BronxWench

Damned if I can remember who or where, but I did read somewhere that a good novel-length story should have 3 crises and an ending that resolves them. The crises don't need to be overwhelmingly dark or gritty, but that seemed to have been seen as the key. With that in mind, I thought about most of the books I've read and found memorable, and there seems to be something to that theory. In a short work, you can have one issue, and as long as you resolve it for the reader, it's all good. But novels need something more, and sometimes the viewpoint that life isn't always pretty, or orderly, or even very fair works for those crises. I think that's why I enjoy doing short pieces here, because it's actually much more of a challenge to create short fiction that holds a reader's attention while letting them enjoy the fapping bits, too.

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Part of the problem as well is that people tend to stick to their fandoms of choice, both as readers and as authors looking for reviews. As a moderator, I have to read across the entire archive, in fandoms I might never otherwise go to on my own. I've found some wonderful things this way, and I'd encourage others to explore. I will say, though, that even my boundless enthusiasm can take a hit when I'll read outside my areas of interest, leave reviews, and then hear an author I've reviewed remark that they don't read [insert fandom/genre of your choice here]. I write het, slash, and sometimes even SFW as the mood takes me. If you're going to ignore what I've written because you don't like het, or slash, or SFW because you can't muster the imagination to fap to it, then don't complain when you don't get reviews. I write a lot more original lately than fandom, so I won't even mess with treasured ships. Really, it makes me unlikely to continue to review those authors in what little free time I have. Pay it up, people. For every review you get, leave two. In turn, those authors should go out and leave two more reviews each. In no time, we could have a lively community of engaged readers and authors, chatting happily in the forums about the reviews left in the archive. And we don't even charge a membership fee. Imagine that.

It's particularly disheartening when people you thought were intelligent enough to know better seem to be sucked in my these irrational crazies. I could rant for hours, but suffice to say, I was raised by my father to ask questions, and take nothing on faith. If you want me to believe what you are spouting, you'd better have verifiable facts backed up by more than some right-wing, kiss-ass pundit or corner-store preacher. I've no patience with snake oil or fear-mongerers.

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Be warned -- the guard marmots are FEROCIOUS! ::nurses chewed ankles::

Actually, I disagree to an extent. Even a "Good story, keep it up!" review can provide a lot of motivation for a writer. It's certainly easier to garner hoards of reviews if you write in one of the more popular fandoms, or if you follow the more popular trends in Original fiction. For me, that just makes my few reviews the more wonderful. Some of my most cherished reviews are the wonderful concrit my dear friend Shadowknight left for me. Sadly, real life has him far too busy to come and play with the deviants here, but he was a treasure as a reader and reviewer. However, the reaction from some authors, who delete reviews they think are unfavorable or reflect a lack of understanding on the part of a reader, will cause reviewers to stop reviewing. If you take the time to leave a review, it means the author got a response from you. As an author, that's what I want. I want to know I got to you, good or bad. I also want to grow as a writer, and knowing what I did wrong is as valuable as knowing what I did right. To touch on what LockedBox said, creating a thread to communicate with readers is a great way to build a loyal base of readers who'll review you. Readers love getting to know an author, and they might be more candid in a discussion thread than on a public review board as well. Scribophile is a good workshop/writing group, but it's not really an archive, since non-paying members can only have two works at a time posted there. However, if you want to improve as a writer, it's a great place to belong. You actually need to review/critique to obtain points before you can post, so the entire site is involved in the review and critique of the submitted works. It's plentiful feedback, but again, it's not an archive. At some point, you'll need to either pay for membership, or move your reviewed, critiqued and polished works to an archive.

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Yes, it can be demotivating, since it seems that only very specific fandoms or pairings garner any attention at all. However, I encourage you not to give up. You can feel free to ask for reviews in an author's note (as long as you don't suggest that future chapters will be withheld or delayed without reviews). I believe that at the moment, while we're rolling out new code in stages, the default is for anonymous reviews to be allowed, which also helps. I try to review anything I read for pleasure. As an author, I know how much I like reviews, and I want to pass that on. I read in fandoms I might not write in, and sometimes I think that makes it harder for a fellow author to return the favor, but if they pay it up, and review another author, that's brilliant.

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