Lately Iâve been seeing a lot of calls for fic readers to leave comments, and while I absolutely agree that leaving feedback is good practice and everyone should do it, we need to nix this idea that a reader is obligated to leave the kind of feedback authors want (or any at all).Â
Fandom is a gift economy. Instead of services for money, we exchange fanworks for a response. Reader response comes largely in two forms because of AO3: comments and kudos. Receiving these can be a huge morale booster for authors. A lack of feedback from readers can make you feel like youâre writing in a void. Sometimes writers stop writing because they donât feel itâs worth their time, or they find fandoms where feedback is more plentiful. A single meaningful comment can change that. Seriously. Someone liked a fic enough they figured out how to leave multiple kudos? That author is going to have a great day.Â
Beyond supporting their writing, leaving feedback on an authorâs work can also lead to friendship if a reader and a writer hit it off. And if the reader also creates stuff, a writer might even check it out (that shouldnât be your motivation for leaving feedback and please donât advertise your own stuff in a comment â that would be pretty rude â but itâs a neat side effect).Â
So feedback is important. Feedback feeds the fandom economy by validating writersâ time, and in turn, those writers will probably churn out more fic. (Not surprisingly, positive feedback is considered the most valuable since it contributes to good feelings, and happy writers are usually happy to keep writing.) Itâs also polite to thank someone for a gift. Just like you might send a thank you if someone sent you a birthday present, if you enjoyed a fic you read, consider pressing that kudos button or dropping a comment. For most fic writers, that interaction is the only reward they get in exchange for the time they put into writing.Â
But no reader is obligated to leave feedback any more than a writer is obligated to write fic. To put it another way, writers are not entitled to a readerâs feedback any more than readers are entitled to a writerâs fic. If readers may not demand what authors write about or how often we publish new chapters, then authors may not demand certain types of feedback from readers (or any). The gift concept goes both ways. A gift is given willingly, without the expectation of anything in return, even a thank you.Â
Donât get me wrong. Itâs rude not to acknowledge a gift, but there can be no obligation in the giving of one, otherwise it wasnât a gift in the first place. Did you ever receive a âgiftâ with expectations attached? Tacky. Same concept.
Most fic writers I know adore feedback. Itâs natural to hope for it and feels terrible when you donât receive it, but if we turn commenting into a chore, I honestly think weâll see less of it. So if you want to encourage feedback, let readers know youâd love to know their thoughts. Reply if they leave you a message. Thatâs all we can do.Â
I do wonder if some people might feel shy about commenting or not know what to say. If you fall into this category, know that there is nothing wrong with saying simply âLoved thisâ or âThank you for sharing.â You do not have to write an essay. And for anyone who would like to support an author but wants to avoid comments for any reason, here are some alternatives:
Leave kudos. There is nothing wrong with only leaving kudos. You donât need an AO3 account to do this. Just click the button and your kudos will be given anonymously.
Share the fic with your friends. If the author made a post on their social media, maybe reblog or retweet it.Â
Respond to an authorâs fic post on social media with a brief message or an emoji. (Iâve been told some authors donât really like feedback on Twitter, but Iâm really happy if someone will talk to me in public.)
Make them something. If you are an artist and you loved a fic, but you donât know how to express that, maybe doodle something from it. Do you make podfics? Record a chapter. I can almost guarantee the author will scream out of excitement.
Subscribe to the authorâs AO3 account or follow them on social for updates
Also: Itâs 100% okay to leave comments on older fic or to leave comments on multiple fics. Absolutely no author will find this weird. Youâre not bothering them.Â