intimidates all possible readers.

Gotcha. All of our stuff is on FF.net at the moment, so reformatting it shouldn't be hard at all. How much traffic does this board usually get?

It really varies. There are a ton of lurkers who'll read your stuff but never comment. Generally, people are waaaaay more likely to comment if you're story is...

1) Absolutely gawdful
2) Absolutely amazing
3) Very unique/insane

A single post can get anywhere from 0 to 12 comments from different readers. An especially well written story might get up to 20, but it'll probably cap out there unless you're the next Stephen King or something.

EDIT: Here's a big tip I have. People will be way more likely to pay attention to you if you have quotes of people calling you awesome in your signature. Its like there's a little choir of angels agreeing with you on everything you say. So, once you get your first few comments, take the best ones and put 'em in yer sig.

**Azariah Kyras**

Thanks for the help fellows. I'm one of the other writers. Its been a while since I've been on Dakka Dakka. Posting our stories never came to mind.

**WarOne**

We encourage people to post, as the Fiction section here needs more loving!

**Perkustin**

I would argue about what gets people commenting/reading.

Yes Absolutely Terrible stuff always gets a good load of interest initially but it eventually tales off.
Hey 'HORUS Vs THE CHAOS EMPORER and his FEMALE SPACE MARINES' is always going to get alot of views, but once the novelty wears off people realise they are arguing about something written with the (trolling) skill of a ten year old.

If something is incredibly well written, full of linguisitic tricks and elegant subtext dont expect people to notice. Most of the time it just comes off as confusing. Or you will end up diminishing your art by explaining it. So IMO absolutely amazing fluff doesn't necessarily mean views.

Here's the Key(s):

If something is unambiguously titled it will get decent views initially. Make sure to get the names of the armies involved and even the setting in the title (even if it is in brackets).

E.g. 'The fall of Persopoilis Hive (Ultramarines Vs World Eaters)'

Or

'DIY chapter Fluff: The Rampant Tigers (BA successor)'

Obviously you will need a certain level of quality to keep people reading but they by no means need to be masterworks (You've read a BL book right?!

).

If you want high figures you need to post new updates frequently, the momentum will build up. Also add alot of action, its no offense to the readership of dakka to say they expect alot of stuff blowing up.

Also, As im no doubt Lonelictor would agree(

): Gruesome Mega-violence doesn't go amiss either.

Keep your updates small and bitesize, it might take a few to get people commenting and you dont want newcomers being put off by huge walls of text. There are plenty i haven't read for this very reason.

Never ignore comments! I have read great fluff here but if i am Ignored by the OP i just feel 'Well screw you buddy!'. I will not read there stuff again.

Final Rule dont whine! By all means Bump your threads but try and do so with relevant updates. Even if it is edits you've made. Posts saying stuff like: '2 days and no comments! Come on guys!' are a real turnoff.

**Arcsquad12**

Perkustin wrote:I would argue about what gets people commenting/reading.

Yes Absolutely Terrible stuff always gets a good load of interest initially but it eventually tales off.
Hey 'HORUS Vs THE CHAOS EMPORER and his FEMALE SPACE MARINES' is always going to get alot of views, but once the novelty wears off people realise they are arguing about something written with the (trolling) skill of a ten year old.

If something is incredibly well written, full of linguisitic tricks and elegant subtext dont expect people to notice. Most of the time it just comes off as confusing. Or you will end up diminishing your art by explaining it. So IMO absolutely amazing fluff doesn't necessarily mean views.

Here's the Key(s):

If something is unambiguously titled it will get decent views initially. Make sure to get the names of the armies involved and even the setting in the title (even if it is in brackets).

E.g. 'The fall of Persopoilis Hive (Ultramarines Vs World Eaters)'

Or

'DIY chapter Fluff: The Rampant Tigers (BA successor)'

Obviously you will need a certain level of quality to keep people reading but they by no means need to be masterworks (You've read a BL book right?! ).

If you want high figures you need to post new updates frequently, the momentum will build up. Also add alot of action, its no offense to the readership of dakka to say they expect alot of stuff blowing up.

Also, As im no doubt Lonelictor would agree( ): Gruesome Mega-violence doesn't go amiss either.

Keep your updates small and bitesize, it might take a few to get people commenting and you dont want newcomers being put off by huge walls of text. There are plenty i haven't read for this very reason.

Never ignore comments! I have read great fluff here but if i am Ignored by the OP i just feel 'Well screw you buddy!'. I will not read there stuff again.

Final Rule dont whine! By all means Bump your threads but try and do so with relevant updates. Even if it is edits you've made. Posts saying stuff like: '2 days and no comments! Come on guys!' are a real turnoff.

Well, we don't go amiss on content or action. We've got a large backlog of stuff on FF.Net to keep people busy while we work on the new updates.

**Azariah Kyras**

Keep your updates small and bitesize

Note to self, split up my massive chapters.

**Trondheim**

Azariah Kyras wrote:
Keep your updates small and bitesize

Note to self, split up my massive chapters.

This and cake to people who read your creation also helps.

**Beaviz81**

Yeah keeping thins manageable is key as it's hard to read 20k. words bundled together. Never mind pressing enter from time to time to avoid the wall of words.

**Arcsquad12**

My updates are usually between 1300-3000 words, so they shouldn't cause too much strain.

As for Kyras....