Have you ever asked yourself that question? I would have thought that it would be a common one to crop up, especially if you’re someone like me spending infinite amounts of time trawling through websites such as Deviant Art, WordPress.com and Fanfiction.net.
I have even been on the receiving end of astonishment from some. Random comments cropping up on whatever piece I’ve recently published, on whichever site I’m using, the author bamboozled by the fact my stats have never really taken off at any great rate.
Now I know I can write, it’s taken some time for me to listen to the insistant voices in my ears, (namely one of my best friends Jad) but I’ll now admit that I can write pretty dam well. I just haven’t achieved large numbers of readers.
The thing is, I find it bothers me more when I find incredible writing by other people and the reading stats are low. When my own stats plummet, I’m fairly comfortable in the knowledge that there are a group of people out there who I can rely on to enjoy the writing I upload, and they will tell me if they don’t think it’s as good as it could be.
Admittedly, If you trawl through writing sites on a regular basis, you’ll find some atrocious stuff. I have to be in an incredibly good/patient mood to open up my Deviant Art notifications and work my way through them one by one. More often or not I’ll delete anything that doesn’t grab my attention in the first few lines. This is purely down to limits on my free time and the fact that some of the writing that crops up in my notifications is truly terrible.
Especially when it comes to poetry I find myself reading what seems to be the same thing over and over again, leaving me to wonder if there is any understanding that depression does not have to be the only theme in poetry.
Of course there are also the diamonds that you find hiding in the piles of fool’s gold. These are the writers and artists who keep me from deleting my entire notifications inbox the moment I log into DA and give me hope for the future of writing.
Sometimes I simply like the thought that someone has put into a piece of work, such Akeesha909 who wrote ‘Inspiration’.
Red, Blue, Green
Every colour becomes a thought
????!!!!!????!!!!
Every thought becomes a painting
Oil paint, Water paint
Every painting becomes a masterpiece
Mona Lisa, Adam and Eve
Every masterpiece is hung in a museum
The Vatican, The Louvre
Every museum is filled with colour
Purple, Yellow, Orange
And every colour becomes a thought
http://akeesha909.deviantart.com/art/Inspiration-300409076
The poem may not be perfect by any means, but I like the way it’s been set out and the theme running through it is refreshingly original. Publishing to Deviant Art is not about putting up works which are polished to perfection, or should be plastered across the pages of best selling novels or anthologies. It is supposed to be a stepping-stone, and a place where you can share what makes you happy and what your passion can achieve.
Of course there are pieces which tackle the more worrisome issues such as depression, addiction and grief incredibly well. I can cope with reading these and there are some which are fantastically put together and can really connect with a reader. Prose such as ‘147’ by sense-and-stupidity does go some of the way to proving to me that these issues can be taken on and presented, without following the awful cliché’s that seem to litter the online world.
However, one of my favourite pieces of the moment has to be ‘Emily’ by inkedtea. The piece was right at the bottom of my pile of notifications this week, and almost brought me to tears after I read it, (take from that what you will.) Of course I then had to check out her gallery, and thankfully found that she has a beautiful collection of work that is just as wonderful as my initial impression.
All three of these writers have fairly low stats, yet their works contain something that I, at least, hold to be promising. I will defiantly be keeping an eye out for future developments and I advise you all to do the same. The links are there in the text, get clicking and reading, you know you want to.
(I hold no claim to the works of these writers, I simply wanted to share my appreciation for their work and talent.)
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