| Most archive and community websites allow for comments, and I was curious to know what writers and readers thought of reviews. Please feel free to elaborate or add your own thoughts while responding! :) As an author, are getting reviews important to you? Or is it only the quality of the review that matters, rather than the number? When a story you post receives no comments, how does that make you feel? If the archive allows, do you reply to the reviews you get? Do you make it a point to read and review other writers, or do you just exclusively write. To the readers, do you review stories? Every story you read, or do you prefer to only be polite and leave a comment for works you enjoy? Or are you on the opposite scale, and only leave feedback on a bad work? Have you ever flamed a story, and what was your motivation? Does it upset you if the author doesn't respond to your review? As for me, I do admit that I can be a little needy at times and therefore like to get reviews on my fics. However, I truly don't feel they are necessary as long as I am proud of my pieces. It's nice to get reviews, and of course helpful to get constructive feedback, but I won't throw a temper-tantrum if a fic gets "ignored". I know there's plenty of reasons why stories I write don't get reviews, and is no way a reflection of how I write. I also appreciate all kinds of reviews, from well thought-out critiques, to a brief sentence of "this is good, keep writing". Honestly, I also am not offended by nasty flamers, or writing-Nazi's that just troll archives looking to knit-pick every single sentence. Every comment I get I realize there's a reason behind it, and I try to understand everyone's viewpoint. All of it can help me grow as a writer. Back when I started writing and posting to FanFiction.net, there was no elaborate system that allowed for private messaging or authors to reply to reviews left (that I recall) - so I did not respond to my reviewers. Today, I do like to at least say "thank you" to everyone that takes the time to read and review. Unless it's an anonymous post, to which I cannot reply. I don't often read fanfic, I'm sorry to say, only because I have such rare tastes and look for serious, quality works. But when I do find something that sparks my interest enough to read it, I will leave a review every time. I try to make thoughtful comments on what I liked, as well as what I thought could be better, and I do it in a nice manner; I never want to offend anyone. Sometimes, though, I will leave just a one-liner if I can't think of anything else to say. *shrugs* |
| I don't mind review so long as there is substance to it. I detest the "Lawl! this was epix, rite moar!" type of reviews. |
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| In my honest opinion, a review is where you reason out why you like a story or not. If you like a story but feel that the author needs to improve a little on his or her writing then constructive criticisms are more than welcomed, because I feel that the opinions of other writers will motivate me to improve. |
| Honestly, within my chosen fandoms, I don't see authors giving their readers ultimatums too often. However, it is ridiculous, and clearly shows that the person is merely writing for the attention. If that's the case, then I don't believe said person has any passion for writing. A true author writes to write, because there's that part of you that desires to tell a good story, and show a connection/appreciation to your characters. If you have to threaten to halt a story should you not get any "love" - well, you obviously have no love for your own writing. I do see author's posting "Please R&R" in their synopsis and that gets my goat. I usually stay away from fanfics that demand or beg their readers to R&R right up front because I feel it's the author announcing the story isn't that great and they want to be consoled with praise. For one, a synopsis should tell me what the story is about and lure me into reading the piece, not show the writer's need for feedback. Any quality story should stand on its own two feet, and move me enough to review. I don't want to feel like I have to at the start. I am glad you brought up the fanfic writers clique dilemma. Whenever I see stories that have a ton of reviews, I get interested enough to check out the fic, thinking it must be awesome. And then, after finding a mediocre story or something horribly written, I look at the reviewers and realize it's nothing but the fanficcer's "groupies", or even real life friends. Sometimes it seems like those are the only people reading fanfics, but that's a shame because obviously those readers are only reading the works of their friends. Which kinda explains why my stories pass under the radar; I don't have followers, friends, or my own clique. *shrugs* |
| It's quite refreshing to read how those who have replied prefer to get constructive criticisms, rather than shiny, one-line-praise reviews! I'm pleased to know you all care about writing a good story for others to read. :) In the fandom I currently write for, I was slammed several months back for leaving a review that pointed out flaws and questioned the lack of canon. I was not flaming, and I did not mean it in a cruel way. In fact, I was asking the author to ponder on some of her own plot-holes because the story had some pros, and could have been a good story if she had just thought about what she was telling us. Instead, I got instant backlash on how stupid I was and that I ought to get my facts straight; in an ironic turn, she misspelled one of the main character's names, and soiled her letter with poor structure and further misspellings of simple words. Heh. She said she only wrote it for fun, so it didn't have to be well-written and the ideas didn't have to make sense. She went even further by blocking me (so she could have the last word - or so she thought) and adding a tagline of quote-unquote "Don't like my writing? Do me a favor and don't fucking read it!" to her profile and fics. Her childish outburst was darkly amusing, considering the biggest reason I had even attempted to read her work was because she went trolling for reviews. She half-heartedly left reviews for other authors in the fandom (including me, though I don't believe she actually read the story) so I thought I'd show her the common courtesy of doing the same. Afterwards, I saw in the forum she was also begging for reviews, blatantly touting herself, and then said she was open to outside opinions. WTF?! Oo Because the forum was open, I offered reasonings in my defense, intelligently and not immature as she had. And she has since removed the story, which was another show of childish rage. Again, a shame because the story had potential. *rolls eyes* All because she couldn't handle constructive criticism. And you know what? Even a flaming negative review will have some semblance of truth to it, some tidbit of how you can improve. You just have to accept the fact that not everyone will love your work, but it's out there for everyone to read. Suck it up, and be prepared to accept criticism (brutual or sugar-coated) from people who may or may not like your fic. And that's my own review horror story! :P As a postscript, I'd like to mention what even FanFiction.net has to say when you go to post a review: A well rounded critique is often the most rewarding gift a reader can give. Please use this golden opportunity to offer a well deserved praise and/or tips for improvement. Snap. And I try to do just that. I would hope other readers would do the same for my stories. |
| Yemi_Hikari, you are my idol! I admire how serious you take the world of fan fiction. w(^o^)W I don't typically bother with contacting FanFiction.net because I've tried twice in the past - not for anything serious like this, just asking to have a subcategory created - and have not gotten replies. Not once. *shrugs* Anyway, that particular author deleted her story, and has not been back to the website since. Her profile still bashes reviewers (me, obviously) but I don't plan on wasting anymore time on her childish outbursts. Feh. |
| As any author would agree, reviews of their works could be considered important. It's all good that you work on a project and feel happy with it, but getting other people's opinions can help with improving it. The only problem is how people review. Obviously, constructive criticism is usually greatly appreciated ("your story was very good, but the characters didn't seem very true to themselves", "It was a bit short. Maybe try to make it a bit longer" etc.). This is how creators improve. Trolls will undoubtedly pop their heads up from time to time, but there's really no escaping them. Non-helpful comments can also be given, though how they're taken will depend on their content. Example: I did a K-On!! x Slender fanfic. One reader posted 'I'm not getting any sleep'. It wasn't a constructive comment, but I found it funny. Things like that I think are okay. Basically, it all comes down to the individual. Some think that reviews of their works are important, some don't. I would probably place myself somewhere in the middle. I appreciate helpful reviews, and I enjoy hearing that people liked the stories I did, but I wouldn't label them as 'very important'. |
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