Fandom Snowflake Challenge. Day Fifteen.
Last day! I am sad to see this end as it was such fun, and there has been a great atmosphere of love and appreciation.
In your own space, create your own challenge. What’s something you want to see more people doing in fandom? Is there something fun you’ve tried that you think other people would enjoy if they gave it a go? Dare your friends to try ( Read more... )
In your own space, create your own challenge. What’s something you want to see more people doing in fandom? Is there something fun you’ve tried that you think other people would enjoy if they gave it a go? Dare your friends to try ( Read more... )
Comments 24
I used to think authors couldn't possibly want to hear what I might want to say. I've got better at that, I know how wrong I was, but I still suffer from leaving the review for later, wanting to write something meaningful and not a stream of incoherent "uh, oh, I loved this", then forgetting all about it. I intend to do it, but flies off my mind.
So yes, it's a challenge! Thanks for reminding me.
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I used to think authors wouldn't care what I had to say, too.
Any nice comment, however brief, is better than a big fat nothing. When you've struggled through a chapter, getting blocked and wanting to give up, eventually hitting your stride, and finishing it, going back and editing, then finally posting it -- then page clicks and not a sausage, all that makes you think is every-one hated it, that you should get a back-pack and hike to Katmandu and take up yak farming.
Actually, just by the law of averages, at least one reader probably did, but the author has no way of knowing that.
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You're right. I'd like to be able to say why something moved me, but it's not essential.
... then page clicks and not a sausage, all that makes you think is every-one hated it, that you should get a back-pack and hike to Katmandu and take up yak farming.
LOLOL. I've never got that desperate. Anyway, you don't need to go that far, anywhere in the Shetlands will do.
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No, it's not essential, just an acknowledgement means the world to writers.
I've never got that desperate.
Well, I would like to see Katmandu, so I need the excuse! :D
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And *Over the years I have seen many people post on the subject of wanting more reviews, but then admitting they rarely review (even, in a couple of memorable and gobsmacking cases, saying they didn't read any fanfic but their own).* I know! What is that?!
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I just shake my head. It does give a feeling of stand-offishness.
At the very least, reviewing will put their name about so other readers might check them out -- though really people should review because they just want to say 'I really liked that' not for reciprocal reviews. But the 'being seen around' is a side-effect of reviewing.
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I do not understand that. Replying to comments is a given, for me. I want to, anyhow! But why would any-one not? Yes, there have been times authors have not got a notification, or have been busy, but I think every author I have reviewed has answered me sooner or later. I would stop reviewing if they couldn't be bothered.
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I was going to put that in my original post. You're writers. If you can write a story, you can review a story.
That saying, I have wonderful reviews from non-writers, or people who were non-writers and later started writing. There is always a way to say: 'I liked this' and the amount of encouragement even a few words can give is tremendous.
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I think people following a WIP tend to leave chapter reviews more than people who read a completed work. I have not read a finished story without commenting all that often; I often feel the need to jump in with a comment before I finish. But it's also easier to say something on different chapters (for me) than trying to review the whole story. That was what I found difficult on the MEFA's, because I am not used to it.
For most of us, each chapter involves real labor.
Oh, my gosh. Yes!
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One of the most surprising things I discovered after joining Tumblr was that quite a few people had posted there, saying nice things about my stories. As far as I know (because names on Tumblr and pen names on archives seem to rarely match up!), none of them had actually bothered to tell me! I wondered how hard it would have been to take what they had written on Tumblr and pasted it in as a review on the SWG, or MPTT, or LJ, or ...
Everything I read, I try to say something about. It's very rare when I have nothing to say. It's not always deep or lengthy or eloquent, but I know firsthand the frustration and doubt that comes with seeing dozens of page clicks but no one has a thing to say, so I say something.
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I have seen your name on Tumblr a few times, too!
The way I see it, is that when we leave reviews we do it because we want to, because we enjoyed the story, and we're also helping to 'sell' that story. I look at reviews. If they're well-written and intelligent, I think it must be because the story deserves it, so am more likely to read. Therefore it's important or me to review in a place where others can see it as long as the story or archive is up. Good reviews are like stamps of approval. Mentioning an author in a Tumblr post that will vanish into the blue, is nice, but not the same as some-one taking the time to review where it can be publicly seen all the time.
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