[FFML] Fic archiving and FF.net

[Tail Kinker]

June Geraci wrote:
> While I do agree that you DO get feedback on FFN, much of it is pretty 
> useless.  For example:
>
> "Great fic, can't wait for the next chapter!"
>
> "I love it"
>
> "It stinks!"
>
> Comments like this are common, whether the story is well written, or one 
> full of cliches, plot holes, and atrocious grammar and spelling.   One thing 
> I always appreciated about this list (and RAAC) is the USEFUL feedback I 
> would see coming in, and the back and forth conversations it would generate.
Yes, the vast majority of comments that you get on ff.net - sufficient 
to qualify for Sturgeon's Law - are either mindless sycophancy (hope I 
spelled that right) or hostile flames.  The ten percent that is not crap 
can be as useful as anything that comes through FFML or RAAC, though 
finding the useful reviews is a pain.

However, reviews do arrive.  Some time ago, I posted chapters of a fic I 
was working on to FFML, and got bupkis.  (Can't remember which fic it 
was, could find out if I checked my logs...)  Within seconds of posting 
the first chapter on ff.net, I was getting responses.  And of course 
they were useless...but I got meaningful reviews later on.

One fanfic author once said that feedback is the only way that fanfic 
authors get paid.  I think he's right.  Feedback lets the author know 
his work is appreciated, drives writers to improve, and offers 
suggestions on how they might improve.  If the feedback stops coming, 
the author loses the incentive to post, and naturally gravitates to 
places where feedback is given.

With the active membership dropping on FFML, the feedback is also 
dropping.  Which leads to fic writers going to ff.net.  Which results in 
less active membership on FFML.  The exact same phenomenon drove me from 
RAAC to FFML.  Now it's driving me from FFML to ff.net.  I've enjoyed my 
time on FFML, but there seems to be no incentive for me to post anymore.

On that note, once I start posting Wednesday's Child, I'll be posting to 
FFML as well.