feedback: make it fun and easy

amberlynne's written a post about feedback that's being linked around. I disagreed.

Her central point is this: readers should comment and they should do so in a way that the writer will be comfortable with. She goes on to say that comments should focus on the story. They shouldn't, for example, be addressed to other readers unless a direct comment is also left. They shouldn't be off topic, and they should as much as possible, be in a form that the writer will appreciate. Save that concrit for when it's been explicitly made welcome.

I think there's a point at which the proliferation of rules for commenting, soft or hard, implicit or explicit, starts to discourage comments.

1. I'm just gonna lay it out, the more you tell me what form my comment should take, the less likely am I to comment at all. This is, I think, especially true of people new to fandom, who are already confused by new social rules. Fandom's rules for feedback (some honey with the vinegar, no concrit unless asked for, direct reviews > talking with other readers) are NOT intuitive. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," tends to fall by the wayside sometime in middle school/junior high. High school art and writing classes encourage students to share honest feedback. Lit classes train students to believe that discussing a work with each other, and not with the writer, is of real value. The internet itself encourages many-to-many conversations, even when the creators are present and talking up a storm. We've been told for years that it's not all about the artist, and that it's really about the work. So take it as written that there will always be people who just don't get what you're talking about. Take it also as written that your going to get some backs up, when you tell people how they should be commenting. ( Read more... )

I need to kill these WIPs

I need to get some of these damn WIPs completed and posted. In the interest of said, I'm seeking prereaders, audiencers, beta readers and/or people with pokey sticks. Seriously, anyone who's willing to read a draft and give me a straight answer as to the worthiness of its contents would be appreciated. ( Read more... )

Any takers? I've also considered setting up a WIP filter, but am unsure if anyone would be interested in snippets...