lack of updates and inspirationohgodspikeJune 15 2006, 08:08:32 UTC
Hey Tasha - i'm sorry you are feeling so bad about the lack. i am coming at this from the point of an extremely AVID reader. I pride myself on leaving reviews because i think it is a sacred duty to let my authors know that i like their work. I have read NOTHING but fanfic for i think it is going on 3 years now. it is the only thing that sustains me in these hard times.
If i don't like a story, i just don't review because i don't like to say anything bad. i may comment on bad grammar spelling etc. but that's as far as i go. because you guys are out there - you are putting your hearts out there and for that reason alone, i admire you all so very much.
that being said - I have been so hurt in the past by WIPs that i just simply cannot deal with them anymore. i have written several authors trying to get their perspective on the philosophy behind WIPs and the answers vary. from my perspective, i have to wonder why WIPs? if you are going to write a story, why not just write the whole story and post it all? aren't you (the general "you" not you specifically) spreading yourself way too thin when you are working on several stories at once? it's no wonder you get discouraged because you've got too much going on. and if others are like me - we don't like to read the WIPs until they are finished. therefore, it follows that you won't be seeing reviews until the story is finished.
I thought that artists in general produce their art primarily for themselves? is that the case? because if it is, then the reviews from your readers are just the icing on the cake right? If you are writing for reviews, aren't you sort of pandering to your audience, rather than trying to bring them to your level of understanding? I could be completely full of crap here so feel free to correct me.
i have a huge stack of stuff that i check every couple of weeks to see if it has been updated and for the most part, there has been nothing. And specific to you Tash - i have been waiting and waiting for twists of fate to be updated because i so want to read it all at once. Looking at it from the reader's point of view, imagine the disappointment when you have been following a story and then all of a sudden it is just abandoned. that has happened to me so many times i can't begin to tell you.
i wouldn't name names here but there are several wonderful authors out there who have nothing BUT WIPs. why do they do that? aren't they writing for their own pleasure and the readers support and feedback is secondary? Because posting a chapter at a time and then if/when you don't get the reviews you are seeking and then pulling the story - well, that just sucks really bad. If chapters are posted one at a time just to see if anybody is reading them - well i think that's kind of cruel.
would any of you authors be willing to give your reasons for writing WIPs? it might help me be less frustrated. Right now i have 10 or more WIPs that i have been waiting to be finished for way over a year -that is just so discouraging that it is no wonder people give up on reading and reviewing.
And that also being said, i just want to say here again that i very much appreciate you wonderful authors and that you give of yourself to us. I always try to leave a review or sometimes i just personally email the author and have made some wonderful online friends from writing to them.
But Tash - maybe you need to give some thought to your own philosophy of WIPs and also look realistically at your real life and how many stories you have going and try to reconcile that you can't do so much at one time. you have the ideas, you have the stories down on paper in part. why not just do one at a time? doesn't it get really hard to give your best to each story when you are just going from one to the next? that's how it would seem to me.
i do not mean to come off as critical here - either of you personally, or fanfic authors in general. because that is the farthest thing on my mind. I'm just expressing my frustration with the WIP deal.
my post was too long so i'm gonna put the rest of it in another one
If i don't like a story, i just don't review because i don't like to say anything bad. i may comment on bad grammar spelling etc. but that's as far as i go. because you guys are out there - you are putting your hearts out there and for that reason alone, i admire you all so very much.
that being said - I have been so hurt in the past by WIPs that i just simply cannot deal with them anymore. i have written several authors trying to get their perspective on the philosophy behind WIPs and the answers vary. from my perspective, i have to wonder why WIPs? if you are going to write a story, why not just write the whole story and post it all? aren't you (the general "you" not you specifically) spreading yourself way too thin when you are working on several stories at once? it's no wonder you get discouraged because you've got too much going on. and if others are like me - we don't like to read the WIPs until they are finished. therefore, it follows that you won't be seeing reviews until the story is finished.
I thought that artists in general produce their art primarily for themselves? is that the case? because if it is, then the reviews from your readers are just the icing on the cake right? If you are writing for reviews, aren't you sort of pandering to your audience, rather than trying to bring them to your level of understanding? I could be completely full of crap here so feel free to correct me.
i have a huge stack of stuff that i check every couple of weeks to see if it has been updated and for the most part, there has been nothing. And specific to you Tash - i have been waiting and waiting for twists of fate to be updated because i so want to read it all at once. Looking at it from the reader's point of view, imagine the disappointment when you have been following a story and then all of a sudden it is just abandoned. that has happened to me so many times i can't begin to tell you.
i wouldn't name names here but there are several wonderful authors out there who have nothing BUT WIPs. why do they do that? aren't they writing for their own pleasure and the readers support and feedback is secondary? Because posting a chapter at a time and then if/when you don't get the reviews you are seeking and then pulling the story - well, that just sucks really bad. If chapters are posted one at a time just to see if anybody is reading them - well i think that's kind of cruel.
would any of you authors be willing to give your reasons for writing WIPs? it might help me be less frustrated. Right now i have 10 or more WIPs that i have been waiting to be finished for way over a year -that is just so discouraging that it is no wonder people give up on reading and reviewing.
And that also being said, i just want to say here again that i very much appreciate you wonderful authors and that you give of yourself to us. I always try to leave a review or sometimes i just personally email the author and have made some wonderful online friends from writing to them.
But Tash - maybe you need to give some thought to your own philosophy of WIPs and also look realistically at your real life and how many stories you have going and try to reconcile that you can't do so much at one time. you have the ideas, you have the stories down on paper in part. why not just do one at a time? doesn't it get really hard to give your best to each story when you are just going from one to the next? that's how it would seem to me.
i do not mean to come off as critical here - either of you personally, or fanfic authors in general. because that is the farthest thing on my mind. I'm just expressing my frustration with the WIP deal.
my post was too long so i'm gonna put the rest of it in another one
Reply
Leave a comment