the calliope crashed to the ground
There's been some talk lately about feedback ( here, here, and here), and I keep kicking this post around in my head, debating whether I really want to get into it again or not. Obviously I decided I did, mostly so I could stop thinking about it and go back to thinking about the stories I want to write.
See, the thing is, I really don't like the "feedback = payment" equation. I dislike it almost as much as I dislike the "fic is a gift" school of thought (which I loathe with the white hot burning of a thousand fiery suns, but let's not get distracted), mostly because it frames the act of giving feedback as an obligation.
Now, I do think that as members of a community, there should be some giving back in addition to consuming, and for fans who read but don't produce stories/vids/art, giving feedback is one way* of making a contribution to the community -- they've gotten pleasure out of a story or a work of art and so they tell the author/artist, who gets pleasure out of being told. It's a win all around.
But the number of people who read is so much larger than the number of people who leave feedback, and always will be, for any number of reasons, and so content producers will sometimes sit around going, "But I had 300 hits on that story/vid post/drawing. How come only 30 people said anything?" (note: I personally find 30 to be an awesome number of comments, but I still remember my early days in XMM, where 2-4 pieces of fb was the norm for my stories, so my scale might be skewed). With so much fic to read and so little time to read it in, along with a whole host of issues I'm leaving aside, at some point or another, most people don't leave feedback, even when they like a story, and the who/where/why/when is always a mystery. (I include myself in this, as well. I leave a lot of feedback. Sometimes, I just don't, and it's unlikely I could give you any particular reason why on any given day.)
(I do think people who regularly ask for feedback on their work ought to be out there leaving some themselves, but that is a whole other discussion.)
But the fact of the matter is, no one is under any obligation to read, to finish, to like, or to comment on any piece of fan work they come across. It's really awesome that people do, and it can encourage writers/artists to produce more stories/art/whatever. But an obligation, as in, I created this and you must pay for it now since you read and enjoyed it? No. (The exception being gift exchanges where the fic/art/vid etc. was created for a specific person, often to their specific requests. Then there is an obligation, as there is with any gift, to say thank you, at the very least.)
And there's lots of talk about how we do this for free and don't get any compensation yada yada, and I... don't know that that's necessarily true. I get the compensation of knowing I wrote a story, I made a thing that didn't exist before, and 99% of the time, it's a thing that makes me happy. I post that thing because I hope it will make other people happy. Sometimes, it really does. Sometimes... not so much. (Er, I don't know how it works for the folks who apparently hate everything they write, so I can't speak to that; mostly, I write stories so I have stories to read that suit my inclinations, so I reread my own stuff fairly often and it makes me happy. Other people have other motivations.)
Is it discouraging to put a lot of work into something and see it languish, unloved? Of course it is. But it's also - how shall I put it? - the breaks. And everybody's level of 'unloved' is different. I know I've had stories that I thought did awfully poorly in the comment department, especially compared to how much I loved them and was happy with them, and when I went back I saw it wasn't necessarily the case, so of course my impressions are skewed, because I really want people to like my stories, and if I feel they don't, I'm sad.
But all of that is beside the point, which is, I don't view feedback as payment, much as I don't view fic as a gift, because I'd be writing it anyway. Possibly I'd be sharing it in a different venue (or not at all), if I didn't think other people would like it (though given my track record of posting what other people would consider drawer-fic, probably not), but I'm not doing it for feedback. Feedback is awesome and I love it and I always crave more of it, but I won't -- I actually can't -- write stuff just to get feedback. (I am not always so good at hitting the fannish sweet spot, even when I think I am, so I am not sure I'd be successful even if it interested me to try repeatedly; unless I get smacked upside the head with an idea I simply MUST write, I tend not to write things I can't believe in for the length of time I need to write the story; unless I can come up with a way I can believe it, I'm not going to write it; probably it's not a scenario I like much anyway, so why am I going to go to a lot of trouble to write a story that doesn't hit my sweet spot, unless it shows up demanding to be written? As you can see, my fandom experience is all about ME ME ME. Which is pretty much as it should be, I think.)
If you (generic) are writing just to get feedback, I don't know what to tell you, because I can't see how that could be successful for 99% of us. I mean, there are a small handful of fannish writers/artists who would get a hundred comments if they posted their shopping list, but most of us are not those writers/artists, and it seems like a surefire way of making yourself miserable to think "if I write X, I will get Y number of comments" or "if I don't get Y number of comments, I won't write X anymore." If writing X makes you happy, write X. If writing D makes you happy, write D. Eventually, you'll find other people who like what you like. It may not be a whole lot of people, but then again, maybe it will.
Yes, I understand that posting and getting no response is disheartening, and it might make you want to stop altogether, and if you're only in it for the social aspect or the feedback aspect, maybe you should. But I can't imagine not writing just because I didn't get X number of comments on every story I post. I would have stopped a long time ago if that were the case (I know, I know, some of you wish I had).
Obviously, mileage varies.
I hope this makes sense, as work has interrupted me eleventy million times and I should probably go do some of the things I am actually getting paid to do.
--
*other ways include building/maintaining infrastructure, i.e., archives and comms and lists etc., doing canon analysis, writing meta about fandom, running challenges, making recs, hosting discussions, etc.
~*~
See, the thing is, I really don't like the "feedback = payment" equation. I dislike it almost as much as I dislike the "fic is a gift" school of thought (which I loathe with the white hot burning of a thousand fiery suns, but let's not get distracted), mostly because it frames the act of giving feedback as an obligation.
Now, I do think that as members of a community, there should be some giving back in addition to consuming, and for fans who read but don't produce stories/vids/art, giving feedback is one way* of making a contribution to the community -- they've gotten pleasure out of a story or a work of art and so they tell the author/artist, who gets pleasure out of being told. It's a win all around.
But the number of people who read is so much larger than the number of people who leave feedback, and always will be, for any number of reasons, and so content producers will sometimes sit around going, "But I had 300 hits on that story/vid post/drawing. How come only 30 people said anything?" (note: I personally find 30 to be an awesome number of comments, but I still remember my early days in XMM, where 2-4 pieces of fb was the norm for my stories, so my scale might be skewed). With so much fic to read and so little time to read it in, along with a whole host of issues I'm leaving aside, at some point or another, most people don't leave feedback, even when they like a story, and the who/where/why/when is always a mystery. (I include myself in this, as well. I leave a lot of feedback. Sometimes, I just don't, and it's unlikely I could give you any particular reason why on any given day.)
(I do think people who regularly ask for feedback on their work ought to be out there leaving some themselves, but that is a whole other discussion.)
But the fact of the matter is, no one is under any obligation to read, to finish, to like, or to comment on any piece of fan work they come across. It's really awesome that people do, and it can encourage writers/artists to produce more stories/art/whatever. But an obligation, as in, I created this and you must pay for it now since you read and enjoyed it? No. (The exception being gift exchanges where the fic/art/vid etc. was created for a specific person, often to their specific requests. Then there is an obligation, as there is with any gift, to say thank you, at the very least.)
And there's lots of talk about how we do this for free and don't get any compensation yada yada, and I... don't know that that's necessarily true. I get the compensation of knowing I wrote a story, I made a thing that didn't exist before, and 99% of the time, it's a thing that makes me happy. I post that thing because I hope it will make other people happy. Sometimes, it really does. Sometimes... not so much. (Er, I don't know how it works for the folks who apparently hate everything they write, so I can't speak to that; mostly, I write stories so I have stories to read that suit my inclinations, so I reread my own stuff fairly often and it makes me happy. Other people have other motivations.)
Is it discouraging to put a lot of work into something and see it languish, unloved? Of course it is. But it's also - how shall I put it? - the breaks. And everybody's level of 'unloved' is different. I know I've had stories that I thought did awfully poorly in the comment department, especially compared to how much I loved them and was happy with them, and when I went back I saw it wasn't necessarily the case, so of course my impressions are skewed, because I really want people to like my stories, and if I feel they don't, I'm sad.
But all of that is beside the point, which is, I don't view feedback as payment, much as I don't view fic as a gift, because I'd be writing it anyway. Possibly I'd be sharing it in a different venue (or not at all), if I didn't think other people would like it (though given my track record of posting what other people would consider drawer-fic, probably not), but I'm not doing it for feedback. Feedback is awesome and I love it and I always crave more of it, but I won't -- I actually can't -- write stuff just to get feedback. (I am not always so good at hitting the fannish sweet spot, even when I think I am, so I am not sure I'd be successful even if it interested me to try repeatedly; unless I get smacked upside the head with an idea I simply MUST write, I tend not to write things I can't believe in for the length of time I need to write the story; unless I can come up with a way I can believe it, I'm not going to write it; probably it's not a scenario I like much anyway, so why am I going to go to a lot of trouble to write a story that doesn't hit my sweet spot, unless it shows up demanding to be written? As you can see, my fandom experience is all about ME ME ME. Which is pretty much as it should be, I think.)
If you (generic) are writing just to get feedback, I don't know what to tell you, because I can't see how that could be successful for 99% of us. I mean, there are a small handful of fannish writers/artists who would get a hundred comments if they posted their shopping list, but most of us are not those writers/artists, and it seems like a surefire way of making yourself miserable to think "if I write X, I will get Y number of comments" or "if I don't get Y number of comments, I won't write X anymore." If writing X makes you happy, write X. If writing D makes you happy, write D. Eventually, you'll find other people who like what you like. It may not be a whole lot of people, but then again, maybe it will.
Yes, I understand that posting and getting no response is disheartening, and it might make you want to stop altogether, and if you're only in it for the social aspect or the feedback aspect, maybe you should. But I can't imagine not writing just because I didn't get X number of comments on every story I post. I would have stopped a long time ago if that were the case (I know, I know, some of you wish I had).
Obviously, mileage varies.
I hope this makes sense, as work has interrupted me eleventy million times and I should probably go do some of the things I am actually getting paid to do.
--
*other ways include building/maintaining infrastructure, i.e., archives and comms and lists etc., doing canon analysis, writing meta about fandom, running challenges, making recs, hosting discussions, etc.
~*~