Why fanfiction authors should not respond to every comment and how can readers write comments that authors will read · 7:07pm Sep 24th, 2019
Shocking isn’t it? I know. But seriously, I think that fanfiction authors should not to respond to every comment.
I have a few very good reasons why I have this opinion. But let’s start with why I even decided to address this topic.
I’ve gotten a lot of comments on my stories and particularly on the very divisive, Equestria’s Changeling Queen and the Abyssal Empress. I recently got a particularly long comment that I chose not to respond to and then someone a few weeks later asked me in the comments why didn’t I respond to it. I finally decided, “eh why not” and wrote a response to both, responding to that past comment and also explaining why I didn’t do so earlier.
This is my extended reason why I don’t respond to comments as often these days and why I highly recommend that beginner fanfiction writers who suddenly hit big, or even those who have only a small audience base, carefully consider which comments to respond to and not aim to respond to everything.
1. Responding to Comments is NOT An Author’s Obligation.
This is an exceedingly blunt statement but also a pearl of truth that took me ages to learn. Here’s the reasoning.
I write on this site because I want to. I participate here because I have fun doing so. I read MLP fan fiction because I enjoy reading it. I go to my local con because I like to hang out with my Brony friends. I have no obligation to do anything in this fandom that I don’t want to do. I’m not being paid for it, I’m not asking for money, so why should I do anything in this fandom that I don’t want to as long as I’m not actively trying to hurt someone’s feelings?
I know and am aware, painfully so due to my own experience as a commenter and reader, that when you review a story that pisses you off or you are so perplexed by, you want the author to respond to your comment, or to your painstakingly crafted review.
But here’s the thing, just because I or you wrote a 300 word review of a story.... doesn’t mean it requires a response. It would be nice but that’s not how it works in book publishing. That’s not how it even works with influencers and online creators. I don’t think Pewdiepie or say Achievement Hunter (one of my favorite youtube groups) can respond to all their reviews, and if bigger creators with more money don’t feel obligated to.... I don’t think I should be.
After all, every author here on this site is here because they want to publish fan fiction. They can decide to comment and many like to respond to comments if they want to but there’s no explicit rule that says they have to respond to every comment.
For the record, I am sympathetic to those who want a response. Who feel so passionate about a work that they feel hurt or disappointed to tears by a twist in the story.
But I cannot take responsibility for how a reader feels about my work. It’s not possible, practical or even morally right. I’m just a bloke writing stuff I like that people happened to like and because they like it I share it. I can’t claim to be responsible for how a reader feels. Does that even make sense? (Disclaimer: I’m speaking regarding normal works, not about a work that encourages through depiction, dangerous behaviors that put others in danger. Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why I’m looking at you there. Freaking suicide prevention professionals and associations have published guidelines on how to depict suicide and you decided not to follow them.)
So yeah, I don’t feel I need to respond to every comment, positive or negative. And especially not immediately. I respond to comments when I want to, because I want to.
2. For an author, it’s not healthy to respond to all of your comments or even read them all.
This is something I realized early on but I also had a recent epiphany about it.
When I started writing fanfiction, I responded to every comment because I loved the engagement. When I got my first big hit, Princess Celestia: the Changeling Queen, I responded because I wanted to build a readership and also because that attention felt amaaazing. I mean I was 18 (yeah it’s been that long) fairly new MLP fan, and I suddenly hit it hard. Celestia: the Changeling Queen is the work I’m still most recognized for.
There was a catch to responding to all those comments though.
It was exhausting! It took about an hour or two every time I updated a chapter to respond to all the comments! I had some time then in high school but as I went into uni, things changed. I had more time as uni homework is spaced out but also more work. I managed and I’m actually rather impressed at my response time and rate. But people unabashedly liked my story then and I thrived off of the positive attention.
Then I published Equestria’s Changeling Queen and the Abyssal Empress.
Now, I’m not blaming anybody in particular but the fact is that people did not agree with many of my and then later, I and Zerviels decisions. I still took an hour or two to respond to comments after chapter updates but now that was because I was embroiled in trying to respond to critics and suffice to say, with that, writing my Bachelor of Arts with honors thesis and later Masters of Arts in History thesis, it took a toll. It didn’t matter how constructive the criticism was
I physically dreaded seeing my comment page. Not joking here. I liked writing but I with every red bubble on the notifications tab and the news “x commented on Equestria’s Changeling Queen” I physically flinched. It got bad people. I thought about quitting and luckily Zervziel was a pretty good cheerleader and taskmaster. He would not let me quit.
That hard experience taught me though that.... I don’t need to read much less respond to every comment. It wasn’t good for me. It stifled my writing and while I know this wasn’t the intention of some of the readers, it had that effect, and so for my sanity, I got a lot more free with not responding to comments on many of my stories unless I felt like it.
I still felt a bit guilty about not responding to comments, though. I knew logically I didn’t owe it necessarily to my readers, but I felt like I should.
The epiphany came this year from a youtube host and streamer, Ryan Haywood, who works for the Achievement Hunter youtube channel, which I frequently watch. He was responding to criticism and feedback regarding a debate around their newest hire and hostess. Setting aside that controversy, he pointed out on a stream that online content creators can’t and won’t read criticism, not even constructively worded criticism, much less respond to that.
I was like “? Why not bub?”
And he was like (not quoting him precisely here, I’m paraphrasing) “because we’d get overwhelmed given how much feedback we get, and so we just can’t read even constructive criticism. It’s not possible or good for us. It will throw us off from making new content if we read it all.”
And I was like “hot damn that’s me bub. And if you who actually make money off of this, says you that it isn’t healthy to respond to all of your critics, then why should I?”
Now, I’m not saying that one should stick their head in the sand and not read any criticism at all, but I think the logic is the same. If you have a large audience, and want to keep making good content, you can’t read-much less respond to every single comment or criticism you get. That’s just asking for stress.
I’m aware some people will think or call me weak for not being able to take constructive criticism. My counter is that authors, and creators are only human. We humans can only take so much criticism, constructive or not, before it starts to mess with our ego and psyche. It’s difficult to imagine from a reader/consumer’s point of view, but due to the internet, it’s too damn easy for one to make something, and get inundated with either no feedback, or so much feedback that you’re saying “STAAWWWP. I NEED A MOMENT.”
I mean if I responded to every single comment immediately, no matter how good I felt at the moment, you’d probably get a lot of angry, tired, and frustrated vren55 instead of polite vren55, which isn’t going to help anyone.
So what can you do to get a response as a reader/commenter?
So, now that I’ve written a long post about why authors should not respond or even read all their comments, I’m going to tell you readers how you can get an author to read/respond to a comment. All of the following contain important advice, but my main explanation on what to do is the last point, point 4.
My first piece of advice is read the comments section of that chapter you are commenting on first and think if someone’s said what you want to say. Chances are, somebody’s said what you have already said, and while you might want to drill that point into an author’s head… well here’s what happens (based on my personal experience):
1st time someone writes the comment vren55 reaction: Ah I see. Okay yeah I could have done better.
2nd time someone mentions the exact same point vren55 reaction: Mm hmm okay yeah definitely could have done better.
3rd time: *nods* okay yeah will definitely not do that
4th time: … I get the point now
5th time… Okay seriously i geddit-
21st time 2 years after chapter was published: I don’t even remember what I was thinking when wrote that...
And this is if I’m in a good mood and haven’t had a bad RL day. Anyway, I think you get the point. Check the comments section first. If three people have said it, and especially if the author has responded to it. If it was mentioned at least three times, err on the side of caution and mention something else.
2. Rambles and rants discourage author responses, don’t use them
Here’s the thing, I personally have nothing against people who want to ramble on and on. I ramble verbally a LOT. But the truth of the matter is that rambles and rants on comments that cause it to balloon to fill the screen may make a reader feel better for typing them, but if their goal is to get the author to read them… well they’ll mostly cause an author to baulk and pale. I’m exaggerating slightly, but I cannot imagine an author whose read a comment that has filled the screen having a completely positive reaction.
There’s a couple of reasons why. Unless a reader is an extremely well-organized and concise writer, the rant/ramble is going to have a lot of points interspersed with a lot of detail and opinions, making it just plain difficult to parse and break down. So even if a rant/ramble is useful, the typical ramble/rant will be structured in a way that an author will find difficult to respond to.
Secondly, rambles and rants are so long, and include so many different points, that it’s just plain difficult for an author to respond to. I know the moment I see a long comment, I go “Oh… where do I even start?”
If you want to write a long review (more than 200 words), do what the reviewer PaulAsuran does (he writes some of the best reviews in the business and is a one man reviewing machine). Follow his format, structure your feedback the way he does, and then write a long review. When you are finished, post it on your user blog, and then link it in a comment that says something like “I wrote a review for you” so that the author has a choice to mentally prepare and then read a long review. And if I didn’t make this clear in this blog, don’t bother the author if he or she’s decided not to respond to said review. They might be still processing the review, or they have decided they don’t know how to respond courteously and chosen silence. Respect that decision because they’re respecting your right to comment on their work.
3. The sandwich method doesn’t always encourage author responses, use it strategically in formal reviews
Giving constructive feedback with the sandwich method (positive feedback, then negative feedback, and then positive feedback) is typically taught at school and by others as the best way to give feedback.
The problem is that in an online setting, this does not work. For one-on-one or small group situations, the sandwich method is still an excellent way to give feedback. However, if the content creator is receiving a lot of feedback, the sandwich method doesn’t help.
This goes back to my earlier point on how it’s not healthy for an author to read and respond to all their comments and criticisms. In my experience, the sandwich method lessens the blow of the criticism, but authors, especially those with a wide readership, get so many of them we’ve learned to see through them. Additionally, most skilled authors have done enough writing of their own comments to realize when they’re being given a sandwich method comment.
The best time to use the sandwich method is when writing a formal review on say your blog, which you can link using a comment on the author’s story. The sandwich method is more useful then because it can better structure a review.
But if ranting doesn’t work, sandwich doesn’t, and commenting many many many times on the same topic doesn’t work, or is impolite, what should I do to best elicit a positive author response?
Praise the author and tell him/her what you like and want to see more of, and ask questions about the work itself
The best way I’ve learnt where you can encourage an author to respond is to praise their work, and let them know what you would like/love to see more of.
The logic is this. If authors can’t read all the criticism on their work (because it isn’t healthy or practical), then the best way is to not directly criticize your work.
I’m aware some might call this chickening out, but the fact of the matter is that positive feedback is always better received than negative feedback. If you want an author to respond to your comment, or at the very least, receive it better, words of praise, coupled with a request for more of the good things they have done/are doing, are most definitely going to encourage an author to consider pushing their story in the direction you’re asking for.
To make the chances of getting a response higher, add a question about their story to that you’d like clarified, or their thought process behind a plot point or character. They’re neutral enough that you can get an author response quite easily as authors do like to talk about their story. Of course, don’t go “dafuq did you do this for?” Try “Can you explain why you decided to xxx?” or “I was interested in why you decide to have xx do yy.”
You can even ask if they could do more of what you like. For example, “I love the feels in your work, can you add more?”
Do this and I’ll guarantee that your comment would be read more, and probably be responded to more.
Hope you found this blog post informative. Happy reading and writing.
Some comments can really mess up your attitude to your own work. I've been on the receiving end of some of those.
5126258
And they’re never fun to deal with as they can literally ruin your day. My sympathies
Also, how did you manage to read the entire post so quickly????
5126261 I'm Wanderer D
Man, and here I was, all ready to leave a comment and everything...
5126270 Yes, he is.
I generally try to respond to every comment except the "Wow it's great!" and the "This story sucks!" comments, or at least most of them. I've had one or two people try to write a thesis in the comments, which I've gently discouraged, and *I've* been tempted to write a thesis in the comments at times, which I've turned into blog posts and linked to them. Just remember the 99:1 ratio of Readers vs Responders and understand that five people going "You suck!" does not mean five hundred who hate your stuff, it just means that five out of that number were roused enough to use their keyboard. In fact, I have at least one follower who lives to read everything I do and put an "You suck!" after just about every chapter. It's a little weird, but they must enjoy reading my stuff, so meh.
I've generally tried to respond to every comment on my stories, and it gets taxing at times. Other times, if I'm going through a bad spell with my anxiety, it can really throw me for a loop that can last days or weeks. I'm still trying, generally, but some days sure are harder than others. And now that some very kind people have given me some donations I feel even more beholden to reading/responding to each comment. This is only intensifying my anxiety. I've been sitting here all day staring at a story that just needs a couple hundred more words and final pass to be posted and... nothing is coming.
I have much fewer comments than I'd like to respond to, let alone read.
On the flipside, tey are mostly positive, and the few really negative ones i got by other routes.
The comments I am most likely to respond to are the ones that ask questions. Both because that gives me something other than "thanks for the comment" to say in reply, and because it's really gratifying when a story has engaged the reader enough to make them curious about it.
Very well said.
I agree that constructive comments are what I would like to see in the comments section. They are good not just for the authors but for the other readers as well. Sometimes I was amused by those outright hateful comments. I mean, if they didn't like the story, why read it in the first place? If I don't like a story, the most I would do was to click the downvote and leave.
Interesting analysis, although you're addressing a problem that few of us will be lucky enough to encounter ourselves. Answering all the comments is fun and easy when you only ever get 4.
5126270
Speed reading training?
Uh... you have two point 2 and no point 4.
About the whole thing... I guess that would change when patreons come in the equation...
Because while it is true that you may write just because you like that once you start getting paid you have a LOT more of accountability in there ^^;;;
5126258
Yah, seen good stories get canceled because 1 or 2 negative comments when the majority of comments are positive
5126271
HAHAHA. But seriously (to you and others that might read this comment) my intention was never to say plz don't comment, but indicate how people might get author's attention and also give people insight into how authors take in comments.
5126270
Good enough reason for me.
5126294
That's a very good point Georg. And ... wow that's a weird bloke.
5126328
Tundara... do you need some help? You do realize like I've said that... you don't need to actually do every comment if it's making you feel that bad.
5126408
Well at least you got comments.
Ehehehehe
5126426
That's true. I was debating internally about whether to say that questions comments get read more... or positive comments get read more. I think that question comments can elicit response, but the positive comments are most definitely read.
5126529
Thanks!
5126772
Mm hmm. Not to disagree, but my thoughts were... well I discussed constructive criticism above and took a while to wonder if constructive criticism tends to be read and responded to. My thought is that... comments that have constructive criticism tends be the most useful comments. That being said, too much constructive criticism can be rather detrimental as I stated above, and I think that they can be difficult for authors to respond to because they are so constructive.
5127171
but well... you never know.
It IS a bit of a first world problem lol.
5127327
Don't sell yourself short. You really don't know.
Also I wrote this so that people who haven't hit that readership can understand why some authors get pissy/annoyed/stop responding to comments.
5127395
Nah he's just Wanderer D
5127476 5127478
There are point 2s regarding different topics. As for money... ehhhh I don't have a patreon so I didn't discuss that, but I can sympathize :P My thought process with fanfiction is money makes things complicated. Don't get it involved XD
5127498
Mm hmm. To be fair, I've been on the audience side of it when I was younger, so I am far more careful about making comments these days.
5128122
I'll side with Georg's comments, he pretty much nailed the thoughts I had and added a few more good ones too. Comments are nice, but clear, concise, and original comments are even better. :)
5126258
God I can't imagine how hard that might be.
5128240
I was going to write another blog post in my response to you.
Then I realized. I’ll just write another blog post because it is an interesting topic and I think readers should get some insight into the fact that all writers face the “will this get read or received well” problem
5128515
... the blog post has never and will never be intended to be a call out. I am not going to publically shame you. Wanderer didn’t call you out either
The claims you brought out are stuff I’ve heard before talked about me and talked about others. I am in one fell swoop, going to address and discuss the claims from all the people I’ve heard say “vren55 got in because he knew horsefamous people/he’s only famous because of that one story”. It’s not directed at you specifically
But if It makes you feel uncomfortable I will limit mentioning the inciting incident and the blog (I already am doing this) won’t give names or say that it was the one person doing it.
Ugh. Responding to comments *killed* my ability to re-read and enjoy First Flame.
Don't do drugs, kids.
5128818
That’s not a call out. You are also just wrong. I can’t speak for your feelings, or your history with D, and why you feel that way but you do not understand what is the definition of a call out and what he did.
First he did not link this blog. He linked my user page and this blog isn’t the first thing you can even see. So no he didn’t link anybody to the place where anybody could see it.
If he put your name, and even quoted you directly I’d consider that a call out. But he didn’t even quote you directly. You said: “I really do know though. Notoriety (and readership) on FiMFiction is 99.9% dependent on who boosts you. New writers cannot get a foothold without a shoutout by an established writer.“
He wrote that he was responding how people said "A new author can only hit it big when recommended by an established author".
That’s not a direct quote by any definition of the matter especially when he makes it clear that it comes from and I quote, “certain users.” He was not referring to you alone. He never did refer to you alone. He was referring to a general series of comments and messages and things people have said that have annoyed him.
For what it’s worth, I think he had excellent reason to be.
Can you imagine what I felt when you went and wrote “I really do know though. Notoriety (and readership) on FiMFiction is 99.9% dependent on who boosts you. New writers cannot get a foothold without a shoutout by an established writer.“ On my blog, basically telling me my readers read my work not because Of what I’ve done but because someone boosted me? Not going to lie, I was hurt, despite my thick skin.
Finally I am pretty sure he didn’t refer to you alone because if it makes any sense at all, I would think that any author wouldn’t - for practical purposes and for the sake of his or her own god damn reputations - use our accounts to put down and attack people, which is a reportable offense on this site.
5128662
Hahahaha interesting comparison. Comments do leave you with a high but can also bring you crashing.
Reminds me that I need to read first flame....
5128887
Posting to say that I'm not going to be posting further, that I'm ceasing engagement in this thread, and frankly wish to be left the hell alone at this point.
Are identical statements btw
Wait a second... I'm a rambler. I've posted massive comments before in a desperate attempt to get to the point.
Oh dear.
EDIT: Also, I confess to a compulsive need to answer every comment I receive. It takes effort for me not to do that.
5127478
Here's the thing: Patreon is entirely optional. Meaning it doesn't matter if you donated money, you don't get a final say on a story. Patreon is usually used by authors to allow people to help support them and keep writing. Donaters don't get to act like they commissioned a story and start swinging their weight around.
Also Vren, you forgot to mention avoiding emotion manipulation tactics like "I liked the first story so much, but I can't stand this. It's s too different!"
5133507
I don’t really read that as a tactic but I find that comment completely unhelpful... I just didn’t touch on it because it applies to very few ppl (as in writers not readers. Not a lot of writers write sequels)
5133507
Hm here we touch on an issue that is a bit controversial... The relationship between authorial promises and expected content vs getting paid.
The examples of Mass Effect and Games of Thrones are the most evident.
There you had a product that fundamentally sold on the promises of something that was not really delivered... and while an argument can be had about the authorial autonomy it is disingenuous to affirm that an author can say “this piece of work is the same as the ones before“ and then put a FIM episode in a Ancient Rome historical series...
More or less the same issue can happen with Patreons... yes you can ignore them and not address their question... if you don’t mind risking losing their patronage... that is the point.