Both my website and my LJ came
this close to being called that.
Because I am, a feedback whore, that is. I crave it, get all bouncy
when it shows up and sink into depression when it doesn't. It's
addictive; ask anyone who's written a few stories and gotten feedback,
or not gotten it. Some authors add a little footnote in their comments,
"Feedback always appreciated," and the more immature ones go so far as
to demand it, "Send me feedback or I won't write anymore!" We all want
it,
need it even, as a validation that we're not just tossing
our fic into a void, that someone is actually reading it.
Some
feedback is better than others, of course. As nice as "That was great!
Write more," is, most of us would prefer something longer, something
that showed the person actually read the story. Even if it is filled
with constructive criticism (so long as it's not an outright flame), at
least it shows that our work is being read and thought about enough to
warrant such an LOC.
(And before I go on, let me state right here that
all
feedback is great to get. I'm not saying that I don't want those one
line LOCs or that there's anything wrong with them, because that's not
where I'm headed with this
at all.)
Lately, as in the
past year or so, I've been leaving that long, detailed feedback. It's
not so much a case of mentioning the good points as discussing why I
liked them, what I thought they did for the fic. Sure, it's so much
easier and quicker to just leave a one-liner, especially knowing it'll
still be appreciated, but I just don't feel...right doing that anymore.
If I've taken the time to read a fic, I'll darn well take the time to
tell the author what exactly drew me to it.
What interests me is
that very few people seem to be giving those sorts of LOCs these days.
A few years ago they were far more common, but back then I was doing
the one-liner LOCs. Now that I've seen the light, so to speak, not too
many people are doing the long ones anymore. At least that's the strong
impression I get from the surprised and enthusiastic thanks I get from
authors I send feedback to. And that makes me a little sad.
If
you've taken the time and effort to write something, you want to know
what other people think of it. Specific points, plot twists, the smut,
etc. and "Wow! So great! More!" as nice as it is to see, just doesn't
cover it. No one can blame an author for wanting some in depth
responses (unless they demand it, then they deserve whatever they
don't
get) and even some constructive criticism.
(That's
a slightly different subject there. I usually don't send CC directly to
authors; unless they've outright asked for it, it seems rude and
presumptuous to me. Thanks to LJ, if I liked a story so much that I
feel the need to say why it's good and what, IMO, needs work, I'll
discuss it here in an unlocked post so the authors can see it and
comment.)
I do realize that sending a ton of long, detailed LOCs
just isn't practical. These days many, if not most of us read in
multitudes of fandoms and there's just so much out there and no
everyone has the time it takes to write up dozens of long commentaries.
Which is why one-liners can be fine; sometimes you have to use them.
You only have a finite amount of time, or in another case, the fic so
overwhelms you in one way or another and you can't find the words. You
still want to show an author that you did read their fic and
appreciated it, so, "That was so hot! I can't wait to see more!" is
perfectly acceptable.
I get that and I understand it. Just for
my part though, so long as I still have the free time (and less than a
month from now that'll be ending) I'll probably keep sending the long
LOCs.