I’m very glad to see the discussion here. It’s very helpful to us also!

Melda,

I would really wish the writers at your site
to fill the "user's profile" so we
get to know about them.

That is a very good idea!

Also, can we a make a rule to give readers
warning if the story does not have a happy
ending for D&E, or if
it deviates from the usual couplings. I dearly
like to avoid such stories!

We couldn’t do that because such a rule would be censuring the authors. But Stacy is right that a blurb might be helpful, also many authors encourage to email them and ask. However, it might be useful for authors to see the argumentation behind such a need. When we were beginning we simply didn’t understand why we should let anyone know the end of our story, because we didn’t know it was possible to not end with E&D together at all. An author who knows the story will be safe may prefer to let the end know in order to keep the readers for the ride.

Mihaela,

I am really gratified that you put it
black on white (or is it brown on white
?:blink:) that an honest comment
could/may/might contain disaccords and
disagreements as well ! As long as there is
respect for the author's work and for the
other readers, of course!

and Stacy,

I just don't agree when rude comments are
issued to the authors via "other
threads" claiming not to read their
stories but following the comments thread
and posting "indirect" attacks to
the authors in question. Rudeness is
definitelly overrated these days. I can only
hope many won't follow that example.

This is perhaps an option for tough authors , and we certainly don’t mean by that comments for other stories in someone else’s thread.

Moreover, there are situations in which it’s fully understandable that an author doesn’t want to receive negative comments. I.e. the plot is very angsty, without a happy ending, and the author knows what the readers’ reaction will be anyway and simply doesn’t want to receive 100 angry posts every week, or an author is a new one and needs rather support than lashing.

Comments don’t read the same from an author’s perspective that from a reader’s. Sometimes a reader means to joke, while an author takes the comment seriously, sometimes a comment is meant to be really positive while an author sees some shortcomings in their own writing, because the comment shows the author’s meaning didn’t come through. That happens to us all the time, and then we try to discern if we should explain something better, or a reader is so frustrated that simply prefers to see only one aspect of our writing. In either case the comment is very helpful, because it gives a valid information that can be used as a directive.

Another thing is a reader’s frustration as such. I agree it’s wrong to vent it in other threads rather than where it belongs, but we believe that if we encourage readers to vent their frustration with us in our thread they won’t have the need to do it elsewhere.

Is it bad that a reader is frustrated? That depends only on the author. If an author created an angsty situation on purpose they should be prepared for this kind of reaction, and it is in fact a compliment to their writing. But if an author meant to solve the situation in a particular way and after doing that the reader is still frustrated then the author may either feel offended, or rather reanalyse the plot and make some changes. We would choose the latter, and that is why we want to know. We have two very picky betas and our readers’ comments to see if we succeed. If we don’t get the feedback we’ll simply end with a bad story. Still, it doesn’t mean that our story will be great in every aspect. There are things we won’t be able to change, but we’ll be many comments and one experience wiser, and the next time we’ll do better.

It absolutely doesn’t mean that we aren’t stubborn or we won’t be defending our POV, but we also know that if several intelligent, educated and well read persons tell us the same it means that something is wrong.

It took us a lot of time to even learn how to read the comments. Note that the number and length of comments after a mushy chapter is never equal to that after an angsty one. So we always know what’s wrong, we hardly ever know what’s good. If we wanted to take the average we would have to conclude our story sucks. Of course one cannot see things this way. One just needs to understand that the proportion is natural.

There are also other experiences. I.e. the first time we were writing the story Vian was disliked by everyone, while we dearly loved him from the beginning. While rewriting it we changed him a bit. Now he is a controversial character. Most don’t like him but some do. This is exactly what we wanted to achieve with him. But if everyone told us he’s great and Lizzy should go for him we would be miserable.

Sometimes we need time to accept a comment. We disagree at first but it keeps bothering us and after some time we become ready to admit the reader was right. We then change things even if at first we said we wouldn’t. And I write about it now because perhaps sometimes our readers lack the feedback from us. We may at first seem very stubborn and the readers may think they just waste their time with us, while in fact their comment proved very helpful.

Also sometimes comments are very rewarding even though they are negative. There were some readers before who, when the angst started, wrote very angry comments and told us they quit, but then came back at the end and told us they were satisfied with the resolution. That meant a lot to us, and wouldn’t be as important if they had said at first that they were hooked and loved to just sit and watch what we have planned.

Some of our regular reviewers here have been reading fanfic longer than we write it. We then see they read things exactly as we want to show them. Being calmer, better prepared for the many twists in stories, they give a very thorough insight. There are also some who are newer to fanfic, read with less patience. Their comments tell us at which point the story is getting more emotional. Also, more often than not comments reveal some plot bunnies that should be taken care for.

There is also one very important thing for an author, that is their readers’ credit. If a reader likes a story because they really like the portrayal of the characters there for an author it’s very important to not disappoint them even if it’s necessary to carry on the plot and create situations which would bother them. Our object then is to still be able to earn their credit when the story ends.

In other words there is much much more to comments than just general appreciation, and although I admit they may hurt, they are crucial in learning and improving our writing. It’s like with everything, if you don’t burn you won’t learn. And there is also another side of the moon. If your readers didn’t like the story, they wouldn’t bother to read and comment at all.

That’s why we think it’s OK for an author to say they don’t want constructive critique, but we don’t want to make it a general rule.

We also don’t want to be anyone’s competition. We’re still going to post on HG and AHA, and all we wish is to offer one more place for authors to share their talent and for readers to appreciate it. We are readers as well.

Sylwia