#on commenting

So a lovely anon sent me an ask, but I'm replying seperately to make it a bit more readable for people, because it got long.

I'm going to start by saying that I agree there can be a lot of potential pitfalls at times with leaving a comment on fic. It's a bit of a curse of written communication, in that kind words can occasionally be misinterpreted.

Obviously these things below are just my opinion on the kind of comment that works for me. They're what make me happy, but that might not apply to every author out there.

A commentor who picks a favourite line from a chapter or story is stellar. Like 10/10. It is not only appreciative, but it shows that the reader has really been enjoying themselves and soaking it all in.

Saying to the author "This story made a bad day better" or "I always look forward to your updates." It may sound silly, but it makes me, as a writer, feel like I've been a little part of someone else's life in a positive way, even if it was only for five minutes.

If time's a factor, you really can't go wrong with a love heart emoji, and if you can manage it, a few words of thanks. Fanfic writers do put a lot of work into what they do, and acknowledgement of that is lovely. It might not feel like much, but it's a hundred times better than silence.

Generally speaking, the best advice I can offer to a commentor who is trying to leave something positive is say what you really mean, and say thank you 💖

To use the one I posted earlier as an example:

"Too short 😭"

Taken at face value, that's a criticism. A complaint. That's probably not how the commentor meant it at all, but it is what they said. If I factor in the emoji I can maybe get "I'm upset that it's too short." That's still not a compliment.

"So good! I only wish there was more!"

Much better. They have actually praised the fic they enjoyed, while still sticking to the feeling they had that they wished it was longer so there was more to enjoy.

Now, technically, someone doing a really bad faith reading of that might think the "I only wish there was more" might come across as a touch entitled, but you could add in a "Thank you for your hard work" to the end to ease that sensation, because it acknowledges the author's effort - and, for me, that's brilliant.

In the end, what I want is to know a reader enjoyed themselves (and if they're grateful, even better.)

A couple of golden rules (for me) of what not to do are:

If you don't like it, don't comment. Just hit the back button and move on.

Don't give unsolicited constructive criticism. The act of posting on the archive is not an automatic invitation to try and help someone improve. It's always good to ask first if you want to give advice.

"Update soon". This again comes under saying what you mean. What the commentor means is they want to read what happens next, but they fail to acknowledge the author's work in the last chapter or anything they enjoyed about it. It just makes me feel like a machine that spits out chapters. "I loved it and cannot wait for the next update!" is much better, and less likely to carry any negative interpretations 😁

One of the main points of writing fanfiction is to engage with other fans, to converse about the thing we love. With no feedback we are just speaking into the void. Yes, it's still fun to write about the blorbos, but it is even more fun to start a conversation about them, to find out if others feel the same ways, what headcanons we share, what fantasies we have in common. To debate canon and lore. That's what makes it engaging in the community, rather than just writing for yourself and not sharing it anywhere at all.

Just got a really great comment on Ball, Chain, and Dagur which has been abandoned for a while, and states it in the title.

I've noticed this starting to appear in fic comments lately. In fact, I spotted it only last week on a fic I was reading, and it actually made me feel like shit. To the point of closing the fic without leaving a comment myself.

It's a variant of the following:

"You're the only [fandom/blorbo] writer. Nobody else matters."

or

"You're the only [fandom/blorbo] writer that matters."

or

"You are THE [fandom/blorbo] writer. Nobody else matters, ever."

Can we please... stop with comments like that? Especially in smaller fandoms where there are few enough writers as it is?

When there is only a tiny handful of people who regularly write for one particular small fandom or one less popular blorbo, they're likely to read those fics, and they're likely to read that comment, and they're likely to feel like shit, because you're saying they don't matter.

You're telling them they're a nobody. That their work isn't worth bothering with.

If anyone ever commented that to me in particular - however well meant - I'd feel really fucking awkward, and I'd gently urge them to please consider reading other writers' work, because there are so few of us writing with a focus wholly on my blorbo (instead of giving him a much smaller role in an ensemble cast) and we all pour our hearts and souls into our writing.

Please don't tell people - even indirectly - that their creative endeavours are not worth it.

Commenting is not only a mood and inspiration booster for the authors! Knowing that your favourite writers look forward to your comments is its own reward. ;)

I really needed that. Just for like. The outside perspective away from the self-critical artist hole where everything I've created before sucks and everything I will create from now will never be as good again. I know on a logical level that this is silly but sometimes it's nice to just. Hear it. Especially from a person who pretty much just saw the piece in the window and went "hey, neat! I like that!"

I write for me but then that also means that I'm trying to write to my personal standards and I'm a filthy perfectionist who will never be satisfied. And then if I don't/can't write it's only me I'm disappointing. Which is a bad road to go down.

Once several months ago I read a fic where the main characters were very misogynistic and the narrative was justifying their misogyny. I went into the comments and there were a few other people who pointed out the misogyny in the work. I replied agreeing and said it was kind of uncomfortable. The author replied basically saying "don't like don't read".

Ever since then I've wondered if I was being a jerk for making that comment. Is unsolicited cc justified if the author is misogynistic? Or should I have just ignored it and moved on to a different story? I've been wanting to ask someone else for a while now but I've felt kind of guilty about it

Hey anon!!

I don’t know if I’m an authority on this topic, but I’ve actually been in similar situations, and here are my few thoughts.

1) I don’t think the rules are different when I come across stories that don’t agree with my values. And I think that criticism will still come off as rude. And I think it’s up to YOU to decide if it’s something you care about enough to not care if it’s rude or not. And if it’s something you care about then, I don’t think you need to worry about hurting that author’s feelings. It’s definitely not worth your guilt for days or longer after the fact. Like it’s a can I live with being rude? Can I live with myself for NOT saying something even if it is rude?

2) on the other hand, saying something in the comments is not really going to change anything. There’s lots of people who are prejudice in some way and that’s always going to come out in their artwork. That’s the world they live in in their head. And hearing from a stranger on the internet is not likely going to change their minds or make this person suddenly reflective and self aware.

I have learned (by making a lot of mistakes! Haha!) usually that if I’m reading a story that I don’t like because the author and I clearly have very very different values, that I’m better off just not engaging. I hit that back button. Because if I do say something, and the author responds we usually just get in a back and forth and I get all worked up and angry, and they get all worked up and angry and double down, and it’s just not worth it.

Now I have made an exception before when it felt like the writer wasn’t aware of how it was coming across, and would want to know. But even then, I don’t phrase it as criticism! I usually say something like, “omg! This is so good! I have so many feelings! I can’t believe character x didn’t respect character Y’s no!! I can’t wait for Y to kick them into the sun!” And this works because a lot of the time the author DID mean to write it that way and this comes across as me engaging with their story instead of criticizing the story! And if they didn’t intend for x to be unlikeable in that scene, well, now they know that it landed that way anyway!

I will tell you that if someone has already commented about my issue, and the author has responded defensively or reflectively, I don’t need to say anything.

It also helps me to remember that stuff I find awful is always going to exist! Always! And it being awful is not a reason for it not to exist! Because there’s someone out there who is going to find some of my stuff just as awful! (I’ve even heard from some of them!). My comments and values are not going to stop that kind of stuff from existing. I respond by creating stuff that I wish existed instead. I call that spite fic! Haha!

I also want you to know that I’ve messed up before, I’ve been rude on purpose before (usually in defense of writers, but not always), I’ve apologized for my impact before when something didn’t land as positively as intended, and I’ve not commented on stuff that I abhored before. I’ve done it all! And from that, I’ve learned how I want to engage with fic and fandom. And I have gotten to a point where I almost never comment criticism to a writer I don’t know. But it wasn’t always this way. I LEARNED that by doing it other ways and it blowing up in my face. Mistakes are awesome like that because they are the biggest opportunities to learn.