In <Pine.OSF.3.91.960823124220.6747A-100000@falcon.cc.ukans.edu> "Ranma Al'Thor" <ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu> writes:
On Fri, 23 Aug 1996, Don Wang wrote:
Slashtooth@EVnet.com wrote:
[...]
...Personally, I'm really tired of the fact
that I've received more request for other chapters of Chrono Trigger 1/2
than the actual C & C.
Ok, let's begin with CT and similar stories. I'll admit that CT got
my back up from the start. Before you get upset, :) it had absolutely
*nothing* to do either with your ability as an author or the story; it was
simply that I've seldom loathed any supposedly-sympathetic characters more
than I did the CT characters (again, I *do not* mean your ability to portray
them). My problem with it was the fact that, not knowing CT, I could only
sympathise with the Ranma cast and despise the CT characters for their
arrogance (particularly Lucca(SP?)) and was in such a foul mood :) after
reading the first chapter that I deliberately held back from C&C until I'd
seen more. My mood didn't improve with more reading. Because of this, more
than for any other reason, I felt that I was in no position to offer
constructive C&C, particularly since I don't consider my annoyance in the
*least* to be your fault and couldn't see how you could improve/change things.
What's even more annoying, from past experience
I'm beginning to get the idea that those who requested my story never
wrote back.
M'hmm; it does seem at first that people ask for things and then can't
be bothered replying. I recall being extremely disappointed at the lack of
C&C I received from those who had particularly requested what I'd written of
_Dark Chronicles_. It was only after a little thought that I realised that
they neither owed me a thing (after all, they (apart from one) never promised
C&C) nor had an infinite amount of time to spare critiquing my work when they
may be trying to keep up with (sometimes) upwards of ten fanfics per day
(ignoring anything else they might be doing). I suspect that in almost every
case for every 'fic (and I'm *certainly* prepared to give the one person who
promised C&C on DC and never gave it the benefit of the doubt here) that the
lack of comment couldn't be less deliberate. It's simply that, either people
have nothing bad to say so say nothing, or genuinely lack the time required to
give the depth of comment they'd prefer.
For my own part, I've read (and archived) almost every 'fic I've
received since I joined the list in early May. If I were to comment on every
'fic, I'd be at it 24 hours a day and DC would never have been started (since
I have original work of my own to consider). I may be generous, :) I don't
know, but I've considered as, at the least, fair, almost 90% of what I've
read. There are a few authors of whose works I now tend to be wary, but only
because I mightn't like the take they have on a particular character or theme
or because they write or lean towards lemon; however there would be very
little served by my telling them this as they wouldn't change and we'd only
end up in a pointless disagreement.
Of the works I've wanted to comment on but haven't had the time,
_Symmetric Polynomials_, _Awakening_, _A Once and future Akane_, _Refugees_
and _Ranko 1/2_ to name a *very* few, have been amongst my recent favourites,
but I simply haven't the time to do them the justice they deserve. Others
such as _Twisted Path_ (which I consider the best author-insertion I've seen
by a large margin, approached perhaps only by BG-Zone) and BG-Zone itself are
simply too complex/vast to be dealt with with anything save very in-depth C&C
for which I simply do not have the time at present.
[...]
For that matter, when I was starting out, I wrote 6 chapters of a story
before I ever even got a "That's nice" mail acknowledging that ANYONE was
reading anything I wrote. IT takes a while to build up enough of a
fanbase to have anyone who will make meaningful comments on your work.
In which case I've *certainly* no right to complain :) - I received
(at the least) encouragement on my first posting and have kept in contact with
at least one other fanfic author on quite a regular basis from that time. I
consider his comments, general talk and in particular his help with the P: A-
ko universe invaluable and would have consigned his _P: S-boy_ to the vast
quantity of 'fics I considered excellent but upon which I'd not the time to
comment had he not commented first on DC.
Something I consider far more of a problem than the lack of C&C is the
lack of response to comment, private or otherwise. IMHO it is the height of
discourtesy to ignore someone's (genuine) C&C or note of encouragement, even
if the author does no more than send a one-word `Thanks' in response (if I've
missed anyone who commented on DC BTW then I didn't see the C&C or comment and
apologise without reservation). I've had this happen a (very) few times and
it's quite disconcerting, not to mention annoying to spend time on comment
only to be ignored. I'd appeal to everyone receiving C&C from someone to at
the least send back an acknowledgement. It takes very little time and tells
people that it's worth their while to comment.
[...]
Let's face it. Most of the people on this list have limited time, and
most of the people on this list never say one word of praise or
condemnation.
Exactly. I've started C&C on several stories, then thought about it
and realised that I've nothing to say other than a variation of `Fine job.'.
I suppose I really should have e-mailed all of those, but tend not to for 2
reasons.
Firstly, such a response seems banal to me (I'd rather say something
constructive than pointless).
Secondly (and I've been guilty of this myself), I've only a limited
amount of time and can't afford (much as I would prefer things otherwise) to
be drawn into an in-depth conversation with every author to whom I might send
a brief comment, concerning that author's work. When first I posted DC, I was
interested to discuss it with everyone who responded to the initial post,
something I now consider a very big mistake. I probably did no more than
discourage them from any further comment on anything. I now tend to follow an
unwritten rule that boils down to: `Tiny comment, tiny response.'. If they
wanted to discuss the work, they would have included in-depth C&C.
[...]
...I can't say that I've not
benefited from the FFML, but most of the help comes only from a few
individuals who are willing to read my story.
That's quite an assumption to make and a little unfair IMO (unless I'm
misunderstanding you). Lack of C&C doesn't equate to lack of interest. Gods;
as I said, CT has *really* infuriated me in parts, but I'm still willing to go
on reading it.
[...]
...Most of the time, a subject may read C
& C and has multiple posts to it, but when you looked at it carefully it
usually is just a conversation between the two people or a lot of
unnecessary trival details.
Sometimes those can be fascinating to someone interested in a
particular work's genesis.
[...]
Actually, a lot of commentary is done privately. Half the replies I get
>from the FFML are to me personally, not the list itself.
I've only seen one DC reply directed solely to the list (apart from a
very amusing little tiny-'fic spawned from an idea in it), but I may be
responsible for that as I set `Reply-To:' to my own address to make certain I
see any comment.
problem, I think, is that if people don't like the story they don't
write back about it. I personally do that a lot, and I can see how this
This is also common. It doesn't help when people periodically get flamed
for daring to make negative commentary...
Exactly. Not to point fingers, but I remember a particularly nasty
episode not too long ago concerning a 'fic (still being posted under another
name) where negative comment seemed to be interpreted by the author as flames
or personal insult when the majority seemed to me to be nothing of the kind.
I do not want to start another thread of spam based on this, I just
want an answer. Is this ML truly for all authors, or just the few that
are very well known?
Same goes for me. I've asked this question a long time ago, and I'll
ask again. What do one have to get response on his story? Richard
Keep writing. Pure and simple. If I had gone by the response to my
early work, I'd have never written another story.
I was at the point of abandoning DC because of a combination of
minimal (although in itself excellent) response and a vicious tooth-and-nail
fight with Chapter 3 :) but persisted. That chapter is (at long last) almost
finished and should be posted within a fortnight (I *never* want so much
trouble with a piece of writing again, believe me).
[...]
The most important thing is to KEEP writing.
Indeed.
John Walter Biles
Craig