Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[FrickingKaos]

That stinks. So, if at least one person is reviewing and seems to care does it make a difference? Or do you need more than that to
Feel motivated?

That could also be a general question for everybody.

If anyone is reading I am happy but I believe when  I was updating regularly last I had some people tell me privately they weren't gonna read anymore for various reasons, ie the characters weren't what they liked or the storyline wasn't what they liked, which is fine...but that demotivated me too. I am just really hard on myself when it comes to work.

[Carter]

With me even one sole person that keeps reviewing is better than none at all. I feel like sometimes my work sucks and is no good but that one person can keep me motivated. Southern Comfort has more reviews than half of my newer stories now lol. I feel like i am almost getting my mojo back or something rather lol

[FrickingKaos]

Yeah I agree even if one person only reviews my stuff that is better than nothing. I just need to learn to take criticism and stuff like that. I always beat myself up over nothing at all. It's a self esteem thing and a work in progress.


Speaking of that, if you could Improve upon anything for yourself as a writer what would that be?  What are you doing to try to help yourself with that issue. (not sure if that has been asked before or not) 

[RokofAges75]

Since I have been on a big everyone must leave reviews for what they read tear lately, I'll ask this one

As Julie and carter both mentioned in their replies, reviews either have played a part in their possible updating and writing processes.

How much or little do reviews affect you and your writing? Do you find yourself excited to work on something after receiving a ton of feedback or not when it doesn't?

Writing is definitely more fun when I get a lot of feedback, but that's not to say it isn't fun when I don't.  I think it would bum me out if I didn't get ANY feedback, but as others have said, as long as at least one person read and enjoyed it, then I know it was worth my time.   And then there are cases where all the feedback in the world isn't enough to motivate me (*cough*Guilty Roads*cough*), although begging does work on me most of the time. LOL

[RokofAges75]

That's a really good point you made about waiting until your stories are complete before you post them, Steph. I give you lots of credit for doing that. I don't think I would have the patience to sit on a story until it was done. I bet that would help with the overall feelings of doubt though.

Since I have pretty much limited myself to writing one fanfic a year, by the time I post it I Have at least five or more chapters done. Maybe as an experiment I'll try to wait until a story is complete before I post it. Try being the operative word there lol

I agree - that takes a ton of willpower!!  I would love to get to the point where I could do that, and I think I'm getting there... gradually.  I used to post chapters as soon as I finished them.  Then I started waiting a day so I could proofread them with fresh eyes.  Then I started trying to stay a chapter or two ahead of myself.

Then I started writing Sick as My Secrets, and I wasn't sure how that was going to go, so I just worked on it in secret for awhile.  I decided to include a prologue that would be a snippet of a later scene, to foreshadow what was to come, but instead of writing the prologue ahead of time, I decided to wait until I actually wrote that scene in order.  Well, that didn't happen until Chapter 18, so I ended up finishing the first 18 chapters before I went back and added in the prologue and started posting the story.  It was so hard to write that much of a story without showing anyone, but I think the story is better for it because it gave me so much more time to revise and edit, and the goal of getting to Chapter 18 so I could finally start posting it actually motivated me and made me write faster.  I was so productive with that story in the beginning that I was able to keep updating through April, May, and June, months in which I actually didn't write anything because I was so busy, and I'm still 5 chapters ahead of myself.  It's been awesome!

So maybe one day I will be able to write a whole story without posting any of it.  We'll see.  The only downside I can see to that is not getting any feedback along the way.  Once I did start posting SAMS, I revised some later chapters to clarify some things based on the feedback I was getting, so not only did the feedback motivate me to keep writing, but it actually helped me make that writing better too.  I think that's one of the best aspects of posting stories online vs. publishing them in a more traditional sense.  It's nice to be able to get readers opinions on a work in progress.

[julilly]

How much or little do reviews affect you and your writing? Do you find yourself excited to work on something after receiving a ton of feedback or not when it doesn't?

They don't. I've said this before but I'm really not into reading my reviews. Mare has shamed me enough that I do now, but I don't like it. I've had very public media jobs for much of the last decade and everyone is a critic so I've never read my own press, so to speak. I didn't want to read online comments about what people thought of me on the radio and didn't want to know what people thought of my writing.

I've realized of course that the assumption is that it's all negative and that made me even more reluctant to read it, but since I have been it's not too bad. I still don't get excited about it though lol

[julilly]

That's a really good point you made about waiting until your stories are complete before you post them, Steph. I give you lots of credit for doing that. I don't think I would have the patience to sit on a story until it was done. I bet that would help with the overall feelings of doubt though.

I've been doing this also! Otherwise I'd have a dozen incomplete stories. I post them for Steph to read lol Darby read All That Glitters while I was writing it and Steph read 30 Days, then when they were done I posted them!

[RokofAges75]

^ I think that would help, to have one person to read your stuff and offer opinions on it while you're writing.  I used to show everything I wrote to my friend Bianca before I posted it, but she moved on from fanfic, and I got away from relying on someone for that first opinion.  I think it would be more important if I wasn't going to post any of it until I was done.

[mare]

They don't. I've said this before but I'm really not into reading my reviews. Mare has shamed me enough that I do now, but I don't like it. I've had very public media jobs for much of the last decade and everyone is a critic so I've never read my own press, so to speak. I didn't want to read online comments about what people thought of me on the radio and didn't want to know what people thought of my writing.

I've realized of course that the assumption is that it's all negative and that made me even more reluctant to read it, but since I have been it's not too bad. I still don't get excited about it though lol

Yeah, the real world answer to this is a lot different for me. I did not want to read reviews for Mel's or the anthology I was a part of. I don't like to see reviews about performances I was in. Fanfic is different for me though.

[Sakabelle]

I've been doing this also! Otherwise I'd have a dozen incomplete stories. I post them for Steph to read lol Darby read All That Glitters while I was writing it and Steph read 30 Days, then when they were done I posted them!

It is really helpful isn't it! And yeah, I finish my stuff before posting but I always send chapters to my friend Jess as I finish them. So it's not like I don't get feedback, and it's better this way because she'll tell me what's not working with a scene and since it's not posted I have the opportunity to fix it or add things to earlier chapters to make things more consistent.

[mare]

I used to have a plethora of people that I used to share my stuff with before I posted it, but sadly none of them read or write fanfic anymore. That was back in the day when I would be posting non stop on several different stories at once. Those were the days...I miss having that kind of a support system.

[mare]

If I can improve on anything as a writer it would be to write a strong female character in fanfic land without having her die or become a psychopath. lol

[Carter]

I have a ton of stuff to improve on. Grammar...char actization.... the list goes on lol.

[Alexsgirl_ritz]

How much or little do reviews affect you and your writing? Do you find yourself excited to work on something after receiving a ton of feedback or not when it doesn't?

I love getting reviews, though sometimes I'm guilty of not leaving one every chapter. I sometimes leave a review at the end of the story, especially when I read it in one sitting and kept on hitting next. I always feel guilty about that. It is nice to know someone is reading your story and appreciates it. A review sometimes help you get back on track and not receiving one sometimes is disappointing. But that doesn't mean you should stop writing and finish the story.

[mare]

I think it's okay if you don't leave a review on every chapter. There are a slew of reviews I get from one timers who will pop in and say "I love this story!" Or at the end someone will leave a super marathon length review about the entire story in general. As long as you are letting the writer know you are there and reading, it helps!

The only time it really doesn't help me personally, is when that lone review comes on the first chapter  because I don't know about you guys but I start to think "Are they still with me those 20 people who reviewed the first chapter?" LOL

If you do start with reviewing each chapter though, be aware that the writers do always look forward to and count on your review for every other one. It's probably selfish on our parts, but I know I tend to get all wiggy when someone who always leaves a review on every single chapter suddenly stops. That's when I find I start doubting myself. It's not their fault, the only thing they're guilty of is being awesome but yeah if it suddenly stops it's natural to wonder why.

I have been very fortunate when it comes to reviews and my stories. I'm not sure what I would do if I were posting a story and it never got a single review. I hope I never have to find out lol