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:
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-02-06 03:38 pm (UTC)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: