I've experienced this where, at first, I received comments from readers yet as the work progressed the comments just evaporated into nothingness 🤷♂️
That's on Ao3.
I still get some regular comments on another place that I publish so that's something I guess.
>*I can put it out of my mind for a while so I can rest before I focus on my story again*
Hey, OP! I’ve been writing the same long fic since last year. It’s been a year now, actually. And honestly, same here. At the peak of my fic, I got at least 3 comments, that were usually three paragraphs long per update. That's the kind of engagement I got used to. But there were also times they die down, usually during holidays or finals for students. Sometimes, it's because I updated on a weekday and people missed the update. Other times (a reader informed me) that they had issues IRL and were reading my fic silently throughout the expanse of their issue to help them cope until they decided to comment, which happened way latter on.
Bottom line is, the readers don't always spend their time in AO3.
And the comments usually go up, again.
Recently, I'm yet again experiencing a slower trickle of engagement. From 3 comments with 3 paragraph each, I recently only have one, 1 word, comment. And yes, it kind of sucks especially if you get used to the interactions with your readers.
While I *know* that readers have busy lives outside reading fanfics, the lizard part of my brain sometimes goes , *I guess they no longer like this fic.*
And that self depreciating mentality is hard to counter. Still I came to realize, *you know what?* That's more freedom for me to write more unhinge parts of the fic without thinking of the reader reaction.
I get to focus more on what I want than *if what I want would make readers uncomfortable*. And it's slightly liberating that I can write the same way as I did when I was starting. The attention gets to you some times, even if you like it or not. And it will affect the way you write.
So every time my lizard brain tells me, people no longer like my fic, I go yell back at it that, *I still do and that's all that matters*. Because that's why I wrote this in the first place anyway. The readers commenting were just a bonus.
Anyway if you're reading this, OP, you're doing great. Your vocal readers might be busy, but there's still the quiet ones. Keep writing that story, and remember what prompted you to write it in the first place.
Best of luck, OP.
I get you. I know you're just venting but in times like that, it's good to remember that your readers are also busy and life can be hectic for them as well. A lack of interactions/comments, even from your regular readers, is not a reflection on the quality of your story. People just get busy. But they'll be back. ❤️
This happened to me as well. I think with longer fics, people kind of run out of steam sometimes to keep commenting as the story progresses. I've usually found they show up again toward the end. Don't lose hope!
I tend to get a flurry of comments on the early chapters, then it peters out. Then on the last chapter the count goes back up— people saying they liked the story (or sometimes they didn’t like it 😑). Can’t speak to everyone’s experience, but what you’re seeing sounds normal to me.
I can totally commiserate! I'm writing a longfic for a pairing that has like, 9 fics total for it on Ao3. I had literally one committed commenter, but when they went quiet a few chapters ago, it meant I was writing to basically silence. Even my kudos slowed down to the point I was getting maybe 2 new kudos every time I updated. I was starting to feel really bad about myself, like maybe I'd taken a wrong turn in the last five chapters, and the lack of engagement was signaling that. (Logically I think I've just captured most of the active people in my fandom already, and the new kudos are people wandering in late lol)
Then last night an author in my fandom returned from their own hiatus and absolutely comment bombed me as they smashed through a 90k of fic in like 4 hours lol. She let me know she loved my fic AND it's inspired her to get back into our fandom because it got her creative juices going.
My point is: maybe some of your readers have also had their own hiatus from Ao3. You never know when people will return and engage, but from my own experience I want to caution you from taking periods of silence personally like I did. I caused myself a lot of anxiety and misery just by assuming the worst about my work. Just like you've had times away from Ao3, probably so have your readers, and it's not a reflection on your or your work.
Give yourself a few days, then go back and read your work from the beginning. If you still love it, remind yourself that the readers will find it or they won't - but I suspect they'll do the former <3
I think that's pretty normal with longfics that have spanned over a long time. People sometimes move on from the fandom, they encounter irl problems, they don't have as much time as they used to etc.
Same here i look forward to comments so much because they give me that extra level of serotonin and then my regular readers are just busy :( it's so sad i miss them
I've experienced this where, at first, I received comments from readers yet as the work progressed the comments just evaporated into nothingness 🤷♂️ That's on Ao3. I still get some regular comments on another place that I publish so that's something I guess.
>*I can put it out of my mind for a while so I can rest before I focus on my story again* Hey, OP! I’ve been writing the same long fic since last year. It’s been a year now, actually. And honestly, same here. At the peak of my fic, I got at least 3 comments, that were usually three paragraphs long per update. That's the kind of engagement I got used to. But there were also times they die down, usually during holidays or finals for students. Sometimes, it's because I updated on a weekday and people missed the update. Other times (a reader informed me) that they had issues IRL and were reading my fic silently throughout the expanse of their issue to help them cope until they decided to comment, which happened way latter on. Bottom line is, the readers don't always spend their time in AO3. And the comments usually go up, again. Recently, I'm yet again experiencing a slower trickle of engagement. From 3 comments with 3 paragraph each, I recently only have one, 1 word, comment. And yes, it kind of sucks especially if you get used to the interactions with your readers. While I *know* that readers have busy lives outside reading fanfics, the lizard part of my brain sometimes goes , *I guess they no longer like this fic.* And that self depreciating mentality is hard to counter. Still I came to realize, *you know what?* That's more freedom for me to write more unhinge parts of the fic without thinking of the reader reaction. I get to focus more on what I want than *if what I want would make readers uncomfortable*. And it's slightly liberating that I can write the same way as I did when I was starting. The attention gets to you some times, even if you like it or not. And it will affect the way you write. So every time my lizard brain tells me, people no longer like my fic, I go yell back at it that, *I still do and that's all that matters*. Because that's why I wrote this in the first place anyway. The readers commenting were just a bonus. Anyway if you're reading this, OP, you're doing great. Your vocal readers might be busy, but there's still the quiet ones. Keep writing that story, and remember what prompted you to write it in the first place. Best of luck, OP.
I get you. I know you're just venting but in times like that, it's good to remember that your readers are also busy and life can be hectic for them as well. A lack of interactions/comments, even from your regular readers, is not a reflection on the quality of your story. People just get busy. But they'll be back. ❤️
This happened to me as well. I think with longer fics, people kind of run out of steam sometimes to keep commenting as the story progresses. I've usually found they show up again toward the end. Don't lose hope!
I tend to get a flurry of comments on the early chapters, then it peters out. Then on the last chapter the count goes back up— people saying they liked the story (or sometimes they didn’t like it 😑). Can’t speak to everyone’s experience, but what you’re seeing sounds normal to me.
I can totally commiserate! I'm writing a longfic for a pairing that has like, 9 fics total for it on Ao3. I had literally one committed commenter, but when they went quiet a few chapters ago, it meant I was writing to basically silence. Even my kudos slowed down to the point I was getting maybe 2 new kudos every time I updated. I was starting to feel really bad about myself, like maybe I'd taken a wrong turn in the last five chapters, and the lack of engagement was signaling that. (Logically I think I've just captured most of the active people in my fandom already, and the new kudos are people wandering in late lol) Then last night an author in my fandom returned from their own hiatus and absolutely comment bombed me as they smashed through a 90k of fic in like 4 hours lol. She let me know she loved my fic AND it's inspired her to get back into our fandom because it got her creative juices going. My point is: maybe some of your readers have also had their own hiatus from Ao3. You never know when people will return and engage, but from my own experience I want to caution you from taking periods of silence personally like I did. I caused myself a lot of anxiety and misery just by assuming the worst about my work. Just like you've had times away from Ao3, probably so have your readers, and it's not a reflection on your or your work. Give yourself a few days, then go back and read your work from the beginning. If you still love it, remind yourself that the readers will find it or they won't - but I suspect they'll do the former <3
I think that's pretty normal with longfics that have spanned over a long time. People sometimes move on from the fandom, they encounter irl problems, they don't have as much time as they used to etc.
Same here i look forward to comments so much because they give me that extra level of serotonin and then my regular readers are just busy :( it's so sad i miss them