Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

What stages do creators go through while building a following?Utsudo thinks the beginning is the hardest, with pitifully few views and little feedback. Once you get through it, you build up readers who like you. Climb higher, and the noise, criticism and people who want to steer your writing multiply too. Whatever stage you’re at, remember that your work is the foundation of everything.

From a newcomer starting at zero to modest fame

　　I’m sure every creator knows that consistently updating and staying visible is the surefire way to increase exposure and name recognition — you could say it’s the unavoidable road to building a following. But keeping it up is truly not easy.

　　The hardest period is definitely the beginning. Even if you update regularly, as a newcomer starting from zero, you have no friend squad backing you and haven’t built up a certain readership or name yet, so views and feedback are pitifully few.

　　Some more diligent people visit other authors and leave feedback, so those authors may come back and comment on their work in return. It’s a kind of reciprocity that can speed through some of the early dullness.

　　But once you get through this period, things start getting livelier. This should be the stage where you can balance your own writing while no longer feeling lonely. You gradually make new friends, and basically these are people who like you or your work.

　　If you keep building from there, you become somewhat well known. Now the noise increases, and everything gets put under a magnifying glass. Baffling self-righteous crusaders or people who like to take potshots from elsewhere often show up. People start saying your work should be this way or that, or that someone else’s work is better and you should use it as a reference — and some approach you just to curry favor.

　　Some will try to steer your writing, and may even turn into haters over a point they dislike because you won’t do as they say — or you may offend someone without even realizing it…

　　That’s when it starts getting a bit painful, especially for people who care a lot about others’ opinions.

The bigger your name, the more noise

　　Even someone like me, who keeps out of conflict (?) and avoids drama, has had people come straight at me looking for trouble, criticize me anonymously elsewhere, or report me for no reason. Thinking back, it still baffles me QQ

　　The higher you climb, the worse it gets. People who like you and people who don’t will pop up one after another, and non-issues can easily become big issues. At that point you must watch every word and action, or all your hard work could collapse overnight…

　　But reaching that level is rare among the rare, and I’m sure such people have plenty of experience and know better how to handle these things.

　　And let me clarify: I’m probably only at stage two, totally safe XDD

　　But whatever stage you’re at, be sure to tell yourself that your work is the foundation of everything.

　　Cultivating your work wholeheartedly and achieving better results is the right way to strengthen your foundation. Clinging to the coattails of the influential is also a method, but I believe that as long as you make something of yourself,the impressive people will recognize you and naturally become your friends, won’t they?

　　Do you want real readers, or a crowd of temporary friends who are just there for the buzz?

　　Show your results and prove yourself to others!

　　↑That line is for me too XD

FAQ

Further reading (in Chinese)

• Previous: #27 (in Chinese)
• Next: #29 (in Chinese)
• Start from the beginning: #01 — Utsudo’s debut
• Column introduction
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.