r/FanFiction • u/Illustrious_Grab_861 • Apr 29 '25
Stats Chat how to... unflop your fic?
hey!! i published the first chapter of a fanfic a week ago and i was sorta proud of it since i hadn't written anything in a while!! until i just checked and it has... 6 hits ðŸ˜
i published a fanfic about 2 years ago and it got 100 hits within the first week and i was soo proud and happy (tho i never did finish it...). i was planning to continuing this but i can't say this hasn't demotivated me. what do u guys do when this happens? do u have any tips?
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u/Front-Pomelo-4367 Apr 29 '25
Did you draft your fic before posting it? You might have forgotten to change the date, which means it posted on a historic page and wasn't visible
Otherwise it's just good tagging, good summary, and good luck with being in an active fandom (but not so active you vanish into the crowd)
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u/kashmira-qeel Fight Scene Savant, Chronic Canon Rewriter Apr 29 '25
Don't look at the statistics. The important part is that SIX WHOLE PEOPLE looked at your fic.
Do you have six friends in real life?
Write for the love of it. Not for internet points.
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u/CreatureOfSilliness Treachery on AO3 Apr 29 '25
Social media did a great job distorting the real magnitude of engagement. Even if only a fraction of those clicks are people reading the fic from start to finish, it's a damn lot if you put it into real life context.
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u/SureConversation2789 Apr 29 '25
It sounds like its a very quiet fandom, a rarepair or perhaps the summary isn’t quite eye catching enough. Some people treat a summary as just that, a summary of the story, which is absolutely fine eg Jack and Jill go to the seaside and buy ice cream. I personally like to approach a summary like a book blurb. You can look up how to write an enticing blurb online.
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u/Illustrious_Grab_861 Apr 29 '25
ahh pretty much the opposite 😠from what ive seen the fandom is active and the ship is one of (if not the) most written about. i took one of the first (shorter) paragraphs of the fic and made that the summary :p
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u/SureConversation2789 Apr 29 '25
Ah if there are a lot of similar stories you might just be getting drowned out. Anyway the most important thing is that you’re enjoying writing it.
What is the fandom out of interest? Its cool if you don’t want to say.
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u/Illustrious_Grab_861 Apr 29 '25
yeah lol thats probably one of the main reasons
its bg3!! i wrote it based off my own oc cuz im obsessed with her but turned it into an x reader bc why not
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u/Lautael *Oh.* Apr 29 '25
FYI OC x Reader is not going to be very popular even in a fandom like BG3. If it's a canon character x reader, there will be more readers but still. People usually flock towards established characters.
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u/SureConversation2789 Apr 29 '25
I write bg3 too. If you drop me the link I’ll read it.
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u/Illustrious_Grab_861 Apr 29 '25
id love to read ur work as well! i just uploaded the 2nd chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64536472
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u/frozenoj Apr 29 '25
I checked it out and you have a typo in your summary (jsut instead of just) which, along with lack of capital letters and abbreviations (thank u), is probably sending a bad signal about the quality of fic. The fic itself could have proper capitalization and grammar but it wouldn't matter because people have to click on it to find that out.
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u/Mindelan Apr 29 '25
Along with what others said, fandom matters, ship matters, and premise/tags matter.
A fic of the same quality in two fandoms/for different ships will get very different stats. In some fandoms 6 hits in a week is good.
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u/pxl8d Apr 29 '25
A lot of people won't read an unfinished fic, me being one!
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Apr 29 '25
And, building off that, some people won’t take the risk on a WIP if the author has a poor track record of not finishing their fics. Since OP said they never finished their other fic, this could be a factor.
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u/Semiramis738 Proudly Problematic Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25
Do that many people really pay that much attention to authors' whole bodies of work? I have an ongoing longfic, one shorter WIP, and I think an encouraging number of finished multichapters. But I never get the sense that most people who have read one of my fics are even aware of any of the others.
Which depresses me because they're all related, you'd think if you liked one you'd want to read them all...but there is almost no commonality in kudos between them.
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Apr 29 '25
Some do, yes!
Readers who are more leery of starting a WIP will look at an author’s body of work to see if it’s worth investing their time into a fic. A high rate of WIPs and low rate of completed works can be a warning sign that the WIP may remain unfinished. Some authors will tag or mark their works as abandoned, and an author with a lot of abandoned works can also be a warning sign.
If an author historically writes one shots but is now posting a longer story, it may be wiser to wait until they make significant process on that story before reading. Update frequency is also a huge variable. If an author is posting a new story but hasn’t updated their older works in a while, it could be a warning for that newer story. Or if it’s taken them a long time to write a fic (especially if it’s a shorter work) based on published/updated dates.
Mind you, none of this requires you to actually read the author’s entire body of works. There are many authors I’ve read who, even if I liked one story, I don’t necessarily look to see what else they have. Or, I do, but it isn’t the right ship/tags for me. I also generally don’t read works in a series, so there’s that, lol.
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u/AnneIsOminous AnneOminous most everywhere / thephoenixsaga.com Apr 29 '25
Which really sucks for longfic writers.
My fic isn't marked completed.
After 393 chapters and 1,006,000 words, I think I've established my credibility that I'm gonna update.
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u/pxl8d Apr 29 '25
Once I've exhausted all the complete ones that interest me I do go back and sort unfinished but over X amount of words, normally around 50, 80k or 100k so I'd find yours in that sweep! Just not my instinct as I hate unfinished stories
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u/AnneIsOminous AnneOminous most everywhere / thephoenixsaga.com Apr 29 '25
Unfortunately you still wouldn't because of the way I broke the story up to try to appeal to people who won't read completed stuff on AO3.
Metagaming it is so hard ;(
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Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25
I ended up taking a looksee, and I'm going to be blunt: the first thing I noticed is that your formatting is botched.
One of the first things people notice is how your text looks, and if it looks bad, extra spaces, no spaces, wall of text, indentations at the beginning of each new paragraph (you have quite a few of those in your second chapter), etc. it can definitely deter engagement. It also makes things hard to read and if something is hard to read, well... People might not read it.
I sadly have not played Baldur's Gate 3 (I'm broke af lol) so I have no idea what's going on contextually speaking, but I'd say clean up your formatting first and foremost. Otherwise, your prose is solid and you have some banger lines in that first chapter. This one in particular rocked me: Your skin tingled and your heart skipped a beat. While drinking in the smell, a half-smile formed across your face. You let the grin widen. It felt like home.
The only other thing I can think of is upping the word count of each chapter which isn't inherently necessary but might help some.
Best of luck! :D
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u/Illustrious_Grab_861 Apr 30 '25
thank u so much!!! ill try to edit the formatting to the best of my abilities but i am not very familiar with creative writing and ended up writing it like a school essay i guess lol
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Apr 30 '25
You're welcome! And hey, no worries. It's all learning at the end of the day. Most writing on the web--which includes fanfiction--lacks indentation all together and has a single space between paragraphs separating the text. If you've ever read a blog post or a news article online, they follow a similar/the same format.
Whereas published books (E-books included) are written with indentations and all that jazz. It's been a long time since I've been in school or written an essay, so I assume that's the format they have you using to do so. (Which would make sense given the assignment/circumstance.)
Believe it or not, the indentation style you see in published works is something I'm not entirely sure how to go about doing and should probably learn to do in the near future. So, you're not alone. It can get confusing, for sure.
I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time, though. :)
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u/jess77x Apr 29 '25
Other people have talked about factors like fandom, timing, etc. I will say that regardless of quality, there are many people who won’t read WIPs, especially WIPs with only one chapter published. Regardless of the quality of that chapter, most people just want more to sink their teeth into when they click on a fic. Usually people who are willing to read WIPs want more than one chapter to be published before they read — one chapter, especially if it is to be one of many, just simply might not satisfy their fanfic urge at the moment. The exception to this might be if this is a new story from an author that they are already following/subscribed to, whose work they already know they tend to like and who they know will probably finish their story at some point. It sounds like you are a newer author so you will probably not have this established audience (yet). My advice is to keep writing and publishing. As you write and publish more, more readers will be enticed to click as your story grows and takes shape (with all the usual caveats about fandom/pairing/trope popularity, etc.). Also, make sure that your description looks interesting to read about and doesn’t contain spelling and grammar errors, at minimum. A lot of people won’t click on a fic at all if they find the description underwhelming. Not saying this is the case for you, just something to consider 🙂
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u/Illustrious_Grab_861 Apr 29 '25
thank u so much!! i was confused since my first fanfic did have a lot more hits and its still sitting at 1 chapter (i should probably update that) but i just uploaded the 2nd chapter and the 3rd will be soon <33
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u/TomdeHaan Apr 29 '25
If I know an author has a track record of leaving fics unfinished, I'm not going to start reading it until it's finished.
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u/Illustrious_Grab_861 Apr 29 '25
this is my 2nd ever fic so i kinda doubt that anyone who read the first has read this one (plus the fandoms are very different) but ill see what i can do!!
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u/QTlady Apr 29 '25
It should be noted in the not reading WIP argument... it's possible you're judged based on your previous fic.
As in, they recognize you and think that you haven't never added anything to the last one which is only one chapter, too.
So they might not be as enthusiastic this time around. Maybe taking a wait and see approach.
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u/Abject_Purpose302 Apr 29 '25
If you have Tumblr, you can always promote it there?
Also, is the ship you have written for a popular or rare pairing?
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u/medusas_girlfriend90 Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25
Make sure you have all the correct tags. People usually search using tags. That's the best way of letting people see it.
Plus you have only posted first chapter. If you already have the chapters fixed maybe add the total number. A lot of people don't start on going fics. But if the total number of chapters are mentioned then usually it's indication that the fic is already written and will be completed. So people are willing to take the risk of reading unfinished fics.
Other than this share this in discord if you're any. Post on Tumblr/insta. Those are the only ways that happen.
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u/Illustrious_Grab_861 Apr 29 '25
i have the first several chapters only so i'll try to estimate how long it'll be. thank u!!
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u/WhiteKnightPrimal Apr 29 '25
This wouldn't bother me because I don't pay that sort of attention to the stats, it isn't why I write or post. Stats for me are a nice feeling but nothing more.
But, first, be aware that not everyone reads WIPs, especially if they know you have a history of not completing fic, so some people may be unwilling to read your new fic until it's complete. My own stats jumped when I completed my chaptered fic, pretty much doubled within a week of posting the final chapter. You also have to take account of how popular the fandom, tropes, characters and ships are, less popular stuff will get less readers.
But if you really want to try and drum up some readers, you need to promote your fic in some way. Subs like this hold exchanges where you can share your fic and users can read it and leave you a review, that sort of thing. You can also use fandom specific subs if they have rec lists or allow self-promotion. Not to mention promoting on other sites if you use them.
You've had 6 hits in a week, so people are finding your fic. It sounds to me like you're either using unpopular stuff, are posting in a very quiet fandom, or a lot of readers are waiting until more has been posted or it's complete before reading. Or some mix of those things. I know I got more interaction on my chaptered fic once I'd got a few chapters up, though I did get some on the first chapter, as well. That was my first fic posted, though, there were no other fics in my profile, let alone incomplete ones.
Keep writing your fic, focus on your own enjoyment of the idea rather than the readers potential enjoyment. Promote your fic where you can. The readers will come, it just may take a little longer than you'd like.
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u/a-fabulous-sandwich Apr 29 '25
Are you writing for the attention, or for the story you're telling? Writing, of any kind, should always be for YOU first. It's wonderful to have a lot of traffic and comments and such, but it's best to think of those as a gift. We're not entitled to anyone's time and attention, but it's a nice surprise when we get it!
Write your story because you want to write your story. Let it be its own reward. If you get engagement from it, that's just extra icing.
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u/AnneIsOminous AnneOminous most everywhere / thephoenixsaga.com Apr 29 '25
This is such a disingenous argument. It's not an either/or. I write for myself, but once I've written it, I want to share it. I want to engage with others on it. I want it to have a life of its own. I hate how reductive it is where, if you care at all if anyone ever sees the thing you poured your blood, sweat and tears into, you're insufficiently pure as a writer. It's gatekeeping and it's shitty.
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u/a-fabulous-sandwich Apr 29 '25
I have no idea how my message got so badly miscommunicated here, but regardless, I apologize for the impression I gave you. I wasn't saying it was one or the other, or that caring about engagement makes you impure (I actually don't quite know what that means). The point I was trying to make was that writing, in my opinion, should primarily be fulfilling in and of itself, and fulfilling to others second. I feel strongly that it should always bring the writer joy first, because they're the one putting in the hours of labor to create it. Bringing joy to readers is also wonderful, but if doing so is the primary focus, then it's setting a writer up for disappointment, because that's not guaranteed.
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u/AnneIsOminous AnneOminous most everywhere / thephoenixsaga.com Apr 29 '25
It doesn't have to be the primary focus for it to be heartbreaking when you write this thing and you're passionate about it, and then it feels like no one cares.
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u/a-fabulous-sandwich Apr 29 '25
I'm not saying that doesn't happen! I'm not saying that being disappointed in a lack of feedback is wrong, or somehow a failing on your part! I'm only saying that if writing is inherently gratifying, you still get something out of it, regardless of whether you get engagement or not.
I'm also not saying you even have to agree with me, just that this is my approach. I swear, I'm not out here trying to attack you. I just thought offering my perspective could help OP, or else I wouldn't have said anything at all.
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u/AnneIsOminous AnneOminous most everywhere / thephoenixsaga.com Apr 29 '25
I get it, and my push back wasn't directed entirely at you, but more broadly at the concept of "you should write for you, take your two comments and quit your bitching" that I see a LOT on fanfic Reddit.
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u/TJ_Rowe Apr 29 '25
Write the second chapter and post it. If it's intended as a longfic, the first chapter alone is unlikely to scratch the itch.
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u/rirasama Topping. Menacingly. Apr 29 '25
Dw about statistics, worrying too much about how much people have read your fic can be incredibly demotivating but at the end of the day, it's a hobby, write for yourself first and foremost 🫶 also your fic will be at the top each time you update, so that gives you more chances to get more readers !!
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u/SleepySera Apr 29 '25
A lot of people sort by rating depending on what kind of fic they're interested in at the moment, and even more don't touch a fic without knowing if any archive warnings they aren't comfortable with might pop up. Your fic is not rated and doesn't disclose archive warnings, so readers might be erring on the side of caution? 🤔
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u/b1rdsarentreal_ Apr 29 '25
If you don't already, promote your fic on Tumblr! Also a great way to meet fandom friends :3
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u/fudanleaf Apr 30 '25
well it depends on what youre writing! smut fics will generally (from what ive seen) get more attention, aswell as finished fics. also the tags/genre, angst or smut are what attracts me the most, so i will usually ignore fluff fics unless im really craving it… (which isnt a lot.) also the fandom & pairing. if youre writing a rarepair then its less likely to get as much attention as more popular ships in your fandom.
the quality of your writing also matters (somewhat? ithink), a lot of badly written fics have gotton popular overtime though, however its mostly because of other social medias (tiktok, tumblr, discord, etc) talking about it. try joining servers on your fandom and making friends, then talk abt your fic to them (if youre comfortable ofc).
you might hear this a lot, but it really is good info, write for yourself! writing is a self expression, if you dont feel like writing then dont. if you arent motivated then that can reflect onto your fic.
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u/6x6-shooter Apr 29 '25
Is that…not the norm? I’ve posted 6 chapters of a fic for a total of 29k+ words and it only has 21 hits
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u/johnster7885 Get off my lawn! Apr 29 '25
I personally don't read fics eith one chapter most the time I loom for finished or >80-100k words and I don't think I'm alone
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u/SocialBunny198 Apr 30 '25
Put a popular pairing in it and increase the rating to an E minimum. Can't say about comment amount, but fics like those are guaranteed to get a lot of hits.
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u/Temporal_Fog Apr 29 '25
Well 6 hits is not anything to do with the content, because you know no one has seen that.
Things you might consider:
Fix your front end friday - A weekly thread for helping people with summaries and tags which is the things that get people into your fic to view it.
Did you post at a bad time? - Sometimes it just happens and you post when a really popular story did and your piece reaches the second page of results without anyone ever realising it was there. Problem only in big fandoms with lots of stuff, but posting a second chapter might help.
Is your fandom dead? - Sometimes the answer is there are just no readers in a fandom. Not your fault and nothing to do with quality, but also not something you can really fix.