[New? Introduce Yourself!]

I am Avon. My Penname is Accidental Suicide Bomber (feel free to ask why).

I adore:

slash

fluff

romance

non slash

adventure

angst

science fiction

fantasy

fluff

fluff

TF2

slash

and did I mention fluff?

[What Song Are You Listening To?]

After Effect- Jackal Queenston- Poison in a Killer's sketchbook

[Count To Infinity]

7364

[What is it with people and their fear of negative reviews?]

Most people in the fanfiction community, for some bizarre reason, seem to view writing as a massive circlejerk where the only purpose is the approval of others via reviews. Of course you shouldn't be writing at all if all you want is the approval of others, but unfortunately this is not the case. To address the question, the fear of negative reviews is specifically tied to the above desire for hugs all around, where even the ugliest girl can find someone to say her eyes are pretty. To be honest, though, negative reviews are borderline impossible to find as the standards are dreadfully low.

Too true.

I gave up on honest critique for some time because fanfic writers have proven time and again that they go postal if you point out even the most insignificant flaw (like spelling errors or a misused word). I had to quit beta-reading for two RL friends because of this, after they had asked me to look over their work.

[Bossy readership keeping you down...?]

Ignore the little e-demons and focus on what you want and need to do. If they are dedicated fans they will understand. If they are incapable of comprehending the fact that bills must be paid and homework must be done, then they are selfish brats.

IY,YGO, HP, and Naruto fandoms seem to have a problem with this.

[Song lyrics?]

If you don't feel lyrics would hamper the narrative go ahead and use an appropriate snippet from the song. I advise against using the entire song if a few lines will get your point across.

An alternative to adding lyrics is to make a playlist.com playlist for your fic, and adding a link to it at the top in your Author's Note. The readers will experience the proper mood for the fic without any lyrics breaking the flow of the narrative.

[Taking it Like a Man]

Sometimes it can be tough to take a harsh review. I haven't gotten one over the internet yet, but I have gotten MANY in person. It's especially tough when the person doing the review does not stop to think about the emotional impact their review has on the author. Then the valid points brought up get lost in harsh wording, and it makes it difficult to not treat the review as an attack.

We authors would all be better off if reviewers would politely tell you that something needs improving. I think it would help if people read the reviews that were already made, to avoid "parroting" about the same mistakes over and over. It can get old seeing the same thing mentioned over and over again. Stop telling me about old mistakes and let me know about the new ones please. Five people have already stated that problem A needs addressing, I don't think a sixth person needs to tell me about it when I probably have another problem that needs dealing with.

It never gets any less painful to get a harsh critique regardless of how many you get. The only thing that gets easier is picking yourself up afterwards.