Short Cherry Rant

By ice rivers

Sat, 28 Jul 2018
  • 4963 reads
13 comments
 

I'm only hitting about .160 on the cherry meter. If I were that far under the Mendoza line in the show, I'd be headed for Double A.

If I were lofting three pointers in the NBA at a success rate of 16%, I'd be riding some serious pine and waiting for my ticket to the G league or China.

I wouldn't be Ray Allen, that's for sure.

Ray Allen was the greatest three point shooter of his era. Still he missed more than he hit. Someone asked Ray how many he expected to hit as he was launching them. Ray, without hesitation, said "100%"

That's the way I feel about every post I make here at ABCtales. If I didn't think it would score, I wouldn't have posted it. 

Nowadays, I'm surprised when I get a cherry award. It's a great feeling not gonna lie but I must admit, I don't usually see much difference between what gets rewarded and what gets passed by. In this regard, I'm like the Alzheimer sufferer who is surprised every day.

Still, I'm gonna keep shooting. I have my group of faithful readers. So what if I'm writing the most important story of my life and nobody's showing up. If I write it well, they will come.

Certificate 15
Other
Iron Diamond Rings
Rant

Comments

Submitted by celticman on

some readers give cherries, some don't. It's nice, like hundreds and thousands on top of ice cream, or even cherry and ice cream, but the ice cream tastes the same. 

 

Submitted by ice rivers on

Who can give cherries? Just wonderin'

 

Submitted by ice rivers on

I notice you're batting  .855 in cherries which makes you not only an All Star but a Hall of Famer.

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

People have said to me "Don't write for cherries". I say to myself "Don't write for cherries". I try not to. But every post is an overlooked magnum opus. Except the devil may care ones, which sometimes get cherried. The other thing people say to me is "Write for yourself". So I do that, too.

Liking something, whether it's for its aesthetic, fluency or just because it moves you is subjective. I suppose readers have authors that they follow, that's true enough. Hopefully there are enough readers so that everyone gets a following, or someone grazing coming along.

Keep writing for yourself, because you love it, or because you just can't help it. I'll be dropping by for a read.

Parson Thru

Submitted by ice rivers on

I taught Creative Writing for 20 years. I woukld have been the person giving you the same advice you gave me, which is great feedback as I indicated. I have been writing for over 60 years now...i love it.....i can't help it....fish gotta swim.....bird gotta fly. I hesitated writing "heaven" for almost thirty years. I've been saving it and building my skills. When I came aboard ABC tales, I found out that I had cancer. I started to realize that I might not have much time left and I didn't want this story to go untold. They tell me I've survived so the time to write is now. I hoped that the effort would be recognized from the start, simply to attract readers and encourage feedback. I didn't want it to wander into the "ho hum" section of ABC. The best news about your feedback is that you'll be dropping by for a read. I take that responsibility seriously and will do my best to keep your readership as my story unspools....Thank you again. Let's go the distance

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

I'm really relieved to read you're over that. Thank goodness. I suppose when we don't get the results we hoped for it makes us dig deeper. Maybe go through what you've written and see how you might sink the hook in more firmly - get the reader engaged. I'm not faulting your technique. Readers are fickle. A busy publishing house almost certainly more so. This is a good environment to experiment and hit on a formula that works. Good luck. I'm going to re-read the sections you've posted so far.

Parson Thru

Submitted by ice rivers on

The problem with digging deeper is I start to control the idea rather than having the idea control me.....it's better when the idea has me than when i have the idea.

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Cherries aren't like an exam award. There's such a subjective aspect, and there must be a variety of editors each 'on duty' at different times and each notices or likes different things in writing, and sometimes maybe it is more that some aspect of the post seems to strike a chord. Maybe also sometimes there is an element of wanting to encourage us from time to time. But if someone reads a story because it's highlighted by a cherry, then they may investigate more of that author's work.

Also if work satisfies you, and you feel it has something useful to say, or you like the way you said it, it may get read later, maybe much later, and be of use or interest to someone. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by ice rivers on

The problem comes in when I'm writing a novella. If the scenes don't attract attention in the beginning, they become far less "compelling" to new readers as the work continues. As of now, only 11 peple at the most, are up to date on what I'm calling "Heaven". I've been in this position before and the number of readers tend to dwindle almost to the point of non-existent. If you start building it and they don't come, the temptation is to stop building and go on to whatever flashes through your mind (stiletto heels flashed through mine last night) and go off on a side trip and probably win a cherry and a flurry of readers. Even though this one promises to be of novella length, I'm going to keep building it. It satisfies me. It has something useful to say. When I tell the story, dozens of people have told me it's one of the best stories they've ever heard and "you've got to write that". Usually this is bullshit but in the case of this particular story, I kinda think it's true so I don't want to screw it up. Thanks for the interesting feedback  and thank God Short Cherry Rant didn't win a cherry.

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

I find the same with series that run on. As I post new sections, the readership dwindles. I killed my last one fairly early, preferring to go with a short story. I've tried longer pieces in the past. There are options, I suppose. If you can get a small but dedicated following, you'll get some good comments and feedback (sometimes it's not much more than encouraging words, which isn't a bad thing), or something I tried is the Steinbeck "Tortilla Flat" kind of idea where you write a series of individual but linked pieces (some core characters that carry through around a theme) that have enough individuality to keep them fresh for the writer and the reader, but can be pulled into a coherent whole.

Parson Thru

Submitted by ice rivers on

I suppose we're not the only one's with this concern. God forbid this wonderful site becomes an unintentional  buzzkiller for writers who are trying to go long.

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

I hope not. There have been some superb novel length pieces produced on here. Readers are encouraging but human. I think people drop out and then sometimes drop in again, but there's usually a core who stay with it. It goes without saying that the work has to attract readers in the first place.

Parson Thru

Submitted by ice rivers on

in the end, the work speaks for itself...read or unread