On Sun, 16 Feb 1997, Richard Lawson wrote:

All I can say is, if you can find the time to personally reply to 30
email messages in three days, then you are a better person than I.  I
admit that I'm not a saint.  But neither do I think I am pure evil
because I don't have 15 hours available to personally reply to every
email sent to me.

That's all I have to say about the flames I've been getting.

    Flames? More like a nice space-heater, I reckon. :P I'm sure you've 
gotten *much* harsher mail than this before. Wouldn't the world be a 
nicer place if all flames were like this?

In an attempt to get this back on topic:  Please remember to let people
know if you've read their story, and what you thought about it.  *That*
is important, and *that* is the purpose of the FFML.

    True. However, I have to admit, as someone that tries to reply to 
everything I read (note the strategic use of the word "try" here ;)  ), I 
find it most gratifying to receive responses from authors who I attempt to 
give some C&C to. It makes me feel important ^_^, but more importantly, 
it lets me know that the author has at least read (and thus thought 
about) my comments, and thinks them valuable enough to warrant a 
response. C&C-ing is kind of scary stuff, especially for a newbie, since 
you're sticking your neck out and daring to tell the Great Author that 
his/her fic isn't perfect, and can be improved on. It took me a month for 
me to muster up the courage to C&C a fic (and even then, it was just 
"Great story!").

    And although it's not the primary purpose of the FFML, it's kinda  
related, because receiving responses to C&C greatly encourages me 
to continue doing so (I'm always thrilled whenever you actually respond 
to my messages). 

    When I send C&C and receive no response, I often (unfairly) come to 
the following conclusions: 1) the author did not receive my C&C, or 2) 
found them so devoid of intellectual value that he/she was insulted 
at their very sending. Like I said, not very fair conclusions, but they 
come to mind nonetheless. 

    I understand that you're very busy, Richard-san, and that you receive 
*lots* of messages every day (actually, I'm surprised that you receive 
only 30 responses to your work per three-day period). No malicious intent 
was intended in the writing of this post. That's just how I (and I 
suspect, some others) feel about this whole response-to-C&C thing.

    And to bring this post back on track as Richard-san did, I'd like to 
mention that everything I said is a two-way street. Authors _need_ to 
hear from their readers, otherwise a lot of the fun and motivation to 
write is gone (at least, that's the way it works for me). Yeah, yeah, 
kettles and pots. Leave me alone. :)

    So, with that said, I'll get down from my little soapbox (how do 
people get on those things? I tried to stand on top of one the other day 
in the shower and nearly broke my neck falling over), stop kicking 
Richard-san, and go to bed. Yawn. :)

---
Raphael See