Preferred Name: Blaire Hawthorne
Pronouns: he/him
Genres you create: Horror and Fantasy with LGBTQ+ characters.
Where you plan to take your writing journey: To a point where I can reasonably live off with it. I don't really have a plan. I just write LOL
Link to Tapas Account: https://tapas.io/vblairehawthorne1

I like cheese.

Numbers

The anime Bakuman once went in-depth about the topic of having "two types of authors." There, a character said that an author may either be one of the following types: The kind of person who does whatever they want and the type of person who calculates the current meta to make their work even more popular.

I think I'm more in line with the first part wherein I would literally not care about other things as long as I'm writing the things I like. If I want to write it, I would do it, and I would feel happy right away.

However, I would be a hypocrite if I say that numbers never affected me. I would be jealous of those above me, and I would often feel like I am a failure and that I am not good enough when the numbers I produce aren't on par compared to the people around me.

Numbers is a frightening thing, and I am never once a fond friend of it. Heck, I failed most of my math classes! Numbers to me is a necessary evil because people will not bat an eye on you unless you have good enough numbers, but it just kept going on and on and on. It promotes a sense of "grind." If you're at the bottom, it makes you feel sick of not being good enough; if you're at the top, it will stress you up because it makes you want to keep pumping those chapters up to remain at the top. High numbers are never good enough and low numbers will make you feel weak,

The best way that I found in dealing with the negatives of seeing numbers is just to never let it be the goal. Don't let it consume you Write what you want, do what you want, and make what you want. If you think you're not good enough in a numerical sense, that's fine! Some stories grow fast while some take their sweet time. But your work will still touch the soul of someone out there because you did it with joy in mind, not numbers. What I learned in my years of writing online fiction is that numbers mean nothing. Engagement does. If you have a million reads, a million likes, and/or a million subscribers but only a very, very small fraction of them interacting with you, then the numbers mean nothing. In contrast, a book with conventionally low numbers but had an amazing engagement is far better.

What I'm trying to say is that numbers will eat you up unless you have readers out there that will make you feel better. Rushing to get a lot of numbers will make you feel proud, but having an audience that loves and support you and your work will make you feel happy. And "happy" is the goal.

Preferred Name: Hodge
Pronouns: She/Her
Genres: Fantasy, Action, Romance, BL
Writing Journey: hmmm I suppose I want to create the best comics I can, and also eventually build an audience, money, that sort of thing.

On the topic of numbers, I sort of actively avoid them haha. I felt like they were getting in the way of improving my craft, so I try to just ignore that sort of thing if possible. It tends to just suck away time and get in the way of the creative process.

Oh but I do appreciate the actual people behind numbers, especially since that number is rather low and are often the same people. I hope that even if my number goes up this doesn't change.

Yes! No matter who you are, how long you've been here, and how big you've gotten, seeing people genuinely loving your work and expressing them on the comments will still always be a cause for celebration. Validation comes best from the words of our readers. Not numbers. Numbers are like crack.

Ah it's back. Great! One note, if no one remembers, I no longer use the Dragonsparking account name, so no more Dragon. Just Nate will do xD

Anyways on topic. Numbers?

• Just a way to catalogue my progress with fans. I don't have any strong feelings about the numbers themselves.

• Overall, thinking about the numbers comes with a huge dose of apathy. Though when I receive a new sub that makes me happy.

•Sure, there has to be some balance, otherwise getting consumed by the drive to let those numbers define your art. Or, if you care too little, then you might lose interest entirely and leave those who are counting on your art for entertainment in the lurch.

Here’s what I put last thread with a few edits!

Preferred Name: Spade

Pronouns: She/her

Genres: Currently I’m working on a Supernatural Mystery and A comedy Fantasy (but almost everything I do is normal mid-high fantasy)

Plans: I just want to make lots of comics and improve in art! I literally just hit my one year anniversary for working in comics in any capacity outside of thinking about doing them so I’m pretty new to this ahahahaaaaaaaa. I have never really written like....a novel or anything before but I really want to try to get into it but don’t especially know where to start! I have one thing I’m thinking of doing as a novel but I’m still working on the story idea..?

Link to Tapas Account: https://tapas.io/spadedigsbutts
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While I know numbers are important and stuff and getting high ones is satisfying, I tend to not take them super seriously? For me they’re just sort of just a gauge of if I’m generally doing okay. Like if I get a subscriber or two a month I’m just like “well someone is enjoying it in some way!” And I must be doing something right (or really Really hilariously wrong!). I’ve always had a very “someone is always better, someone is always worse” Perspective, so to me a number really is just a number, though I do appreciate those who did take the time to give me said number! (Comments> numbers)

Preferred Name: Silver (I've been called that because of my username SilverLugia456)

Pronouns: She/Her

Genres you create: Mystery, Adventure, Action, Suspense,

Where you plan to take your writing journey:I would like to write Flash Fiction pieces (I've written a few so far but nothing published), I also like to work on scripts for movies and/or shows, short novels / light novels, and also teach as a teacher for English or creative writing.

Link to Tapas Account: https://tapas.io/SilverLugia456

A little about myself, so I have written in many different formats while learning about creative writing for the entertainment industry. So I have narrowed it down to writing light or short novels, scripts for animation, and flash fiction pieces since I have fun writing those pieces.I do have a goal hoping that my Pirate's Chronicles novel reaches 100 subbers I'm almost to 50 so I'm halfway there ^_^

Onto the topic of Numbers

• What numbers mean to me are setting goals, knowing limits and also testing myself to see how much i can change my writing based on certain limits. I've experience this a lot especially when it comes to how different forms of writing may have different number limits, whether those number limits are for characters used or for the number of words used. I have written short flash fiction pieces that needed to be between 300 - 500 words, regular flash fiction pieces about 1000 words, and other pieces that may be longer. I also set personal goals for myself especially when I'm on tapas that my word limit per chapter falls between certain set number values to keep the chapters a bit consistent. Due to my experience I always seem to keep the number amount in mind when it comes to my writing. I find my eyes always travel down to the count just to make sure that I keep track of it.

• Thinking about numbers could bring me either joy or frustration depending on the situation. When I'm limited to writing a full piece that has to be 500 words or less there may be some frustration because for me sometimes I find myself wanting to write more but knowing that if i do I need to cut down a lot of what I write. I've found myself a bit stumped or annoyed at times because no matter how I try to fit a story within those smaller word limits the story never really seemed complete.
  On the other hand I also look at the positive side of having those number limits for myself because it helps me to write more condense and precise details that really bring out the elements in my story. For the longest time when I was in college learning creative writing I would always find myself writing too many words that basically I didn't need. There were details that just went on and those extra words took away from my stories. However over time when I had to write flash fiction pieces or other writing prompts where the words were limited I got to work on that. I learned that I can use just one word or a small phrase of words that will make a bigger impact of a scene I want to convey to the reader instead of two complete sentences that say the same thing in redundancy.

• I'm one that doesn't really focus a lot on book stats because I become more focused on the story. Though I'm not entirely sure about focusing on those stats, I believe there is a healthy balance for it but maybe it may be difficult to obtain that balance. It could affect one negatively or positively depending on how the individual views those numbers. If the numbers are viewed in a negative light then it could become more of a bad weight on someone's shoulders, however if someone views the stats in a positive light it becomes a driving force that helps them with their motivation. I think the balance might be where numbers or stats could be viewed both ways but when it is there is a more positive outlook for those stats or numbers.

It was fun answering these questions and I like the idea of this thread as well. ^_^

Hello again!

• Numbers are people that didn't just keep on scrolling, and actually gave it a try, even if they're not going to stay. I get a lot of validation, mostly self inflicted;;
• Some frustration, and joy when it's unexpected, plus some bad self esteem if it's low in an episode day, and I might get too bummed out looking at them.
• There is, though it's a constant fight against 'you're not doing as good as your peers'. Comparison is inevitable even if it's misleading and rarely helpful.

(Copy-pasting from before!)

Preferred Name: Ivan (pen name)
Pronouns: He / Him (I'm female but chose a male pen name for marketing reasons. So it would be weird to call she/her with that pen name )
Genres you create: Action, Scifi, Mystery, Drama (Romance as subplot)
Where you plan to take your writing journey: Would love to have my novels published! But a more achievable goal is to gain more readers and earn a little side money.
Link to Tapas Account: https://tapas.io/ivanskilling

• I agree with what @Jenny-Toons said about what numbers represent! It makes me happy to see that my novels have at least been seen by a growing number of people.

• Most of the time, numbers bring me joy. To me, any subscriber, like, comment gained is always good. Each time, I reach a new goal, I strive for the next number goal. I personally love thinking about how to increase visibility and reach of my novels! Frustration is bound to happen sometimes if I see another story get high numbers without having actual good content (e.g., 50 shades of grey ). But the frustration passes.

• I think the balance is struck if book stats is only one of your goals and source of motivation. The main motivation/goal should be more about being satisfied with what you've created and to feel pride in it. Seeing other people comment and enjoy your works, even if it's only one, is also more important.

Re-joining the gang.

Preferred Name: Jens Richard
Pronouns: He/Him/They/Them/Blue
Genres you create: Comedy but try to do some serious stuff too.
Most known for ”Blue Life” and ”The Last BL Comic”

Where you plan to take your writing journey:
The become the ones that Tapas is interviewing.
Link to Tapas Account: https://tapas.io/jensrichard77