fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2700 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2700 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 099 secrets from Secret Submission Post #386.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow, you're really new to fandom, are you?

Since I never ever leave comments, if the kudos system did not exist, you would see the same number of hits but no comment at all, which even more unbalanced ratio would probably be even harder on your ego.

Note: most authors are great people who are very grateful for positive feedback of any type but a handful of divas like you are exactly the reason why I have learned never to leave comments, ever, after several traumatic experiences. eg: 'how dare you leave one-liner comments' or 'how insulting can you be? Your comment had a spelling mistake' or 'how dare you call my fic great instead of acknowledging it it the next great Amrican novel' or 'how dare you leave an anonymous comment istaead of logging in first!' or whatever your beef is.

The few people like you who are so pick about the type of feedback they receive is why the ratio of reads vs comments is so low while the ratio of reads to anonymous kudos is so much higher: just a few rotten apples like you are sufficient to rot the whole barrel for less picky and insecure authors.

Also, consider the possibility that the majority of your readers are just too nice to leave a comment mentioning the fact that your writing skills need improvement but may want to encourage you to keep practicing until you do improve... There is absolutely no way to say that in a comment in such a manner that ensures you will not take offense, but an anonymous kudo does a trick quite nicely.

Hey nonnie,

Not the OP here, just someone you'd probably call a diva (because I do prefer comments) ... but can I just say, I'm appalled at the ungracious and frankly nasty responses you got to your comments.

Honestly, if you got that kind of crap back, I don't blame you in the least for embracing the kudos option.

Thank you for your understanding. It is very unfortunate that nicer writers, which are in the clear majority, end up getting tarred by the same brush. But the problem is that it does happen far too often: I am certainly not alone in experiencing this kind of reaction. I have seen it happen to a lot of other innocent readers who are newer to fandom than me.

When fanfic writing was happening mostly on LJ, I used to try check several comment threads from any author whose output I really liked to try to guess at their standpoint on this issue BEFORE risking a comment. :)

Nowadays it is next to impossible: Tumblr activity simply takes too long to keep up with, even if you try to limit yourself to a handful of people.

:(

The notes in my fic make it very clear that I absolutely encourage concrit, and I have always done so with open arms. I have even changed my writing because of it, when I saw a theme. I am always gracious and thank the commenters, and offer specific responses if they've given me specific details.

The only time I've ever gotten remotely annoyed with a comment was when someone told me outright that my interpretation of a character was wildly OOC but, when pressed, refused to tell me why they thought so. Instead,they just told me "watch the damn movie, because obviously you haven't", about a movie I have watched so many times I can quote dialogue along with the characters. But I did not respond after the initial ask for clarification, and chose to believe the other 5 commenters who told me my characterization was spot on and gave me details about why.

So maybe divas like me make you want not to comment, but divas like YOU are the reason why I even bother participating in fandom. I guess that makes us equal.

You clearly have never encountered the kind of response to positive comments I have seen, maybe because you sound like a writer, rather than an exclusive reader. Your own response here is completely the point I was making, which is that you do not represent all writers and some writers, possibly not you, do react that way.

I was NOT talking about blunt or nasty comments of the type you mention but simple 'I loved it' or 'It was great' comments.

Of course writers can get irritated by nasty or simply unappreciative comments, that is completely understandable: this is not what I am talking about. And I have been in fandom nearly 15 years, BTW.

Finally, the only result of a secret like yours (which type I have seen before) can only be discouraging me from leaving kudos on any and all fics since you are posting here anonymously. Which is only unfortunate for all other innocent writers who disagree with you. That is my point BTW: for good or ill, you do not represent all writers and if you are not the type to slap down innocent 'I loved it!' comments, then learn that a few other writers do, which is usually enough to discourage readers to leave comments henceforth.

Oh and I should add that the divas I was referring to as quite often the same ones that beg for comments and say they are very open to feedback, so how are we supposed to distinguish between the ones who mean it and the ones who don't?

Oh, and I've been active in various fandoms for almost 20 years, and have been writing fic for 12 of them. So unless your idea of new involves half a century or something…I'm not new at all. And when I started, as others have pointed out, people did take the time to comment. Everything from "god, your character is OOC and the plot is stupid" to "this was ok, thanks for trying" to "it was good" to "I loved this" to "I'm confused. Why do you think character would do X instead of Y?"

It was a great time. Even the "plot is stupid" people.

[ SECRET POST #2700 ]

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