Advice/Help How do you guys deal with nervousness that no one will be interested?

[Oenanthe]

I go through this every time I post an interest check either for myself personally or with a group. I spent the first hour or so after posting just eyeballing it waiting for someone to take the bait and grow increasingly disparaged as I see the view count tick up but no commenters or DMs. It's pretty tragic considering I've been at this for several years now and to date have never had a single interest check that went without a reply, so its a pretty unfounded fear, and yet here I am... staring down my Elder Scrolls interest check like a hawk.

 

[Chordling]

Being nervous is okay.

The way my mentality works: I'm making the roleplay for myself (as selfish as that sounds). If no one else is interested, oh well. I'll think of something else and maybe try again later.

 

[Idea]

It's simple for me: I always have something else to do. I'm into a lot of hobbies, so if I don't get a roleplay maybe I'll go read manga, watch anime, play video games, etc...

That said, to be absolutely fair, this is a lot easier when you're like me and you already got a few partners anyway. Still, even when I'm totally empty of roleplays it doesn't much change the answer, I just end up going through the interest checks to see if there is any RP by someone else that I would like to join.

This way no only do I have stuff to do anyway, but that also gives me the opportunity to be more patient in waiting for partners, and thus more selective.

 

[ZenailTGN]

I know the feeling of nervousness, you put heart and thought into your plotline and you really want it to do well. Honestly, dealing with that nervousness isn't a super easy thing to do. I'm always super self-conscious of my threads and always seem to find myself checking on them as well - but, I've learned something. People who are interested will reply and show their interest.

Bump the post once a day, because most people won't scroll past page 1 to find an RP, secondly - maybe post something in the 1x1 interest checks as well so you can start building up a few steady roleplay partners that you enjoy writing with. Other than that, love. Just breathe and understand; The roleplay world is a very diverse thing and finding people to fill a specific niche is hard - not everyone will be interested in everything. Just gotta keep at it until you find the thing that clicks.

All that matters at the end of the day is that you enjoy what you write. The roleplays are just as much for you as they are for other people, so make it something you're really passionate about and you'll be just fine~

 

[Hyde]

I feel like Zero has the right idea with finding a way to keep yourself distracted in the meantime whether it be a book, video game, television show, or anime. I personally play fighting games while I wait for some responses, but that's just me. Distraction is key so that you aren't staring at your interest check until someone bites. You said it yourself that your fears are unfounded and the anticipation of staring at the clock is only going to make feelings worse for yourself. So go watch an episode of a show or play a game instead. You can check the interest check in a bit after you feel like enough time has passed. Best of luck to you!

 

[Reid]

I totally understand what you mean. But I agree with others here, it's best to distract yourself but bump once a day. Sometimes I'll end up forgetting I had an interest check and then suddenly get a email notification that someone commented/PMed me about said interest check.
Sometimes I'll go days without having any bites, sometimes weeks. It really depends. RP is like that, unpredictable.

 

[Onmyoji]

I learned to treat my search threads as hit and run. Put the thread up, check for typos, close it and don't touch it for a while.

Time zones exist. Maybe you put your thread up at 4am time for your potential rp partner who is sound asleep at that moment but will see the thread a few hours later and be happy to start rp with you.

 

[Chordling]

Maybe you put your thread up at 4am

Who needs sleep anyway...

 

[Pokeking]

Being nervous is okay.

The way my mentality works: I'm making the roleplay for myself (as selfish as that sounds). If no one else is interested, oh well. I'll think of something else and maybe try again later.

I have also felt the same. I've had plenty of ideas over my years of roleplaying, but some ideas don't pan out. Luckily for me, I have lots of other ideas that might get more interest while I go back to the drawing board with the prior ideas.

Numbers of members also help. On the previous board I was on, there were just about a handful of active members.

 

[M.J. Saulnier]

The vast majority of my projects are highly developed and vision-based. I'm a story teller, not a character writer. I set out to tell a specific story (for specific motives and reasons), not to, "Just see what happens." A big part of the fun in creativity and writing is the challenge. Not being able to just do whatever you want, whenever you want. That's the easy, simple way of doing it. As an artist I prefer the more tedious, rewarding approach.

Now given what we know about my style of story telling, I go into every interest check expecting very few people to understand that vision, or attempt to see where that concept might go. I know that the majority of responses are casual rookies who responded to a fleeting spark of creative interest that won't last more than 48 hours.


I go in expecting the worst because I already know how it's going to end.

 

[IEatOilPaintings]

Oh, simple. You just have to stop caring.
Nobody's interested? Not your fault! Try again. You just gotta keep at it. And have fun!