It is soul crushing to pour time, energy, creativity into something and to get no feedback. And by feedback I do mean the simple thing of ’ I liked it’. That is enough. That is better than nothing.
I get excited being able to post something I enjoyed writing, but then to be met with the sound of crickets…
I liked one of the comments on this post - kudos and likes are just numbers:. 100% this! While great, they are cold, and unfeeling. I’ll confess - when I first started writing, kudos were so exciting. There was a person out there somewhere, telling me they liked my story.
That buzz is gone now. I’m older, and have written…. A lot. Kudos and hit counts don’t capture my attention all that much anymore.
But comments are life affirming.
I guess I wonder why people don’t write comments. They are too busy? Don’t know what to say?
Advise - write from your gut. A simple acknowledgement of having read the story or re-read the story, or wishing you could put more kudos on, just SOMETHING, will save a writer’s life.
I spoiil my readers by most of the time (I see those two incomplete chapter-count fics from years ago on my to-do list and fret) only posting once I’ve written out the story completely, to safeguard against what I dread most - start reading a fic and not know if it will ever get finished. Fair enough people doing that - life gets busy, but personally, for myself, I don’t like that, and I try to not perpetuate the things I don’t like.
So it doesn’t matter all that much if I don’t get comments, because I will post the entirity of the story, regardless of reader interaction. Doesn’t mean I don’t want them. Doesn’t mean peoples feelings and words don’t influence me. Comments invigorate me to push further, to do more edits, and sometimes even to completely change the story mid-way through.
Your passion and interest in authors creative pursuits is a huge boon to said author. Most authors want interaction. I won’t think you’re a stalker by talking to me all the time on a story you enjoy. You become a stalker when you cite stuff to me about my personal life 😅 So I just wanna clear that up. Being excited about a work you enjoy is not stalkerish - it’s feeding your artist/author the fuel they need to keep going.
Even with my ‘posting completed fics’ I still need feedback. I still need interaction. You don’t see what goes on behind the scenes. When I get stuck and deflated I seek out my circle of pre-readers, betas, and friends to check out what I wrote. Their interaction gets me through humps. If I wasn’t talking to people I would take twice as long to get things done. (I’m too stubborn to give up and not finish the story)
Your input and interaction has power to keep the engine of creativity going.
I don’t want to pressure people into leaving comments when they don’t want to and can’t, but if you ever find yourself in a position to do so, please do, to save an author’s self-esteem and creativity. To save a story that might otherwise go dead.
Honestly doesn’t take much. Anything is better than the sound of silence
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