Reading, writing...and feedback.
Oct. 11th, 2007 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxmonkeyA 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.
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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. :-)
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. :-)
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-13 06:11 am (UTC)Yes. I've never, ever been good at critical analysis. I can tell you what did or didn't work for me, what I loved or hated, but please, don't ask me about how the cigar on the fourth page foreshadowed the recurring themes of friggin' WHATEVER that appear in chapters 24-27. Aiiiii!
My professors wanted to kill me. ;-) I'd turn in these perfectly succint, to-the-point paragraphs when I was supposed to write two-three pages of crit because OH MY GOD, kill me now. It's like pulling teeth or fingernails. I can swoon all day and quote the stuff I like, but paragraphs on sentence structure and word choices? I mean, I can do it but there aren't any guarantees that it'll make sense. ;-)
I think that's partly why I used to feel so awkward leaving feedback sometimes, because I'd think that certain individuals *cough*BNFs*cough* were used to headier stuff, and would most likely think my fannish ramblings sound pretty stupid; my lines of squee looked pretty stupid in comparison with more structured comments. It can be intimidating!
Now I'm over it. I write from the heart, write about what I loved, what worked for me, and I'm fine with it. I've become comfortable with my crit envy, and own my issues proudly!
Wow. Rambly. ;-)