Hi. Why yes, I am distracting myself.

[scarletmorning]

I hate Sandman and Neil Gaiman. And Alan Moore writes boring stuff. That's why my brain wanders. And today it made me think about reviews.

This incoherent rambling is not directed at anybody nor is it triggered by someone on my flist. If I would have to name a source of my thoughts, it would be the German ff.de.

So I was thinking about my attitude to reviews and the attitude of other people. And I noticed that yes, I get very few reviews. Especially since I seem to write mostly about minor characters that few people care about (Brokings). I don't think I have a big audience or people interested in what I write. Which is fine for me. There is also always the fact that people might be turned off by my English, but I have to admit that this thought doesn't cross my mind often (Yep, I'm either that confident or that uncaring).

And I don't particular care. I don't really care if a story doesn't get any reviews (like Rose and That dear child on ff.net). I do love every review I get, of course, but getting no reviews doesn't gnaw on my confidence. Now I was contemplating where this sentiment comes from, especially when I read about people being sad or annoyed that nobody comments. And sometimes I don't understand them. Yes, comments are love, but I don't need them.

Part of that I contribute to my personality. In real life I don't care that much about what other people think about me or about what I do (there are always exceptions) as well. So I care even less about the opinion of anonymous internet people.

Then again, I come from a tiny, tiny fandom. And yes, that fandom is Fire Emblem. Let me explain: I've started writing fanfiction in German. And there are whooping 62 Fire Emblem stories on ff.de. There were, I believe, less than 30 when I started. I am used to getting almost no reviews, because that is normal when almost two third of those stories (62) are written by me. There are maybe two or three active writers (I am excluding myself, because I haven't written anyhting in German for months). So I am reverse-spoilt. I'm used to getting no reviews.

I don't know if the people complaining about getting no reviews are used to get many or if they just complaining because. I don't really get it.

Anyway. I'll continue writing minor characters and family and sibling stories and gen and romance nobody cares about. Deal with it. <3

Comments

[raphiael]

Complaining about review count, in any fandom, is just bad form, IMO. No one is obligated to review anything, really.
That having been said, it seems to me like there are a lot of factors that go into getting reviews or not getting them. Shorter stories are more likely to get a lot of attention than really long ones (just in terms of oneshots). Popular games (FE7, FE9/10) will probably get more than others. And then, popular character/pairings will draw more people in. It also seems to me like romance stories are really popular.

Like, in my own work? "The Essence of Wisdom" is really one of my favorite fics I've written. Compare that (not really popular game, unpopular character) with something I've written about a really popular guy like Lucius, and it's clear which one gets more hits and reviews.

But writing quality? Doesn't often factor in. Look at all the shitty fics that have huge review counts. Often those reviews are something like "waaa so cute" or "I like ur OC" or whatever. Whereas the smaller stories often have more in-depth, thoughtful reviews and followers - particularly the ones for smaller fanbases and odd characters.

TL;DR: Reviews are nice, but the number you get really means jack-diddly about your writing.

[xirysa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this.

I mean, I feel good whenever I see notification for one in my inbox, but really? Reviews really don't matter that much, and the authors who always ask for one, IMO, are just attention seekers.

[raphiael]

I always feel gross posting in even the review-trade threads on FFn, even -___- But the people who always stick a "Review please!!" at the end of their stuff, or worse, bitch about getting no reviews in their notes? STFU, brats.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

But the people who always stick a "Review please!!" at the end of their stuff, or worse, bitch about getting no reviews in their notes? STFU, brats.

Yeah, that's tacky. On the other hand, writing a story that apparently connects with NO ONE, or maybe with your friend/beta reader and no one else, does leave a bit of a hollow feeling. I mean, an integral part of fandom is interacting with other fans, and if what you write leaves no one with the desire to interact... it's kind of depressing. I used to not care as much, because the stories I was writing were almost all internally generated-- I felt the burning need to write them and make them exist. Now a lot of my story ideas come from prompts, or discussion, or batting ideas around with other people, and feedback feels a lot more like a natural part of the entire process.

[raphiael]

Yeah, there's definitely . . .not quite a need, but there's always something really satisfying for me getting reviews. Especially people outside the usual crowd. Not that you guys aren't awesome, but I feel like I've really done well when an e-stranger comes in and says "this was great", if that makes any sense. It's also really great to watch meta discussions evolve into actual storyline ideas, too, and I definitely try and leave feedback when I see it happening. Makes things feel almost more like a collaboration than a single person effort, I suppose?

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I don't get complaining about it. And yeah, awesome authors may get nearly no reviews while bad author are showered with them. I can understand that some people might find that unfair, but, well, that's life.

But then, I was mostly self-analyzing 8D

[raphiael]

Yeah, it's all a little strange.
I think the only thing that really bugs me, review wise, is when people beg for reviews, or whine about not getting them, and never give any out themselves. That's just really super-bratty, I think.

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Another reason why I would never beg for reviews 8D I am a notorious "I don't know what to comment on so I go on" person. I was taught "If you have nothing to say, keep your mouth shut". And I like that saying.

[raphiael]

Yeah, I know you wouldn't XD
But that recent shenanigan with the Albedo person? Wouldn't be so bad if he/she were leaving reviews at all, anywhere, before begging consistently and whining about the reviews they WERE getting. :/

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Ah, right. There was something. But did he/she beg for reviews? *has a horrible memory* Anyway, he/she acted like an asshole. He/she doesn't deserve the nice reviews he/she got.

[raphiael]

Yes. both on their own thread, and in the review circle thread. And then bitched in the first place about not getting enough reviews, and then bitched about people asking for paragraphs.
Made me regret wasting that 5 minutes I spent writing them anything at all.

[xirysa.livejournal.com]

And yeah, awesome authors may get nearly no reviews while bad author are showered with them.

I like to think that it's because the masses clearly have no taste in good fiction. I mean, take a look at Twilight--terrible writing, but the author's showered with tons of praise! I don't get it.

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Hn. I believe people have different reasons for reading what they're reading. Some people actually like stories like that, others just want to shut down and read something trivial, others want to laugh about the badness. I believe all three are legit reasons. And those people who genuinely like the book would say that it is good fiction. "Good" is just such a relative label that I am careful to apply it. What I find good, is rubbish to other people. There's even an example in my rambling. I find Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore incredibly boring. Other people say they're the best of the best. We just have different tastes and standards :/ And look for different things in fiction.

/rambling over now.

[rethira.livejournal.com]

Begging for reviews - particularly the type where the author says they won't update until they've received X amount of reviews - really annoys me. If I want to review, I will. If I don't, I won't. Begging doesn't help their case.

Not getting many reviews is just one of those things. But it's really nice to see authors who really deserve reviews getting them, without ever asking. I just get warm fuzzies whenever I see a huge review count for a really good fic.

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

Oh gawd DX That's the worst type of review beggar. A sure way to make me never review.