(no subject)

[the_rck]

I got two excellent fics for Yuletide. They're both for Haibane Renmei, but each addressed a different bit of my request. (I tried to suggest several different directions for each fandom.) The first, "i live my life in growing orbits", is a lovely slice of life that reminds me a lot of the anime, peaceful surface with depths. The second, "Season's Change", addresses some of the mysteries of canon, offering answers that I rather like.

I'm working my way through the Yuletide archive. It will probably take me a few weeks to read everything that I want to read. Sadly, I've had to give up on leaving comments. I found myself having anxiety issues over leaving comments that made me come near to stopping reading. (I suspect that that's the big reason why I still haven't finished last year's archive, and that, in turn, led to me not updating my recs page very much in 2007. I kept saying that I'd read more when I felt up to leaving comments and that I'd update my recs site after I finished reading Yuletide so that I could include those recs.)

I wish I were up to leaving a lot of comments. I've read some excellent fics in the last few days. I've been working my way through fandoms, starting with the X's. I'm currently poking at the E's.

I don't expect many comments on my fic. Looking at the other fics in the fandom, including those from Yuletides past, nothing there gets many comments. The only comment I'm actually waiting for is one from my recipient. I don't know if she's offline for the holidays or not (I didn't see anything from her on the post for letting writers know that one would be away).

I started a stocking stuffer story but didn't have the time or energy to finish it. With luck, I'll be able to complete it after the holidays and treat it as a New Year's Resolution fic. The request it was meant for has already been filled, though. Still, I like the story.

Comments

[jss]

So here's a feedback-type question. I'm terrible at leaving positive feedback for authors I like, so I really feel uncomfortable leaving negative yet constructive feedback for stories I don't like. There's one author in particular who comes to mind: On the one hand, she writes well, with good word choice and language utility, good pacing, good dialogue, good descriptions, and so on. On the other hand, however, I hate what she's writing: I find it thoroughly uninteresting and uninspiring, and reading it leaves me at best unfulfilled and at worst grossed out. Since you're an author posting stories on LJ: How would you suggest I give this person any constructive or useful feedback?

Edited to correct typo.

[the_rck]

Well, my answer is-- It depends.

Why does the person write? Are the areas in which you have criticisms areas where she wants to improve or make changes? A hobbyist is likely writing what she enjoys writing or what gets the most positive interaction from her audience. In the former case, she has no reason to change unless it makes her writing more fun for her. In the latter, she may be more receptive to suggestions. Consider, too, the difference in commenting on a child's performance in an elementary school play or a teenager's performance in a high school play or a professional's performance on Broadway.

What's your relationship to her? Different styles are appropriate for talking to friends, relatives and acquaintances at various degrees, and talking to strangers is yet another style. Other circumstances matter, too. Have you been asked for your opinion? Were the stories offered to you or to someone else as gifts?

What are you hoping to get out of offering the feedback? Do you just want to let her know that you're reading? Do you want to let her know that you like some things but that her work isn't generally to your taste? (The equivalent of my saying, "Hey, you seem to play great jazz saxophone. Pity I hate jazz.") Do you want to vent about how irritating it is that someone who could write stuff you like is writing stuff that you don't like? Do you want to explain that you're not going to read more of her work so that she won't expect it? Do you want her to write something different? That can come out sounding stupid in some circumstances-- Sort of like if I said, "Well, I know you're an opera singer, but I hate arias. Can't you sing without them?"

Does the author want constructive criticism at all? Some don't, after all. Some writers crumple under even mild criticism and lose something that gives them joy. Some have no interest in anything that makes what they're doing less fun. Other writers will happily engage in debate about their choices, and still others will absorb the criticism and let it affect future writing.

No matter what the circumstances, it's important to make sure that you criticize the writing and not the writer. (That's part of why some people prefer not to receive constructive criticism. For them, it always feels like an attack on them.) Admit when the things that bother you are-- or might be-- issues of personal taste.

I hope that's useful rather than confusing.

[jss]

Yes, definitely useful (and the answers to the questions will, of course, vary by author). Thanks!