How did you feel after posting for the first time?

axelruler 2024-09-30 20:29:19 UTC #1

How did you feel when you posted the first chapter of your first work? For me, it was a mix of happiness and anxiety, as time passed and my story continued to have zero views, I felt discouraged, but then I realized that I should share my story here, lol.

By the way, this is my first work, "Crossfire: Greed"; is a story with dubious humor, ranging from comedy to action fantasy and horror. If you're interested in a non-sense but deep story, I think you'll be interested.

Enjoy and share your story along with your testimony about what it was like to post a chapter for the first time!

Leyelle 2024-09-30 20:33:41 UTC #2

Nervous lol. The first chapter I posted on here was for one of Tapas competitions, and I started a month before the deadline so I was panicked about how on earth I'd meet the chapter quota on time

allisoncandraw 2024-09-30 20:36:21 UTC #3

"A mix of happiness and anxiety" is a good way to put it I was sitting on the idea of making a comic for so long, when I finally posted it I had no idea what to expect! But I love doing it now

axelruler 2024-09-30 20:42:53 UTC #4

wow, nice, How far did you get in the awards?

axelruler 2024-09-30 20:44:14 UTC #5

Nice. I was apprehensive about how often I would post because I had already written a 15-page chapter while thinking about how I would post another 15-page chapter the following week. However, I ended up having to break the chapter into three parts due to the size limitations that Tapas accepts, so now I have three weeks free to plan and write the next chapters.

allisoncandraw 2024-09-30 20:50:17 UTC #6

That's a really good system! Three weeks is a perfect amount of time. I do weekly short strips and sometimes it's doable, sometimes I need an extra week or two

Leyelle 2024-09-30 20:56:55 UTC #7

I made it into the top fifty, but not the top 15, so I didn't win

MeadowHaven 2024-09-30 20:58:21 UTC #8

i was honestly paranoid and scared out of my mind that nobody would read it, or if people did read it they wouldn't like it. i still get a little paranoid about the quality of my work, but seeing people actually appreciate my work really has helped. and now I'm writing 2 different stories at once.

Cass 2024-09-30 21:03:59 UTC #9

I was nervous at first but after posting I felt really happy and proud of myself. It was like that sense of relief you get when you're finally done with something. Now I'm just excited to see where it goes.

Here's my book if you care to check it out.

axelruler 2024-09-30 21:12:42 UTC #10

wow nice! I have a lot of other stories to write, but I want to go easy for now. Success to you!

axelruler 2024-09-30 21:15:30 UTC #11

That's the spirit! Keep moving forward with good cheer!

kyupol 2024-09-30 21:59:21 UTC #12

I didn't care I just wanted to post even if the art was terrible. This was back in geocities days...

BoomerZ 2024-09-30 22:06:02 UTC #13

Pretty excited as I never did a comics before. I released the first 3 episodes as one, as that was a good first read for someone to jump on. Truthfully I got excited every week I published an episode. Need to start on my next story soon to have that feeling again. (I took a month off)

ekgart22 2024-09-30 22:09:42 UTC #14

I felt excited, I am optimistic that this is good space for my story to be seen and I look forward to any and all feedback. I was posted it on a similar site and weeks later it doesn't have 100 views yet. But here on tapas I got 130 views in the past couple of days.

I read your story! I love action and its very interesting and exciting read. Keep at it!

I'm new to forum posting but I want to put myself out there and promote more so here's my story, its a fantasy romance BL

NewAgeComics 2024-09-30 22:14:17 UTC #15

Well......for me, I was very excited because I've been making comics for as long as I remember but I had no one to share them with. I stopped making comics all together. So when I discovered tapas,I couldn't wait to get posting the comics that I've drawn 5 years ago, that's why the art is not Industry standard but I try to make it look better than what it actually looks like.

Alpha Squad over here is my first comic I've published on tapas and I felt great

Emalie 2024-09-30 23:50:08 UTC #16

Good question!!!

The first time I published something was two years ago and I didn't have many expectations, I was very nervous, my English wasn't very good, although I improved a lot thanks to the constant work I've had.

Now I'm focused on another project and I can't wait to see it finished as well.

arcaneer99 2024-10-01 00:22:53 UTC #17

Greetings!

Before coming to Tapas, I posted my first chapter on Wattpad. I wasn't really expecting to gain much after the first post, (maybe a little). I felt ecstatic to post weekly and get following. Almost a year into the story, I ended up being disheartened by the results in reads, comments and votes.

After removing my story from Wattpad, I looked into the benefits of posting on Tapas. I reviewed and edited my story for the better and posted the first chapter again during the summer. My level of happiness skyrocketed in just 3 months.

This is my first piece of work that is novel length, more than 80 chapter. Suited for anyone who's interested in the Science-Fantasy genre, an ensemble of heroic and villainous extraterrestrials, and an unforeseen prophecy. Feel free to check it out.

king-goldfish 2024-10-01 00:25:47 UTC #18

Well, posting on Tapas wasn't necessarily my first rodeo with posting online. I started posting fanfic on Livejournal in... what, 2005? 2006? Anyway, a millennium ago in internet terms. The fanfiction world has gone from Livejournal to Fanfiction.net to Wattpad to AO3 since then. When I first started posting, I was terrified every time. I definitely posted some stories and then immediately deleted the because it was too scary. If I saw a comment, I might avoid clicking on it for several days because I was too scared it would be someone systematically tearing down everything I had worked so hard to make.

I have always written original fiction, but back then I didn't know where to post that online. There just didn't seem to be an audience for it (whether there is an audience for my particular original fiction is still kind of up in the air, to be honest). Sharing original fiction is even scarier than sharing fanfiction. I took creative writing classes and eventually went to an MFA program, but still, every time, I nearly had a panic attack when I had to hand in a story. My friend used to give me Klonopin to take before we critiqued my story in class.

But, well, over the years you get slowly more comfortable with yourself and your work, I think. I still get excited to post, but a lot of the terror has (thankfully) seeped out of it. Now I don't attach so much of my worth as a person to my talent as a writer, and I also don't attach so much significance to other people's opinions. I'm a lot more open to opinions. I find the worst thing now is people being indifferent to what I've written. I relish strong opinions of any stripe, and I genuinely crave the opportunity to make my writing better. It's the sinking into oblivion now that's the true terror.

BreeBaxter 2024-10-01 00:31:20 UTC #19

@axelruler

Omg, first post feels are a whole vibe, right? Like, I was READY to drop my first chapter on the world and have everyone instantly realize I was the next big thing. You know, casual world domination through memes and horror. But... plot twist: before I even got to share it here, I tried posting it on r/nosleep.

And get this— they REJECTED it. Like, the mods over there apparently couldn’t handle my blend of spooky chaos and meme queen energy. I’m still convinced they didn’t even read it properly—probably too busy fighting their own existential crises. So, out of pure spite (and because clearly, the internet couldn’t survive without my story), I posted my first chapter here on Tapas.

Honestly, at first, I was a ball of anxiety and rage—but in a cute way, obviously. I wasn’t sure if anyone would even read it, and every time I refreshed the page and saw zero views, I felt like I was spiraling into the void. But then, people started showing up! Slowly, sure, but they got it. They vibed with the chaos, and suddenly, that rejection felt like a blessing in disguise. I mean, who needs nosleep mods when you’ve got besties who actually appreciate a good meme-infused ghost story?

So yeah, if you're dealing with zero views at first, don’t sweat it. You’ll find your people here. And your story sounds like it’s giving off some major chaotic energy, which I’m totally here for, btw. Gotta love a mix of humor, action, fantasy, and horror—sounds like my weekend tbh.

Keep pushing through that early “nobody’s watching” phase. You never know when your audience will show up—and when they do, it’s fire.

Bree

skidiggy 2024-10-01 00:31:24 UTC #20

My first story on Tapas was "Apparent Secrets." I started posting about a month before the "True Love on Tapas" contest submission deadline, and was equal parts anxious and excited.

A bevy of questions came up after first hitting that "submit" button:

What if no one finds/reads my novel? Is this story interesting enough to read? Are the MCs enjoyable and the villains deplorable enough? Is writing about inter-dimensional aliens weird? Does slow-burn romance have a chance in this contest? What if it's bad?

Ultimately, the story kept poking at me, demanding to be written. I had dreams about it, and spent every free moment drafting and revising chapters. For me, the first chapters were the toughest to put out there into the world, and I'm grateful to everyone whose given my story a chance.

If anyone would like to read "Apparent Secrets" from the start, here's an updated link: