Well certainly my fan fic ways of writing is different than my original fic ways... since one people (sometimes) read while the other... well you don't see my name published anywhere else besides the newspaper (as a byline... of course
( ... )
Yeah, see, that's what I use them for, too. Sometimes I'll get an interesting one that has me going... "Hmmmm not a bad idea." But I don't use them as the only source for my ideas and think if I don't get any reviews tonight I can't finish this chapter, bla bla blah.... Ya know what I mean. I think.... ;)
And I can be a total whore of the feedback persuasion too... heh. There are times when I feel like I shouldn't bother posting at SDR because I don't ever get any feedback there. Then again that group has been pretty dead lately if not for the Advent Challenge thingie... But exactly... writing for myself first and foremost. The reviews are just gravy (mmmmmm, gravy....).
Hee, thanks! I find it interesting too. And not sure if you know whose fics sorta prompted this discussion. Will have to fire an email your way about it...
Personally, my reaction when I see a disclaimer that says something to the effect about how the person will quit posting if they don't get feedback is to hit the Back button and save them the trouble of writing. I generally don't read WIPs to start with, but seeing a message like that is a surefire way to make me not read the fic. Why? Mostly because it indicates a lack of maturity which makes me think the writing will be subpar.
And that sounds harsh, but there it is.
And yeah, I've noticed what you're talking about, too, with gearing the writing towards what people FB about. I don't get that - if you have a story to tell, tell it. If you need inspiration, ask for prompts. But to let readers dictate how things will play out? For that, I'd recommend telling people to go buy a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book.
Wow, I seem cranky today. Sorry. I think you just hit one of my pet peeves. :)
Yeah, seeing something like that really discourages me from reading too. I know people can be hard on themselves when it comes to writing, but saying something like that does kind of point to a lack of maturity.
I've never really understood it either. If you're posting a WIP and need inspiration, I ask for prompts or if something interesting catches my eye, I'll think about it and decide if I want to include something like that in the story at some point. Not that I do it very often anymore since I usually wait till the story is done before posting it.
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books... yeah, that's a good way of putting it. LOL - no worries. It's starting to become a real pet peeve of mine and I just had to vent about it. *grin*
Needing/begging for feedback all depends on the writer more than the work.
I find that if I see a fic which has a little note begging for feedback then I tend to avoid it or if I'm in the mood I'll read it out of curiosity and then decide about leaving feedback.
I personally aren't bothered by feedback, if I get some then I'm happy and if I don't I'm happy because at the end of it all I'm only writing for myself and not to please other people.
I try and leave feedback as much as possible (whenever I remember to) even if it's something like "aww sweet" it's still feedback, even if it's not what the writer may have expected it is something.
Really want to say more but I'm not making much sense :)
Yeah... when I'm confronted with that situation I'm more likely to give feedback if the story is complete.
I try to do that too. I figure that if I took the time to read a story, the least I could do is leave a little note and let the author know what I thought of it. But I'm not crazy about people who hold their fics hostage until they get feedback, or people who let all their feedback determine what happens in the story. But that's just me.
With the whole feedback thing, I think that the only time it's appropriate to ask for feedback is when you've written something that involves a character or a pairing and a situation that you're not particulary comfortable with writing wether it's something moral on your part or something trivial about a situation or a particular character to you as a writer because that feedback can then help for anything that you write in future that maybe involves either of those things.
I could never hold anything I write hostage for feedback just to see where people would want me to take it. That's why I'm waiting till I have all of If You Asked, my epic angst-addiction fic finished and then once it's up, I'll let people decide if they want to read it. Although I know pretty much where everything happens with that right down to the very last line spoken.
That's a good point. I think it's beneficial in that case. If I started writing fic in a whole new fandom, I'd want input from people to see if I pulled it off ok (especially if I wasn't too confident about it).
Same here. That's why I've started waiting till I have my fics all done before posting them (and why I probably won't have anything new posted for quite a while... lol).
I used to post WIPs all the time, and back when I was first writing fanfiction I thought the reviews would get me motivated to work on the story and get more chapters finished.
That was ages ago, though. Now after talking to a few other writers I've decided to wait a bit more till I have the stories completed. But sometimes reviews could be little sources of inspiration.
I'm the same way. I mostly write for my own enjoyment and if others happen to like it, well it's a bonus I suppose. :)
I have three perspectives here really: As a reader, I wouldn't want the writer to solely rely on feedback input - especially if you can read the feedback (like on ff.net). Where's the surprise in the story if I can guess where it's going by reading reviews. I don't need the actual story anymore. And I hate it when people try to coerce me into writing feedback !!! Makes me either want to turn away immediately (like some others have already said) or I feel forced to leave my opinion and can't enjoy the story. Either way it's not what the writer wanted (at least I hope so). As a beta, I'd tell the writer who depends on feedback ideas, to get his/her own beta !!! Or find someone to bounce ideas with. As a writer I can't image not even having the smallest idea where the story is supposed to go. Is that really possible ? Then again, I've never written fanfic and therefore never gotten any comment on what I wrote before it was all over anyway :)
You're right - if the writer is relying only on my feedback to tell him/her where the story is going, where is the surprise? It feels like you've been spoiled.
*nods* It bugs me when people hold their stories hostage... "Please leave me comments or I'll just stop posting this story right here." While I understand that feedback can be food for the writer's soul, it gets annoying when people are so demanding about it.
It wouldn't surprise me if the people who do this don't have a beta. I have 3 (sometimes more) separate beta readers and they are always great to bounce ideas with. And I have fun bouncing ideas with them whenever they need something betaed.
Most of the time when I write, I'll have a general plot outlined at first... sometimes with specific dialogue or action in a scene. Then I add more detail to it. I could see someone being stuck on a little detail, but to have no idea where your story is going to go at all... I've never really had that.
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And I can be a total whore of the feedback persuasion too... heh. There are times when I feel like I shouldn't bother posting at SDR because I don't ever get any feedback there. Then again that group has been pretty dead lately if not for the Advent Challenge thingie... But exactly... writing for myself first and foremost. The reviews are just gravy (mmmmmm, gravy....).
Hee, thanks! I find it interesting too. And not sure if you know whose fics sorta prompted this discussion. Will have to fire an email your way about it...
*hugs back*
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And that sounds harsh, but there it is.
And yeah, I've noticed what you're talking about, too, with gearing the writing towards what people FB about. I don't get that - if you have a story to tell, tell it. If you need inspiration, ask for prompts. But to let readers dictate how things will play out? For that, I'd recommend telling people to go buy a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book.
Wow, I seem cranky today. Sorry. I think you just hit one of my pet peeves. :)
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I've never really understood it either. If you're posting a WIP and need inspiration, I ask for prompts or if something interesting catches my eye, I'll think about it and decide if I want to include something like that in the story at some point. Not that I do it very often anymore since I usually wait till the story is done before posting it.
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books... yeah, that's a good way of putting it. LOL - no worries. It's starting to become a real pet peeve of mine and I just had to vent about it. *grin*
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I find that if I see a fic which has a little note begging for feedback then I tend to avoid it or if I'm in the mood I'll read it out of curiosity and then decide about leaving feedback.
I personally aren't bothered by feedback, if I get some then I'm happy and if I don't I'm happy because at the end of it all I'm only writing for myself and not to please other people.
I try and leave feedback as much as possible (whenever I remember to) even if it's something like "aww sweet" it's still feedback, even if it's not what the writer may have expected it is something.
Really want to say more but I'm not making much sense :)
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I try to do that too. I figure that if I took the time to read a story, the least I could do is leave a little note and let the author know what I thought of it. But I'm not crazy about people who hold their fics hostage until they get feedback, or people who let all their feedback determine what happens in the story. But that's just me.
Making sense to me. :)
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With the whole feedback thing, I think that the only time it's appropriate to ask for feedback is when you've written something that involves a character or a pairing and a situation that you're not particulary comfortable with writing wether it's something moral on your part or something trivial about a situation or a particular character to you as a writer because that feedback can then help for anything that you write in future that maybe involves either of those things.
I could never hold anything I write hostage for feedback just to see where people would want me to take it. That's why I'm waiting till I have all of If You Asked, my epic angst-addiction fic finished and then once it's up, I'll let people decide if they want to read it. Although I know pretty much where everything happens with that right down to the very last line spoken.
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That's a good point. I think it's beneficial in that case. If I started writing fic in a whole new fandom, I'd want input from people to see if I pulled it off ok (especially if I wasn't too confident about it).
Same here. That's why I've started waiting till I have my fics all done before posting them (and why I probably won't have anything new posted for quite a while... lol).
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(The comment has been removed)
That was ages ago, though. Now after talking to a few other writers I've decided to wait a bit more till I have the stories completed. But sometimes reviews could be little sources of inspiration.
I'm the same way. I mostly write for my own enjoyment and if others happen to like it, well it's a bonus I suppose. :)
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As a reader, I wouldn't want the writer to solely rely on feedback input - especially if you can read the feedback (like on ff.net). Where's the surprise in the story if I can guess where it's going by reading reviews. I don't need the actual story anymore.
And I hate it when people try to coerce me into writing feedback !!! Makes me either want to turn away immediately (like some others have already said) or I feel forced to leave my opinion and can't enjoy the story. Either way it's not what the writer wanted (at least I hope so).
As a beta, I'd tell the writer who depends on feedback ideas, to get his/her own beta !!! Or find someone to bounce ideas with.
As a writer I can't image not even having the smallest idea where the story is supposed to go. Is that really possible ? Then again, I've never written fanfic and therefore never gotten any comment on what I wrote before it was all over anyway :)
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You're right - if the writer is relying only on my feedback to tell him/her where the story is going, where is the surprise? It feels like you've been spoiled.
*nods* It bugs me when people hold their stories hostage... "Please leave me comments or I'll just stop posting this story right here." While I understand that feedback can be food for the writer's soul, it gets annoying when people are so demanding about it.
It wouldn't surprise me if the people who do this don't have a beta. I have 3 (sometimes more) separate beta readers and they are always great to bounce ideas with. And I have fun bouncing ideas with them whenever they need something betaed.
Most of the time when I write, I'll have a general plot outlined at first... sometimes with specific dialogue or action in a scene. Then I add more detail to it. I could see someone being stuck on a little detail, but to have no idea where your story is going to go at all... I've never really had that.
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