Here I Am

I'm the worst co-mod of anything ever. I totally spaced on The Feedback Challenge. I apologize for my lateness and am once again grateful for the challenge because I discovered a new author I had never read before, dancinbutterfly.

( Feedback on four different stories in three different fandoms... )

I didn't have access to my computer to post this when it was technically due, so I apologize for the tardiness, but attached is feedback for lizamanynames, who I was assigned to during the Feedback Challenge.

( I discovered some new stories... )

so vampirefever posted a question regarding feedback such as when do you leave feedback. It got me to thinking about my own tendencies to leave feedback as well as how one responds to the feedback that they receive.

I guess it doesn't hurt that this conversation came up about a week after I had an anonymous poster write to me "This was weird" with no further information or way to contact them. My mind was already on the topic of feedback and constructive criticism and the likes.

When Do I leave Feedback?

I'd like to say that I always leave solid reviews/feedback of every story that I read, but that would be a bold face lie. I just don't have that sort of time to devote to such critical reading and a lot of the time, I don't believe that most writers are looking for that sort of critical reading of fanfiction.

I do try to leave some sort of note to every author of a story that I enjoy. As a writer, I always relate to the plight of the author and the hope for feedback on each piece that they work on. I'm a firm believer that no matter what might be said to the contrary, all authors, on some level, are seeking out some sort of response from his/her audience. Why would it be published where others could read it if they didn't want some sort of reaction? Because of that, I attempt to make sure that I say something about each story that I read. It might not be anything more than "great piece" but I feel like I should do that for the author after what they've produced for me.

That said, I'll admit that the best feedback I offer is to people I'm friends with or have developed an author/reader rapport with over time. I find that the better I know someone the more comfortable I am giving detailed feedback because they won't immediately view it as a flame if I dare to dislike a piece of a story. I rarely will provide someone with constructive criticism (whether they ask for it or not) if I don't know them in some way aside from this story.

When Don't I Leave Feedback?

Yeah, if I can't think of anything nice to say, I don't say anything. Usually, if I start a bad story, I don't make it to the end. I'm very picky and that's time/patience I don't have.

How Do I Feel About the Feedback I Receive?

I love to receive feedback on my stories. Something as small as great story to a nice in-depth review of a piece. I adore constructive criticism because writing is what I do, it's what i'd like to one day make a living at, and I need those sorts of opinions from people to proceed. I can pretty much take anything a person throws at me and work with it, as long as I know what they're talking about.

Take for example this recent "It was weird" feedback I received. That doesn't provide me with any help. I don't know what to make of something like that. All it does is drive me crazy, leading me to re-read the story several times looking for what this person could possibly mean. A reader has a very different relationship with a piece that I wrote than I do. There are things that I simply know about the situation and my characters and because of that - it's quite possible I forgot to actually make it clear.

But how can I clarify it if I don't know what the it is?

And the whole anonymous posting/emails is just...if you can't say something to someone and allow them to talk to you about it, well, I don't know if you're deserving of my time or I should value your opinion. Is that fair? Maybe not, but I don't think it's fair to post something without putting your name to it.

Do I respond to all my feedback?

No, I don't. I read all of it. Save all of it. And I try to respond to as many emails/comments/etc that I can, but I just run out of time in the day at points.

I always respond if someone poses a question to me, someone provides an insightful review of things, or if someone does offer me some constructive criticism that I want to pick his/her brain about. I appreciate every email that I get and know that it took someone some amount of time to write and send...but I focus on those first.

It's also more because I don't always know what to say when someone writes "Great story" aside from "thank you." Does the reader even want a response at that point? Does the reader have something more that they want me to respond with? I never know - so I put those emails off to last and sometimes they go unanswered.

All in all, it's an interesting thing to see how each person responds to providing and receiving feedback from people. I love it all and therefore think that all other writers share my love of it - hence the reason, I'll always try to write something to let someone know I read her story.

**

So, I got my first writing question:

So, what comes first? The character or the plot? Why?

This is like the chicken or the egg story, isn't it? There could be an argument for each side of it and what it comes down to, in my humble opinion, is your inspiration.

For myself, I can tell you that it's always about character. I'm a character writer and most of my stories deal more with his/her own arc than a nifty plot. That's not to say I don't think plot is important and necessary, but I find that once I can get into my character's head, the story has a tendency to move more than it would with me forcing journeys. I think character voice is probably the most important thing to a story because it's the character that has to experience your plot, it's the character that has to have some sort of climax that results in something chaning in the character. If you don't know your character, the rest fails because of it. I can always work the plot out later as I go, fix the flaws in that, but I find that if I'm not sure of my character, the whole thing falls apart.

I was assigned to read wickedwords work which can be found at her Rachael Sabotini’s House ‘O Fanfic. I had never read any of her writing before and was pleasantly surprised to discover both her Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean fiction sections.

( feedback is below... )

I got my first flame comment! Woo-hoo. I've made it. It was so utterly ridiculous and the "anonymous" commenter called me "sweetheart" as s/he proceeded to rip apart my piece with no real constructive anything. That's fabulous. I loved it...and then deleted it.

I thought long and hard about keeping it for posterity, like those small businesses that frame their first dollar on the wall. But, in the end, I don't really want the person getting any satisfaction out of the thing.

You see, I'm all for someone saying they didn't enjoy a story and pointing out flaws. Nothing anyone can say could be worse than some of the stuff my editor has harped on in the past. That said, I also don't think I should take anyone named "anonymous" seriously who speaks down to me like I'm mentally challenged and has nothing to say that is at all constructive. I HATE UR STORY. IT'S BORING. Well, what am I supposed to do about that? How do I make it less of whatever it is you hate? Is it something that even has to do with my writing or his/her personal preferences?

And you see...this could go on all day. So whatever. Highly amusing.