query

[tigriswolf]

Have you ever had someone favorite almost every one of your stories, but not leave a single review?  I feel like I should be flattered, but I'm kinda... I dunno.  It's weird.

Comments

[irnan.livejournal.com]

I know, right? On the one hand, it's not like you're entitled to a review, but on the other, it feels a bit... stalkery.

[tigriswolf]

Is that John Connor in your icon?

[irnan.livejournal.com]

It is! I wanted a Sarah one really, but I can't find one I like :(

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Happens to me all the time. I think, way back when fandom was new, everyone left comments, because they were trying to make friends. Now, I think everyone sees it as a competition, and a comment is a point on someone else's scoreboard, so they don't comment except on their BFFs, lest you *gasp* end up with more than they have. LOL. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[tigriswolf]

That makes sense, actually.

*pops out of lurkdom*

[arrghigiveup.livejournal.com]

Eheheheh... he... I do this, kind of. *blushes*

It's just, well, I'm a bit shy, especially when most of the time I can't think of anything more constructive to say than "asdklgjlkl;f ♥ ♥ ♥" ^^

Re: *pops out of lurkdom*

[tigriswolf]

*waves*

[lizzie-marie-23.livejournal.com]

I agree with arrghigiveup about not being able to give useful reviews. I used to get really vapid empty comments - stuff along the lines of "This is great. Going on to read the next chappie" - and to be honest that annoyed me more than the times when I - wouldn't get a single review for anything.

[tigriswolf]

Why did that annoy you?

[lizzie-marie-23.livejournal.com]

Which part? I don't like not getting comments because I'm a comment-whore. I don't like getting comments that don't tell me what I'm doing right or wrong because then I still can't improve my technique.

[tigriswolf]

That makes sense.

[tprillahfiction.livejournal.com]

Yes my stuff gets favorited but not reviewed all the time. I would just take the favoriting as a complement, they liked it enough to favorite. Not everybody likes bothering to write a review, I guess.

It's annoying when I get reviews that just say "Please Update".

[tigriswolf]

Those are annoying.

[lizzie-marie-23.livejournal.com]

Drive by icon love! Can I steal it?

[tprillahfiction.livejournal.com]

You mean my 'de' icon? Thanks! You certainly may steal it!

[grandiose666.livejournal.com]

1. i mem/fave stuff i want to read (but haven't yet)

2. as a lurker who doesn't have the time/energy for real online friendships, it's hard to figure out how to comment.
on one hand there are people who (as above) actively dislike getting non-substantive positive feedback; on the other, there are writers who become discouraged/flounce off if they have many 'friends' and hits but few comments.
Many people enjoy getting little tidbits of friendly appreciation but some do not, and quite frankly most of us don't have the energy to puzzle out who's who (so having a 'feedback is love' at the end is actually quite helpful, as long as it isn't an entitled sort of phrasing)

3. i really like it when ppl respond to my comments even with a one-words 'thanks' but i don't expect it. it does kinda suck though to write a longer comment on a journal in which you are unknown, and see the conversation swirl around you without ever getting a response.

4. so, even if these stories have been read before being favorited, there are other explanations besides stalkerish behavior. you're a great writer; they're probably a fan who is, for some reason, on the quiet side.

[tigriswolf]

1. Really? I email myself the links with 'read' as the subject line.

2. Hmm. I really hadn't thought of it like that.

3. I always try to answer every comment in my LJ, unless it's clear that the comment was for someone else. It seems rude not to.

4. Thank you!

[tprillahfiction.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right grandiose666. I give people the benefit of the doubt (not assuming they want to stalk me). And just appreciate that they've either read the story or plan to. Favoriting acts as a sort of bookmark I suppose. And by favoriting my stories it's mostly on ff.net that people fave me. Not sure about lj.

We shouldn't write simply for feedback, I find myself reminding...myself that I'm writing for the love of writing, not for the reviews but it's difficult sometimes if a writer gets little to none and you wonder if people actually liked the fic or do they have nothing nice to say so they won't say anything at all.

[siluria]

At least people are reading :)

I sometimes bookmark fic without leaving a comment, but that's mostly because I have no idea what to say sometimes. Then again, does a writer want to read a comment that just says *bookmarked*?

[tigriswolf]

That is true. I prefer knowing what I did as a writer that worked, you know?

[siluria]

When you get good feedback that says exactly what works it's fantastic - you know which areas are good for the readers, and maybe which ones you can do away with in future. I find lj maybe isn't the best arena for detailed feedback, but it's definitely the easiest. I find I comment on fic way more on lj than if I was reading a fic elsewhere.

[tprillahfiction.livejournal.com]

I guess ideally, somebody could comment "I read your story. I liked it. (or didn't like it)" and that would be okay, if they didn't want to say anything more. But yeah, sometimes I want to a writer give more detailed feedback, and am not sure how to phrase it. or I might want to give con crit and I'm not sure how they'll take it.

[alieneyes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's happened to me before too. I just figure they're shy.

[tigriswolf]

I guess so.

[thatgirlsix.livejournal.com]

Well, if they're anything like me, they're shy. You've heard from me a few times, and I think I've made it clear that I read everything you write that interests me fandom-wise, but I don't comment. For me, it's because I am, as said, shy, but also because I don't feel like I have much to offer you. You're almost always grammatically correct, so I really can't help you there. I try not to offer opinions in the way of direction a story takes because, after all, we all see the characters differently. I see you write things that I never would have thought of because I don't see the characters going that way, but you do and it's fascinating. I think people can help you out a lot more than I can, if that makes sense.

At the same time, I think that reviews are kind of, well, silly. They serve to feed a writer's ego (my own included). Shouldn't being favorited be the same thing? It says they flagged your story just as much as "great job" does.

I don't know. I'm someone who gets next to nothing for reviews, so I don't worry about them so much. If one person reads my story, I'm happy. But I have friends who take it so very seriously that their writing takes a hit if they don't get enough. I guess it depends on the kind of person you are and why you want to write.

I hope that helps. *G*

[tigriswolf]

Oh, I do mainly write for myself, if that makes sense. But I got 44 emails because one person favorited/alerted my stories, without one comment to tell me why.

Being favorited/alerted is the same as a comment, I guess.

Also, for that first paragraph: thank you so much!

[caffienekitty]

Yup, all the time. I even had one person who had every single one of my stories on her Story Alert list, even though most are complete. I guess she ran out of spaces in favourites. XD

I don't mind it at all on ff.net because it's a kind of feedback, just not the review kind.

[tigriswolf]

But why do they put stories on alert instead of authors? Wouldn't it make more sense?

[caffienekitty]

Because they're using the alerts page as an auxiliary favourites page, to find stories easier, I guess. They aren't actually expecting alerts from them, just wanted them on a page so they could find them again. I guess. I have no idea.

[tprillahfiction.livejournal.com]

I might have an author on alert because I like their stories and want to read more from them. I want to be able to find them because stuff gets so buried on ff.net.

[tigriswolf]

I understand using the alert feature for authors, but, why do twenty-five different stories from the same author?

[greyandgold.livejournal.com]

I think I was one of those until recently. I was so painfully shy and embarrassed to even post - I didn't leave feedback.

However, I got over being an idiot and even when I re-read older pieces I leave feedback now.

[tigriswolf]

I've decided to go back through everything on my favorites/C2(ff.net) and leave a review for it all. After that, I'll do LJ.

[lostinpsychosis.livejournal.com]

As someone who has favorited a lot of your stories and have left comments on only a few, personally it's because I'm not great at reviews. I tend not to be able to give the detailed feedback that some authors look for. I'll work on feedbacking more though.

[tigriswolf]

Ah, but you have left comments. The person I posted about didn't leave a single one.

Thank you!