On Fri, 22 Nov 1996, Shiaw Kang Chi wrote:

I've been reading the Talswapr awards and other fanfic reviews, and it
seems to me that alot of the critics seem to enjoy the more
serious Ranma stories, a departure from the usual Takahashi mayhem.  My
Ranma/SM fanfic basically sticks to the original formula, and I've only
gotten positive responses to it (no flames), but I was wondering if most
people enjoyed the more serious Ranma stories.  I feel expanding the Ranma
characters or placing them in different situations is fine, (Mark
Latus does a great job of this) but think many people go beyond that and
change the characters.  Do people actually prefer vast differences in the
Ranma characters they know and love?  Or is the original hijinks Takahashi
started prefered? 

Preferences in Ranma fanfiction are as varied as the fanfictions 
themselves; it seems there is a slight preference for "in-character" 
fics, but even so there are plenty of "OOC" fics that are widely liked.  
Write what *you* like, and chances are someone else out there will like 
it too.

One more thing, I'm just wondering what the average response to a fanfic
is.  Ranma/SM was my first work, and I'm wondering if I should be happy
with the decent number of comments I've had or if my writing is such
mindless dribble people most people don't even bother flaming.

Well, I have gotten as few as three comments on a given story, and some 
stories have gotten many more; it depends a lot on the 'fic, how much 
Real Life is interfering with people's lives (I know I comment on far 
fewer 'fics than I'd like to, simply because RL prevents me from reading 
a hefty portion of what gets posted to the ML, and I find myself deleting 
'fics for time and space reasons which I have later sought out on archive 
or RAAC and enjoyed immensely), what series are involved, etc.  My advice 
is to take any and all comments as encouragement and not bother counting 
and comparing; just keep writing.  And try to become your own worst 
critic; if you strive for certain standards in your own writing, chances 
are people will notice, and you will also probably see a vast improvement 
in your own work.

mata ne,
bengman