Reading, writing...and feedback.

[foxmonkey]

A couple of days ago I asked: If you write fic, do you read it as well? Not as strange a question as it sounds, but you'll have to go to the post to see why.

pjordha had an interesting response, and has graciously allowed me to use it for this post. Her comment:

I'll add to that question: If you write fic, do you read it as well...and send feedback after reading it?

So many times I've seen people talking about reading so much fic, and yet so many writers get so *little* feedback, so the math does not add up. If there's so much reading and enjoying going on, where's the feedback?

When I read something I like, I send feedback, even if it's only a "great story!", even if it's not entirely true. If I hate something, then I wouldn't send feedback, but nowadays I wouldn't bother finishing something I hated.

Sometimes I think writers (at least in popslash) are the worst for sending feedback. Either that or they only read the "popular" stuff. Readers-only or writers just starting out are much better at sending feedback in my experience.

Look at it this way: When a writer sees comments like "I read everything in XYZ fandom...save the really bad stuff," and that writer has written fic in XYZ fandom and never gotten any kind of feedback from those commenters, then they must only conclude that their fanfic is "the really bad stuff." Which is probably kind of demoralizing, I think.

The short answer: I'll be the first to admit that I don't send nearly enough feedback, but I'm making an effort now to let authors know that I love and/or like what they've done.

And just to play devil's advocate here, I've known writers who aren't enthusiastic about "great story!" responses. Since I don't know if that means they'd rather have had no feedback at all, I won't elaborate. Just tossing that out there as the flipside of the coin. ;-)

Thoughts?

By the way, pjordha's original comment is screened to encourage responses here. :-)

Comments

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's a lot of this going on for me as well.

Plus, I don't like leaving lame two-word feedback. So even if I like something, I probably won't leave a lot of feedback unless I actually have something to say about it beyond "yay story!".

(The exception to short feedback is in the extremely rare occasions when I am moved to rec something. Generally, I figure most of my flist is reading the same comms I am, so I typically only rec stuff that's older or not in the usual comms, so I think people are likely to miss it. Then I might drop a comment along the lines of "I liked this enough I recced it in my lj." which isn't saying much constructive about the story, but I figure that's nice to hear anyway. :) )

[stungunbilly.livejournal.com]

It's funny, because I love any comments on my own stuff, even 2-word squees or suggestions or whatever, but I like to leave a little more on other people's journals. In my head, good writers have high expectations for social interactions. (Though published writers often do things to wreck my fantasy world, alas.)

Nothing is a higher compliment than a rec, though, besides maybe a nomination or (in a creepy way), plagiarism. Oh, unless it's a "this story mostly sucks but it has good sex bits" kind of rec. Heh.

[foxmonkey.livejournal.com]

Nothing is a higher compliment than a rec

Yep, that's what I said above. I'm sure there are writers who'd prefer a rec to a paragraph of squee!

[stungunbilly.livejournal.com]

But the yummiest of all is a paragraph of squee *in* a rec.*g*

[foxmonkey.livejournal.com]

But the yummiest of all is a paragraph of squee *in* a rec.*g*

LOL! I started to write something along those same lines. :-)

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

I rarely read published stuff anymore because good fanfic has totally skewed my standards.

I never give recs like that. I don't have a rec list or anything that might make me feel like I needed to collect recs, so if I rec something, it's because I really think it's worth people paying attention to, for whatever reason. :)

[foxmonkey.livejournal.com]

Then I might drop a comment along the lines of "I liked this enough I recced it in my lj." which isn't saying much constructive about the story, but I figure that's nice to hear anyway. :)

I daresay quite a few people would be as pleased with a one- or two-liner pimping their fic as they would a paragraph on why someone liked it. I love showing up on rec lists -- it hardly ever happens, so it's always quite a boost to see it!

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the act of reccing says a lot about what someone thinks of your story.

Though as I said in my other comment, I don't actually do a rec list regularly or anything like that, so it's only stuff that REALLY REALLY stands out to me that I rec. (I think in part because I get a lot of links FROM rec lists. :) )