Praise is earned. Criticism is deserved.

[liana_bluestar]

 

Comments

[gothatheartholo]

Man, I don't even know where to stand in all of this

[liana_bluestar]

Oh, I remember our conversations, hun. ^_^ I'm not that old of a geezer yet. ;)

For a while there, it was hard for me to let it be. As I said I went from hardly receiving any reviews on the stuff I truly cared about to receiving all kinds of meaningless reviews for stuff that I kind of cared about, and it happened quickly. I'll also admit I didn't react very kindly, either, but then I've already said as much.

I'm trying to let it be. Probably not very well . . . I don't know, I don't have any kind of an instrument to measure my progress.

-hugs- Sorry I missed you last night. Had to get a new data cable for the cell phone. It was dying . . .

[liana_bluestar]

"Update soon" actually never used to bother me because people hardly ever reviewed, and, if someone commented a few months later saying something about awaiting the next chapter for something, I'd look at that story and when that review was left, and say, "Oh. I guess it's time to update it." lol (Yes, I was silly back then.)

Long-Winded Comment is Long! 1/2

[lawless523]

I think you're expecting far more out of your readers/reviewers than they can give or you have any reason to expect. There are plenty of people who write and read fanfiction for fun and recreation. The more serious writers among us may bellyache about it and may not like it but it's not a bad or wrong motivation for reading and writing fanfiction, it just doesn't coincide with our needs or with an objective evaluation of the worthiness of various stories

Re: Long-Winded Comment is Long! 1/2

[liana_bluestar]

Replying to this part now. I'll get to the other section in just a moment

Re: Long-Winded Comment is Long! 1/2

[lawless523]

Hmmm. I didn't realize I'd said I wouldn't, or writers shouldn't, change stories in response to reviews. I guess I think writers needn't, unless they're correcting typos or grammatical errors, but I've changed stories slightly after they're posted if I've come up with better wording, or in one case when someone pointed out an inconsistency in tone to me. I liked her suggestion better than the way I'd done it

Re: Long-Winded Comment is Long! 1/2

[liana_bluestar]

I was mostly referring to the tweaking. This was something that came up in my composition courses when I returned to college. (I think I still have my coursebook and that it's in the garage.) A writer never quits editing (or something along those lines). I thought it was ridiculous then, but that was more for research stuff. I've also seen that it's true.

And for the reviews you've just mentioned, yeah, I tend to ignore those "I didn't like it because of the pairing" (probably a lot better than ignoring an update soon review). For the most part, I've usually written the obsure or rare pairings as opposed to the popular pairings. I'll go with the popular pairings if I'm new to that particular fandom (or if I simply can't see those characters ever parting). But I like to play around, too and maybe even squick someone out. ^_

Long-Winded Comment is Long! 2/2

[lawless523]

Someone fairly well-known did that to a friend of mine on a wonderful fic; the reviewer spent paragraphs in a Gurabite review drubbing her for repetitive use of Eiri and Shuichi's name in a particular sentence or paragraph and suggesting alternatives. It was really inappropriate, especially since it was a wonderful warm-hearted story without grammar or characterization issues. It didn't deserve paragraphs of explanation of how it would have been better if she'd referred to Eiri as "the blond" or "the author" and Shuichi as "the pink-haired one" or the "singer" and it pissed my friend off mightily, especially as it came across as condescending. The reviewer could have just said, "In such-and-such paragraph (or sentence) it felt like you used Eiri and Shuichi's names too much; maybe you could have used pronouns or other descriptors such as 'author' or their hair color" and explained why she finds using their names so offputting

Re: Long-Winded Comment is Long! 2/2

[liana_bluestar]

Here's where I have a problem with reviews as they are written text. As the one receiving a review, I have no idea as to the frame of mind of the author of the review. Is this person angry? Is this person indifferent? Is (s)he trying to help? Unless someone has actually told me they're really emotional as they're writing the review, I have no idea what the true tone of the words written. If it sounds like there's a tone, it's because I've put it there. It's also something I have to watch when I leave a review because I can really put a tone in what I'm saying

Re: Long-Winded Comment is Long! 2/2

[lawless523]

I think you're conflating "update soon" and "write more". "Update soon" is (usually) for a story that clearly isn't finished, and your gripe about it was that it put too much pressure on you, the author, to live up to those often unrealistic expectations

Re: Long-Winded Comment is Long! 2/2

[liana_bluestar]

Given how long ago the whole "update soon" argument happened (it's been five years or around there), the fandom it happened with, and the website where it happened, I wasn't conflating "update soon" with "write more". I wasn't kidding when I said I would post a chapter (having written that section that given day and decide to get it out there -- this particular story was a writing challenge so it wasn't just for me but for the person issuing the challenge) and receive an update soon within an hour of the next chapter's arrival. That's when people were like, "Well, it just means they like your story, and they want to see more of it. They're not as articulate as you are." (-insert sarcasm- No . . . I thought they believe me to be their writing pony!) I mean, it really is one thing if an update soon is coming three months later or even a year later, (yes, I'm bad at updating. Too many ideas in my head, it seems) but an hour or even a week later? I feel like that fanfiction readers don't always take into account the author has a real life