Yeah, stories are great! Especially when they are real. People want to see real people, so much on television is fake!
I've been thinking about joining Patreon for a long time now, but it is like you said, I don't feel like asking people for money. Or perhaps I'm also scared that nobody would give me anything and that would kinda suck for my self esteem :P
If / When Steemit really starts to pay out I'll likely discontinue Patreon. Some people do really well there but you kinda have to give it a lot of attention to make those people feel like they are getting something "more". (at least that's how I feel).