Posting a story online is exciting and scary. There's a sense of accomplishment at having completed a story -- or even a chapter -- that's ready for the world. There's also the fear of how it will be received. Will people like it? Will they read it? What if it falls into the hands of trolls?
One of the ways Silbrith and I ease those fears is with our posting rituals.
Part of the ritual is mundane, and is mandated by the platforms we post on. Upload the document, add the summaries, add tags, and so forth.
Another part is creative. Over the years we've added Pinterest boards that we update for stories, and we've written posts for our blog to accompany the stories. I have to admit, in these cases the creativity happens in advance, and on the posting day we're left with the mundane bits again of changing settings to make boards visible and to publish a post written days earlier.
Often there's food involved. One of my favorite posting day indulgences is pizza, and when I'm publishing for the annual AO3 Chocolate Box, of course chocolate treats are mandatory. Silbrith's indulgences change, and I think it's Indian food now...
The really creative part of our rituals is the posting party. Of course, neither of us actually have the time or energy to host a party, so we plan a party in the world of our characters. We also have wormholes to take those characters and our muses (Baby Bear, and so forth) to any destination. The destination and theme can be inspired by what we posted, or it can be inspired by what's going on in our lives. Early in the winter, we and the characters might plan an event building snow creatures, with snowball fights. When we're tired of snow, a more tropical destination could be more appealing.
So that's our posting whimsy. We pick a destination. We have a theme or events in mind. And then sometimes the next day Silbrith and I will share brief stories about what the characters did, conversations they had, and so forth.
The things authors do to soothe our posting nerves...
Lucky T-shirts are also helpful in fighting those trolls. There are many side benefits to posting parties. Those fictitious settings and activities can turn into plot bunnies! One series of parties associated with a posted adventure just popped into the story I'm currently writing.
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