2012 and a Story About Ponies in Love

A few people added some of my older stories to their libraries and reading lists this past week, and I was just sitting here looking at them. If you click through, you can see "Of Clouds" with the most reads and upvotes. People genuinely liked my story (which shocked the heck out of me because it was my very first attempt at fanfiction). As you look at the later sequels, though, you notice the number of views drop, along with the number of likes and comments. I'm not complaining, though, just thinking.

I kind of figure I used up all of my magic in the first story, and people hung on because either they liked my style of storytelling, or they liked the way I wrote. Either option makes me all warm and tingly inside. I guess part of the drop was that at the time, Fimfiction was pushing out books of stories day after day after day, and my comparatively long wait times between stories is what probably lead to the drop in readers. Or it could have been my writing style changing as I tried to improve, because I *always* try to improve. I'm never satisfied with the previous result. I identify with Twilight when it comes to doing better, surpassing my previous goals, and making something truly magnificent.

I probably have a long way to go in that regard.

Still, seeing someone add one of my stories to their "favorites" list, or someone responding to my posting of a new chapter, it means a lot to me. Until recently, I was finished with "A Tempest Tossed," until one of my readers essentially said "wait, what?" and I realized I'd kind of let things just fall apart there at the end. Now, that's not like me. I like to create story resolutions that make you feel good, think, or at the very least give you the chance to say "well, that was one way of doing it." So I re-opened it a few days later and am actively working on it again.

Fimfiction itself, though, has grown by leaps and bounds, and quite a few of my favorite authors who posted back then aren't around anymore, and we all supported each other. I miss them, but I don't pretend that what we had in 2012 would stay that way forever. Everything grows, moves on, changes. This site is so much more complex and feature rich than it was back then, but it was more exciting for me to write then, too.

It's also that my life outside of writing has changed so much, and so much of the time I used for writing back then has been completely consumed by everything else now. It kind of saddens me. No, it does sadden me. The thing is, I feel that I have more stories deep inside, that I'm not done telling them, that they want to come out. I certainly hope I find a way to bring them forward, because I want to share them all. I love stories, and I hope all of you love my stories.

Okay, enough navel gazing from me. Back to work. As for you, thank you for reading my stories. *hugs*

Lotus