One of the things I hate about being in a fandom with so many newbies and kiddies, is that there are a large number of "authors" who don't want to hear anything if you didn't think their fic is perfect.
Mind you, none of my favorite authors fall into that category, or if they do, they hide it well. But after listening to the whining and moaning and having endured insults and pointed silence over the last two years, I no longer leave feedback unless I can honestly say I loved the fic and wouldn't change a thing, or unless it's a friend I know would want to hear both the good and the bad (if there IS any bad).
I, of course, come from the olden days of zine publishing, and I have never gotten (nor do I intend to get) used to the horrific spelling, misused or unused punctuation, and butchered grammar that is found in a lot of fanfiction (not just in this fandom, but in most online fandoms that I've seen). And that's aside from the people who seem to have watched a different movie than I did...
Could I do better than I do at leaving feedback when I *do* like a story? Yes. Do I have any intention of leaving feedback for a significantly larger proportion of the stories I read? No. Both for the reasons mentioned above, and because I'm usually reading it about 6 months after the fact, which seems to confuse a lot of people.
i think the point that the writer of that article was making was more "invisible readers! let yourself be counted!" than "leave constructive reviews for everything you read".
if i'm not enjoying a story, i don't finish it. therefore, every story i read i enjoy. her suggestion was to merely leave a comment along the lines of "i enjoyed that, thanks", if you can't be bothered leaving a longer review.
and, as a writer, i have to agree with her! i prefer a simple message like the one above to no message at all. there are almost 100 people that have my fic-only lj friended, and yet i get an average of about 1.5 comments per fic i post. surely there are more people reading? are they reading and just not enjoying it? as she says, it can be lonely, just posting your stories out into the void. and it's so easy to just post a quick comment when you've just read something. even if it is 6 months old!
All of what they said is so fucking true. I hate when people do that. I comment to every fic that I read. Long ago, when I was a newbie, I never reviewed, but since I became an author, I know how important it is.
Well, right now, the reason I'm mostly not leaving YOU feedback is that, these days, I tend to save any fic that sounds interesting and read almost none! I still haven't made it through all the Frolijah bath stories...
Basically writers are insecure creatures, myself thoroughly included. I know it's just a fact that more people read than will comment. Sometimes I wonder if it's an intimidation thing. Like if you seem to be in a fandom "clique" and there's a cetain tone to the feedback you're getting. A newbie might feel weird about chiming in. Still, I agree. I think just a simple, "I've been enjoying this" at least gives you the notion that someone, somewhere is reading. Hey, I even prefer flames to silence.
But I tend to think that if nobody is reading something I'm writing, then either it sucks or it has no audience, so I will sometimes rip it "off the air" or just not continue something (at least not posted). Because really, let's not fool ourselves. Yes, we write for ourselves. But part of the fun of posting is to get feedback and to feel a part of an online writing community in which we take turns sharing things.
I agree with every word of this little essay type thing. As I writer myself, I can honestly say that is is discouraging not to get feedback. Even if you know that what you have written is good, lack of feedback does make you begin to question your abilities, and ultimately stops you from writing.
My MPREG series is a case in point. I was very aware that the series would only appeal to a minority and as such only expected a very few comments as feedback. This I got. But as soon as I took a long break from writing I recieved many e-mails both privately and on my site and LJ from people who had been reading it and were worried I'd stopped writing for good. Most of these people I'd never heard of before and had never left feedback for me. I was totally unaware of them. As soon as I knoew they existed I had a new lease of life for actually writing.
It is only polite if you like a fic to comment, after all, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to give you time out from thr real world/ end of rant!!
thanks for the link. I found it very valuable. I'm always angsting about feedback, so it's good to know I'm not the only one not receiving as much fb as I'd like.
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Mind you, none of my favorite authors fall into that category, or if they do, they hide it well. But after listening to the whining and moaning and having endured insults and pointed silence over the last two years, I no longer leave feedback unless I can honestly say I loved the fic and wouldn't change a thing, or unless it's a friend I know would want to hear both the good and the bad (if there IS any bad).
I, of course, come from the olden days of zine publishing, and I have never gotten (nor do I intend to get) used to the horrific spelling, misused or unused punctuation, and butchered grammar that is found in a lot of fanfiction (not just in this fandom, but in most online fandoms that I've seen). And that's aside from the people who seem to have watched a different movie than I did...
Could I do better than I do at leaving feedback when I *do* like a story? Yes. Do I have any intention of leaving feedback for a significantly larger proportion of the stories I read? No. Both for the reasons mentioned above, and because I'm usually reading it about 6 months after the fact, which seems to confuse a lot of people.
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if i'm not enjoying a story, i don't finish it. therefore, every story i read i enjoy. her suggestion was to merely leave a comment along the lines of "i enjoyed that, thanks", if you can't be bothered leaving a longer review.
and, as a writer, i have to agree with her! i prefer a simple message like the one above to no message at all. there are almost 100 people that have my fic-only lj friended, and yet i get an average of about 1.5 comments per fic i post. surely there are more people reading? are they reading and just not enjoying it? as she says, it can be lonely, just posting your stories out into the void. and it's so easy to just post a quick comment when you've just read something. even if it is 6 months old!
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Thanks for the link.
*shares with all friends THAT DON'T REVIEW*
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But I tend to think that if nobody is reading something I'm writing, then either it sucks or it has no audience, so I will sometimes rip it "off the air" or just not continue something (at least not posted). Because really, let's not fool ourselves. Yes, we write for ourselves. But part of the fun of posting is to get feedback and to feel a part of an online writing community in which we take turns sharing things.
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My MPREG series is a case in point. I was very aware that the series would only appeal to a minority and as such only expected a very few comments as feedback. This I got. But as soon as I took a long break from writing I recieved many e-mails both privately and on my site and LJ from people who had been reading it and were worried I'd stopped writing for good. Most of these people I'd never heard of before and had never left feedback for me. I was totally unaware of them. As soon as I knoew they existed I had a new lease of life for actually writing.
It is only polite if you like a fic to comment, after all, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to give you time out from thr real world/ end of rant!!
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