Just caught up with this thread.
I think I'm a unique case over here - during the past year, I found my interest in all kinds of reading dwindling. I read very little fanfic (most of it in Harry Potter nowadays, and occasionally L&C vignettes) but I've also stopped reading books and even comics. (I think the homework overload might have contributed to it.)
Lately I don't even check the boards every day. I spend most of the day away from home since I started classes at the university, and when I'm home I'm usually too tired/sleepy to do stuff that requires a working brain (which is also why I write much less, too) - and enjoying a story does require a working brain. I usually just catch up with emails, LiveJournal and I chat with my friends - in other words, I just try to keep up with what's happening in my friends' lives.
I'm a relative newbie myself, and I had a lot of trouble attracting readers when I first started writing. Because of that, I understand the frustration of newbies who think they deserve better (I thought I did too! But then again, my stories stank, so I'm probably not one to talk
) and I try to encourage new writers as much as I can, by reading their stories, giving feedback and BRing, if I can. Unfortunately, I hardly have a chance to do that anymore
I'm ashamed to say that I barely even know the names of the new fics posted! I recognize the new posters that have appeared on the boards, but that's about it
And I had plans about reading tons of fanfic when I'd be done with high school, catching up with oldies, doing a good bit of Kerth reading... but none of this happened.
Anyways.
Interesting discussion here. I enjoyed reading it - in such discussions, I much prefer reading to writing, because I never feel I have much to contribute. Though I'd like to comment on this:
alcyone wrote:
What I don't agree with is what I've seen of people saying things along the lines of "I don't like where this seems to be heading, so I don't think I'm going to read any more." I understand that other people might not think it's that big of a deal but it really, really irks me. [...] That sort of thing would be better off done through email/private message than posted on a public board.
I agree that maybe an email or IM is a better approach, but I can't really say I see the problem with saying it in a FDK thread.
alcyone wrote:
That sort of thing kills me because (1)the poster isn't letting the writer finish the story before judging it
But what if we're talking about a long story? Do you expect the reader to keep reading until the end, spend maybe hours on the story in the off chance they might like it in the end? If I can predict I'm not going to like a story because it deals with a topic I don't care about, I'm not going to waste my time reading it. This isn't obligatory reading.
alcyone wrote:
and (2)even the story seems to incorporate elements the reader really can't handle, to post something like that seems really rude. After all, what is the expectation? That the writer will somehow change everything for that reader? That the writer will be comforted by knowing that the reader left because they didn't like the direction of the story (as opposed to writing style, etc)?
Classicalla wrote:
Just because you don’t particularly like something about a story doesn’t mean that story isn’t still good.
Exactly, Nancy. Which is why, as a reader, I feel obliged to let the writer know *why* I'm not going to read the story till the end. Otherwise, the writer will wonder why there's such a lack of FDK, or, in case it's a longer story, where have the previously regular reviewers gone. (It's happened to me, and I didn't like it.)
Of course the writer is not expected to change their story so as to make it fit the reader's tastes. But the comfort alcyone seems to find so improbable exists. At least, it exists if there *is* something nice you can say about it. For example, a comment like "I really love the way you write, but *this kind of fanfic* doesn't really interest me, so I'm not going to read any further" seems more like an apology than negative feedback. I'd go as far as to say that it's actually
positive feedback; the writer can rest assured that their writing is good enough to even be appreciated by non-fans of the genre!
It's happened to me, to get comments telling me they loved my writing, but they didn't like something else about the story, and I appreciated them deeply. In fact, I had pretty much a whole FDK folder full of comments of that nature. So I'm not just assuming here, but speaking from personal experience.
(I have to admit - in my case, no one stopped reading, maybe because it was the last part of the story. But I had people tell me they found it really hard to finish reading.)
Then again, I wouldn't expect, say, Tank to start sending such FDK to all kidfic writers, or Ann to all deathfic writers. I'm talking about the case where you've started reading something but then you feel like you can't read further.
I hope I haven't offended anyone.
See ya,
AnnaBtG.
