Title: Is it normal to feel like quitting when your fanfic gets zero feedback?

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I don’t even know if I’m overreacting or if this is something other writers go through, but I’m honestly hitting a wall right now.

I posted my fanfiction, and it’s just… silence.

Like:

11 views

1 vote

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3 followers

And I’m sitting here thinking, did people even finish the chapter?? Did they hate it? Was it boring? I’d honestly take criticism at this point over nothing.

What’s getting to me the most is the lack of feedback. I even tried adding questions at the end of chapters to encourage engagement, but still nothing. It’s like I’m talking into a void. I keep refreshing, hoping for one comment, and it just never comes.

I tried reading other people’s stories to understand what works, what gets people commenting, but now it’s just making me feel worse, like maybe my writing just isn’t interesting enough.

And I know people say “write for yourself,” and I get that, I really do. But at the same time, it’s hard to ignore how discouraging it feels to put something out there and get absolutely no response. It makes me question everything.

I even got to the point where I deleted my book because I just didn’t know anymore.

I’m not trying to complain, I just genuinely want to understand:

Is this normal in the beginning?

How do you deal with the silence?

How do you know if your story is actually good or if it needs serious work?

I think what I really need is honest opinions, not just views with no reaction. I can handle criticism, I just can’t handle nothing.

Has anyone else gone through this phase? How did you push through it?