I’ve read all kinds of posts both from writers and readers lamenting about comments on fic. Authors are upset when they don’t get any, readers don’t know what kinds of comments to leave, etc. And it finally clicked in my brain why I think a lot of people don’t bother writing comments.
And this is what it boils down to:
Writers do not want praise. We just want to talk about our story.
I can’t speak for everyone obviously - but I think the majority of writers don’t care so much for the “omg you’re a brilliant writer!!” comments as much as we just want to hear your thoughts on the story. Even if it’s just your thoughts as you’re reading of “oooh x happened! I can’t believe y said this! What’s going to happen now that z has happened?!” We literally just want to talk about what we’ve written like you would with a friend about a tv show. We’re not out here demanding praise like some entitled narcissist.
While praising our writing skills or writing style is appreciated, it doesn’t need to be said on every fic and every chapter that you read. If you regularly comment on someone’s work that’s telling enough that you like our technique. Readers shouldn’t feel pressured to have to praise a writer’s abilities every time they want to comment.
In the grand scheme of things, talking about the fic/chapter is actually more helpful to us writers instead of spewing praise. It’s the same with artwork. As nice as it is that people tell me “wow your art is so pretty!” it’s a LOT more useful to me to get comments like “I love their expressions!” or “the lighting on this is gorgeous!” because then I know WHAT people are liking about it. If no one ever comments on my backgrounds, I now know what to improve. If most people comment on liking the expressions, I now know the strong points of my art and can use it to my advantage to make even better art in the future.
The same goes for fic. If multiple people tell me they liked a certain part of the story I now know that things similar to that are a hit. It’s feedback I can use to improve the story and give my readers more of what they want. Without that I have no idea what they like about the fic.
Talking with a writer about their story also gives them inspiration!! Nothing gets us more in the mood to work on a fic than to have people wanting to talk about it.
A lot of times just talking about one of my fics with someone will give me that push to continue working on it.
Getting a comment that just says “great chapter” or “you’re a great writer” doesn’t do much to motivate us to continue that particular fic. But if you talk about the story and the characters it gives us motivation to continue working on it, may even give us ideas for future chapters. I would hope that those of you with “comment anxiety” find this approach so much easier than trying to praise the writer every time you read.
So that fic the author hasn’t updated in forever that you’re dying to read? Talk to them about the fic and the elements of the story! It will make the writer want to talk to you about it and will get their mind thinking about it, hopefully inspiring them to continue where they left off. Fics that are left in silence are more likely to be abandoned or even deleted because nothing feels worse than putting your heart into a story to have no one say anything about it.
TLDR; Writers do not want praise, we just want to talk with our readers about the story itself, and these are the kinds of comments that inspire us to keep writing more.
Tell me what made you feel. Tell me what part you loved. Tell me what part made you stop and stomp around your living area of choice going “nope nope NOPE!” Liveblog your reactions.
I also cannot speak for other writers, but I write because I feel things, and writing is my best way of sharing that with the world. Of course I’m proud of my techniques and yeah I wanna improve sometimes, but in the short-term, or the thing that will stick with every single story individually is the fact that I wrote it because the human life cannot possibly be so droll all the time. Gotta feel. Gotta make others feel. If that happens, even with comma splices or run-on sentences or awkward phrases, then I’ve succeeded.
Lemme know if I’ve done a good job by just… letting us know how the ride went.
my mom says she’s not a hugger. but when i put my arms around her on a gloomy day or after bad news she’s the last to let go. my dad says he doesn’t want gifts on his birthday, but i see the way his face light up when i get him a card with a nice message and a box full of chocolate anyway. he’s just a kid inside, still. it makes him giddy. my brother never says i love you. but when i tell him “i just need to finish the dishes before i vacuum!” he wordlessly goes to vacuum the entire house before i can, and if he sees me struggle with a wrapper or a jar or a bottle he mutters ‘c’mere’ and opens it for me without even sparing me a glance. the thing is, people love you quietly, and you love them quietly, and the air is buzzing with tiny but grand gestures & once you look for them, you find them everywhere. i think that’s really beautiful.
Just a gentle reminder: It’s not your job to provide free online therapy to people.
The anonymity of the internet can make it easier to talk about heavy topics like mental health struggles or trauma. While that can be a good thing, it also comes with a dangerous side effect: Some people assume that it’s safe and okay to dump all their problems on their internet friends (or even on random strangers online).
You may be cool with giving advice to someone who questions their gender - and they just assume they can also send you messages with vivid details of the abuse they experienced or pictures of their self-harm wounds.
The problem with that is not only that you are in no way qualified or trained to properly help people in these situations (there are good reasons why it takes at least seven years to become a licensed therapist! It requires so much more than just “letting them vent to you”.)
The even bigger issue is that it can also negatively impact YOUR mental health. Even if you are very willing to help them (you may even be proud of yourself for being the person they trust): it can very quickly become overwhelming. A licensed therapist knows how to protect their own mental health while listening to someone talk about deeply traumatic experiences - you do not.
You just get confronted with these topics with no preparation, no coping mechanisms and no deeper knowledge on it. That’s a recipe for disaster, especially if you are a teenager and/or have your own mental health issues/trauma you struggle with. It can trigger panic attacks, feelings of hopelessness, flashbacks to your own traumatic memories, nightmares etc.
Long story short: It’s not only okay to have boundaries when it comes to these online conversations - it’s necessary. You are allowed to say “I don’t feel comfortable talking about this” etc. You’re even allowed to block them if they won’t stop.
You are not a bad friend if you refuse to play therapist for them. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about them or that you hate mentally ill people. You are just protecting yourself.
All I’m seeing is a well paying job with good customers
Also?
MANY religions worldwide would consider this a solemn and respected post of work. Every form of paganism I have personally run across would say you’re doing an important duty. In Judaism, we’d say you’re fulfilling a Mitzvah by respecting the dead and honoring their memories.
If you go in with good intentions, any spirits still hanging around WILL NOT HURT YOU. Just show them respect.
Also seriously that’s nearly $17k a MONTH. I’ve had jobs where I didn’t earn that in a YEAR.
Even if those ghosts ain’t friendly, I am full-on taking that job. $200k a year. $200k a fuckin year. No retail, no food service, no manager hovering and riding my ass, no annoying coworkers? I’ll deal with the ghosts.
i’d take ghosts over people any day <3
Fresh air, no sitting in an office, no customer service, just me and a bunch of gravestones and maybe Maria from three graves down having a hissy? For that money, what’s not to like?
Trying to casually understand sumo is a little like trying to casually understand cricket. But I more or less get the basics just from watching tournaments with her.
But the one part of sumo that will always baffle me, even AFTER it was explained, is the giant macaron…
I legit thought these were photoshoped until I sat down and saw a match myself.
If they win a Sumo tournament they get a giant macaron.
What course of events led to a giant macaron to be the prize?
😂 as far as I understand it, (and just checking the wiki to make sure I get the names right) the Macaron prize is made by a French patisserie called Pierre Herme. (it’s called the Pierre Herme Macaron)
It’s presented to the winner of the tournament gets the Macaron, But it’s just one of the first place prizes. Others include about 4 trophies from different institutes as well as a large stack of cash cheques from the investors of the institute and competition as a whole.
I should ask my friend for more details when she wakes up.
Some people say that they think its a marketing stunt and my thoughts were it might have been tied to an investor in the tournament or something…
but no.
Apparently Pierre Herme just makes a giant macaron for each tournament…. I guess?
Like I said; even after it was explained to me I still do not understand.
Trying to casually understand sumo is a little like trying to casually understand cricket. But I more or less get the basics just from watching tournaments with her.
But the one part of sumo that will always baffle me, even AFTER it was explained, is the giant macaron…
I legit thought these were photoshoped until I sat down and saw a match myself.
