pez

But it's not like anyone cares.

WRONG. >F

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I just realised it's not actually worth posting fics! If I enjoyed writing it, I might as well keep the fic in the harddrive and keep that content feeling rather than having it ruined by posting it and realising people don't give a toss!

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Hrm. I see your point but I also see that's a pretty crummy thing to throw in the faces of those who do care & comment. I mean, why pay attention to the ones you don't see? >_>

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I know that. But what does one do? If 500 people read you, assume 400 didn't like it. Of the 100 that liked it, you get 5 who bothers to say anything. I'm not tough enough to ignore the statistics.

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You don't know _anything_ about the 495 people who read it and said nothing. Not a thing. Most of them, in fact, are probably like me; either too lazy or too intimidated to comment. Assumption is your enemy. Is it not enough to get comments from the people who actually matter? Or am I the only one who does that; go yippee if X & Y likes the fic and doesn't give a monkey's whiskers if that's all? >_>;; (X & Y may be completely different people, depending on which story it is.)

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495 is a pretty big figure to just say "I don't know and therefore it's fine." Might be fine if it's 4.9 or 49 but even 49 feels like pushing it. That's half my year group in secondary school. Visualise that amount of people in a room and you'll realise it's a LOT of people. (And yes, it does matter who the comment comes from.) If the 495 people are just too lazy to spend 30 seconds to type a message, they can go do something else with their time then. If I didn't post then they wouldn't need to read. If they're intimidated, then I don't want to be out there intimidating people.

If you post something that means something to you, even if you didn't create it - a song you like, maybe - wouldn't you feel disappointed if nobody downloads it or after downloading, they said nothing about it? It's worse when it's something you've created.

But anyway, I'm must being moody and you should ignore me.

Edited Date: 2008-02-06 02:58 pm (UTC)

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Actually, I have some fics on an archive that has counters for each fic. When I see that one of my fics have, say, 324 hits, I'm happy about it. The lack of comments doesn't bother me at all. I go WOO 324 people clicked on my fic!!! \o/ (Guess I'm easy to please. XD;) The only situation where comments have a real effect on my mood is when Someone Whose Opinion About That Particular Fic Matters either likes it or doesn't like it. Everything else is either gravy (yay! someone said they liked it! *snoopydance*) or irrelevant (heh, this person didn't like it becasue I used an odd pairing, snigger!). I'm that shallow.

If I post something that means something to me it might affect me just a little bit if it's met with complete silence. But one person who cares (or cares enough to pretend) is enough for me, and I don't expect anyone else to appreciate the same things I do. It's nice when they do, but I don't feel disappointed much if they don't. Now, if someone should comment and bash whatever it is I've posted (about), that's a whole other kettle of tea. But we weren't talking about attacks, so. ♥

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I think there's something fundamentally different in our sense of value which is making this discussion difficult. For me, the larger that number is, the worse it is: 324 or 495 people read it and deemed it not good enough to be worth their time to drop a comment. That's all it means to me. because no matter how intimidated you feel or socially inept you are, when you're online it's not really that difficult to type a hearts; or a :).

The 5 people who loved it, thank you and their comments mean a lot to me. But at the same time I'm staring at 495 calling me fail. Maybe because I'm Asian, numbers matter to me a lot. You might find this to be a trait to most Asians across the board.

And I wonder, perhaps most of the 495 don't comment because they agree with what I've been told on anon writer memes (and found on other people's LJs, talking about me) before: "your stories are good, but your characterisation, it's impossible to agree with."

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no matter how intimidated you feel or socially inept you are, when you're online it's not really that difficult to type a hearts; or a :).

Now I'm going to speak very exclusively for myself. The above is only true if I know enough about the writer to know they won't be offended by an "I liked/enjoyed this a lot!" or a heart or a smiley. There are plenty of writers out there who will complain and grouse when they get that kind of comments, because they only want the long ones with the solid concrit. I've seen arguments to the effect of "Well, I spent a month writing my heart out over this, so the least a commenter could do is spend an hour writing a Real Comment."

If I feel the LEAST BIT unsure about the author's personal preferences wrt comments, I don't comment. I used to be a lot braver, because I _do_ enjoy getting comments and intellectually I know (or at least firmly believe) that most other writers do, too. And in the end, it's _polite_ to drop a comment to thank the writer for sharing their story. But whenever I comment to someone I don't know, it's effing scary and more times than not, I just stay silent. This is a bad habit, and I try to break it when I feel brave. I suspect I'm not the only one with the affliction.

The ones who never speak up don't count. Seriously, they don't. If I don't let my voice be heard, I do not deserve consideration, period full stop. Your fics get recommended, they get read, they get comments, they get love. So some people don't like 'em, big whoop. If you remove the ones who prefer porn to plot and those who are religious about pairings and those who are simply jealous, then how many are left that have something real to say about not liking your fics? Compared to the ones who DO like 'em?

Stop wibbling, Pez! It makes me depressed when the Good People let the Idiots get to them! D:

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"Well, I spent a month writing my heart out over this, so the least a commenter could do is spend an hour writing a Real Comment."

Okay, now that's Scary.

But as you can see on

word_games, I welcome short comments. :) The only types of comment I don't like are:

- "I haven't got to this part of the manga so I don't understand what you're on about and have been spoiled" even though I put spoiler warning at the top. Along the same line, also those that say "oh, now that I've read your fic on this part of the recent manga, I understand what Liz was writing about in her fic!" orz
- Tardy comments. Such as this one, which pretty much speaks for itself.
- Those who clearly haven't read the fic properly. Calling yakuza!Niou cute, for example. What the hell.

I have been told multiple times in the past that my characterisation has problems, though. That I force characters into situations and make them react the way I want them to rather than the way they should. I don't know. Some people seem to violently disagree with my characterisation and I'd like to know where it went wrong, but nobody ever gave me a specific example.

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Homigawd, those "I haven't read those chapters so I don't get this"-comments are the most USELESS waste of time, ever. Why do people insist of making such complete and utter asses of themselves in public? It's too stupid to even be insulting, it's just . . . STUPID! XD As for the other two examples, yes they speak for themselves. They're laughable and only good for a real big eyeroll and a flexing of the Polite-Muscle. Like Alison said below, they suck ass! ^^

The bit about forcing characters into situations is mysterious to me. Isn't that what fanfic is all about? "What if X happened to Y, how would Y react and how would Y's reactions affect Z and Æ?" But I suppose that's just me being naive again, huh? OR MAYBE THOSE PEOPLE ARE ASSHATS? Did you ever consider that? Especially what with the lack of arguments to back up their observations? 8D

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ikusatami.livejournal.com

*raises hand* I care!
The list shows me to what I can look forward too :]

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giving-ground.livejournal.com

But WE care! We're more important than all those people who just lurk. 8D ...I know it can be discouraging but people can have a lot of reasons for not commenting. I decided I just don't care any more. If stuff I post makes a few of my friends happy, that's awesome.

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I care! I lurk on your journal all the time but usually I'm too afraid of you to say anything. :D Because you see, in my circle of friends, I am the Writer and everyone agrees, "Yes, Arii is the best writer of all of us." It's not hard to admit that when most of your friends aren't entirely sure that commas are trustworthy beings. Or, you know, what a direct object is. Or plot arcs. I could go on~

So therefore, whenever I read someone who is CLEARLY a better writer than me, I am awed and inspired and a whole lot of shy because it's a strange and unusual feeling. Half of me wants to hide everything I've ever written so as not to publicly humiliate myself, and the other half wants to fall at, say, Neil Gaiman's feet and beg him, "Teach me, sensei!" For fic writers it's more like, "DD: Holy crap, how did you DO that?" Which, because I'm more commonly in the ANSWERING perspective, I know is a strange and pointless question to be asked. "Eh? Um. I just sort of...did. >.>"
Also? I don't want people to think I'm some sort of crazy stalker fan. x_x

I'm not a crazy stalker fan, Pez, but I think you are awesome and brilliant. D: And also nicer than other people who write well. And every time I read a new bit of fic by you, I sigh and say to Viya (my friend who ALSO thinks you're madly cool) "I wish I could write fic like that. With that sort of breath-catching, heart-entangling evocativeness."
But I caaaan't. I can write the light-hearted happy fics with frolicking-kitten angst, if any. But I can't get the biiiiiiiig picture Plot Goodness into fics like I can for my original works. It's awful. XD

And so: Shut up. XD Don't be moody: There's lots of people who love you, and so instead of dragging yourself down over the idiots who cannot be trained out of their idiocy, focus on the nice ones, the ones who would cry if you stopped posting fics. O_O The others aren't worth the effort it takes to worry about them. XD
(Damn, I wish someone would say this to me when I'm having a "I'm never going to be anything better than the-good-side-of-mediocre, am I?" day. XDD)

And FINALLY, in conclusion:
You are a silly bunny, but I LOVE YOU, PEZ. *squish* Shall I compose haiku? (See, sonnets? Too hard,
But I haiku-babble like
It's my native tongue.)

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PS. *raises hand* I vote for Lullaby. 8D

PPS. Did you know that you've been nominated *EIGHT TIMES* for Platinum PoT: The Tenipuri All-Fandom Fiction and Art Awards? That puts you solidly in the running for "Most Nominated Author" AND the "Best Author." (Don't know if you care about the awards-- I set it up and people seemed to wank about it a lot. >.> But! There's numbers for you. :D)

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I aim to finish Lullaby... some time this year. Really. XD

No, I didn't! Did pop over to look a while ago but not checked recently. OMG. O.o (My attitude re: awards is that it's very nice that people nominate writers, especially since I whine about people who read&don't comment or just don't appreciate writers' effort. It's one way to show their appreciation.) Oh um. O.o

I don't know what to say to your comment, really. I'm... better now than I was. You should see the sort of crap I churned out when I was 17 (which I think is how old you are?) OMG it's unreadable. I think I probably only just got out of my Fangirl Japanese phase at that point, srsly. And I can't write originals to save my life.

(The wank? I've been following it. It hasn't gone far enough to really be wank yet, I think some people are just taking it all a tad too seriously or were just bored and wanting some lolz. It has been some time since the last hate meme, after all.)

(The Comma is out there for writers to abuse, seriously. So is the Semicolon. *litters them all over fics*) [edit: I obviously also likes to litter comments all over with parentheses, heh.]

Um, I still wibble over being told multiple times that my characterisations are wrong.

But, yeah, thanks! Now that I think about it, I was like this in the beginning of last year, it's probably an annual thing (wtf). Thanks for your nice words.

(Still. Eight times. WTF. O_O)

Edited Date: 2008-02-06 04:46 pm (UTC)

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"(My attitude re: awards is that it's very nice that people nominate writers, especially since I whine about people who read&don't comment or just don't appreciate writers' effort. It's one way to show their appreciation.)"

Yes, exactly, and that's the sort of thing we were aiming for when we started the awards. Showing appreciation to authors who are either good enough that people are intimidated, or small enough that not very many people read them.

"You should see the sort of crap I churned out when I was 17 (which I think is how old you are?)"

*SHIFTY* >.> *SHIFTYSHIFTY* <.<
(Howdidyouknow?!?! D: Only until the 27th of this month... >.>) But yes, I know the feeling. During the teenaged phase of writing, you're still learning so MUCH and your writing style is fluctuating and adjusting and settling down--well, *I*, for one, can't stand to read anything I wrote six months ago, let alone a few years. XD

"And I can't write originals to save my life."
I'm generally more confident about my skill with my novels and suchlike--there's more to be learned from reading a good writer like Tolkien or Gaiman or Golding and emulating their description techniques, or their plot and characterization twists, or their use of suspense.

(Parentheses abuse!!! \o/)

A thought: The ONLY person--the *ONLY* person--who could POSSIBLY tell you definitively if your characterizations are wrong is the Author. Has Konomi sent you angry letters yet telling you to shut up and break your pen and drink the ink and choke and die on it so you never write again?
Then don't believe those silly comments. They are no more qualified to tell you that your characterizations are good or not than I am to teach quantum physics. (*shudder*) Because they are JUST the same as you--FANS of the work. They don't hold a B.S. in Anime Science or anything. In fact, how do you even know these people aren't some sort of wacky shippers who think that anything other than Fuji/Ryoma is wrong, and therefore, since you write TezuFuji, you are wrong? Does that make sense? None at all. :D You don't KNOW. And besides, fanfiction is all about personal interpretation, ne? And I know my characterizations vary from fic to fic--in one, I may have use of a gentler, more soft-spoken Yukimura, where in another, I require him to be sharper, harsher, more...ferocious. He is capable, as a character, of both aspects, and we have seen both aspects, right? So then it's just about making the right choice about which aspect suits the need of your story.

And I have annual downswings too. It's a thing. <3
And you're very welcome, dear. :D

(Yes, eight times. :D The only competition you have for Most-Nominated Author is... Actually, you don't. So. Hush, you awesome thing you. :D)

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Howdidyouknow?!?!

Your LJ is linked to your MySpace and Nanowrimo page, which has your age on it. :P

And fdjskfhsaklfhlasf it's too early in the morning for much coherent thought. But thank you. ^_________^

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"Your LJ is linked to your MySpace and Nanowrimo page, which has your age on it. :P"

...Oh goddamn. XD And here I thought I was being discreet. *is a complete idiot* \o/ No, but I'll be eighteen at the end of this month, so. :)

Don't mention it, hon. <3 And I promise I'll comment next time, kk? :D

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reposoir.livejournal.com

Your thoughts on numbers and stats, I agree with 100%. But even if those 495 say "FAIL!", well...those people suck ass. &hearts

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.....I LOVE HOW YOU PUT IT SO ELOQUENTLY. ♥ XDDD

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aoiyuzu.livejournal.com

You should write it anyways. :D A good cry every now and then is healthy. XD

Lullaby! *dances*

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firescribble.livejournal.com

I don't have any excuses for lurking. I suck ass.

I haven't read what you've posted recently yet but I was planning on going back and leaving essay length comments called WHY THIS FIC IS WIN AND AWESOME on some older fics.

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