reviews and rantings
As I am sure everyone knows by now, I LOVE getting reviews. It tells me that people are reading my stuff. On AFF.net, I have a hit count thing that tells me that, but very few reviewers. But that's OK. Wanna know why??
My AFF reviewers are awesome. I have like, two or three, really, that reply on a fairly regular basis, and that's it. But they always tell me things like "I love how (fill in character's name here) has (matured, overcome obstacle, etc etc)."There's more than just, 'i like this. gimme more'. Those kind of reviews have their place, indeed, and tend to be what I get here. Do I complain about that? Heck no.
A review is a review. I love reviews that offer constructive criticism, because even if I don't 'like' them, concrit is good for the soul. I love feedback that tells me if such-and-such point or character that i'm trying to create is being made apparent enough for my readers to see. I love knowing if my writing is loved, or liked, or even despised ( I would eat flames for breakfast, if I got them).
And then, occasionally, I get the dud reviews. I'm not meaning the 'I liked this write more.' or the 'update soon, please?' reviews. Most of those I ignore other than to make a point that my work was read. No. Dud reviews: Where it's obvious that the reviewer glanced over your work just enough to get an idea what's going on but couldn't be bothered to focus enough to actually get the point. I've given my share of those, I admit it. Not proud of them, but I've made them. But reading those left behind on my own work makes me feel like I'm chewing on a battery. Acid and shocking, all in one.
I beg of you, all of you: If you're gonna leave me a review that's going to attempt to be more than a mere "I like this/ I hate this" type review, can you at least *try* to give me some decent feedback? I won't embarrass one of my last reviewers by naming or even sharing their review, suffice it to say that they left me a dud review and managed to annoy the crap out of me. I write because I love it, I love the characters and the plot bunnies and playing in other people's sandbox (fanfiction) or building up my own little cracked worlds (original fiction). I wouldn't keep working on a four-year-old story that's nearly a 100K long fic if I didn't love it. And I do love it- with all of its complexities and irritations, Disguised Curses is my plot-baby of doom that I cannot abandon. It may be the death of me. Nah, j/k. But the point is, I put a little bit of myself into each and every chapter I write for stories I love (and I love most of the things I write). It's worth it to get great reviews and actual feedback that lets me know if what I'm creating is doing what I want it to do.
Reviews are a song I listen for, but concrit and decent feedback are like a good high. They make *ANY* day better. Truly. So I'm going to post this, hyper-cut the link over to my AFF page, and watch for havoc. Because, seriously? I love my stories. But I don't need reviews if they are pointless.
Ok. Done sounding bitchy. Love you all. Have a great summer and take care y'all.