Scott Pollert wrote:

At 12:16 PM 8/24/98 -0500, Ranma Al'Thor wrote:\

A potential one.  But in practice, the average author will be lucky to get
comments from 1% of the lists membership.

Have you ever considered the possibility that reader's are maybe a little
intimidated by either the length of a fic or even the author's name when
they consider offering C&C?

<snip good stuff known as C&C>

Now for the other problem I mentioned earlier, that of being intimidated by
an author's name. Maybe I simply lack chutzpah, but I find it hard to be
critical of a well-written author when I myself have produced so little.
How am I, Scott Pollert, author of no more than a half-dozen spamfics, none
of which were over 10k, suppose to criticize someone like *John Biles*,
who's written such well-known, liked, and *long* fics as Dance of Shiva,
Sailormoon Z, and PYHinRP/Furinkan Summer? (And don't let them fool >you,
size *does* count! ;) I can't be the only one who is hesitant to criticize
an author for this reason, can I?

Scott, ask yourself, why you are on this list? Because you subscribed.
There isn't any kind of membership fee or special requirements to join. You
are on equal ground with everybody here! No-one here should be put on a
pedestal. It is a fact of life that in just about every activity requiring
skill there are those that do well and those that don't do so well. What is
understood need not be discussed.

But if you have something to say about John's works, then say it. John is
here because, though he may be a skilled writer, every writer can *always*
get better, so he will more than likely welcome your comments. All that is
ever expected is that the comments are honest and are sent out with the
intent to be helpful or constructive. John Biles is indeed an accomplished
author, and there are many other accomplished and skilled writers that
inhabit this list, but they all came here to share their stories with us,
and to have us share our feedback with them. Please don't ever forget that.
This list was not formed to be a staging area or a popularity contest. It
is an open forum for the discussion of writing fanfiction. And your input,
as is any member's of this list, is just as important as John Bile's input
:)

Finally, I sincerely hope no one takes any offense at this. The above
paragraph should assure you that I am very much in awe of and jealous of
the writing ability many of the author's here possess.

Hehehehe! Don't tell them that! Just tell them what you think of their
stories :)



Andy Skuse

-------------------
EVOLUTION!
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"If humans don't want us, then why did they create us?" - Naomi Armitage