A few general notes on comments and replies... · 12:58am Sep 9th, 2012
Hello everyone.
Like all writers, I thrive on feedback and acknowledgement. I write for the enjoyment of writing, and primarily I write for myself, but I will not deny that I enjoy knowing people read and like what I write.
I've been writing for over fifteen years. I consider myself "semi-professional" only because every time I start to work on something I could actually publish professionally, I get writer's block. Terribly ironic, but that's life for you.
Anyway, to the point of all this...
There are a few issues I would like to address, based on trends I have observed in the comments threads on my stories here. This is not, strictly speaking, aimed at any one user or any one group of users, nor is this intended to offend or insult anyone (except in the case of #1 below). These are just some things I feel the need to point out:
1. This goes without saying, but trolling is lame and unacceptable behavior. Rest assured I will aggressively pursue action against any user who disrupts the flow of commentary on my work with obnoxious, idiotic trolling.
2. I am generally tolerant of criticism, and even of overt hostility directed towards my work, to an extent. You can't please everyone, and there's no reason for any writer to overreact to someone expressing a negative opinion of a written work. However, there are limits to what is acceptable in the realm of negative feedback. In short, don't push it. If you don't like something I wrote, comment to that effect, downvote it, whatever. But don't be a complete dicksneeze. Absolutely nobody benefits from that.
3. This one is important: never demand to know when a story is going to be updated. Or insinuate that I am somehow an inferior writer if I don't stick to a regular update schedule. Contrary to what many readers seem to believe, I--as with any fanfic writer--do happen to do many other things besides write fanfiction, and as such, I don't stick to a schedule when it comes to writing this stuff, which is very much a hobby, and only one among many.
4. This one is also important, at least to me: I. Work. Alone.
Don't ask to "help". Don't offer to proofread. Don't ask to be a prereader. I have exactly two people I go to for that, and then only because I know with conviction that their skills as writers and editors are absolute and equal to my own, and I respect their ability to brainstorm for projects I'm working on because they think almost exactly like I do. I mean no disrespect or offense to my readers, but I've been writing for approximately half my life now, and learned my editing and proofreading skills at the hands of a true master while I was still in high school, so...it's safe to say I'm covered on those fronts.
(I do make the occasional typo or embarrassing formatting error, usually when I'm in a particular rush. I'll admit that. I'm only human, after all. They're extremely rare occurrences, though.)
Now that all that's out of the way...
Since Code Lyocolt has unexpectedly taken off like a rocket in popularity, I'm going to be fiddling with the first two chapters and fine-tuning it before getting the third chapter in line, and I have some rather massive bombshells to drop in upcoming chapters. I think you'll like what I have in store. :)
(And don't be alarmed if updates slow down--I'm rereading a rather lengthy Naruto fic from several years back at the moment, as well as rewatching Code Lyoko from the beginning on Netflix. This isn't even including the non-hobby stuff going on in my life. Oh, and it's also football season again, so that's going to cut into my writing time too. :P)
I DON'T LIKE RULE NUMBER FOUR.