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[Rose]

Oh of course I have to say people who just stop updating their stories without even an email to their readers saying they are taking a hiatus. It bugs me because as readers we invest our time in their stuff, the least they can do is let us know they aren't going to continue anymore.

In the same vein, writers who never respond to their feedback. I think it's rude. It takes five seconds to send a thanks for the review. If you don't take the time to do that, then why should you expect people to take the time to review your stuff?

I have stories I haven't updated in awhile, and the ones I know it will be awhile, I stick notes on the summaries and in my profile to be fair, so if they read it, they are warned. The only time I didn't leave a note was for Divisions of Reality and thats because at the time, I thought it would be updated, until the collab finally fell apart and then I put in the AN what happened and how I was doing it on my own.

I've sometimes in the beginning of my fanfic career not responded to reviews, but as I've been in it longer, I got a LOT better about it lol. I make a point to respond to everyone now.

My biggest pet peeve is, honestly...see ing what is actually a creative and good story idea, get ruined by well...bad writing in the sense that it doesn't flow well, not the best mechanics and it jumps around too much. I don't claim to be the best at mechanics, I try, but I know it lol...but you can always tell when someone doesn't try. And when its a good idea being destroyed like that, it kills me lol.

[mare]

I hate the stars... It's kinda the equivilent of the smiting for the stories.

LOL I agree but when it comes to the actual site I don't feel right about changing things. But i'd be happy if they went away.

[mare]

My biggest pet peeve is, honestly...see ing what is actually a creative and good story idea, get ruined by well...bad writing in the sense that it doesn't flow well, not the best mechanics and it jumps around too much. I don't claim to be the best at mechanics, I try, but I know it lol...but you can always tell when someone doesn't try. And when its a good idea being destroyed like that, it kills me lol.

Me too! I always ugh when I see a great idea get killed behind tons of mistakes and misdirection. LOL I forgot all about that!

[Rose]

Me too! I always ugh when I see a great idea get killed behind tons of mistakes and misdirection. LOL I forgot all about that!

Seriously, cause I'll read it...see it slowly die and it makes me wanna shoot them! Cause its a great idea and they're killing the helpless muse! Poor muses lost in senseless deaths...

[mare]

Seriously, cause I'll read it...see it slowly die and it makes me wanna shoot them! Cause its a great idea and they're killing the helpless muse! Poor muses lost in senseless deaths...

LOL I know! I always secretly want to write it the way I want it to go at that point and in my head I usually do.

[honey]

LOL I know! I always secretly want to write it the way I want it to go at that point and in my head I usually do.

you should do it one of these times... maybe they'll take the hint and learn how to write a little better in the process. haha. It's not being Tajna (is that her name?) if you make it way better right? -lol

[nicksgal]

you should do it one of these times... maybe they'll take the hint and learn how to write a little better in the process. haha. It's not being Tajna (is that her name?) if you make it way better right? -lol

And change the characters the title, and fix around the basic plot, no.

[starbeamz]

I just read through this whole thread and all of you pretty much nailed every pet peeve I've ever had. I have to admit, though, that I am guilty of being one of those feedback-hungry writers, but I'm trying to quit! I swear, I am!! For me, it's one of those stupid self-esteem things that sort of carries over from my offline self (though most people don't see it, so maybe it's not that bad), but, yeah, I'm pretty much over the whole I need reviews so that I can feel better about myself bit. Sorry about that, though!

I guess the only ones that I haven't seen yet are certain dialogue styles that annoy me, and the lack of knowledge about the fact that Orlando is in the middle of the state of Florida. So, if Nick lives in Orlando in your story, he can't have the ocean in his backyard (unless it's manmade!). Sorry..that always bugged me.  But, the dialogue things that bother me are when Baylee (who is nearly in kindergarten!) speaks baby talk and when people (usually in romances) call each other these sickeningly sappy nicknames. Okay, seriously, I don't mean to come off as really nitpicky and mean, but Baylee is almost 5, and I haven't met a kid over 3 who talks baby talk.  So it annoys me to no end when Baylee does that in some stories.  Also, while I think the guys might call their girlfriends/wives/significant others "baby," I really don't think they'd go around calling those women "sugarplum," "baby doll," or whatever. Honestly, I get tired of reading that chapter after chapter after chapter. It's too much for me to handle LOL I'm not sappy, though I write romance!

Bah...I probably made everyone's pet peeve list now with that tirade, so I'm sorry. It's kinda been bugging me for a while with some stories, so I figured I'd just say it. If I just blatantly offended anyone, I'm SO SORRY! I still love all the lovely writers here!

[RokofAges75]

And change the characters the title, and fix around the basic plot, no.

That's how I get a lot of story ideas!  I'll read a story that has a good idea behind it, but it's either not good or just not what I expected it was going to be like, so I take the basic idea and try to write the story I had envisioned when I read the summary.

[RokofAges75]

But, the dialogue things that bother me are when Baylee (who is nearly in kindergarten!) speaks baby talk and when people (usually in romances) call each other these sickeningly sappy nicknames. Okay, seriously, I don't mean to come off as really nitpicky and mean, but Baylee is almost 5, and I haven't met a kid over 3 who talks baby talk.  So it annoys me to no end when Baylee does that in some stories.

Good one!!  I haven't read that many stories with Baylee in them prominently yet, but along the same lines, I see that a lot with Aaron too - people write him as if he's still a naive little boy.  If he's actually supposed to be 7 or 8 in the story, fine, then it's okay for him to act like a child.  But I see so many where he's a teenager, and he speaks and acts like he's in first grade.  Maybe that's why I usually don't like to read about Aaron.

[RokofAges75]

I hate the stars... It's kinda the equivilent of the smiting for the stories.

Yeah, it really is... if everyone really rated stories tough and gave 10s sparingly, it would be different, but I think most people only review stories they like well enough to review, and if they like it, they give it a 10.  Then there's the few that will go and give people a lower rating just to smite them, and those are the ones that mess it up.

[honey]

Yeah, it really is... if everyone really rated stories tough and gave 10s sparingly, it would be different, but I think most people only review stories they like well enough to review, and if they like it, they give it a 10.  Then there's the few that will go and give people a lower rating just to smite them, and those are the ones that mess it up.

eh, I just don't make the effort. I think the stars are stupid so I leave a review and click submit. The stars are automatically set to ten, so everyone I review gets 10 stars from me. How's that for sparingly? haha

[mare]

you should do it one of these times... maybe they'll take the hint and learn how to write a little better in the process. haha. It's not being Tajna (is that her name?) if you make it way better right? -lol

I highly doubt i'd be able to make myself actually do that. I mean I do it all the time in my head as i'm sure we all do. Read a fic and think wow I would have it happen this way instead etc... and TV shows goodness I do it a lot with those too! I would feel like I was plagerizing if I did it for real. i'll just stick to my silent fixing and head shakes. lol

[MellzBellz]

eh, I just don't make the effort. I think the stars are stupid so I leave a review and click submit. The stars are automatically set to ten, so everyone I review gets 10 stars from me. How's that for sparingly? haha

Same here Kel! It's too much of a process for me to determine if a story is a 7 or an 8. Everyone gets 10 cuz I just disregard the stars all together. I think my actual feedback about the story is what's the most important and useful. And if it makes you all feel better I don't think I've ever seen a 5 star story that completely blew me away. Honestly, the BEST fiction on AC I find are the 4 1/2 star stories which I believe most of us fall in. I try to look at it that someone actually cared enough to change the number from 10 to something lower and for them to have that kind of response to a story even if it is negative, they must be sucked into the story even if its because they absolutely hated it. Those are the readers that even though they thought it was crap will prolly continue reading to see if it gets any worse. If they really hated it and couldn't care they just woudn't even take the time to review right?

Can't you also though rate a story and NOT leave a review? Cuz then you wouldn't be abe to tell who rated you, right?

[MellzBellz]

I agree with a lot of the pet peeves. It's embrassing to think that I used to do a lot of those things too! 

In my first fic, I thought nothing of writing a sentence like, "OMG! I'd luv 2 go out wit u 2!" I used a lot of 2's and r's and u's and yea... Its quite embarassing lol Sarah also cracked me up with the pet name thing because in one of my first stories I SOOO had Nick call the female lead "Babydoll." Man was I fan fic cliche or what? LOl

I went through the review phase. Even a little bit w/ UMS in the beginning before it really caught on a steady fan base and for those who are frustrated with lack of readers UMS didn't really start getting a following until it was about 20 chapters in. I used to really get frustrated about lack of feedback, but now I'm a lot more understanding. I'll still say something like Oh I worked really hard on this part and would love to hear what everyone thinks of it, but I won't be like If you don't tell me I'll never write again LOL

Nowadays my biggest problems are answering reviews and updating sooner. I am VERY busy right now, but if its going to be a while between updates I try to post Authors Notes explaining that I'm working two jobs and going to school, so finding time to write can sometimes be difficult. I think my readers are prolly tired of excuses by now! lol As far as reviews go, I do try to answer most of them, but if you just write Great story! Update soon! Chances are I'm not going to respond to that. I only respond when someone makes an interesting point or goes over and beyond the generic "great job!"