Chapter 45 "Help Needed By Author"
A/N: (14 March 2017) This isn't a chapter, and I apologize for that. But something has happened that I am struggling to cope with, and I need your help as a person, as the writer of this story.
Chapter 44 saw a drop in readers and reviews by one-third. One third of the audience went away, without a word. That to me is devastating. To a story, that's a kill shot, and I don't know if this is survivable or whether I should keep going with this story, or let it go.
When a writer writes on fanfic, our reward is the hope that we are positively impacting people's lives, bringing some good, giving a good story. The only way we know, our "pay" as it were, is views and reviews. And I have gotten some very good ones, and thank all of you who take the time to review and let me know how you feel.
But when we lost a third of both in a chapter … it's hard to go on. And yet, I want to, when I've had time to recover emotionally. I feel like I went over a cliff, and survival is up to you guys, so I'm asking you to give me feedback on whether or not to keep going. It isn't my first choice, but I could go back and evict anything to do with abortion, even tho it will never be gone fully since I went there in the story, and switching won't delete the memory, or gain back any viewers lost since they are already gone. But I can do that. I'd prefer that to stopping the story here and leaving it hanging, or writing, "And Danny woke up. The End." There are three choices: keep going as it is, or delete and rewrite everything after 41, which would change the course of the story, or I could not publish the rest on fanfic.
Let me make this very clear: I am not upset at all with the two-thirds who stayed. I am not upset with you. I thank God you stayed. But I need your help to get past the loss of the one-third who will never read this.
When abortion came up, and I made my personal views clear, and said if I lost some viewers over it I was okay with it, I had no idea that so many would leave. I don't even know if abortion was the issue. Timing indicates it probably was, but I don't know. And even if it was, you know by now that you can trust me to handle heavy topics with dignity and delicacy. Or I hope you know.
I also know a large percentage of readers just want a good story, and don't care about me personally. That's okay, I don't expect you to. But right now I need as many of you who will, to let me know what to do, however you do it, by private PM or review…anything. As many of you as will. But please let me know. Silence but just viewing is also a way of letting me know that you are still interested.
I'm sorry to have to ask for your feedback, but as a writer and as a person, I need it.
Thank you.
Love,
Jean