I did not expect to laugh as hard as I did. Ho-ly shit: you've made my evening.

 

On receiving reviews, the bad thing is that I'm too sensitive to the disparity between the number of people who favorite/alert a story, and the people who actually take the time to review. I despise the handful of readers that follow me from fic to fic through favorites and alerts, but never speak up.

Yesterday I updated The Strangergod, and I get a flood of favorites and alerts with about 4 reviews. So I'm going to stop writing that altogether and go back to my two other stories, with apologies to those loyal 4. Right now it's just luck that there was a good following waiting dormant for To Define Treachery to start up again, and I feel the motivation to continue. These Last Days of Autumn Rain also had a good reception for the first posting, which is a good sign.

But it is genuinely moving when someone follows you, across every story, sometimes over a period of years, and he or she lets you know. I actually recognize their usernames, like Dreamweaver Mira and what are you even saying. I also love the reviews where they remember a specific moment from months or over a year ago, because that's the ultimate compliment to a hobbyist writer, in my opinion. That's the reason I try to forget the phantom readers and write on, because we have a connection to our readers, no bullshit. The simple joys, a small reflection of what published authors feel with their thousands of fans when waiting for the next novel in a trilogy or something.

I've left 425 reviews of my own. A lot of it pithy "you misspelled Lestrange in the first paragraph" neutral comments, some appreciative and encouraging. I used to write scathing flames but I don't blast shitty fics anymore. If I see that the writer is making an effort, I write a nice constructive review for them. I've received a couple of hostile reviews myself, but I guess turnabout is fair play.

 

You updated Strangergod?

/ecstatic with glee

 

Speak of the devil. Right when I posted in the thread, somewhat out of frustration, I got one review from Simplicity is Bliss (who is a DLP member under a different name) mentioning that my 'panopticon' Azkaban had stuck with him since froom 2009 or whenever it was. I'm not at all embarrassed or reticent about admitting that reading stuff like that makes me really, really happy.

I think the reason why is that when a reader mentions something specific like that, it reminds you about that very moment when you're writing with a crazy good idea visualized in your head, when you're typing fast trying to get it out, and that feeling of satisfaction at not only coming up with it but putting it on paper.

 

I some times come across a story wich is so bad I want its writer to stop writing completely. That is when I start to flame.:fire

Some times I read a good story and want to let author know I actually follow his story. It is my way of saying " look I follow your story and waiting for update" without being annoying. So I actually left several "good story" review.

 

That. I love having someone review or favourite one of my stories and go back and check out my others, simply because they liked one of them and wanted to see what else I wrote. I have more than one person actually PM me and wonder where my next story is, which was cool. So while I've never had one of my stories be fundamentally changed by a FF.net review (And only two aspects ever changed Breach because of it being posted on DLP early), it's still a process I enjoy, and I do occasionally drop a review or two to some more underappreciated stories that I liked, saying, "Hey, you did a good job man" kinda stuff. Half the time the story's complete or its flaws are something the author wouldn't change if I mentioned it, so I don't feel the need to be constructive. It might sound odd, but it's just FF.net. I know I don't post there to get constructive reviews - I just put it there for people to read/enjoy.

Once I posted a constructive review on Not The Only Redhead by Joemjackson, basically advising he tone down the... well, most everything. I got a vicious "fuck you" PM not from the author, but from one of his fans. That was funny.

Oh, and SomeGuyFawkes? Didn't really offer any "advice" to me, really. Just posted a vague line after every chapter, like, "I like this but something grates" (Never elaborated) or "It's still a good mystery" (But everything else is...? Dude, elaborate).

 

I'm going to let Rymrock's words do the speaking for me.

This is the point in leaving reviews.

For what it's worth and perhaps it's because I receive (relatively) so few, I read every review I get and providing they attempt to make a genuine point, I take that point into consideration and weigh it up when considering the future of my stories. Although I have a very strong idea of where everything I'm writing is going to end up going, each person's critique allows me to strengthen certain ideas while pushing others to the background, depending on what my readership appreciates.

I'd like to think that every comment I get allows me to become a better author, whether it's a compliment on my characterization of lesser-loved characters, a flame that toughens me up to the arseholes out there, or merely a 'Thanks for writing'. Each contributes something different to my writing and the pleasure I get from writing.

Few things are as satisfying for me as changing someone's day for the better. It's probably the largest reason for me writing fanfiction. Yes, it's certainly an ego boost. Yes, my writing has dramatically improved with every chapter that I write, even if it's not reflected in the story itself. Yes, I've made some good friends on DLP who encourage me more than I probably deserve.

But honestly, getting a review from an anonymous, unknown person, who's probably half a world away saying that they enjoyed themselves reading my work? Easily one of the best feelings in the world.

 

DLP has provided the most concise, meaningful, cruel-but-kind and overall useful reviews on my writing anywhere, and I was posting on Schnoogle back when Schnoogle was the shit.

However, I never dismiss ff.net reviews. Some of them are rather good. A lot of them are ego boosts, at the very least. Wastelands has around 2,500 reviews, and yes, the majority of them are "PLZ UPDATE YOUr COK IS SO HUGe!"

Yeah, tell me something I don't know.

But now and then, and more so the longer I write a story, a handful - say a dozen or two - recurring reviewers do leave constructive thought. Usually it isn't much about the writing, but the story, which isn't always useful for improving prose, but it saved Wastelands once or twice from a few dead ends.

So I guess I view it purely for my own benefit, even if it is just a pat on the back and nothing constructively useful. I'm terrible for leaving reviews - I've left 6, according to ff.net. Six. In eight years.

Heh.

 

People just don't want critics on FF.net, they want panderers. It's why Perfect Lionheart doesn't put his stuff up on actual fanfiction communities outside it. People in communities self-regulate and try to maintain some sort of standard acceptable to them (whether its acceptable to other communities is irrelevant). And we're talking about FF.net. It's the largest and best place to get your story out for mass-reading, but it's like drive-by reading. Write something, get praises, and both parties leave satisfied.

Very few people want to improve or have the drive to do so, especially when they think they're pretty good. Before I was on DLP, I wrote a few Kim Possible fics that were drivel based around Ron Stoppable being awesome. I got not a single criticism telling me how stupid they were.

"Cool, this is really good."
"Man, you make Ron so cool!"
etc...

It was only until I got to DLP and lurked like a ninja that I saw what true writing was. And then I felt shame. And then I started learning how to write.

...

I have found a few people here and there who give a semi-decent review though. Just a few, though.

...

And on the topic of whether or not I review, not usually. I do that every now and then, but I'm finding myself just not giving a fuck and either clicking the little red x or continuing to read. Inert and a few other writers who post here is who I give the bulk of my reviews/thoughts/critics.

Actually, that's been legit bugging me.

 

Yeah I've noticed that too. I guess when you only have 50 reviews, its a lot easier to respond to each one then when you have hundreds or thousands.

I think even the semi-useless reviews which are just "Good fic, keep it up and update soon" have their purpose. You want to know someone is out there enjoying your fic. It's not feedback in the form of constructive criticism, but I'm sure its still feedback simply in the form of gauging if readers are actually bothering to read it or not.

Reviews also seem to be used by readers to classify how good a fic is. Ie, if it has 1000+ reviews, it must be good. If it only has 200 reviews, well, it must be bad. Not necessarily the best way of going about classifying potential fics to read, but it is a way to gauge popularity.


As for myself, on FF.net, I usually don't bother with reviews on any fic that already has a sizable number of them. I might leave small words of encouragement, or sometimes lengthier reviews if I can be bothered on fics I believe are underrated, or have particular nuances I want to comment on.

 

Man, fuck you guys. I'm gonna have to go back through all the things I've recently read and write reviews for them because everyone admitted that they grow warm and fluffy inside when they get reviews. Goodbye, my next week.

Yeah. But mostly because people keep asking.

 

If it's on DLP I'll leave a review here. If it's only on FFN then odds are so-so I'll remember to leave one. If it's something that is almost complete by the time that I start it then I'll try to keep track of any errors in it and leave a nice long review. I've found that authors actually are pretty receptive to them and will go edit their stories with any mistakes I've found. If it's a one-shot I'll try to just leave a quick review of a few lines. Where I'm pretty bad is leaving reviews for new chapters, usually I feel like all has been said that should be, or there just wasn't anything worth saying except I want moar. Also, I only recently started actually using my FFN profile to leave reviews, used to be anonymous. Probably should have changed that sooner.

 

Have you seen TFF?

 

I've become pretty set in my ways, I rarely read anything from new authors. I sometimes swing by the For Review forum, but it seems to me it's just become a river of shit. And generally the authors I read don't truly need help in the technical department. Which is where I feel a review is most helpful.

Don't get me wrong, if the story seems to be going in an odd direction and the author does not seem to be aware of it I'll point it out (pointing out the fact that certain characters are... less than likeable), but it's a matter of vision, and I may bitch and moan, just to make the author aware of it, but in the end it's his story and that's that.

Sometimes I write reviews on other sites, like FFN, especially if I feel the story/author has potential and is half-way between good and great but that's rare.

On some forums I'd never review. Not because the work is beyond reproach, it would simply be a waste of my time. Take the Jedi Council Forums for example, I've never seen a bad review there, it just seems to be a bunch of self-esteem-pumping hippies cooing over every story there. Granted they have some great work, but on no occasion do they call out the mediocre shit. And considering their history I don't want to be the odd one out there. So I just leave it be.

It all depends on the advice I'm giving and how likely it is to be received.

 

Yes. I have an account there. I post there. And despite the cross-forum badmouthing of one another, they do have standards in writing. Not DLP standards, but standards nonetheless.

 

I don't review on FF.net that much because, honestly, most of the stories that I've read have a shitload of reviews. And my experience with those stories is that often, my review gets overlooked in the swathe of praises. I do bother every now and then, but I will admit that I am not the most prolific. When I do review something on FF.net, it means that I think it's pretty special.

And I don't review "bad" FF.net stories by people I don't know on principle, mainly because my experience showed me that those people often take criticism from strangers in less than positive ways. Why bother typing out that long, incisive review when all you get is a bunch of inflammatory PMs and an unresponsive author?

However, I will admit that some FF.net authors have surprised me with their receptiveness and eagerness to improve. Hanna Sedai from the Teen Titans fanfiction community is one particularl stand-out. When people (including myself) have given her long reviews, positive or negative, she always made an effort to reply politely by PM. And if it's a legitimate mistake, she corrected it either in the pertinent chapter or by rectifying the characterisation in a future chapter.

Hanna Sedai is probably an exception to the rule, though.

Anyway, I do review on forums, since the author isn't as likely to be a dickwad about critiques. At any rate, you should still try to review - there is still a "point". Without honest reviews, you can't improve. And criticism in the ff world isn't half as brutal as the RL publishing world.

Just make sure that your review falls on the right ears; the sad truth is that some people simply don't want to listen, and won't listen. Why bother with them, then?

 

I've asked on one of my fics (The Day Harry Potter Died) that if someone was going to leave a review, be specific about what you liked and didn't like. The ones who respected that wish actually pointed things out to me that I hadn't thought about, and the ones who didn't I ignored.

Course that meant that I haven't gotten nearly as many reviews as normal on the story.

I also take the time to reply to reviewers who leave something that can be replied to. Often it follows a criticism that I found too vague or didn't agree with, and I usually explain my position on it, and ask if I interpreted their review correctly.

This process actually led directly to a whole new scene in one of my Naruto stories (Twice Shy).

 

I'm one of those who gets a warm fuzzy every time someone leaves a review. But I get plenty of lengthy, thoughtful reviews, at FFN and elsewhere, along with the "Pleaz write moar!" one-liners.

Reviews don't affect my writing of the story being reviewed, because the story is usually finished when I start posting it. But some reviews have affected what I write in the future, in large and small ways. (I invited one reviewer to become one of my betas, based on his critiques.)

 

Most of the reviews I get are from one of my best friends, who also serves as sounding board, occasional beta and co-author on some fics, so it's fair to say that he's had an effect on my writing in several respects. I do love getting reviews, of course - but most of the ones that offer anything like critique are generally along the lines of "I don't like that the Weasleys are in the fic so much", and stuff like that.

That said, the thing that has most improved my writing is the act of writing itself. I'd never claim to be a good writer, but I'm far improved from my first foray into fanfiction four years or so ago. I hate writers who hold chapters hostage for reviews, but knowing that there are people out there who might actually be interested in what I'm writing spurs me on when otherwise I might just flop in front of the tv. I don't pick up many casual fans, but what reviews I do get (apart from the above) are from a select view who have been following me for years. I'll always appreciate them for that, if nothing else.

On the flipside, I'm not that great about reviewing. Everything the aforementioned friend publishes, obviously, but I really only review if something particularly stirs me, and that just doesn't happen very much these days.

 

I'm giving up reviewing on FF.net.

I reviewed a couple Naruto fics last night - I was bored and was looking on a friend's favorite list - one was a Harry Potter crossover that I can't believe I actually read, and the writer was begging for reviews. I offered one but questioned how the trio were so daring as to ask personal questions of a teacher during a lesson. Apparently that meant I was insulting his work and I got a massive reply which borderlined on arrogant and ended with:

The second was a Naruto fic with a change in circumstances during his birth.

For those who watch or have read Naruto might know what I'm talking about, but I'll explain for those who don't. He met one of the main villians who was in disguise, nobody caught onto it in canon, but in his fic:

I explained how I thought this was unrealistic and got this reply, along with a reply to another question I posed.

Don't you hate people who ask for reviews and then try to disect them to make themselves feel better?