Am I the only one who...

[Guest Pink Lace]

I am not being sarcastic or funny here, I am completely serious.

Neil Gaiman at http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/06/...-at-harveys.asp

My first piece of advice is this:

Ignore all advice.

Hate me if you like but I don't want or need concrit. I just like reviews, lots and lots of reviews, as a "thank you" from my readers. The gushier, the better, as far as I am concerned because really it's just for me to know if readers actually like the fics or not.

If I need advice I'll either ask for it or research.

Edit:

P.S. I felt dirty posting this. My shameful secret is exposed! I only want reviews to get my ego massaged by people on the intarweb.

[WotanAnubis]

Yeah, I agree.

I don't mind concrit, as long as it's, you know, based on the reality of my writing skills (and not a complaint that my PWP piece lacks a plot). After all, my fave review ever is a single, yet memorable, line of criticism.

But I won't say no to line after line of gushing. Not just because it means someone liked my fic, but also because they bother to tell me why and what bits of my fic they especially liked.

That kind of thing is really nice to hear once in a while.

[EveKnight75]

I think the majority out there prefer gushing praise over concrit, so you're obviously not alone. Unfortunately, I'm not in that camp.

As far as I'm concerned, it all comes down to how you deal with your reviews. If you prefer gushing praise but you don't rudely dismiss or whine about honest concrit, then it's all good. Obviously, you're free not to take advice since it's your work - all I'm saying is that you make a quiet and polite/neutral dismissal of the review. If you prefer gushing praise, and you attack anyone who gives concrit no matter how well intended it is, then it's not OK.

Still, when all is said and done, the gushing praise does give you a nice fuzzy feeling when you need it.

[redsliver]

I'm with Eve, I'd rather a useful scathing piece of criticism to a gushing useless fan splurge. My goal is to be a better writer, not have my work read.

[EveKnight75]

I'm with Eve, I'd rather a useful scathing piece of criticism to a gushing useless fan splurge. My goal is to be a better writer, not have my work read.

How can you become a better writer if you don't want to have your work read?

No, I get what you're saying. You don't want people to simply read your work and not provide an honest opinion, whether good or bad. There are times when the scathing concrit just speaks to you more than the gushing praise.

[Leonhart29]

Honestly? I'm a bit of a review whore, but I prefer to have concrit to the gushy junk. I may stare at a bad review for a few moments, turn red in the face and curse a bit - but I always take what is said seriously, use what I can and forget the rest.

[Guest Yhitzak]

I think I'm going to stop writing essays and start writing fiction, because I want one of these 'gushy' reviews ya'll are talking about. I get mostly con-crit, which I honestly prefer, but so much of it is so blatantly stupid, I'd rather not get any reviews at all. Out of the average six reviews for any of my posts, only (again, on average) one reviewer makes me believe he/she actually read the post and didn't either: skim through it for keywords, read the title and automatically react, or read the summary and automatically react. I write because I like to think that I have something to say and I post here because I like the idea of the average person being able to give me feedback; I want to become a better writer. Constructive criticism is far more conducive to that than basic glowing reviews or even basic flames, but damned if I'm not starting to want one of those!

[Hermione Malfoy]

I don't mind concrit - you know the "I really like your story but..." and offers advice I can use. I love reviewers who also give me ideas for the next chapter, as sometimes I'm stumped. I also like the gushy ones as it proves to me that people are at least reading the story.

What I don't like are people saying: "I really hate this story!" or, "I'm not going to continue reading this story!" when that's the only review I get from that particular person it's like... "Well, hon, you haven't reviewed before so I didn't even know you were reading the story so should I care?" I delete those I must admit.

I had a grammer nazi reviewing my story, I took her advice to heart and she reviewed another story much later on and she said that my grammer had improved.

I never give a bad review because I don't like giving bad stuff, if I like the plot or the story I say so. If I don't like the way the story is going then I stop reading that particular story. I did give a perfectly polite review once and I got stung so much by it that it's kind of frightened me since not to give any concrit at all.

[Guest Yhitzak]

Hey, don't get discouraged, Hermione. It's true that lots and lots of writers don't know how to differentiate between constructive criticism and blatant flames, but don't take it as a personal offense when they come back at you. I'm willing to bet that most writers get pissed off at reviewers who critique them because they're really pissed at themselves (not that I'm speaking from personal experience, or anything . It's easier to direct anger at another source than it is to internalize it. At least for most people. I think.

Also, it depends on what you (meaning the general reviewer) aim to criticize. I've always thought it perfectly acceptable to point out continuity errors in stories, and completely unacceptable to state that a writer is ignorant/stupid/wrong for their opinions. That's part of writing: it's an entirely personal expression.

Some of the worst reviews I've gotten have turned out to be some of the best lessons in writing for me. It just sometimes takes a moment for me to be able to sit back and take it for what it is: a critique of a written piece and *not* a critique of me as a person. Really, I think that's the most difficult thing about being criticized, regardless of who you are or what you write: taking it for what it is and not a personal affront.

[Mourningstar]

Maybe I'm a bit funny that way, but I don't like reviews of gushing praise because I don't feel that I deserve it. My stuff is what I'd rate slightly above average at best on my personal scale, and every time I get a review saying how someone thinks one my of my fics is the best thing ever, I feel slightly disappointed, knowing that the reader is happy with so little when there are tons of better authors out there.

If I get concrit, I know that the reader liked my stuff enough to think that there's potential for more. It also shows that they really read it through with thought, instead of just glancing through and thinking 'omg my favourite pretty boys are kissing, this is soo awesome'. When I want praise, I'll go and have my stuff read by my friends.

Okay, just a little confession... There have been two instances when I got a review filled with both concrit and praise, from people who are very good writers and with quite a bit of cred in the fandom (and whom I admire myself). Both times I was deliriously happy.

[StoryJunkie]

He gives good advice, and I am not taking half of it. Laundry, cooking, the rounds of slave-like devotional activities. I feel like I need a vacation. I want a stick of dynamite. I want to blow up things. I want to make a new something, but all I have to work with is problems and the helpless feeling I have when I'm powerless to solve it, or the worser feeling that I solved it wrong and could have done better. And I'm not talking about writing. Sure I could go back and fix some things and make them flow better, like re-arranging the rocks in a stream. I'm talking about life.

There's something of myself in every story I write and I recognize something of the author in everything I read. I want to know these people, or I want to sneer at them, for they are not telling me a story so much as they are sharing a part of themselves and of how they view life.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

It's true that lots and lots of writers don't know how to differentiate between constructive criticism and blatant flames, but don't take it as a personal offense when they come back at you.

Anyone remember qutie1? That girl was... special. And 15 . She had HORRIBLE grammar and spelling, wrote everything in caps and if anyone said anything about it she'd get PISSED. Very rarely did she take anyone's advice, and when she left reviews on another person's essay, she utterly PROVED that she didn't read it all the way through.

I get mostly con-crit, which I honestly prefer, but so much of it is so blatantly stupid, I'd rather not get any reviews at all. Out of the average six reviews for any of my posts, only (again, on average) one reviewer makes me believe he/she actually read the post and didn't either: skim through it for keywords, read the title and automatically react, or read the summary and automatically react.

This kind of stuff always pissed me off. If I didn't delete all of the blatantly stupid reviews I got on my "AFF and the Law" rant, I'd have 60 or so reviews. Because people can't read something to the end, they end up making themselves look stupid. And you would not BELIEVE how many people would tell me their 11 or something

I love concrit, but if you're not going to finish something, don't even try.

When it comes to gushing one-liners, I'm cool as long as their not the "I can't think of anything, let me give the same review to 5 of your stories" bit. Getting Megan Consoered is just annoying. Also, the "OMG, so KEWL" is annoying as well. If nothing else, how can I trust the person with questionable literacy?

The reason I love concrit, and giving concrit, is even if it's negative, it means the person at least saw enough potential in my writing that they took the time to sit and really think out thoughtful advice that would seriously help my writing. The only times I've ever given concrit is when I'd read a a story with a great concept, but everything else sucks ASS. Or, when I see something incredibly, atrociously bad. I mean, so bad it makes my eyes bleed screaming tears of baby's blood. Then, and only then, do I let out the vicious, vindictive little demon that is my inner child.

I'm a bad person

[Guest Adara]

I must say that I like the good and the bad for several reasons.

I think about a year ago someone left me a review stating how horrible one of my stories was, after only reading one chapter, even though there were fourteen others up. It wasn't so much that the person thought the writing was horrible, it was one of those, "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE IN MY WORLD BECAUSE..." ones.

I decided to leave it up after I posted my own response to it. Several of my readers and I, obviously disagreed with her, because all she was complaining about was actually revealed in the chapters she did NOT read. Anyway, this girl eventually wrote a "review" of it on her LJ, which I also replied to. LOL, long story short ladies and gents, after her little negative spew, I received more Hits and more reviews! LOL

I don't mind concrit, when as many of you said, is not only thoughtful, but logical. If someone makes a valid point, be it that my plot's getting rather off the mark or, that I've suddenly digressed to a five year-old with my spelling, I'll keep it up and fix said issues.

The major reason why I like the useful negative stuff is; Vanity. If I had several reviews all gushing, I'd probably get so full of myself, my neck would snap from the weight of my head!

The positive ones make me feel warm and fuzzy, but also give me an insight as to what "audience" I'm actually reaching. Most of my reviews are well written, (regardless of length) and polite. It kinda lets me know who's reading my stuff.

[Schmetterling-Meeko]

I have a few reviews that just seem to pull me through those really hard self loathing writer moments, you know, those ones that make you want to chuck the whole story out the window, including the computer. There are a lot of stories I haven't shared, but the few that I have, I'm really glad for the comments.

My favorite comment came from a really sarcastic bloke. I can never tell if he's serious or not, and his comment could have been a put down, but when I read it, I laughed so hard and at that moment it's just been my favorite comment on my work.

[teeta]

Hm, for me every review is precious, it doesn't matter if it is the gushy one, or the concrit.

Yet, my favorite reviews are those which say that people can relate to what I have written, those always make my day. And those in which people actually tell me what their lives look like in comparizon to the characters from my story. They make my writing seem even more worth the effort I put into it.