askerian: Serious Karkat in a red long-sleeved shirt (Angst by byakugan)
askerian ([personal profile] askerian) wrote2010-03-11 10:58 am

O.o oh, fic comment wank.

I'm not gonna link to it, but apparently a part of fandom is all aflutter because someone tried to pass down the laws of Commenting On Fic according to Themselves? Or something.

Anyway, since passing fandom-wide laws is obnoxious as fuck, here's my personal laws of commenting on fic... (because it's totally not obnoxious when it's area-limited. Yeah. Or something. u.u-b )

Do you feel like commenting ?
- Yes. => Alright! Go ahead and comment. ^.^
- No. => Alright! Go ahead and don't comment. ^.^

Do you feel like being a douche?
=> Stop it.

Tadahh.



Considering I don't look at page views, and even if I did, I can't somehow divine how many just clicked to glance at it and then went "not my cup of tea", or how many went "crap it's long, I have no time, I'll read later" and how many went "aw hell I'm gonna have to switch to the other computer" and how many went "hey, I read it the other day but now there are comments and I want to read those as well, I'm gonna come back a couple times", I can guarantee I have NO CLUE how many people read and *gasp* don't review.

Nor do I give a damn. I know there'll be a certain percentage of lurkers. So what? I lurk too. I lurk SOOO much you guys have no idea. So in the interest of not going 'splodies with hypocrisy...

Am I getting used to seeing some of you comment pretty regularly? You're damn right I am.

Do I recognize your names on sight and go "eee so and so commented again" and love you a little bit? Yep.

Do I feel abandoned/cheated/like I messed up that story and you won't heeeelp meeee waugh when for some personal reason of your own, you don't/can't/forget to/don't wanna comment one day?

... do I come across as that much of a douche?


Minimum comment length!!! >:(

... I would love at least a smiley. .__.; because smilies are pretty awesome. 9.9 I can type them all day, for srs. u.u-b

Anyway, so long as it's easy to see where your comment is coming from, even three letters can be fine. If I'm writing a humor fic, go ahead with the LOLs and the cackling icons. I mean, that would be a little bare, but as long as it's not stuff I'd need to be telepathic to get, I'm not going to feel spammed. (oh, there was this one time I got "^^;" as a review. You're damn right it annoyed me. what the fuck does that meeeeeean. Apparently it was a "Oh, usually I don't like this pairing at all but you're making me like it a little bit but I don't like that I'm liking it" ^^; . Uh, alright? what the everloving fuck.)

'course I would love to see at least a small sentence, or even two, or *gasp* THREE PAGES :DDDDDD omgbweeflailflail. But "I would love" =/= "you have to".

So long as I understand what you're getting at in relation to the fic, go ahead.


replying to someone's comment without replying to the fic!

"Agreed!", "This makes me think of TANGENT", and "I don't think so because X" are perfectly fine.

Unrelated-to-the-fic comments, well, I have to admit it makes me wonder what happened, that you read the whole fic... and then the whole comments section... and the only thing you found worth commenting on was someone else's aside/icon. But unless I'm having a sucky day it's going to make me "hnn" all of one minute. Unless you're being obnoxious or not respecting the person you're talking with (which = instant RAAAAA), I'm probably not even going to say anything about it.


Concrit!

1. Remember the "constructive" bit. If you're just criticizing out of wanting to get your bitch on, I'm just gonna roll my eyes and skip it.
2. That's... pretty much it?

Now in the interest of fair warning... I am secretly a very sensitive princess and will be quite :'( if I get some types of crit. For example, grammar and spelling = yay! because I know I don't have a natural sense of them, so any help is welcome. Or "um, that's a very confusing/run-on sentence, just saying!", okay then, that's easily fixable. Messing up on big story themes or important, "you should have known that!!" background details or IC/OOC behavior or plotting or "are you aware you're sending the message that/coming across as..." or "hey didn't you say X was dead, so why is he around to do critical for plot! Y thing?" stupidity = WAUUUUGH.

Thankfully I eventually get over it. But I have this tendency of taking some time to brood on the crit first. It's very likely eventually I'll go "curses! they're totally right. Rewrite time, sob sob."

... It's also been known to happen that I'll sometimes, um, forget to reply to the crit. .___.;;;;

It's not because I'm angry with you for daring to crit. (srsly if I ever do that, kick my ass. I'll need it.) I've read it, I've thought about it obsessively, for a couple of years... XD I might have agreed with everything or just part of it or none of it... I just really suck when it comes to answering all of my comments, whether they contain concrit or not.

Sometimes you'll see half the comments answered, and some not, pretty much at random. Because I didn't start in chronological order, I started with the ones that were easy to answer, the ones I didn't need to spend some time considering my reply to. And then, well, sometimes other stuff happens to push it out of my mind and I never do answer. I'm not snubbing you. It's a personal failing, bad memory, lack of organization, blahblahblah maybe I'll do it tomorrow blahblah Bad Procrastinating Asuka is Bad and Procrastinating. But guaranteed I've read every single one.

-- anyway. I might whine to myself and/or unfortunate friends who didn't run away fast enough if I get some types of concrit. But it's on me for being ~delicate~, not on you for not having wrapped me up in enough layers of cotton fluff.



In my view, fics are presents the writer gives the fandom. Some people write for social purposes, to be part of fandom, and don't care for writing as a craft otherwise. Some probably write the story for yourselves indeed, because you want to practice your skills or it needs to be told or whatnot. But if you're posting it, you can't decently say "I write for myself!!!" is your only motive.

That's why it pisses me off so much when people DEMAND I write something. You don't DEMAND to be given a gift. That's like wetting something dry!

But reviews = also presents.

You don't demand to be given a present. You just give, and hopefully it'll be returned, and maybe it won't, and if you're writing for social purposes I guess it's a bummer for you, but if you're only giving in the spirit of "I only did that so I'd have something in return! You owe me!" then, um, sucks to be you, and let me make a note to never comment on anything of yours ever again.

The only obligation I'll be cross at you for forgetting is "don't be a douche."

So if you guys want to comment on my stuff, yay! I shall love you. If not, for whatever reason, then, alright. No problem. You don't owe me anything. I don't owe you anything. It's a festival of not owing a thing! (apart from not being a douche.) Lurk at will! I'll be in my bunk, lurking away.

[identity profile] kohikari.livejournal.com 2010-03-12 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
replying to someone's comment without replying to the fic!

...Uh, having just done that five times, I feel obligated to make an Official Comment to the Post. XD;; I'm on the team of Has Nothing Worth Saying That Hasn't Already Been Said Better, and also the team of Obsessively Nitpicks Every Comment Three Times Before Submitting It But Has Attention Span Worthy of Five-Year-Old. Well, and the OMGASUKA♥~ Team, but that kinda goes without saying...

[identity profile] nacchi-camui.livejournal.com 2010-03-12 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
*unlurking~* *for the first time in years* *is lame*

I don't follow fanficrants or any comm like that, but. Word.
You're right that both things are gifts. That's an awesome way to describe it all. I know comments on my fics wouldn't turn me into a puddle of goo if people felt obligated to give them.

Now strangely enough, no comments on a fic is fine, and I don't get to be nervous about crit because I never get some (I wouldn't mind) but a lack of comments on a drawing makes me really nervous about its quality. Figure. Then I get a few more and I'm happy. XD

Anyway, ilu, now back to lurking. 8D (I'm quite completely out of all those Japanese fandoms, but you're a writer that's too talented to be kicked out of my flist ♥)

[identity profile] venia.livejournal.com 2010-03-12 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I agreeeee~ even if I don't post fics, that's the way it's supposed to be!u.u

I...I would never be able to comment with a " :D " alone, ahaha! But I'm tempted to do it now. Just once.XD

Answering to a comment without reviewing the fic is unpolite. I remember months ago when people started debating about the latest manga chapter IN YOUR LJ, as if it was a goddamn forum. You had been right to protest. You could protest even against this, and yet you still tollerate it...because you're cooler than that♥

As for procrastinating. Weird enough, I dom't mind you doing that. XD Most of the time the comments I post are not even that impostant anyway. And yet you answer back with full phrases, when you could have just sent a " :D " (pff here it comes, again!), and for that, ILU. X3

[identity profile] aegistheia.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
Hello!

I'm a lurker on the internet by nature until I get over my shyness of just randomly posting. And I just want to say, I've read a few of your works. I haven't commented on a single one for various reasons, the most influential of which was my shyness. (I'm not sure why I'm so shy. I love to comment.) Sorry!

I wanted to let you know that I share almost the same view regarding reviewing as you. Some online authors feel entitled to reviews but how do you argue that without reciprocity? It feels like it'd be along the same lines as readers feeling entitled to regular updates - wrong on every account. Your present analogy is dead on. (...I'll try to comment on your stuff more. Um. .___.)

And my views on internet posting are basically the same as yours, too! As someone who has written for myself for the better part of a decade, I have never felt the overwhelming need to post anything I've created, because that wasn't why I was writing. This is my selfish hobby for me and my eyes alone, and I am perfectly happy not posting. After all, this is my way of participating in fandom - quietly, in my own mad singular corner.

But if I post it, I make it public, and that changes everything. And now I'm feeling a stronger urge to do so, because I get the feeling that I'm slowly not writing just for myself anymore - like you'd said. It's a very telling feeling; you know as soon as you feel it. There's a difference, and I'm glad you pointed that out to those who might not have seen it.

I really like the attitude you take towards concrit, really. That you'd mull it over (I'm the same, I am horrible to be around when I absorb concrit during my English and creative writing classes; I become a tentacle monster demanding for more clarifications as to what had gone wrong) and take it in regardless of how hurt you'd feel. And no one should feel the need to agree with anything; opinions are a right.

(I know I sound kind of arrogant, approving your attitude or whatever, and I totally don't mean that. It's just. It's nice to know you're taking in the comments made to you from people who [probably] didn't mean to hurt you or anything, in the fashion that you do it. Your skin, it is thick!)

You have a way with words that transcend fluency of any language, truly. It shows in all aspects of your writing, be it fiction, opinion posts, rants, etc. Your creativity/insight isn't locked into one set of expressions, and I am so glad I have found your works randomly that one day, while I was linkhopping. I'm multilingual as well, and I have yet to figure out how to creatively express what I want to in one language without sounding like a total foreigner speaking it. Yet you do so with such a distinctive flair it's admirable.

/tl;dr

All in all, thank you for sharing your opinion! It was wonderful to read, and I'm so happy to have found someone with a similar opinion on online posting in general.

All the best,

Aegis

[identity profile] ishanatur.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 07:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"that you read the whole fic... and then the whole comments section... and the only thing you found worth commenting on was someone else's aside/icon."

I just had to say to this cos it happens to me a lot. With me it's not that the fic wasn't worth commenting on. It was that I don't have anything to say that seems worthwhile (mostly bcos it has already been said better by others in the comments or a ridiculous amount of time has passed or a shiny bird flew my way) But sometimes someone will make a comment about a post (fic or rant) that just has to be responded to either because it shifted your perspective on something and made you reevaluate something. I can imagine that happening in your comments a lot because being a great writer, you should be inspiring people to think and discuss. Plus you have a very intelligent following so people will most likely debate :D
I don't know if anything in this post makes sense, but the fact that you can stir such intense debate in your readers is something to be applauded.

[identity profile] moocow33.livejournal.com 2010-04-06 01:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I cant believe that someone tried to do that, preposterous!
though, if there were to be a set of rules to be followed, your 'rules' are quite reasonable ^_^

You don't DEMAND to be given a gift. That's like wetting something dry! <-- your logic is loveable <3

ps. ever heard of a douche canoe? it's like calling something a douche x surprise/'whae?' :P

[identity profile] sara-the-lazy.livejournal.com 2010-09-25 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
I love this post. Despite me not doing -nearly- as much writing as you and not having any sort of fan base - just a few friends and people who wander by my fics/pics - I feel very similar to the way you do about comments and crits. This applies to both fanfic and drawn works.

"In my view, fics are presents the writer gives the fandom... But reviews = also presents."
I completely agree. That's why when I read awesome stories I always comment - if not the first time I read it then the second or third. I send thank you notes when I get presents in the outside world, so why wouldn't I at least acknowledge the gift of a great fic? Hence why I tend to give long rambly comments that probably make some writers go "wtf is this girl on, oh well, at least she liked the story". I try not to fangirl too much over art/fics or their artists/authors, too, out of respect.

One thing I don't like so much is receiving the gift of a favorite on a site like DA, but not getting a comment from that person. It's kind of a "Yay, this person enjoyed my story! I wonder what they liked about it though..." I guess it just bugs me a little because it's more impersonal. I'd take a one sentence comment over a favorite any day, because I like talking with people with whom I share a common interest. The high favorite to comment ratio I get doesn't bother me much, but it's something I've thought about.

I also love concrits. My favorite one was "I think the weakest point was the dialogue...The dialogue, and the way emotions or thoughts were bluntly stated so often felt a little generic". I had been worrying about that with a story, and I was SO GLAD to have someone confirm it. I still kind of fail at dialogue, but I -like- being told the truth.

Wow, that was a long comment, and pretty self-centered... hopefully not in too bad of a way. I write too many words in your journal entries... Oh wait, that's a good thing if it's a comment on a story (as long as it's not just a babble!)

~Sara

[identity profile] sour-idealist.livejournal.com 2010-11-24 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Uhm, so, this is months old and probably pointless to comment on. But I spotted this section:

Unrelated-to-the-fic comments, well, I have to admit it makes me wonder what happened, that you read the whole fic... and then the whole comments section... and the only thing you found worth commenting on was someone else's aside/icon.

I have done that rather frequently, so I can't speak for everyone, but if I ever do it, what probably happened is that I had no comment on the fic beyond "Funny/sweet/hot/interesting plot continuation," and I always feel silly leaving comments that bland, but I saw something in the comments that could lead to a polite but spirited argument interesting conversation and wanted to babble about that because I actually had something to say beyond "I am still reading and interested." And I suspect that's probably the usual thing.

(Holy run-on sentence, self.)

[identity profile] daemoninwhite.livejournal.com 2011-02-16 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I should comment more than I do, considering that I'm an author and I know what its like to get reviews. Having said that, I feel like I've been spamming you the past couple of days.... /hides

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