Science Fiction, The Struggling genre

@Parogar But you say WE as if all sci-fi writers should do that. It brings me back to the person who yelled at me for writing in more than one genre. A sci-fi writer can write an amazing sci-fi story, but they could do the same thing with a vamp story.

But that's not what this thread is about, so I can see why you're saying that.

I think sci-fi a new angle. Not vamps, but something. Something to draw in more fans. That and an amazing story is the only things that will bring it back. Not that's its completely dead, though. I mean...we're all here talking about it, and we all write and read sci-fi, dont we?

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@Parogar Oh, i see! So when posting a new story, try to post a bunch of chapters all at once? See, that's not what gets you popular on sites like quizilla (which is where I moved from) so I thought posting once a week was good enough.

Thanks, I'll have to see what I can do about that. : )

Any ideas from you would be great. As in, should I remove those stories until they're further along?

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@DarkestDreams26

Not quite, what I mean is this. Look at your page count on your stories. 1 1 7 2 1 7 3 4

People who browse for stories aren't going to want to commit to possibly liking a story, and only have 3 pages to read.

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@DarkestDreams26

The exception of course, is if you develop a pretty big fan-base. Then they'll read whatever you've got.

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@Parogar To add to that quizilla thing -

You post short chapters once a week or less, thereby getting more votes on each chapter, and moving up the ranks, But here it's more about the number of reads than votes, so do I need to write my story completely before posting, or just have a great number of chapters finished before posting? Then post them all at once?

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@Parogar *nods*

Ok, got it. So until the story is longer, I shouldn't expect many reads. That makes sense.

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@DarkestDreams26

I really don't know. Honestly, the best way to move up here is this:

Write about 6 chapters, 2k words minimum. Then, post the first 2 at once. New stories get a bonus to popularity.

Every 2 days post another chapter, and so on, and stay consistent. That's at least how I did it.

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@Parogar And thanks, by the way, for taking the time to dish out some advice. Wattpad is very different from what i'm used to, so I was starting to wonder if i'd entered the big leagues before I was ready (as in, my stories all sucked lol).

Alright, I'll give it a try. I'll have to work on writing faster. XD

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@DarkestDreams26

Wattpad is the small leagues, actually. Authonomy is the big leagues. I don't like that place much, though.

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@DarkestDreams26

Truth is, it all comes down to this: Do you have something readers WANT to read? If you do, they'll read it. If not, they won't. One of the things that turns many of them off, is the idea of bothering with a 4 page story.

Try and imagine for a second that you're on wattpad ONLY TO READ stories. And you're on a mobile phone. You're obviously going to look for long, novel-sized stories, because that's why you came, for free books.

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@Parogar -- agreed (your last statement). i actually found wattpad bc i was looking for free stories ;) ...but then--quickly--realized i needed to weed through some stuff before i would find something that was edited, let along solid. truthfully, i looked through the share your story club. and it didnt do me much good! hahaa... but from there, i found a few solid writers that i know i can count on. so, i go check it out when they post new stuff.

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I agree with this post. I love reading sci-fi, but all I'm finding in it are vamp-were-romance stories. I'm kind of sick of it.

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@GrimCookie15 I've have yet to see a vamp/were romance story listed under sci-fi. O.o I didn't think anyone would be silly enough to bother listing one of those as sci-fi. Then again, I read mostly what my readers write (that's how I find stories on here, anyway) and readers of sci-fi probably think the same way. Vamp romance doesn't belong.

@Parogar Seriously? I've never even heard of that place. Wow, I feel like such a newbie right now lol. But anyway, I understand what you mean. I often don't bother reading a story on here unless it's 20 or more pages.

But I hope you didn't get my post wrong - Its true I dont have a lot of reads compared to, lets say you for example. And i'd like more reads, heck yes. But I'd rather have little reads and write my stories to have fun with them, instead of to please anyone. But the advice on getting more reads was a big help. ^^ Thanks! : D

Back to the topic of this thread, once more -

I have yet to find any sci-fi stories on here that interest me. Dont get me wrong I love sci-fi, but I also love dark-fantasy and a lot of other genres. It just seems like not a lot of wattpad writers, write sci-fi. So maybe, once again, wattpad is the problem. Maybe it doesn't just attract the wrong kind of readers, but the wrong kind of writers as well. I mean, look at how many sci-fi stories there are compared to fantasy and teen fiction. There's a big difference there.

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Personally I only use Wattpad for short stories and poems because nobody would ever publish this stuff anyway. I am always amazed that people put in so much effort to write a novella and post it. I think if I had a book I was writing, I would never give away that much labour for free. If an idea is solid enough to justify a book I think people should try to get money for it. Writing is hard work and it should be rewarded. Especially in the field of Sci-fi becasue ideas are so 'borrowed.' George Lucas would never have given the concept behind Star Wars away.

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@AlexisSims

I really disagree with that. ESPECIALLY the part where you wrote. "Nobody would ever publish this stuff anyway."

People *have* published their works that were posted on wattpad. In fact, I'm trying to do that very same thing. Why wouldn't they?

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@AlexisSims Wow... you really think that no one is looking to publish their work? You obviously haven't read anything half decent on this website, because in my opinion, a very good percentage of the stuff on Wattpad is FAR better than some things I've seen published. It's more than possible for dedicated writers on Wattpad to become professional, published writers.

The only reason i put my work on Wattpad is for the suggestions, help, and drive i get from my readers. I've spend YEARS working on my story and it's still no where near completed, because i need help to get myself writing. I need positive reinforcement that people actually LIKE what I'm writing down and I'm not doing it for nothing.

Just because we're putting our work on wattpad does not mean we have no intention of publishing it once it's completed.

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I have seen some great writing on here and my point is I am often surprised that these writers are working so hard for free. I understand the need to hone and refine a story but I am not sure I would use the world wide web to do it. I use wattpad to gauge ideas, read some of my peers, and to hone my writing skills. I was not saying that nobody would publish any bodies work on here I was refering to the works I put on here which is short stories and poems. These genres are fairly difficult, near impossible to publish and sell in the current market. I was saying if I had a sellable, publishable piece I would not put it on wattpad. It is just a personal choice not a judgement on other wonderful writers. @Parogar @skinandbonesx

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@AlexisSims I see your point, or I think I do. You're implying that if you had something good enough you wouldn't risk someone else taking it from you and publishing it first?

Because honestly, in that case, there are so many ways of proving something is YOURS and so much protection for YOUR creativity nowadays (especially on the internet) that I don't really worry about it. The ONLY thing I personally always check is the websites own terms of service. If you agree to a terms of service that gives the website ownership if your work, than you're screwed. But as long as you don't AGREE to anything of the sort, your work stays yours, and if someone else takes it, you can easily prove it's yours.

also, not everyone is FINISHED their writing, and it's a million times harder to get into publishing without a finished peice of work under your belt. Sure i have short stories and oneshots and such, but i want to finish my novel before looking to get it published. You'll be paid for your work if it's good enough when you publish it. You don't need to be paid while you write.

Personally, I don't consider writing as 'work' either. I enjoy writing. I love putting my thoughts down, and honestly, I'm in a HORRIBLE mental state if I don't write. Yes i want to get published, but even if I didn't, even if I never do, I'll still always write and always spend just as much time on it, because it's a passion.

Money isn't everything, especially when it comes to doing something that makes you happy.

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You have a great attitude, I personally have no intention of ever writing a book. I write for fun only so I sites like this are great for me I could not figure why professional and aspiring writers would put their work on the site.Thankyou for your thoughts on the topic @skinandbonesx

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@skinandbonesx @AlexisSims Wattpad actually has great connections with a few publishing houses. That's why people would post their stories on here. If you get a big enough fan base on a site like this, then send in your story to a publishing company telling them of your fan base, they're more likely to publish your work. Publishers care about one thing - selling books. If you already have a fan base, and your story's not even published yet? Well, you just saved them a great deal of work, and nearly promised that at least someone will buy your book.

I publish stories on wattpad to prove I can build a fan base - that people are actually interested in the stories I write.

But I get what you were saying, no worries. Just thought I'd chime in and point that out.

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@DarkestDreams26 also very good points :)

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I meant generally. I'm just tired of all these drama stories on wattpad. @DarkestDreams26

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I'm sorry but if you don't mine me saying. It's true that an artiest should be paid for his or her work. However I'm glad to see sites like this one up and running. I think it's away good for encouraging other artiest that even they're basic ideas are great. I don't think any one on sites like this put there really stories, that they work the hardest on, up. I'd try to get my best stories publicized and I'd try to get paid for my work too.

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@Leopold Personally I'm getting tired of reading the bastardized, aborted half breed children of scifi here on Wattpad, and I really wish people would get it together and actually make something worth calling scifi and hell, maybe even worth reading.

I'm sounding harsh, because I've been reading quite a few of them lately.

Also, the endless cliche is taking control of modern literature and its getting harder to find anything decent to read these days.

It's more of the fluff and love and not much of the power and story, if you know what I mean.

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@InhaletheRainbow "I think a group should be made for sci-fi lovers to share their stories on and swap feedback. I know that's what SYS is for, but no one ever really reads the sci-fi stories I post on there. And all I ever see are stories about teen romance, revenge and vampires and werewolves"

YES. I'm probably double posting, (sorry) but I really think we could request different categories for SYS's corresponding to the different genres (SciFi in this case), instead of the usual charlie foxtrot over at the SYS club.

How the hell can a "struggling" genre get support if Wattpad throws all the other genres together and buries it 6 feet under?

I say request to split up the SYS club into multiple clubs, SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY GET AN 'EFFING CHANCE FOR ONCE!!!!

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