Avarion Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 Like every other author on AFF, I don't think it's too much to ask for a bit of constructive criticism. Praise would be nice, too. And I don't mean taking the lazy route of submitting a rating and assuming it adequate feedback; I mean taking just a couple of minutes to write something in response. Anything. It doesn't need to be paragraphs long, nor does it need to be fancy in any way. Even a simple 'I really liked it' can provide an immense amount of morale to a writer who still feels a bit unsteady. Even well-established writers deserve at least one review! Isn't it the least they deserve for the time spent working to produce an example of their creativity? Needless to say, I have only submitted two things so far, one being a one-shot and the other a work in progress. Each have received a decent number of hits, but neither have a single review, and together they have only received four votes. Part of me puts my annoyance down to impatience, but the other part puts it down to discourteousness. I've noticed that a lot of good quality fanfictions have lots of hits, some in the high thousands, but only a handful of reviews, whereas poor quality fanfictions have been bombarded with reviews (often negative), and I wonder what suddenly makes readers find the time to submit criticism to a bad writer when they can't take a few moments to do the same for a good writer. Does the mindset of a reader assume that a good writer is inherently aware of their own talent and ability and therefore doesn't require any encouragement or feedback? I do not rank myself as some sort of 'elite' author; I'm unconfident and unsure of my style and ability, and often I find the writing process difficult and turbulent. As a hesitant, shaky writer, a bit of feedback could point me in the right direction. For now, however, I'll hope that my work will generate a few responses as new chapters are uploaded. Maybe a little bit of patience would pay dividends, but it doesn't change the fact that 198 readers (in total) have so far looked at my work. Clearly I don't need to wait for people to take interest... My motivation to write doesn't depend upon reviews, otherwise I wouldn't bother to write in the first place, but I bet my day would be a lot brighter if I logged into my author panel to see someone had left a comment. Hmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinigamiinochi Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 I have stories that are in the thousands, have several five plus ratings, but no reviews. It's easy to show indignation towards sucky fanfics, but it's harder to write why you like something, I know that I suck at writing reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avarion Posted July 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 Does this trend extend across all areas of AFF? I've noticed that much older submissions, especially ones from 2006 and earlier, have quite a lot of reviews, but after a point it all seems to drop off and there are hardly any. It's as though for some odd reason people just aren't interested in commenting anymore and merely skim new submissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cu-kid9 Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 I don't know if this phenomenon is wide-spread across AFF or not, but I do know that many writers here complain about the hit to review/rating ratio. It seems that reviews are less prevalent in certain sections. I think certain fandoms generate more readers and, therefore, the better likelihood that people will review. For instance, I have an eleven chapter story up in the fantasy archive with only twenty or so reviews, but a six chapter story in romance that has over fifty and a three chapter story (that's complete!) in Inuyasha that has over thirty! Maybe the fantasy story just isn't that good, but no one's left a review yet telling me that, so how am I supposed to know? Also, I think people come for a cheap fix. They can read a few stories and it doesn't cost them anything. And, while a little note to the author saying, "Gee, thanks for the story, I needed that," would be great, unfortunately some readers seem to be as selfish with their time and words as the writers here are generous with them. I think people who don't write, or produce anything creatively, may not understand how much time and effort it takes, or how truly apprehensive artists' are about their work. As far as bad stories having a lot of reviews telling the author he/she is terrible...Well, I have a feeling that's just people getting a kick out of being rude. It's so much easier to type "You suck" than to say it to someone's face, so people just feel free. It does suck spending time and energy on something only to have no one say anything about it. On bad days, I just give up and refuse to even look at my computer, and the pessimist in me tells me everyone hates what I've written/the way I've written it and that I should never write again. On good days, I just keep plugging away because it's what I do (that and there's the chance I'd go crazy if I didn't get all the crap in my head out on paper). And the optimist in me hopes that maybe with this post, someone will read my story that can't have enough of it. And if being optimistic doesn't help, I find that mildly snarky A/Ns sometimes work wonders in producing a review or two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avarion Posted July 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Well, so far I only post in the DBZ section and I know it's frequented by a decent sized crowd otherwise I'd have virtually no hits at all. Maybe it is as you said; passing through for the thrill of it without considering the time and effort that goes into producing a fanfiction. Infuriating but even I'm guilty of doing the same thing at one time or another. I think I'll definitely add a good pinch of snark to my A/Ns in future to see if that kick starts some of the lazy readers out there. A most excellent tip on your part! Moving away from my grudge against the hit/review ratio, I am rather annoyed that my holiday request for next Saturday was turned down at work due to that particular date being fully booked But worse things happen at sea. I'll just have to comfort myself with a mound of ice cream with smut-lemon sauce =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avarion Posted July 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Oh - em - gee. I got my first review. Yay! Now, back to vexations... There is nothing worse than having a wedding to attend in a few short weeks with absolutely nothing to wear. I have scoured the shops of Manchester city twice over in the last fortnight and nothing has stood out to me, and believe me I've covered the entire spectrum of fashion; from Harvey Nichols to Oxfam. As you might imagine, I'm getting a bit annoyed. And it doesn't help that every dress I try on makes me look like a sugarplum fairy no matter how plain and boring the dress is. The only dress I really did like (and that didn't make me look hideous) wasn't quite suitable for a wedding. Bit too casual, despite being tremendously cute. I wish I could sew. I'd make my own clothes and give the fashion industry the finger. Damn them for providing such paltry attire. *shakes fist* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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