I sincerely apologize that I am retiring from soompi, but I honestly feel that that isn't the place for me to post my writings. I used to like soompi a lot because of its fan fictions and interesting stories, but these days, I feel burdened by soompi. I am not criticizing my readers or anyone particuarly, but I feel that the soompi's atmosphere is more hostile compared to other websites. What I mean by that is that readers are hesitant to comment, and people are quick to become offended by constructive criticism. I do become frustrated because of the lack of feedback; I don't know what I'm doing wrong or right, and why some stories have obvious grammar mistakes and plots with loopholes are so popular. I know I may sound like I'm jealous that a lot of other stories have more readers, and I know that the readers, at least those that have responded, have been extremely welcoming and thoughtful. However, I still believe that little things can build up.
I have been ignoring problems that were bugging me. I know that many authors PM, but PMing is very, very tedious on soompi. Other websites have a better system that makes it easier on both the readers and authors. Readers automatically receive messages about updates, and authors don't have to worry that they have forgotten this person or be tired of typing out one name at a time. It's also much easier to upload your stories on other websites. You can just upload your word documents and your formatting has been retained!
Not to mention, I had an issue with plagiarism. Someone had been unintentionally plagiarizing my work on soompi. We have resolved our problems, but that still irritates me.
So, this is how everything will go. When I finish book one of Rebirth, you will not see any sort of updates from me on soompi. I may drop by anything fanfiction or some other part of the forum once in a while, but in terms of the fan fiction thread, I will not be there. I will be keeping TFDL: Prelude on soompi.
I also realize that from my soompi signature, I have other works that are still in their beginning stages. These were going to be released on soompi, but now, they will not be. Please anticipate their arrival on other websites, and before I release them, I will update my blog as well.
Where can you find me then?
I have accounts on these sites and only these sites with the same username, cubierock11:
- Fictionpress
- Fanfiction.net
- Asianfanfics
- Wattpad
- Bookmato
- Booksie (not using anymore)
So, if you see my works lurking in other areas, please leave a message on this blog.
Please do not distribute my works without my permission and please do not plagiarize my writings.
Thank you and I hope to see you guys soon on another portal,
Jubie (cubierock11)
Hello cubierock11,
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time leaving a comment on your blog. I am pika13, the very same person that been following your ff TFDL since book 1 in soompi. I’m quite sad to know that you are going to quit soompi. But, it’s your decision anyway and I have nothing against your decision.
I actually can feel that you’re frustrated that cause by the lack of feedback. This situation really surprised me and that’s make me wonder why because usually a very well written ff featuring DBSK will gain a lot of attention.
About your complain..
Why some stories have obvious grammar mistakes and plots with loopholes are so popular?
Oh..i’ve been asking myself about the same matters. Since I’m not really good in English, I can ignore the grammar mistake (it can be annoying if it’s too much and obvious) but I can’t take the loopholes plot. It’s such a turn off and spoils my reading mood. Huh.
I think one of the reasons why people are hesitant to leave a comment because they are not confident with their English. I am one of them. Huhu..T_T That’s why I rarely leave a long comment at any soompi threads. And if I did, I took time to construct what I want to comment and post it when I am confident enough that people who read my comment understand my massage.
Btw, a few days ago i saw your post at Soompi request thread regarding TFDL:Etude banner/siggies/poster. Suddenly I feel inspired these past few days and I made one for you. I don’t know whether I should call it a poster or a banner. Here the link: http://i1107.photobucket.com/albums/h386/kopi13/TFDLE1.jpg
Before this I also plan to make siggies. Should I continue with my plan? Maybe you can use it to promote TFDL:Etude at other site.
I hope you will continue writing awesome story and don’t feel discourage with lack of feedback. I will continue to support you. Doesn’t matter where you will continue to post this story coz I have superhuman fanfic stalking abilities. Yeah..be afraid. Now you have a stalker. Hahha..
Have a nice day.
Thanks for understanding. I think what I feel is that . . . this story, along with my other one, doesn't suit soompi. I've always been hesitant in terms of posting on soompi. There's a bit of stress and pressure. The expectations are either very high or very low. There's not really a middle ground, and I was really looking for feedback for my stories. It's very hard to find feedback on soompi, sadly.
ReplyDeleteI actually think fandom has trends for fan fiction. Sometimes I think, if I had written one about big bang or 2 pm, would I have more feedback about my writing? Then, I have to tell myself that this was meant for the five boys, and that I had a purpose and that was to try to help people remember why they liked DBSK and well, to keep faith in them.
I used to read a lot on soompi and I felt that over the years, I've stopped. The quality of fan fiction has decreased. I think it's nice that people are trying to improve their English, but they should also find an editor or a beta reader. It would help them improve so much faster since they can see their mistakes, instead of making the same ones over and over again. Sometimes, you don't even know that you're making a mistake!
It's fine. I don't mind grammatical errors for readers. It's not like you're writing a story. ;)
Thanks for making a poster/banner. I'll probably add it to asianfanfics. Do continue with your plan with signatures. You can make one for Prelude or Etude or both! Ahaha. I'll probably add it to my soompi signature. I won't be officially retiring until I finish uploading what is left of Rebirth. I think I should at least finish it like I did for Prelude.
I'll always be writing! I think I'm not just discouraged by feedback, but by a lot of things that I've mentioned in this post. I feel that while soompi has a lot to offer, other websites have more. Most importantly, I don't think I fit in soompi. It's feeling rather hostile.
Ahaha, fanfic stalking abilities! ;) Well, you'll see me active on those websites. I'll be the most active on fictionpress and wattpad!
Have a nice day too.
Thanks again for creating that poster and for supporting me :D
Hey cubierock11,
ReplyDeleteI'm really get why you would feel that way, but sometimes it just takes longer to be appreciated. If you've read or glimpsed at Con.template's Welcome to the Underworld, you would see that this fic started off with only a few comments here and there for a long time. When I found it, I was constantly wondering why it was so underrated because it was a wonderful and intricate piece of work. I could tell how much planning it took for her to formulate it because it all somehow linked back together. Prior to the popularity, she received comments from people that no one would read it because it was too long but they were wrong. When I started reading Rebirth, I was pulled right in because of your writing. As I read more, I could tell that you put a lot of thought, just like Con.template, in developing your plot so that everything links together somehow at the end. I hope you won't be discouraged by the lack of comments from Soompi's readers. Your writing is amazing and you shouldn't change it to make more people read it. Your fic is unique and that is what draws me in more and more with each chapter.
I've also noticed the lack of quality in writing on the forum nowadays. I've only been reading Solangel's Love Bug, Con.template's An Eternity of Eclipse and Rebirth. I respect your decision of retiring from Soompi. It's a shame for those that have not uncovered your writing. It may not fit the typical genre of Soompi fics, but that's what makes it a treasure. I'll be following you on fictionpress.
Cara
Hi,
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't actually the lack of interest that prompted me to make this decision. It was really a combination of situations that I had included in my blog post and mainly, two events that pushed me here.
Also, I don't mean offend soompi, but I think it's a dying forum for writing. What I mean by that is that it's not improving whereas its competitors are offering different ways for writers and readers to meet. It's hard to explain what my exact ideas are because like I said, little things build up.
I used to feel so excited when I read people's stories. I would click on practically every thread to try out a new story and often, the stories would be intriguing. I would also read feedback from readers and those were amazing too. Now, the writing and reading atmosphere has changed. It's not as interactive or as engaging or even friendly at times anymore. Honestly, I think the forum needs to renew itself. It reached a peak and now it's on a decline. Sigh, I feel bad for saying this, but lately, I've been seeing more of its faults than its benefits. I'm the sort that can't deny problems, so this turned out to be my resolution.
Hehe, I don't think it's possible for me to change my writing style. I tried writing examples of bad grammar and it was actually very hard to do.
Like I said, I will finish book one of Rebirth on soompi because it's unfair for me to suddenly close that. I'll leave it on soompi, but I will probably not post any new stories there. I might come back one day to reply to readers though. I still feel obliged to respond to their comments because the readers put in their time to think. :)
Thank you for understanding and for sharing your ideas. Oh yes, thank you for your support. Yes, I'll always be uploading the latest chapters on fictionpress. That was where this story began, and where it will end first. ;)
Hello Jubie,
ReplyDeleteThis is the one and only stalker samantha_xyooj or sammy….lol
I’m very disappointing to hear that you will be leaving Soompi… but then i’ll be one of your many many stalkers just like pika13 whom will stalk you wherever you go…lol…
I will fully support your plans and I hope you will continue to write awesome adventures stories. I am very grateful to have come across Rebirth and be also stalker your other stories once I get a chance too I’m very proud to said that I love your writing skills… and how you make my brains think x10 times normal with all the twist and turns you make me think about every character and plots.
Please don’t feel bad because of lack responds and low counts of comments. It takes time for readers to know how great a writer you are. As times goes by you will improve more and have lots of experience in the future. And that will only give US people whom decide to write a story (more like a one-shot) improve a little. Your writing had expire me to write but what can I say…I can thinks of my outline but I somehow can’t write and it feels like a brick has hit my head…
Just like Solangel, Con.template, Moe, Kavangsta, Nuna501, HiroLovesMeia …and of course YOU. Just naming a few authors that I adore…lol..Don’t get mad…
BTW, did I also mention that you have the greatest and fastest updates? And that is something that I like about you. Unlike others, were they never update and had a great beginning or just abandon US CRAZY READERS in the cold. Maybe it’s because I stalk them too much…hehee
I do agree with you that Soompi had become worst…esp. with all the weird stuff happening… I’ll just make sure to remember my login so I can stalk you
Like I’ve mention before…lol I’m a stalker whom loves to leave long comments to show my appreciations to my authors and beg for updates…lol..
sammy
Hi sammy,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I should thank you for stalking me. That seems wrong in every sense, but I still will. ;) Thank you. Really.
I know I sort of made this announcement out of the blue, but you know, there are those days when you have an epiphany, and when you realize that you have to make a decision. I think I had been ignoring all of these issues before, and I couldn't take them anymore. I asked a close friend of mine for advice. I asked her whether or not I should leave. She knew more details about what had been bothering me about soompi. (I won't share the exact accounts of what happened on soompi because I don't like gossiping about people or things in general.) She basically said that if I'm mostly annoyed, then why am I even posting on soompi? I know that usually when you don't like what's going on. You either change it or leave it. Well, since I don't have power to change anything, I decided to leave. It's the same idea as someone being part of a circle of friends.
The good news is that I have an idea for another historical/adventure piece. It will be about a fictional kingdom, but it will have some connection to Renelle's world. Basically, this kingdom will be mentioned soon, and someone is actually from that area, so . . . you'll have a tiny snippet of what you might be seeing in the far future. ;) Oh yes, it will have a female protagonist and . . . she'll be very different from Renelle. I think she'll be kinder.
(I'm splitting the comment in two parts. It was too long.)
I admit that I am discouraged at times because of the lack of response for my works. I don't know about other writers, but I really like to know what my readers think. There's one way of interpreting this story, and that's my way, the author's way, but it's intriguing when you hear about what others think. Sometimes, I even realize that I have forgotten to include this or overlooked this fact because of what you guys have shared.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have to stress that it wasn't the lack of readers that pushed me to leave soompi in the end. I mean, I've pretty much accepted the fact, like you said, that it takes time for stories to become known. Also, I have realized that if you have readers, then that's good enough for me. What compelled me to retire from soompi were some of the things I didn't share on this blog or on soompi.
I'm glad to hear that I've inspired you and that my story has made you think. :) I don't like writing stories that don't have some sort of message or messages. I call those "brainless" stories. I can read them, but I don't . . . well, I can't write them. It does take some skill to write something that's enjoyable but lacks some meaning.
I agree that soompi's environment isn't as nice as before. It has lost its glamour and joyful atmosphere.
Outlines do help me sort out my ideas, but sometimes, I think they stop me from writing. I used to, from time to time, write out my dialogues first since I already have what they'll say in mind. However, I have realized that I become lazy and I rely on those dialogues instead of adding more to the story. So, now, even though I still have an outline about characters and their brief personality descriptions/situations, and maybe another outline for brief comments about the future plot, I don't purposely make outlines.
Oh, I'm not mad about naming authors you like. Ahaha, I like those authors too, but I don't have time to read their works anymore. I have to devote time to writing my own story.
Ahaha! I've been told that I write really quickly. I thought I had to increase my writing speed, but someone said that I was crazy for thinking that since I already update so rapidly. I think the reason that I write faster than most is that I spend too much time thinking about my stories. I was just eating, and guess what I was doing? I was thinking about what to do for the next few chapters. I was in class listening to my professor lecture about trade and guess what happened? I was thinking that that would be a great point to include in one of my chapters. When I talk to my friends, I always end up bringing up the topic of my stories. You see, I'm a workaholic and a perfectionist. It's not a very good combination, I would say. Oh, I have to add, when I'm stressed, I start writing too. So, there you go, much of my time is devoted to writing.
Right . . . when people start commenting, I become really excited and I want to respond to them as soon as possible, and so, I release a new chapter. It sounds silly, but I'm impatient. ;)
Thank you for responding to this entry and thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Jubie (cubierock11)
I'm an author on Soomp! and I know exactly what you mean. My story isn't that popular, but it has more readers than many others. I do feel some of the readers are hostile. There are those readers that read your story but only leave a one-line comment (or nothing at all) but leave 3456799532 comments on their fave story. These readers seem to be so afraid that other stories will have more pages than the ones they're following (which already have 3578997655432 pages anyway). I know there are a lot of extremely talented yet underrated writers on Soomp! I know you're one of them. If only I had the time, I would read those stories, but my writing takes up most of my free time. Do you also feel that the more popular authors are kind of snobbish? I always wonder, if only those authors try to promote some of the underrated ones (maybe just leave a small comment about their writing style), then their fans might give those underrated stories a try. I tried poromoting other stories before, but since I'm not super popular, nobody really listened to me.
ReplyDeleteI just went to Soomp! earlier and was browsing through the recommendations section. I realize how competitive some readers are. One of Solangel's readers recommended LB, next thing you know, 5 of Con's readers recommended AEOE. I think Con is very lucky that she has those uber-supportive and loyal fans that many of the other readers don't.
Sometimes, I honestly feel like the popular stories on Soomp! are like high school cliques--many people always try to be associated with them.
Good luck with your future writing endeavors! I hope you'll eventually the satisfaction and joy that you didn't find on Soomp! You're very talented, and you shouldn't give up.
^Hello! Thank for leaving such a nice comment. :) I didn't know that there were writers on soompi who felt this way too.
ReplyDeleteI think I’ve reached a point where even readers who leave one liners aren’t hostile to me anymore. I’ve never really noticed how long their comments are for other stories, but I do agree that there are a lot of underrated writers and that it seems that it’s harder for readers to try out new stories.
Thank you for the compliment. I’m like you too. I’d love to read other people’s writings, but in a sense, I’m afraid that their plot would influence my writing and like you, I don’t have enough time to handle reading and writing.
I’m not very sure about the snobby part, but I do think the more popular authors can have more leeway in terms of writing speed, topics to tackle, and replies. Your idea would probably help less known soompi writers gain more recognition, but those authors may have reasons that stop them from doing so.
I think the recommendations section is useful to a point. Sometimes, people do recommend underrated stories, but most of the time, it is a repeat of the usual stories. I didn’t realize about the competitiveness until you pointed out. I always thought people just liked recommending the already known stories since they enjoyed them so much.
I do agree too that the more popular authors are fairly lucky to have such supportive fans. I would used to wonder how that was possible, sometimes questioned if I should write a specific topic just to earn some more readers; however, I’ve realized that there’s no sense in thinking that way. I just write because I like to write. I have readers, maybe not as much as them, but I still have supportive ones too.
I think it’s also the power of word of mouth that pulls people towards the popular stories on Soompi. I was introduced to Soompi a while ago by my friend, and she too started out by introducing me to the most popular stories. She said that they were stories that could not go wrong, and I think that’s the mentality many people may also have. Why read something unless it’s something that is definitely good?
I admit that I really enjoyed reading those stories, and then I began to search for other stories to read. When it felt like I had read too many stories, I grew impatient waiting for stories to be written that I decided to write too. I was naïve though. I thought it would be easy to gain a lot of readers, but I think I’ve still enjoyed this process. Maybe I’ll return to soompi one day… I’ll see. I just need a break for now. Haha.
Thank you for the wishes and the compliments! I’m still writing . . . on my blog. Haha. I hope you continue writing too. :)
Even though you posted this a while ago, I wanted to come back to it and ask, has your time on this blog been more eventful? :D I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I was curious to know how your experience posting on your own blog and other websites was going ^^
ReplyDeleteHi mango123!
ReplyDeleteI actually dedicated a post to your question. It was rather long for one post. Haha. So here's the link if you're interested: http://cubierock11.blogspot.com/2011/08/review-of-sites-to-post-stories.html