Other Fan Fiction ❯ An Open Letter to All Fans ❯ How to handle feedback... ( Chapter 1 )

To My Fellow Fans:

I'm back, and I hope you did seriously think about my question. Now I want to say two things.

- There is no wrong answer. It doesn't matter why you're a fan, if you're only a fan.

- There are wrong answers. It does matter why you're a fan, if you write fanfiction or draw fan-art.

I guess that's confusing. I'll explain it: There are certain types of fans who shouldn't be writing fanfiction, and we have a problem in every fandom that these people ARE writing fanfiction. And the problem isn't a lack of talent or potential among them, but a deep-seated belief that they know their fandom better than anybody else, and that anybody who wants to help them improve their writing is just mean or jealous. Or both.

To everybody who believes any negative comment is a flame, a personal attack, or someone being jealous of their skills, I have something to say, and it is going to sound extremely mean. I apologize if you take offense at it, but you need to hear it. Ready? I sure hope so, because I'm going to say it as the next sentence.

GET OVER YOURSELF!

There are two types of feedback -- pointless feedback, and productive feedback. This applies to both positive AND negative feedback. Pointless feedback is composed of "flames" for pointless negative feedback, and "ego boosters" for pointless positive feedback. Let me give an example of each.

Flame:
OMG UR SUCH A F*CKING NOOB, DON U NO TAHT UR STORY SUCKS DONKEY BALLS? YOU SHOULD STOP WRITING BECAUSE UR TEH SUXXORZ!

Ego Booster:
This story is so great, u should keep writing and update soon plz! I love this story so update soon k thnx bye.

Do you notice something about those comments? They don't really say anything about the story, and could be said to anybody at any time in any fandom just to insult them (Flame) or to make them feel good (Ego Booster). That's why these are pointless, and should be ignored by anyone who is serious about their writing. If you are serious about your writing, you should be watching for all of the productive feedback that can help you, whether it's positive or negative. I call these Critique (negative) and Review (positive). Some people refer to these as "con-crit" or "concrit" which stands for "constructive criticism". This is one of the best things your stories can receive, and here's an example of concrit, since any productive review will contain positive AND negative elements.

Concrit:
This is a pretty good concept for a story, but I noticed that you have a lot of speeling and grammar problems. Do you have a beta? Also, [insert character name here] is acting really out of character -- that could really hurt the story for some fans since s/he isn't acting in a believable way. Also, your original character seems like a [Mary Sue/Gary Stu], and it might help to tone [her/him] down a bit and be more believable.

Do you notice that this points out flaws and also recommends ways in which those problems can be solved. It even addresses the almost ever-present "Mary Sue" characters and recommends how to solve that problem. Even though this particular sample is generic, a good review addresses the actual weaknesses and strngths of the story.

The lesson of this letter? Flames and Ego Boosters are both bad for a serious author, while any productive review is good for improving your skills. Also, I'll end by giving an examle of the worst review a fan can give:

Well, that's a bit long for this letter... I'll talk about more stuff next time.

"k thx bye"
- Kharon the Hunter

Update Demands:
Y haven't u updated? It's been so long since ur last update, you should keep writing and update soon!

Y haven't u updated yet? its been 2 days since i told u 2 update and you don't have a new chapter up yet.

OMG, u need to update, its ben a week and you still don't have teh nex chappie up.

u jerk, its been over a month and u haven't updated, if u dont hurry and write teh next chap ill hunt u down and make u write it myslef.

The only suitable response to this is to delay your chapters for every such complaint you receive. Or better yet, ignore them. They only want words, not a story.