Hello? Is this thing on?

[namaste]

Perhaps we should tag this as a rant, but I ask those of you who are writers: Which is worse, negative feedback, generic "this is nice" feedback or no feedback at all?



I ask because there have been plenty of stories I've seen that are wonderful, complex, subtle pieces of writing that seem to end up with little response -- and then there are the out-of-character, misspelled pieces of fluff that the author admits was "dashed off at the end of study hall in five minutes" that receives odes to their wonderfulness. (Typically also written with misspellings and either all in caps or a lack of capitalizations.)

When I find these good pieces, I give feedback and rec as needed -- especially if it's in some dusty corner of the Internet that isn't seen.

So I wonder, do any of you ever find yourself frustrated by the response or lack of response? And has it ever influenced what you write or post in the future?

Comments

A Reader's Response

[(Anonymous)]

I've been reading fanfiction for a few years now (I came to the genre very late & still have a lot to learn), but rarely post comments. I have several reasons/excuses. First of all, I have dial-up internet, so I tend to print a bunch of stories at one of my jobs & read them on the bus (or subway, or LIRR... you get the picture). By the time I've finished, I rarely have the energy (or desire) to post comments. I also have Luddite tendencies, so I'm not really sure how various sites work. But my real reason is that I'm afraid of what the reaction to one of my critiques might be. So much of what I've read is utter crap (complete with "odes to their wonderfulness"), and I'm afraid that anything I say is going to sound like a "flame" (e.g. "Please proofread, the constant grammatical & spelling errors distract from your content." or "I think you need to do a bit more research, especially if you are planning on writing more sex scenes; much of what you wrote is physically impossible."). Tact is not one of my virtues. Not to mention that during the semester, I get underpaid to write that on far too many papers! Ok, I don't write the last bit on student papers.

But you are right, a reader who gives a damn should encourage the good writers. I don't have a website & have no idea how to recommend good pieces (I'm a middle-aged techno-tard & none of my friends read fanfiction). The least I can do is try to give positive feedback & constructive criticism. My apologies (many apo-log-ies for the in-con-ween-ience) for not doing so before. I am grateful for the few writers worth reading (I consider you one, hence my posting), and will do my part in the future.

Re: A Reader's Response

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's where that came from.

I admit, I screwed up and these was to go in the LJ housefic_meta community, but now I see where that comment was.