As kind of a follow up to last week's inquiry into how you leave feedback, it seems fitting to also ask: how do you reply to feedback that's left for you
( Read more... )
I guess I'm a chatty feedbacker and a chatty replier, too. I'm a chatty everything-er, when I'm in that kind of mood. You know this already. ;)
I like what ZZ said, that sometimes we get to know people thru fb and find friendships that way. When you friended me back and started leaving fb, I was SO honored, and then you volunteered to beta, and the rest has a happy ending! I know it's sometimes hard to find something to say -- and when it happens to me that's when I just say "thanks" -- but if I really liked it but I just don't have the words, I try to add a ♥ or a hug. I worry that I sometimes overdo it and it doesn't mean as much to the author that way...do you think that's true?
Chatty, insightful feedback (for instance, gemjam's) sometimes gets me unblocked if I'm writing a series, which is what I mostly write. It can give me a different perspective on my own work...just like fb to non-fic posts can. I NEVER resent that; I always appreciate it like whoa. And I appreciate concrit if I know the person basically respects me. I WANT concrit badly if there are typos or if I've overlooked changes in tenses. As for trolls, I think I've had a couple, but I just try to assume that nobody really *wants* to devastate anybody on LJ. I tell myself that they're drunk or something. I know I'm probably wrong for giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I do it for my own sanity, not to spare their feelings. I've been known to not respond to fb that I suspect comes from a troll. And here's a personal example of how things can be misinterpreted -- I responded to nice feedback from someone on my flist and I STILL can't figure out what I said wrong (yeah, I obsess about it), and she defriended me the next day. I wish it wouldn't be too neurotic of me to ask her if I offended her (she's from another country so I could've phased something that I didn't mean as an insult, but it was an insult in her culture), but I did reply with a "?", which she ignored.
I try to get a feel for who likes chatty fb and who doesn't. I, for one, crave it! But I totally understand that sometimes people just don't have the words, and as someone whose words desert her fairly often, how can I hold it against anyone? I can't, that's how! I never hold it against people who "miss things," either, because I assume they've read the other comments and they don't want to repeat what's already been said.
You say that long author's notes turn you off, but I tend to write them because 1) I'm a talkaholic, and 2) I'm insecure and I'm afraid people won't "get" my story otherwise. I want it to make MORE people read my fic, but maybe it makes more people want to skip it. I'll have to ponder that.
You already know that I'm a stickler for good manners. I didn't know you when you didn't know to respond to feedback, so you never upset me, and I probably would've been one who asked you "why?" eventually, not as a form of blame but just out of curiosity. When I post fic (as opposed to just writing for myself, which I've been doing all summer until very recently), in my mind I've giving people a gift, not looking for an ego boost. My mama taught me that if somebody gives me a gift, ALWAYS leave a thank-you note -- and I think of fb as a thank-you note. Sometimes I know that someone has read my fic because they've referred to things in it or use the same title (though I know the latter could just be a coincidence), but they didn't leave fb, and that upsets me because I just want acknowledgment that they read it. It just takes a second to write, "Thanks for writing this." I love chatty feedback, but any feedback at all is better than none, and I LURVE everyone who makes the effort to do it and I try to show that in my responses.
'Nuff said? Wanna borrow the nerdy Sawyer glasses from my user info page? ;)
I try to add hugs or hearts or smileys in cases of wordlessness, too, but you know I worry that *I* over use those, so...I don't know.
I've also never noted you to have an author's note that was too long. I think I would have said something! But they are out there, I've seen them.
The gift thing, now I'm kind of worried I owe you some thank you notes because you are always doing nice things for me! Does saying thank you count??? I've never considered my fiction to be gifts to other people -- even when it's written for other people, oddly. They're things I felt driven to write, and therefore to post. I've also never thought of the feedback that I leave as a gift to the writer. Maybe more of a thank you note for providing something I enjoyed reading. It's just how it works.
Do I need the nerdy Sawyer glasses after having read all that or do you need them for being such a nerd? The world will never know. ♥
That counts more than anything! It's all that's needed. :)
I commented to someone once that I write fic for me but I post for others. That's why I think of it like I'm giving them a present, because if I didn't want to give them something that would make them happy, I'd just keep it for myself where I can enjoy it and be happy with it all by myself, and not risk the disappointment of people not enjoying it. But yes, you do give "gifts" of feedback, because saying "thank you" is a reciprocal gift. You have Miss Manners' full approval. ;)
I am SUCH a nerd! What does that make Sawyer, though? (Uh, HOT.)
I'm emailing you about future b&b ideas in a minute.
I like what ZZ said, that sometimes we get to know people thru fb and find friendships that way. When you friended me back and started leaving fb, I was SO honored, and then you volunteered to beta, and the rest has a happy ending! I know it's sometimes hard to find something to say -- and when it happens to me that's when I just say "thanks" -- but if I really liked it but I just don't have the words, I try to add a ♥ or a hug. I worry that I sometimes overdo it and it doesn't mean as much to the author that way...do you think that's true?
Chatty, insightful feedback (for instance, gemjam's) sometimes gets me unblocked if I'm writing a series, which is what I mostly write. It can give me a different perspective on my own work...just like fb to non-fic posts can. I NEVER resent that; I always appreciate it like whoa. And I appreciate concrit if I know the person basically respects me. I WANT concrit badly if there are typos or if I've overlooked changes in tenses. As for trolls, I think I've had a couple, but I just try to assume that nobody really *wants* to devastate anybody on LJ. I tell myself that they're drunk or something. I know I'm probably wrong for giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I do it for my own sanity, not to spare their feelings. I've been known to not respond to fb that I suspect comes from a troll. And here's a personal example of how things can be misinterpreted -- I responded to nice feedback from someone on my flist and I STILL can't figure out what I said wrong (yeah, I obsess about it), and she defriended me the next day. I wish it wouldn't be too neurotic of me to ask her if I offended her (she's from another country so I could've phased something that I didn't mean as an insult, but it was an insult in her culture), but I did reply with a "?", which she ignored.
I try to get a feel for who likes chatty fb and who doesn't. I, for one, crave it! But I totally understand that sometimes people just don't have the words, and as someone whose words desert her fairly often, how can I hold it against anyone? I can't, that's how! I never hold it against people who "miss things," either, because I assume they've read the other comments and they don't want to repeat what's already been said.
You say that long author's notes turn you off, but I tend to write them because 1) I'm a talkaholic, and 2) I'm insecure and I'm afraid people won't "get" my story otherwise. I want it to make MORE people read my fic, but maybe it makes more people want to skip it. I'll have to ponder that.
You already know that I'm a stickler for good manners. I didn't know you when you didn't know to respond to feedback, so you never upset me, and I probably would've been one who asked you "why?" eventually, not as a form of blame but just out of curiosity. When I post fic (as opposed to just writing for myself, which I've been doing all summer until very recently), in my mind I've giving people a gift, not looking for an ego boost. My mama taught me that if somebody gives me a gift, ALWAYS leave a thank-you note -- and I think of fb as a thank-you note. Sometimes I know that someone has read my fic because they've referred to things in it or use the same title (though I know the latter could just be a coincidence), but they didn't leave fb, and that upsets me because I just want acknowledgment that they read it. It just takes a second to write, "Thanks for writing this." I love chatty feedback, but any feedback at all is better than none, and I LURVE everyone who makes the effort to do it and I try to show that in my responses.
'Nuff said? Wanna borrow the nerdy Sawyer glasses from my user info page? ;)
Reply
I try to add hugs or hearts or smileys in cases of wordlessness, too, but you know I worry that *I* over use those, so...I don't know.
I've also never noted you to have an author's note that was too long. I think I would have said something! But they are out there, I've seen them.
The gift thing, now I'm kind of worried I owe you some thank you notes because you are always doing nice things for me! Does saying thank you count??? I've never considered my fiction to be gifts to other people -- even when it's written for other people, oddly. They're things I felt driven to write, and therefore to post. I've also never thought of the feedback that I leave as a gift to the writer. Maybe more of a thank you note for providing something I enjoyed reading. It's just how it works.
Do I need the nerdy Sawyer glasses after having read all that or do you need them for being such a nerd? The world will never know. ♥
Reply
That counts more than anything! It's all that's needed. :)
I commented to someone once that I write fic for me but I post for others. That's why I think of it like I'm giving them a present, because if I didn't want to give them something that would make them happy, I'd just keep it for myself where I can enjoy it and be happy with it all by myself, and not risk the disappointment of people not enjoying it. But yes, you do give "gifts" of feedback, because saying "thank you" is a reciprocal gift. You have Miss Manners' full approval. ;)
I am SUCH a nerd! What does that make Sawyer, though? (Uh, HOT.)
I'm emailing you about future b&b ideas in a minute.
Reply
Leave a comment