On Writing, or: 'On Hating Yourself'
Every chapter I've published, hundreds of them, I've hated, except one or two. And every chapter I've published, a reader has said: "this touched my heart" or had a similar reaction.
Every chapter I've hated.
Every chapter has touched somebody, somehow.
Keep writing. Be critical. Do your best... then, publish it and let your readers benefit from words that will touch them.
On Dialogue
One day, magically, your characters will stop speaking in your voice and start speaking in their own voices. And then you'll backslide, and hate yourself. Really, that's how awful it is. But just keep writing through the black times, publish, and turn the page and start the next chapter. It comes and it goes, then you get really, really good. That's the next level.
You always can do better. And that's hard to bear sometimes. But it also means that you can and will get better if you keep writing.
On Publishing, or: "On Giving Your Story Away"
Persevere, but let your readers own your work, too. Then they'll tell you how good you are, and give you hope, instead of you telling yourself that your writing is shite. It is, because it never says what you thought it could've if only you were better, but it does say something that nobody else ever read.
On Reviews
Keep writing, persevere, PUBLISH, and get good, eh, and bad feedback, then ignore all three, and press on.
Good feedback is bad because you will never be that good so it inflates your ego AND makes you scared to be creative and explore. Bad feedback is terrible, because if you take it to heart, it can kill you AND THEN you won't write anymore. eh feedback is the worst, because it makes you think readers are stupid, because they are. They don't see your characters like you do. How can they?
But there are those readers who see something in your works you don't, and see something in you that you don't, and give you a reason and a purpose to write, to write more, and to write better. But you only get those after years of PUBLISHING your chapters.
On Reading Reviews and 'Not Being Affected'
What you fret about will never go away. I've published books, short stories, poems, and every single review slays me, and every story that doesn't get reviews saddens me. What can I do? Keep writing. People's lives actually depend on something to hope for: it's a barren, desolate, hopeless world out there, and my stories say: 'I am here. I am hurting, just like you. You aren't alone.' A reader thinks and feels, so does a writer. If reviews don't affect you, then I don't think you're either, anymore. That you hurt, laugh, cry, scream, means you are alive. That you write these things down give other people hope.
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Friday, February 21, 2014
'F' is for fight: or editing a written work
A little post in response to what Nicki Elson forwarded on thoughts on editing for rock-star writers.
Editors have it tough, don't they? Editing a good work to make it better, then getting slammed by the writer for daring to destroy their creative work. How dare they!
And then the reviews come out that say exactly what the editor was saying, and the editor just has to sit there, read the reviews that say 'where was the editor?' and put a glum smile on their face and not even dare to whisper 'I told you so.'
Editors have it tough.
No. Editors have it TOUGHER.
Why? They give this constructive, thoughtful criticism, and the writer has a hissy-fit on them and flames out, in a most spectacular fashion.
Writers can be rock-stars, if not in sales, then in egos.
Not that I (am) talking from personal experience.
But it's fine to say 'Woe is I!' as the editor for getting napalmed, but, pardon me, didn't you sign up for it? You know you are dealing with children (or if you didn't, then that delusion is soon lifted from your eyes), and you are dealing with something amazing and creative and ...
And you want it better. That's why you just spent sleepless nights pouring your heart out in these constructive comments.
The thing is, you know better, and the writer does not.
Tough.
The thing, also, is: the writer had the vision. You do not have the writer's vision. The writer does.
So you offer your suggestions, and cutting comments, and the writer says, 'No! Never!'
What do you do? You have the experience of the publishing process. The writer does not. You know the writer is going to get flamed.
All you can do is say, 'Look, Chris, you are going to get savaged here. It's too wordy. (or: it lacks dialog) or you go too deep too fast (or: you skip from a to z, you need to lead the reader more here, really) or whatever.'
You know this. And the writer still says 'no' and has the work published her way.
Let go. You did what you could. The writer didn't take your advice, because she was just so sure of herself and her writing.
Now the reviews come. Who grows? The writer does, or ... the writer does not, and that crap you needed cut out? You were right. And If the writer grew, she would see that in the reviews and improve her writing.
The hard way.
Wisdom is taking the advice from others (you) without the hard knocks of finding out for herself. So few people have wisdom, and so many people are just so attached to what they created, because why?
Because they created something. You know a lot of writers. You know a lot of creative people.
But the life of a writer, oftentimes, is a lonely one, and she's the only one who's ever done this from her family, and none of her friends nor coworkers ever have.
She created something, and you want to cut it all up into little bloody ribbons, AND have her happy about the damage you've just visited on her baby?
And ... wait. Did you just surprise your writer with a big red stain all over her manuscript, or did you, the second time you noticed this grammatical mistake or gaping plot-hole or excessively wordy description ...
Did you edit away, cutting, cutting, cutting throughout the nice, marking the same mistakes over and over and then present the remains to the author as one huge 'surprise' for the writer to swallow en mess (not en masse because to the writer, you just made a mess of things).
Or did you, the second time into page 10 of the manuscript, get on the phone or meet for coffee and say, 'Hey, Chris, I started editing your work. I liked it. The thing is, I keep noticing this, can we sit and talk about this before I go further?'
Editing doesn't need to be a solo work either. The editor can collaborate with the author, and maybe have less push-back and more buy-in with the big battles come.
Maybe.
And maybe some writers are big enough to realize that the editor is right, and that she is wrong, and could've written that passage or chapter ... or ending ... better.
Some writers are that good, eh, Nicki?
And maybe some editors collaborate, but to no avail, because the writer is being priggish.
Maybe.
If the writer saw it your way in the first place, she would've written it your way, not hers. She didn't. She wrote it her way.
Is this manuscript important enough for you to fight for, as the editor?
Yes? Well, then fight, and enjoy the fight, win or lose: you fought for what you believed.
No? Let it go, and let it be a learning experience for the nascent rock-star.
We all have to grow. Sometimes. Unless we're perfect, beautiful people already.
Then it's all good.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Just to be clear...
This is how I deal with idiocy:
Idiot writes in a review of ch 59 of MSR:
"... I am pretty sure 今日 is read as きょう, not こんにち. In fact, there is no such thing as a "ti" (Like 'tea') sound in Japanese. I think you mean "こんにちわ" or "kon'nichiwa" or "Hello". "今日は" means "Today is". Like 今日は火曜日です。 (Today is Tuesday).
Just a note :)"
And my response is a nice, succinct little:
A response to your review at http://www.fanfiction.net/r/4746078/
Okay, let me get this straight.
You are criticizing me on my ENGLISH transliteration of my JAPANESE as I was writing this chapter from Narita airport (that's in Japan)?
So, you spend time in Japan? How many years of Japanese did you study, from a Japanese sensei who spoke ZERO English in class? Were you a Japanese interpreter on a Coast Guard ship that did fisheries law enforcement in International waters?
Did you know the 'ti' English writing is pronounced 'chi' in Japanese? I.e. Ma-mi-mu-me-mo/Ta-ti(chi)-tu(tsu)-te-to/a-i-u-e-o? Right?
How about this for a review: "Wow! You wrote this on a plane and got it out for us to read, because you believe that much in your story? Which is awesome, by the way! THANK YOU for doing that"?
Huh? How about a 'thank you' instead of speaking out of turn about things you only have a clue from your manga comic books?
No? Thought never occurred to you? You know why? Because you're rude, rude, rude.
I'm so glad you think today is Tuesday, too.
Idiot.
p.s. A little digging reveals this: you write 'deep, meaningful' stories and you don't care if other people get it or not. Pretension? I looked it up. It had your icon. And your fav twilight story is an admittedly mary-sue-escque romp? And THAT is your level of sophistication?
Tsk. Tsk.
Why do people like you have to exist? Have you ever tried a different tack? How about, instead of going for the sophisticated and clever pose, how about dropping the poses and simply open up and say what you really think and feel, what really touched you, made you laugh or cry?
But no. If you opened up, there would be a chance that you could really connect with people, right? Can't have that. Or, worse, there's a very small possibility you honesty may be interpreted by somebody else as something else: scary, right? "I can't open up! I might look stupid, ... or even ... BAD! OH, NOES!"
SOPHISTICATION, HO!
After all, being that way, being critical is smart, and for smart people, just. like. you.
Keep on with the "I'm pretty sure ..." mode. It suits you."
So, I suggested to said idiot how the review should of been written. What's your take-away?
If you're going to pose with me, go elsewhere, because I'll give you your bullsh!t back at 300%. Get honest, get real, or get the fvck out of my face. I don't have time for posers. What I have time for is people who open up their heart, and share, from the heart.
Just like I do.
love, geophf
If you're going to pose with me, go elsewhere, because I'll give you your bullsh!t back at 300%. Get honest, get real, or get the fvck out of my face. I don't have time for posers. What I have time for is people who open up their heart, and share, from the heart.
Just like I do.
love, geophf
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Movie review/first impressions of "Warm Bodies"
Awwww! (geophf wipes away a romantic tear)
Or as R says: "Nailed it."
So, the difference between the movie "Twilight" and the movie "Warm Bodies" is that Summit grew up a little bit. Also, the fan base, albeit slavish, I suppose, was NOT twenty-two million screaming fangirls demanding their Edward be this and their Bella do that. I think, knowing that Warm Bodies didn't have such a huge fan-base is maybe what saved this film from descending from something that's purely rote (which it was: rote and predictable), to something that's a chore to watch.
R's movie also had the advantage of a sure hand behind the camera, that is: the crew. In Twilight, ... I mean, props to the director (who was: Catherine Hardwicke who CO-WROTE Thirteen with Nikki Reed) for taking on this behemoth, but a behemoth it was, and it was formulaic because why? Because every girl reading Twilight had to reexperience what she felt reading the book when she went to see the film, and so, anticipating that she wouldn't (because she wouldn't), she screamed her head off throughout the entire production of the movie, blaming any and all targets for her anticipated grief.
Oh, good grief!
The thing is, without Twilight, there wouldn't have been this Warm Bodies. Summit took a (pretty assured) huge gamble in bank-rolling, not the movie Twilight, but bank-rolling all the anticipated grief associated with producing this movie. And it paid off.
It paid off in this movie.
And Twilight was the first go for Summit to see what it's like. Breaking Dawn, which I did not see, was universally panned, and why? Because they wanted to get it right.
A movie (of this calibre) is not for getting right. A movie is to go to watch, and watch the dude be stunned into silence by the cute, sweet girl, and for the girl to be cute and sweet. THAT's what these movies are for, people who are producing these movies.
I mean, look at your metrics. Look at your target audience. Your target audience does not want to see a bunch of posers pretending to be serious, your target audience (which is (pre)teen girls) wants to see the guy eat the boyfriend's brains and then hold hands with the girl afterward when she makes ga-ga eyes at him and then strips down to her bra and panties because the only time it rains the entire movie is right before they have to go upstairs to go to bed!
Am I right or am I right!
Now "Warm Bodies" WAS (pretty) faithful to the source material (fortunately dropping the dialogue between R and the guy who REALLY should've been the zombie, but there ain't no justice) (and, okay, WHY was Julie hanging out with this loser? was it because he was the last air-breather on the planet? STILL not a good enough reason in my book), but it did what good movies do (Blade Runner/Ridley Scott, Sense and Sensibility/Emma Thompson/Ang Lee), it DROPPED the stuff that was unnecessarily demotivating (de = un, motivate = moving ... and a MOVie needs to MOVE!), and RUBBED our faces in the stuff that CONNECTED us to the movie and to the characters, whereas Twilight rubbed our faces in what was demotivating (Edward: "We shouldn't be friends" as he presses his mug into the camera) and skimped on the stuff that would connect us to the characters and the film (which was ... what, again?).
Which was ... what, again? Warm Bodies had some source material that Twilight didn't have. And that was: strong, unconflicted characters. Julie knew what she liked and what she didn't (her bf, the jerk), and R did, too. AND R was guilty as hell ... of being a zombie with his pet human, but he was trying harder than any other living person out there to be the best he could for Julie.
Not that she deserved it, from a zombie point of view, because she kept trying to escape, and kept getting into trouble.
But look at in from her point of view: you're in zombie-infested waters. Wouldn't it be prudent to get the hell out once your captor left to get you some food? So she may not have been all 'aww, shucks!' for R (and she was all aww, shucks for him), but she was a consistent character and a strong one at that, who knew she was a charmer, and used those charms (the make-up scene: foundation and blush, ... a classic!), and knew she was a tough girl, and could kick ass, and save R right back from the bonies and stand up to her totalitarianistic dad, of all people.
Two good, strong leads (one zombie, one human), two very credible side-kicks (one zombie (M), one human), and some gun-play, some running, some driving in a little red Z and you have yourself a movie that was just the right length with just the right amount of feel-good fun.
And that's what we want in a movie, right, folks?
After all, if we want anger, shouting, tears, erudition, and deep thoughts, we'd be reading "My Sister Rosalie" right now, wouldn't we.
geophf, with "Warm Bodies" movie review, signing off.
... oh, and p.s.: you did get it, right? "R and 'Julie" ... that is to say: "R" as in "Romeo," and "Julie" short for "Juliet"? Like I said: an "awww" movie
Friday, December 28, 2012
Anonymous Reviews
Okay, confession time.
I really, really hate anonymous reviews.
And no, it's not because they are banal, those anonymous reviews I can deal with, but I rarely get banal reviews, as my story My Sister Rosalie (MSR) seems to demand from reviewers that somehow they have to step up their game if they want to dare to leave a review, even anonymously.
That's probably why I'm not 1K+ reviews by now. People are scared to review my story, even anonymously, so I applaud every person who does leave a review. It shows they have moxie and guts.
My kind of person. The kind of person I like to hang with. The kind of person I wish I were at times when I know I'm no such.
No, the primary reason I hate anonymous reviews, is that they ask questions, or implore in a request, or in some other way reach out to me.
And when a person reaches out to me, am I like other fanfiction author(ess)es (primarly), and simply say to myself, 'Huh, that's nice,' and leave that as that?
No, I've responded to every review, every PM, every 'favorite' marking, every 'following' marking. And surprised quite a few people. "geophf, why do you answer me when I've never received an answer from anybody else here?"
Oh, just because you've grown used to slights and rejection, you see that now as the norm? and you now expect that I'll be a callous bastard, too?
Oh, and I can be quite the callous bastard with jerks, vicious, even, just ask around. You give me or my characters any shit, and I'll give it back to you, doubled, and in spades.
But with an anonymous review, I don't get shit. Quite the opposite: I get insights and entreaties ... and. I. can't. answer. them!
So an anonymous reviewer said, 'please, please, please let Bella and Rosalie reconcile; it'd be a perfect birthday present for me!' and I do do that, but in two chapters, not instantly in one, so her next review for the interim chapter is 'WTF! I quit this shit fic!' and the very next chapter, if she had waited, would've given her the reconciliation she wanted, and then, even much more than that, and if she had had a ffn account, I could have explained that this would be coming in two chapters, and please be patient.
So now I've lost a reader, because she implores me to do something, and I do, but not in an instant coffee kind of 'and they magically lived happily ever after, because stupid fanfics provide instant gratification like that' way, but in a 'this is MSR, and you, and the characters have to earn every step forward that they dare to take, and sometimes these steps are hard, and sometimes people stumble, taking them,' slow brewed coffee kind of way.
That's MSR for ya, not all sugary lightness caramel macchiato coffee drink that costs you seven bucks and gives you stomach cancer and brain rot and kidney failure, but a strong triple espresso, that only the strong can drink, and then, in tiny sips, savoring the coffee, even in its bitterness.
Huh. Don't you put a slice of lime in espresso ... or lemon?
Hm.
Or I get another kind of anonymous review that said ffn is all bad fics (yes), a few barely tolerable mediocre fics (yes), a handful of good ones (yes), a couple of greats (and more than a couple), and then there's MSR, that transcends greatness.
Okay. A couple of things. This reviewer felt shy leaving this review because they felt they were too unsophisticated to leave it?
How can I respond to this person and say that I'm not looking for sophistication; I'm looking for honesty, and heartfelt-ness helps, too.
And why do I have to have other people tell me how great, or how not, my writing is? Why do I need these reviews to determine what my self-worth is, to help to look forward, or to dread, writing that next chapter? After three years of silence, one of my readers, a self-proclaimed 'greatest fan,' wrote me a furious PM and asked what the fvck my problem was, and she said she wasn't calling me a liar, but three years, and no update for Book I, and a Book I title implies a Book II so where are the goods, asshat?
Why did it take the devotion of a fan for me to pick up my pen again, after three years of silence, when this story is in me, has been in me, complete from day one, and I knew it was good, and I knew it could touch people's hearts, but did I write? No. Why? Because I'm a little chicken sh-t, and at the end of chapter 55 ("Beautiful") I knew exactly where the story headed, and I couldn't afford the thought of publishing something that scares me, 'cause it gets dark for a whole book length before anything hopeful comes out of it.
But there was Rosalie, and there was Bella, and they decided to move forward with their own development, even without my consent. But they needed me to write and to write and to write for them to tell me, 'no, we're going our way, not your way, Mr. Control Freak.'
But I wouldn't write, not for three years, because I'm a scared little chicken-sh-t Bella.
But Bella is a scared little chicken-sh-t, dumb as a doornail about the world and its ways, but she tries, and cries, and tries again, and gives up, then finds the strength to move forward, even a tiny little step forward, which she immediately takes back, and falls back even further, because her self-worth is such that she doesn't believe that she deserves her advance toward her own happiness.
And the hilarious thing is, her happiness is in the happiness of others, and she takes it away from herself because she thinks she doesn't deserve it, and in doing that, she takes it away from everybody else in her life.
There's a lesson in there for me, I'm sure. And there's a lesson in there for you, too, if you're willing to take it on, and that is: step forward. Put yourself out there, and take that tiny little risk of reaching out, and letting others reach back to you. It'll hurt, a lot, when you get back not a cloak or a loaf of bread, but a spitting snake, but for every snake in the grass, there are one hundred people's lives better because you reached out, and they and their hearts are thanking you. And out of those one hundred, there are one, or two, or five people who dare to reach back, who dare to thank you. 'Tak' 'Danke' 'Merci' sometimes in languages you don't even know existed, but they are thanking you for reaching out and for letting them reach back to you.
You reach out to me in your review or your PM or your follow, but if you leave an anonymous review, I cannot reach back to you to thank you or to reassure you or to commiserate with you. And I am sadder for it. It makes it harder for me 'update soon' with a next chapter, that is hard enough to write in and of itself, when I'm sad that I've lost a reader because I can't reach back to her to tell her, 'not this chapter, but the next chapter, please be patient' or I can't thank a reader from changing my fic, in my mind, to a good BellaRose fic, to something that's transcendent for them, so doesn't that make my story intrinsically transcendent? And I walk around, all day, with this epiphany, and I can't thank you enough, nor even at all, because I can't reach back to do that.
Okay, back to writing. Good night, my sweet princes and princesses.
I really, really hate anonymous reviews.
And no, it's not because they are banal, those anonymous reviews I can deal with, but I rarely get banal reviews, as my story My Sister Rosalie (MSR) seems to demand from reviewers that somehow they have to step up their game if they want to dare to leave a review, even anonymously.
That's probably why I'm not 1K+ reviews by now. People are scared to review my story, even anonymously, so I applaud every person who does leave a review. It shows they have moxie and guts.
My kind of person. The kind of person I like to hang with. The kind of person I wish I were at times when I know I'm no such.
No, the primary reason I hate anonymous reviews, is that they ask questions, or implore in a request, or in some other way reach out to me.
And when a person reaches out to me, am I like other fanfiction author(ess)es (primarly), and simply say to myself, 'Huh, that's nice,' and leave that as that?
No, I've responded to every review, every PM, every 'favorite' marking, every 'following' marking. And surprised quite a few people. "geophf, why do you answer me when I've never received an answer from anybody else here?"
Oh, just because you've grown used to slights and rejection, you see that now as the norm? and you now expect that I'll be a callous bastard, too?
Oh, and I can be quite the callous bastard with jerks, vicious, even, just ask around. You give me or my characters any shit, and I'll give it back to you, doubled, and in spades.
But with an anonymous review, I don't get shit. Quite the opposite: I get insights and entreaties ... and. I. can't. answer. them!
So an anonymous reviewer said, 'please, please, please let Bella and Rosalie reconcile; it'd be a perfect birthday present for me!' and I do do that, but in two chapters, not instantly in one, so her next review for the interim chapter is 'WTF! I quit this shit fic!' and the very next chapter, if she had waited, would've given her the reconciliation she wanted, and then, even much more than that, and if she had had a ffn account, I could have explained that this would be coming in two chapters, and please be patient.
So now I've lost a reader, because she implores me to do something, and I do, but not in an instant coffee kind of 'and they magically lived happily ever after, because stupid fanfics provide instant gratification like that' way, but in a 'this is MSR, and you, and the characters have to earn every step forward that they dare to take, and sometimes these steps are hard, and sometimes people stumble, taking them,' slow brewed coffee kind of way.
That's MSR for ya, not all sugary lightness caramel macchiato coffee drink that costs you seven bucks and gives you stomach cancer and brain rot and kidney failure, but a strong triple espresso, that only the strong can drink, and then, in tiny sips, savoring the coffee, even in its bitterness.
Huh. Don't you put a slice of lime in espresso ... or lemon?
Hm.
Or I get another kind of anonymous review that said ffn is all bad fics (yes), a few barely tolerable mediocre fics (yes), a handful of good ones (yes), a couple of greats (and more than a couple), and then there's MSR, that transcends greatness.
Okay. A couple of things. This reviewer felt shy leaving this review because they felt they were too unsophisticated to leave it?
How can I respond to this person and say that I'm not looking for sophistication; I'm looking for honesty, and heartfelt-ness helps, too.
And why do I have to have other people tell me how great, or how not, my writing is? Why do I need these reviews to determine what my self-worth is, to help to look forward, or to dread, writing that next chapter? After three years of silence, one of my readers, a self-proclaimed 'greatest fan,' wrote me a furious PM and asked what the fvck my problem was, and she said she wasn't calling me a liar, but three years, and no update for Book I, and a Book I title implies a Book II so where are the goods, asshat?
Why did it take the devotion of a fan for me to pick up my pen again, after three years of silence, when this story is in me, has been in me, complete from day one, and I knew it was good, and I knew it could touch people's hearts, but did I write? No. Why? Because I'm a little chicken sh-t, and at the end of chapter 55 ("Beautiful") I knew exactly where the story headed, and I couldn't afford the thought of publishing something that scares me, 'cause it gets dark for a whole book length before anything hopeful comes out of it.
But there was Rosalie, and there was Bella, and they decided to move forward with their own development, even without my consent. But they needed me to write and to write and to write for them to tell me, 'no, we're going our way, not your way, Mr. Control Freak.'
But I wouldn't write, not for three years, because I'm a scared little chicken-sh-t Bella.
But Bella is a scared little chicken-sh-t, dumb as a doornail about the world and its ways, but she tries, and cries, and tries again, and gives up, then finds the strength to move forward, even a tiny little step forward, which she immediately takes back, and falls back even further, because her self-worth is such that she doesn't believe that she deserves her advance toward her own happiness.
And the hilarious thing is, her happiness is in the happiness of others, and she takes it away from herself because she thinks she doesn't deserve it, and in doing that, she takes it away from everybody else in her life.
There's a lesson in there for me, I'm sure. And there's a lesson in there for you, too, if you're willing to take it on, and that is: step forward. Put yourself out there, and take that tiny little risk of reaching out, and letting others reach back to you. It'll hurt, a lot, when you get back not a cloak or a loaf of bread, but a spitting snake, but for every snake in the grass, there are one hundred people's lives better because you reached out, and they and their hearts are thanking you. And out of those one hundred, there are one, or two, or five people who dare to reach back, who dare to thank you. 'Tak' 'Danke' 'Merci' sometimes in languages you don't even know existed, but they are thanking you for reaching out and for letting them reach back to you.
You reach out to me in your review or your PM or your follow, but if you leave an anonymous review, I cannot reach back to you to thank you or to reassure you or to commiserate with you. And I am sadder for it. It makes it harder for me 'update soon' with a next chapter, that is hard enough to write in and of itself, when I'm sad that I've lost a reader because I can't reach back to her to tell her, 'not this chapter, but the next chapter, please be patient' or I can't thank a reader from changing my fic, in my mind, to a good BellaRose fic, to something that's transcendent for them, so doesn't that make my story intrinsically transcendent? And I walk around, all day, with this epiphany, and I can't thank you enough, nor even at all, because I can't reach back to do that.
Okay, back to writing. Good night, my sweet princes and princesses.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Short or long review?
Over time, I actually have written nearly a novel about reviews, but any review, positive, negative, short, or long, is very welcome from me.
For me, I find I can have a conversation with somebody who speaks from their heart, ... so, longer or shorter? I don't know. I don't care. Read a chapter. Does it touch you somehow? Did you like it? Did you hate it? What in the chapter touched you ... and why?
That ... writing that way ... can be really, really hard, because when you read about something that Bella's going through, or that Rosalie's going through, and it brings you right back to your moment in your life, or when your friend was hurt so badly in that way, well ... it's hard to confront that, and to talk about it.
I know. I know every chapter I write and publish.
But then ... if you aren't writing from the heart ... what's the point?
You know, some people write: 'Love this story! Update soon!' and that's all they can write, right now, and writing even that for them is a huge step in their lives. It's a very, very brave thing for them to step forward and write to somebody, me, who's writing their lives in plain English right out there for everybody to see, and they so open themselves up to my response, and what might that be? After all, I'm very hard on Bella in my writing, will I be hard on them?
And then, surprisingly, I thank them for their courage. And, eventually, I ask them ... 'What, specifically, did you love? Why?' Where were you laughing? crying? when you read this chapter, ... and why?
I ask myself these questions in every chapter I write: why am I crying and crying right now? Or if not, why am I skirting the truth? What am I afraid of, and why? Why am I not brave? Or, I WILL be brave here, and write from the heart, and publish this chapter, even though doing so scares me to death ... every time.
Yeah, I've died a lot.
And have been shocked when I'm not vilified, but actually honored and respected for opening my heart and sharing these things that break my heart or that I'm ashamed of, and I find I can live, and breathe, better, because I dared, and touched somebody else's heart.
But then, this is your review, your risk, your step forward.
Any review is a step forward, and any step forward is a good one, and even a stumble and fall is a good one. After all: you're living, and reflecting on what touched you and why.
So, dear reader, read my chapters, if you wish ... and review what touched you, if you wish!
... and welcome to the first step of the journey of living the examined life.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
"So, you write fan-fiction, huh?"
I have a question.
So, if anything is possible, what's stopping you?
Nothing.
I read. I write. I have had an editor, a dear friend, named LiLa ("Lion in the Land") for about a year. She's been writing, too.
And she's published her first book under the name Nicki Elson called Three Daves, about a girl going to college in the 80s and meeting three guys, each named Dave.
She wrote this story, she shared this story with her friends, and then she published it, and now it's a book.
So, if anything is possible, what is available?
Everything.
For LiLa, what was available that her story is now a book. It was real before, just for herself, then it was real for a select few thousands that read it and the select few hundreds that encouraged her writing, dozens of them at each chapter she published.
And now it's a book, and now it's real for the world.
...
But what does this have to do with the title of this entry?
Jennifer meets Dave, Dave, and Dave in college, and 80s music plays a big role in the story.
Sound familiar? Anybody go to twilighted.net and visit Lion_in_the_Land (note the user id)? Remember the awards and interviews she's had about an AU/AH story she wrote about Bella going off to college in Chicago in the 80s and meeting Jasper and Emmett and Edward?
Or Dave, Dave, and Dave?
Remember all those reviews she got? The ones that said: "OMG! Your writing is so good ..." and all that and "You should write a book!" and all that?
Well, she did.
Now let's look in the mirror for a second, my dear "so, you write fan-fiction, huh?" author(esse)s. Ever got that review or reviews that said, "OMG! Your writing is so good! You should write a book!" But you said: "Oh, I just write fan-fiction; I can't write a book, and who would read it?" and they come right back: "I WOULD!"
"Oh, I just write fan-fiction" as if that's bad? "I can't write a book"
LiLa did. She found a way.
Do you see that trail she blazed for you, me, and everybody? Did she do it for us? Maybe. Maybe not.
But the trail is there now, and it's real.
A fan-fiction authoress that we know and whose stories we've read is now a published authoress.
And to think she almost didn't do it, and just one little song gave her that whatever to put out that first chapter, and her very first reviewer gave her that sense of self that, hey, somebody likes my stuff.
Are you going to publish a book? Maybe. Maybe not. You now can see from LiLa that this possibility does exist for you, even if you've just written one chapter with just one reviewer saying she liked it. Because not so long ago, LiLa was right there.
So let's say you decide to publish. Great! You win. And the lives you touch with your story, now that it's a book?
You win. Big time. And this guy will be standing here with his mouth wide open and his heart fit to bursting, just so happy for you and for your success.
So let's say you decide not to publish now.
You can still win. Because somewhere, there's a LiLa you know whose story you love.
Review it.
Say to her how you love it. What exactly in that chapter makes you laugh so hard you puke or cry so hard you need cleaner for your keyboard? Say this to her. Encourage her.
Because then, she just may publish that next chapter, she just may comment that, hey, your review lifted her spirits, and it may just give her enough to finish the story, and maybe, maybe-maybe-maybe, publish it as a book, so you can hold it in your hands, and know that, wow, she did it. You know somebody who did it and were there with her during the creation of that book, chapter by chapter.
I came along after she finished her story, and she's taken the twilight version off of twilighted and ffn, but my congratulations to her, no: my admiration of her and her work is right here, right now.
LiLa is one of the stars of fan-fiction writers, and her success and the praise she receives is well-deserved. She writes from the heart, and that heart is joyful.
You know your own LiLa, my dear authoress, all you have to do keep encouraging her with your honest reviews.
Or, all you have to do is to look in the mirror, and take that step of pressing that 'add chapter' button, or of mailing off that manuscript to the next publisher.
So, if anything is possible, what's stopping you?
Nothing.
I read. I write. I have had an editor, a dear friend, named LiLa ("Lion in the Land") for about a year. She's been writing, too.
And she's published her first book under the name Nicki Elson called Three Daves, about a girl going to college in the 80s and meeting three guys, each named Dave.
She wrote this story, she shared this story with her friends, and then she published it, and now it's a book.
So, if anything is possible, what is available?
Everything.
For LiLa, what was available that her story is now a book. It was real before, just for herself, then it was real for a select few thousands that read it and the select few hundreds that encouraged her writing, dozens of them at each chapter she published.
And now it's a book, and now it's real for the world.
...
But what does this have to do with the title of this entry?
Jennifer meets Dave, Dave, and Dave in college, and 80s music plays a big role in the story.
Sound familiar? Anybody go to twilighted.net and visit Lion_in_the_Land (note the user id)? Remember the awards and interviews she's had about an AU/AH story she wrote about Bella going off to college in Chicago in the 80s and meeting Jasper and Emmett and Edward?
Or Dave, Dave, and Dave?
Remember all those reviews she got? The ones that said: "OMG! Your writing is so good ..." and all that and "You should write a book!" and all that?
Well, she did.
Now let's look in the mirror for a second, my dear "so, you write fan-fiction, huh?" author(esse)s. Ever got that review or reviews that said, "OMG! Your writing is so good! You should write a book!" But you said: "Oh, I just write fan-fiction; I can't write a book, and who would read it?" and they come right back: "I WOULD!"
"Oh, I just write fan-fiction" as if that's bad? "I can't write a book"
LiLa did. She found a way.
Do you see that trail she blazed for you, me, and everybody? Did she do it for us? Maybe. Maybe not.
But the trail is there now, and it's real.
A fan-fiction authoress that we know and whose stories we've read is now a published authoress.
And to think she almost didn't do it, and just one little song gave her that whatever to put out that first chapter, and her very first reviewer gave her that sense of self that, hey, somebody likes my stuff.
Are you going to publish a book? Maybe. Maybe not. You now can see from LiLa that this possibility does exist for you, even if you've just written one chapter with just one reviewer saying she liked it. Because not so long ago, LiLa was right there.
So let's say you decide to publish. Great! You win. And the lives you touch with your story, now that it's a book?
You win. Big time. And this guy will be standing here with his mouth wide open and his heart fit to bursting, just so happy for you and for your success.
So let's say you decide not to publish now.
You can still win. Because somewhere, there's a LiLa you know whose story you love.
Review it.
Say to her how you love it. What exactly in that chapter makes you laugh so hard you puke or cry so hard you need cleaner for your keyboard? Say this to her. Encourage her.
Because then, she just may publish that next chapter, she just may comment that, hey, your review lifted her spirits, and it may just give her enough to finish the story, and maybe, maybe-maybe-maybe, publish it as a book, so you can hold it in your hands, and know that, wow, she did it. You know somebody who did it and were there with her during the creation of that book, chapter by chapter.
I came along after she finished her story, and she's taken the twilight version off of twilighted and ffn, but my congratulations to her, no: my admiration of her and her work is right here, right now.
LiLa is one of the stars of fan-fiction writers, and her success and the praise she receives is well-deserved. She writes from the heart, and that heart is joyful.
You know your own LiLa, my dear authoress, all you have to do keep encouraging her with your honest reviews.
Or, all you have to do is to look in the mirror, and take that step of pressing that 'add chapter' button, or of mailing off that manuscript to the next publisher.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
"If I have the time ..."
I've gotten this three times in the last month.
"Oh, I was skimming your story, and I was wondering if it'd be a waste of time for me to read."
"Oh, I was skimming your story, and I'll read it maybe someday when I have the time."
"Oh, I read your story (all 300 pages of it) and I'll leave one review on it, when you come out with a new chapter, if I have the time."
Read those statements above, and turn to somebody, face-to-face, and say that to them about something important to them.
"I'll watch your first ballet recital, if I have the time."
"I'll buy you a Christmas present, if I have the time."
"I'd come to dinner, but the game's on. I don't have time for family time."
The sad thing is: people do say that now, all the time, don't they?
They're talking on their cell phone while they're "with" you.
They're working on their computer while they're "talking" with you.
They're ... I don't know ... they're making excuses to cop out of plans with you, because, frankly, the TV's more important to them than you are.
What ever happened to respect? What ever happened to treating people as persons, not as things? Did it never happen at all before, and I was misled? Was I raised wrongly by my parents to try to give the people I'm with my attention?
So you wrote to me and said you would read and review my stories "if you had the time."
You're busy; I'm busy; we're all busy. How nice. And it IS nice that you're willing to make the effort to comment on my stories.
But "if I have the time"?
You may not have the time. You may have a family with two daughters. You may have work deadlines. You may have other friends you like more. You may have to watch an average of 8 hours of TV or 'net-slumming. You may have all of these things, and more.
But saying that to somebody? "I love you, and I'd tell you, if I had the time." "I'd do that report, boss, or professor, if I have the time." "I'll leave a review on your story, if I have the time."
The good intention is destroyed by the equivocation. If you have the time, do the good thing. If you don't have the time, don't do the good thing.
But time is prioritization, and saying "if I have the time" translates directly into "you are on my priority list, somewhere below watching TV, or whatever."
When I talk with somebody, when I talk with you, I give you my full attention. My whole time. I MAKE the time to talk with you. Out of the many readers I've had today, out of the many markings of favourites and PM and story alerts and sometimes reviews, ... and the rest of my life.
I do not "if I have the time" anybody. When I'm with you, I'm with you.
Please, don't "if I have the time" somebody. "Everybody does it" these days, because everybody treats everybody else as things, not as persons. But I've worked with people who have taken time out of their busy-busy schedules, I'm talking Captains and Admirals, who have more meeting time scheduled every day than they have hours in the day. When they do that? When somebody makes time for you, how does that feel?
Doesn't it feel nice when an authoress, like, for example, Jocelyn Torrent, replies to your reviews? (You do leave her reviews of the chapters that meant something to you, don't you? You do know how much substantive reviews mean to her, don't you?) She has more than twice the reviews in one story than I have total. And she responds to every single one. AND all her PMs. I know. So does Lion in the Land. So do I. So do more than a few others, as well.
Many, many, many do not. That is not your problem. That is their (serious) problem. Your problem is how you are treating this person you are writing to or this person in front of you right now, and you cannot justify your callousness, no matter what anybody else says or does.
"Everybody does it" is the weakest, lamest cop-out of an excuse to justify what you know to be a wrong doing. A slight. Besides: do you wish to be like "everybody"? That is a faceless "nobody" in the crowd? Or do you wish to be you, and be treated with kindness and individual attention?
As we few writers do when we respond to your review, even though it's the 283rd review for this story we've received. Even if it's the 711th.
Those of us who do this, well: we MAKE the time for you, AND we write these wonderful, in some cases, award-winning stories that have captured your attention and fired your imagination.
"But I was just saying that, I wasn't being mean, I was just explaining myself." Yes, I know you weren't being mean. I know this. But how much thought did you put into those words, because every word you say means something.
I am a person. You wrote to me, or you talked with me. Please treat me as a person. I prioritize things, not people. Please don't prioritize me below things: I don't like feeling less than a thing. I don't know anybody who does.
You may review what you've read of my story that had meaning to you (and you've read my story and nothing has moved you at all?). You may not. But please don't so blithely dismiss me or my work with "time." You read it. Perhaps all 300 pages of it (so far), so you've had time to do that, but you didn't have time to select the "review chapter" link?
Maybe not (I cannot believe that). But telling me? "I read one of your stories, but I didn't review any of the 52 chapters. Maybe I will after you do more work (because a card deck of chapters isn't enough) ... if I have the time."
Please don't do this. Please don't imply this.
Because time is all we have, and there's only a limited amount we're given, and we don't get it back, so make your time you have precious. For yourself, and for others.
Epilogue
Writing this post, I've come to the sudden realization of the following. Others have complained that MSR is taking it's sweet time, going hardly anywhere at all.
Why?
Because Rosalie is doing something that hardly anyone does. She is taking time with Bella. Instead of saying: "You are like this, so I will treat you like this" (and Rosalie does do a lot of that in MSR, I grant you), she is taking these days to find out who Bella really is ... you know? The apologia for this piece? She is finding out who Bella really is and treating her as that person, not as the person she wants Bella to be.
Now, Rosalie is very unhappy with the real Bella, the person who she is. But she does work with that person, and not (always) dismiss her out of hand.
Unlike how Edward treats Bella in the canon, perhaps?
Is this why MSR is so frustrating for so many? Is it because they wish Bella and Rosalie just to move on and treat each other as ... what? ... and ignore each other's and their own faults and failings ... and consequently ignore each other's and their own strengths and humanness?
Hm. If you're frustrated, and you want Bella and Rosalie to get on with it ("What 'it'?" I ask. And you answer: "Oh, the obvious, you dummy!" And my answer is: "What obvious?"), then I wonder. Do you treat your friends and family like this?
Do they treat you like this ... and you allow it?
It may be your best friend that you've know from first grade, but she's still a person. It may be your daughter or mother, but she's still a person.
It may be your dad, but he still needs your love.
"If I have the time ..." to treat another person as a person?
You do.
"Oh, I was skimming your story, and I was wondering if it'd be a waste of time for me to read."
"Oh, I was skimming your story, and I'll read it maybe someday when I have the time."
"Oh, I read your story (all 300 pages of it) and I'll leave one review on it, when you come out with a new chapter, if I have the time."
Read those statements above, and turn to somebody, face-to-face, and say that to them about something important to them.
"I'll watch your first ballet recital, if I have the time."
"I'll buy you a Christmas present, if I have the time."
"I'd come to dinner, but the game's on. I don't have time for family time."
The sad thing is: people do say that now, all the time, don't they?
They're talking on their cell phone while they're "with" you.
They're working on their computer while they're "talking" with you.
They're ... I don't know ... they're making excuses to cop out of plans with you, because, frankly, the TV's more important to them than you are.
What ever happened to respect? What ever happened to treating people as persons, not as things? Did it never happen at all before, and I was misled? Was I raised wrongly by my parents to try to give the people I'm with my attention?
So you wrote to me and said you would read and review my stories "if you had the time."
You're busy; I'm busy; we're all busy. How nice. And it IS nice that you're willing to make the effort to comment on my stories.
But "if I have the time"?
You may not have the time. You may have a family with two daughters. You may have work deadlines. You may have other friends you like more. You may have to watch an average of 8 hours of TV or 'net-slumming. You may have all of these things, and more.
But saying that to somebody? "I love you, and I'd tell you, if I had the time." "I'd do that report, boss, or professor, if I have the time." "I'll leave a review on your story, if I have the time."
The good intention is destroyed by the equivocation. If you have the time, do the good thing. If you don't have the time, don't do the good thing.
But time is prioritization, and saying "if I have the time" translates directly into "you are on my priority list, somewhere below watching TV, or whatever."
When I talk with somebody, when I talk with you, I give you my full attention. My whole time. I MAKE the time to talk with you. Out of the many readers I've had today, out of the many markings of favourites and PM and story alerts and sometimes reviews, ... and the rest of my life.
I do not "if I have the time" anybody. When I'm with you, I'm with you.
Please, don't "if I have the time" somebody. "Everybody does it" these days, because everybody treats everybody else as things, not as persons. But I've worked with people who have taken time out of their busy-busy schedules, I'm talking Captains and Admirals, who have more meeting time scheduled every day than they have hours in the day. When they do that? When somebody makes time for you, how does that feel?
Doesn't it feel nice when an authoress, like, for example, Jocelyn Torrent, replies to your reviews? (You do leave her reviews of the chapters that meant something to you, don't you? You do know how much substantive reviews mean to her, don't you?) She has more than twice the reviews in one story than I have total. And she responds to every single one. AND all her PMs. I know. So does Lion in the Land. So do I. So do more than a few others, as well.
Many, many, many do not. That is not your problem. That is their (serious) problem. Your problem is how you are treating this person you are writing to or this person in front of you right now, and you cannot justify your callousness, no matter what anybody else says or does.
"Everybody does it" is the weakest, lamest cop-out of an excuse to justify what you know to be a wrong doing. A slight. Besides: do you wish to be like "everybody"? That is a faceless "nobody" in the crowd? Or do you wish to be you, and be treated with kindness and individual attention?
As we few writers do when we respond to your review, even though it's the 283rd review for this story we've received. Even if it's the 711th.
Those of us who do this, well: we MAKE the time for you, AND we write these wonderful, in some cases, award-winning stories that have captured your attention and fired your imagination.
"But I was just saying that, I wasn't being mean, I was just explaining myself." Yes, I know you weren't being mean. I know this. But how much thought did you put into those words, because every word you say means something.
I am a person. You wrote to me, or you talked with me. Please treat me as a person. I prioritize things, not people. Please don't prioritize me below things: I don't like feeling less than a thing. I don't know anybody who does.
You may review what you've read of my story that had meaning to you (and you've read my story and nothing has moved you at all?). You may not. But please don't so blithely dismiss me or my work with "time." You read it. Perhaps all 300 pages of it (so far), so you've had time to do that, but you didn't have time to select the "review chapter" link?
Maybe not (I cannot believe that). But telling me? "I read one of your stories, but I didn't review any of the 52 chapters. Maybe I will after you do more work (because a card deck of chapters isn't enough) ... if I have the time."
Please don't do this. Please don't imply this.
Because time is all we have, and there's only a limited amount we're given, and we don't get it back, so make your time you have precious. For yourself, and for others.
Epilogue
Writing this post, I've come to the sudden realization of the following. Others have complained that MSR is taking it's sweet time, going hardly anywhere at all.
Why?
Because Rosalie is doing something that hardly anyone does. She is taking time with Bella. Instead of saying: "You are like this, so I will treat you like this" (and Rosalie does do a lot of that in MSR, I grant you), she is taking these days to find out who Bella really is ... you know? The apologia for this piece? She is finding out who Bella really is and treating her as that person, not as the person she wants Bella to be.
Now, Rosalie is very unhappy with the real Bella, the person who she is. But she does work with that person, and not (always) dismiss her out of hand.
Unlike how Edward treats Bella in the canon, perhaps?
Is this why MSR is so frustrating for so many? Is it because they wish Bella and Rosalie just to move on and treat each other as ... what? ... and ignore each other's and their own faults and failings ... and consequently ignore each other's and their own strengths and humanness?
Hm. If you're frustrated, and you want Bella and Rosalie to get on with it ("What 'it'?" I ask. And you answer: "Oh, the obvious, you dummy!" And my answer is: "What obvious?"), then I wonder. Do you treat your friends and family like this?
Do they treat you like this ... and you allow it?
It may be your best friend that you've know from first grade, but she's still a person. It may be your daughter or mother, but she's still a person.
It may be your dad, but he still needs your love.
"If I have the time ..." to treat another person as a person?
You do.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
PM Response Policy
Dear Reader,
Thank you for sending me the PM about one of my stories. I appreciate all substantive and polite feedback, positive or negative, and ffn has provided a service to facilitate that called the reader review process. I see in your PM you have questions for me, but you haven't availed yourself of the review process on my stories, ... yet you say you've read my stories from chapter one? And if you haven't, then I'm afraid that the most recent chapter doesn't make all that much sense out of context.
So, here's the thing. I've found that out-of-the-blue PMs about my works usually devolve (eventually) into one thing or another, and I'm tired of me or my work being savaged. I have other things to do, like write the next chapter, or respond to reviews or PMs from my reviewers. You wish to have a conversation with me? I wish the same, but now I can only afford to have conversations with people I know and I trust, so that if we do get into an argument, we have a track record of recovery so that we can both walk away still respecting each other.
We don't have that relationship yet? Then I recommend that you establish then build upon it. Leave me your substantive reviews of the chapters you loved or hated. Show me why and tell me why. I reply to every substantive or polite (or, preferably, both) review I receive. From that position of trust, THEN we can have a conversation about whatever we desire, eh?
But until that time? I will send you my one-liner response: "Thank you for your PM. Please see my PM response policy located on my profile page." It's not personal against you, it's just that your PM is the next pitch, and I already have two strikes against me: if I'm going to be swinging, I want to know that it will do something for the team. I want to get on base; I want that grand slam. So throw the ball hard, yes, but in the strike zone, please.
"But I don't have time to review your story that I just read all 300 pages of I just wanna know ..."
Hm. Ayn Rand has an interesting way of categorizing people: producers and users. Which are you? And, if you are fine being a user, if you just wish to use me, then I recommend you not waste your time PMing me, but curl up and enjoy reading your Being and Nothingness because your time will be more fruitfully employed there. After all, Sartre did eventually return to the Church, receiving Absolution and Last Rites on his death bed, maybe that course of study will help you to see beyond yourself, too?
But if you're fine being a user, I'm not fine being used. I have limited time and a very delicate ego, so I wish to spend that time productively, that is, writing the next chapter or responding to reviews or reviewers' PMs, and I wish to open myself up to people who will hurt me, yes, but do so because they care, and will work on mending the relationship afterward.
Thank you, again, for your PM. I may have read it, I may not. I will be happy to respond to it, however, after you have left substantive reviews. It's nothing personal, until it is: I respond to PMs of people I have a personal relationship with.
Build that first, then we'll chat.
cheers, geophf
Thank you for sending me the PM about one of my stories. I appreciate all substantive and polite feedback, positive or negative, and ffn has provided a service to facilitate that called the reader review process. I see in your PM you have questions for me, but you haven't availed yourself of the review process on my stories, ... yet you say you've read my stories from chapter one? And if you haven't, then I'm afraid that the most recent chapter doesn't make all that much sense out of context.
So, here's the thing. I've found that out-of-the-blue PMs about my works usually devolve (eventually) into one thing or another, and I'm tired of me or my work being savaged. I have other things to do, like write the next chapter, or respond to reviews or PMs from my reviewers. You wish to have a conversation with me? I wish the same, but now I can only afford to have conversations with people I know and I trust, so that if we do get into an argument, we have a track record of recovery so that we can both walk away still respecting each other.
We don't have that relationship yet? Then I recommend that you establish then build upon it. Leave me your substantive reviews of the chapters you loved or hated. Show me why and tell me why. I reply to every substantive or polite (or, preferably, both) review I receive. From that position of trust, THEN we can have a conversation about whatever we desire, eh?
But until that time? I will send you my one-liner response: "Thank you for your PM. Please see my PM response policy located on my profile page." It's not personal against you, it's just that your PM is the next pitch, and I already have two strikes against me: if I'm going to be swinging, I want to know that it will do something for the team. I want to get on base; I want that grand slam. So throw the ball hard, yes, but in the strike zone, please.
"But I don't have time to review your story that I just read all 300 pages of I just wanna know ..."
Hm. Ayn Rand has an interesting way of categorizing people: producers and users. Which are you? And, if you are fine being a user, if you just wish to use me, then I recommend you not waste your time PMing me, but curl up and enjoy reading your Being and Nothingness because your time will be more fruitfully employed there. After all, Sartre did eventually return to the Church, receiving Absolution and Last Rites on his death bed, maybe that course of study will help you to see beyond yourself, too?
But if you're fine being a user, I'm not fine being used. I have limited time and a very delicate ego, so I wish to spend that time productively, that is, writing the next chapter or responding to reviews or reviewers' PMs, and I wish to open myself up to people who will hurt me, yes, but do so because they care, and will work on mending the relationship afterward.
Thank you, again, for your PM. I may have read it, I may not. I will be happy to respond to it, however, after you have left substantive reviews. It's nothing personal, until it is: I respond to PMs of people I have a personal relationship with.
Build that first, then we'll chat.
cheers, geophf
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Your reviews; a writer's replies
I'm a writer of fan fiction that is published on the web. As such, the system afford people to comment on my works, that is: to review them. And, many people do. I've received hundreds of reviews.
Thank you for your reviews.
I respond to every credible review. Even if it takes days. Even if it takes more than days. That is, I feel, my responsibility.
No, I don't countenance reviews that descend to personal attack or that savage my works, but yes, every other review, even one word reviews ("Gud", "MOre", "updatesoon"), receive a reply from me. One by one, even it's sometimes form: "Thank you for your review. I've received so many, but each of them means so much to me. Thank you for yours." The vast majority my reviews are substantive and substantial, however. That's a lot of work. A lot of work that takes me away from writing my story. A lot of work that takes me away from other things. You know: life (yes, I have one), family, work.
Why?
A reader's job is to review, but so few readers do review at all (my ratio is that 120 page views generates one review). Wouldn't be nice to the ones that do review receive a little extra love and gratitude?
Reviewers sometimes are sad little creatures that need to know that their little peep of 'gud stry update soon' was heard. Reviewers sometimes need that extra little bit of love ... so that they review another story of a writer who, maybe unlike me, needs that one review of her story to keep going on in her story, yes, but also in her life.
It is the reader's duty to review.
But, listen to me, please, you writers. Once you receive a review, it'd be really nice to reply to it. You know, really nice as in your duty as a writer. You could actually turn somebody's life around, you know. Or two lives, when that reviewer, encouraged, reviews another story. You could, with your reply, turn a life around, or save it.
You are a writer. You may a luminary in fan fiction. If so, please use your fame to keep doing what you are doing: sharing the love, both in publishing that next chapter, but also, in responding to that next review.
The same goes to you, writer, who has just published her first chapter and has just received her first or second review, but just has to get that next chapter out by midnight and it's quarter to. Look, somebody's reviewed your work! To her, you are famous. You know where the most 'business' comes from in industry? Repeat business. You know where most reviews come from? From a reviewer who's reviewed your work before.
Cultivate that. Tell her you are grateful. You are helping yourself, but, that reviewer, encouraged, may review another new up-and-comer.
Who won't be an up-and-comer if she gets discouraged at chapter 3 (right? where most stories die on the vine?) because nobody has read it or said anything about it.
You have a review, for G-d's sake!
Many writers don't. And your reply to that review could give another writer that one review she needed to go on.
A reader has exercised her responsibility in reviewing your work.
Now, it's your turn, writer: reply to it.
Thank you for your reviews.
I respond to every credible review. Even if it takes days. Even if it takes more than days. That is, I feel, my responsibility.
No, I don't countenance reviews that descend to personal attack or that savage my works, but yes, every other review, even one word reviews ("Gud", "MOre", "updatesoon"), receive a reply from me. One by one, even it's sometimes form: "Thank you for your review. I've received so many, but each of them means so much to me. Thank you for yours." The vast majority my reviews are substantive and substantial, however. That's a lot of work. A lot of work that takes me away from writing my story. A lot of work that takes me away from other things. You know: life (yes, I have one), family, work.
Why?
A reader's job is to review, but so few readers do review at all (my ratio is that 120 page views generates one review). Wouldn't be nice to the ones that do review receive a little extra love and gratitude?
Reviewers sometimes are sad little creatures that need to know that their little peep of 'gud stry update soon' was heard. Reviewers sometimes need that extra little bit of love ... so that they review another story of a writer who, maybe unlike me, needs that one review of her story to keep going on in her story, yes, but also in her life.
It is the reader's duty to review.
But, listen to me, please, you writers. Once you receive a review, it'd be really nice to reply to it. You know, really nice as in your duty as a writer. You could actually turn somebody's life around, you know. Or two lives, when that reviewer, encouraged, reviews another story. You could, with your reply, turn a life around, or save it.
You are a writer. You may a luminary in fan fiction. If so, please use your fame to keep doing what you are doing: sharing the love, both in publishing that next chapter, but also, in responding to that next review.
The same goes to you, writer, who has just published her first chapter and has just received her first or second review, but just has to get that next chapter out by midnight and it's quarter to. Look, somebody's reviewed your work! To her, you are famous. You know where the most 'business' comes from in industry? Repeat business. You know where most reviews come from? From a reviewer who's reviewed your work before.
Cultivate that. Tell her you are grateful. You are helping yourself, but, that reviewer, encouraged, may review another new up-and-comer.
Who won't be an up-and-comer if she gets discouraged at chapter 3 (right? where most stories die on the vine?) because nobody has read it or said anything about it.
You have a review, for G-d's sake!
Many writers don't. And your reply to that review could give another writer that one review she needed to go on.
A reader has exercised her responsibility in reviewing your work.
Now, it's your turn, writer: reply to it.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Your Reviews
You do know what a writer of fan fiction feels when [predominantly:] she receives a review? So many profiles on fanfiction.net and so many chapter notes on twilighted.net show how desperately appreciated reviews are.
Even one word reviews. Even just one word of encouragement.
Do you know how an authoress feels when she receives a review? She wants to receive another one. She keeps checking her email. She checks her watch. Thirty seconds have gone by ... she checks her email. No new reviews.
The high of getting those encouraging words are replaced, for a while, by despondency and despair. But then she bucks up. She knows there's only one sure way to get another review, and that is to publish that next chapter or story. So she grits her teeth and looks at that G-D blank computer screen for hours.
But then she starts typing, and then she types some more, and then she gets into it, and the words start flowing, and she loses herself in it. She gets lost in her world, and she gives herself over to it, completely, and she writes now, and she writes and she writes and she writes, and if she's truly lost to herself ... completely ... in this world, then, maybe there's something that touches a reader ... touches another girl somewhere in the world who needed to read that before she did something or before she didn't do something, and reading it make her stop or reading it helped her to go on and to go forward and to live and to read some more, and maybe even to write something and to share that with the world and to save another girl.
Do you know what your review does? Maybe it helps an author to write one more chapter. Maybe it helps a reader to read that new chapter and to love it and to decide: I need to do this. The words are burning in my mouth, and I must spit them out onto my keyboard, and I must put that first chapter out there. And she gets her first review ever. And she knows, she finally knows, that she's alive. She finally found her voice, she finally had something to say. She finally had something to say to somebody who told her "luv ur story, update soon plz," and it gave her a reason to write her next chapter until she becomes accomplished and confident in what she writes, and that confident, accomplished writing touches someone's soul somewhere.
And that fire burning in her mouth inflames the heart of that soul that had turned cold or sullen or despairing.
Do you know what your review does?
Maybe it saves somebody's life, did you ever think of that? Maybe somebody was dead, even though they were punching their ticket at school or at work or at nowhere doing nothing, and your review encouraged a writer to write and what that writer wrote, because in part of your review, gave somebody hope.
Your review is hope, and that is the most precious commodity in the world.
And of the 80,000 members of twilighted.net only a quarter of them ever review a chapter. You, by your review, have put yourself in the top quarter of all twilighted.
Now, your review doesn't make the writer write. The writer writes, or the writer does not, no matter how good your review is, no matter how many entreaties she receives (and, boy, have I begged writers for their next chapter, and a year later ... nothing).
Frankly, although you may say in your review "update soon!" it is actually I who is the one who cannot wait to read the next chapter in my story. What happens during quiet time? And why, oh, why! is that next chapter not out yet?
Won't somebody please write it?
Oh, that falls on me?
Why — oh, why! — can't I just be the reader and somebody else write "My Sister Rosalie"?
Writing is hard. Writing is so, so, ... so very gut-wrenchingly hard. I hate writing. MSR's "Mirror, Mirror" nearly killed me. "Vasilii" in "Thirteen Ways" nearly did me in. And RLT? OMR! Nearly every single chapter was a finisher for me, except, of course, the birds and the bees talk by Gwendolyn. Gotta love Rosalie's mother, ... no wonder she has such a twisted view of Esmé, eh? And then Rosalie turns right around and becomes what her mother is to a totally innocent girl ... her maid, that is, but ... hm, that description fits for our Bella, too, now, doesn't it?
Since writing is hard, then why write? Well, there's the compulsion of it (I must write), there's the act of creating something that's tangible (I wrote that), there's the pleasure of reading something that you wanted to read (that's why you wrote it, no?), and there's the reviews where somebody, somewhere, finally said to you:
Good job!
How often do you hear that at home or at school or at work? And you have three reviews for your story that says "Good job!" ... isn't that three more times you've heard that, like, ever, like, in your life?
You write, no? If you do write, and you've received a review, then you know what it's like. If you don't write, then write! But if you're not yet ready to write, leave a review and trust me on this one, there is nothing like it, and you are giving the authoress a priceless treasure ... a priceless treasure that only costs you one mouse click and a few words.
Do you see what your review does? It breathes life into the authoress' story: she keeps writing because there are readers saying that they like reading it, and so the story does not die on the vine, but continues to grow, organically. Your reviews are the rain that water the plants; your reviews are the sun that allow the flowers of our stories to open to you.
So, write a review (again), please?
But what do I write in my review, geophf? you ask.
Glad you asked.
Here are the rules:
So those are the rules.
(*ahem*)
But there are a few lemmas to writing reviews. And they are these:
How important are reviews? Oh, pretty, very, essentially important, I'd say.
Case in point. I was ready to pack it in: at the end of "Compulsion" chapter of MSR I was going to write "... and then Rosalie returned to find Bella dead. The end." Because why? Because I had just written ten chapters with no feedback even though I had one hundred readers per chapter. I figured, why continue if none of the readers were interested enough to comment on what I had poured my heart into?
But later, after I pushed through my despondency and continued writing, anyway, came out of that story the idea of "Thirteen Ways," and then I received a PM from an authoress saying that story had inspired her to write her own fiction. If I had quit, she wouldn't have read that story that wouldn't have existed, ... would she be writing now?
But eventually I did receive some encouragement and some reviews, and I did continue, and somebody did see something in that continuation that inspired them. That's what your reviews do: they encourage. Your reviews encourage, and they are so easy for you not to write, aren't they? "Oh, I'll get to that 'later.'" you say, where you know full well that 'later' eventually means 'never.' Don't say that and don't do that, please. All it takes is for you to hit the 'submit review' button, write some words, and, guaranteed from me at least, you'll get a thank-you PM response, and you'll have encouraged the writing you enjoy reading, and you'll show others that this particular work has something worthwhile in it to read.
When you review, you win (you get more chapters to read); the authoress wins (you send happiness to the authoress), and somebody else wins (you just may, indirectly, touch somebody else's life). A review is a win-win-win.
A review is full of win.
Thank you for your reviews. Please, please, please: keep'm comin', eh?
Even one word reviews. Even just one word of encouragement.
Do you know how an authoress feels when she receives a review? She wants to receive another one. She keeps checking her email. She checks her watch. Thirty seconds have gone by ... she checks her email. No new reviews.
The high of getting those encouraging words are replaced, for a while, by despondency and despair. But then she bucks up. She knows there's only one sure way to get another review, and that is to publish that next chapter or story. So she grits her teeth and looks at that G-D blank computer screen for hours.
But then she starts typing, and then she types some more, and then she gets into it, and the words start flowing, and she loses herself in it. She gets lost in her world, and she gives herself over to it, completely, and she writes now, and she writes and she writes and she writes, and if she's truly lost to herself ... completely ... in this world, then, maybe there's something that touches a reader ... touches another girl somewhere in the world who needed to read that before she did something or before she didn't do something, and reading it make her stop or reading it helped her to go on and to go forward and to live and to read some more, and maybe even to write something and to share that with the world and to save another girl.
Do you know what your review does? Maybe it helps an author to write one more chapter. Maybe it helps a reader to read that new chapter and to love it and to decide: I need to do this. The words are burning in my mouth, and I must spit them out onto my keyboard, and I must put that first chapter out there. And she gets her first review ever. And she knows, she finally knows, that she's alive. She finally found her voice, she finally had something to say. She finally had something to say to somebody who told her "luv ur story, update soon plz," and it gave her a reason to write her next chapter until she becomes accomplished and confident in what she writes, and that confident, accomplished writing touches someone's soul somewhere.
And that fire burning in her mouth inflames the heart of that soul that had turned cold or sullen or despairing.
Do you know what your review does?
Maybe it saves somebody's life, did you ever think of that? Maybe somebody was dead, even though they were punching their ticket at school or at work or at nowhere doing nothing, and your review encouraged a writer to write and what that writer wrote, because in part of your review, gave somebody hope.
Your review is hope, and that is the most precious commodity in the world.
And of the 80,000 members of twilighted.net only a quarter of them ever review a chapter. You, by your review, have put yourself in the top quarter of all twilighted.
Now, your review doesn't make the writer write. The writer writes, or the writer does not, no matter how good your review is, no matter how many entreaties she receives (and, boy, have I begged writers for their next chapter, and a year later ... nothing).
Frankly, although you may say in your review "update soon!" it is actually I who is the one who cannot wait to read the next chapter in my story. What happens during quiet time? And why, oh, why! is that next chapter not out yet?
Won't somebody please write it?
Oh, that falls on me?
Why — oh, why! — can't I just be the reader and somebody else write "My Sister Rosalie"?
Writing is hard. Writing is so, so, ... so very gut-wrenchingly hard. I hate writing. MSR's "Mirror, Mirror" nearly killed me. "Vasilii" in "Thirteen Ways" nearly did me in. And RLT? OMR! Nearly every single chapter was a finisher for me, except, of course, the birds and the bees talk by Gwendolyn. Gotta love Rosalie's mother, ... no wonder she has such a twisted view of Esmé, eh? And then Rosalie turns right around and becomes what her mother is to a totally innocent girl ... her maid, that is, but ... hm, that description fits for our Bella, too, now, doesn't it?
Since writing is hard, then why write? Well, there's the compulsion of it (I must write), there's the act of creating something that's tangible (I wrote that), there's the pleasure of reading something that you wanted to read (that's why you wrote it, no?), and there's the reviews where somebody, somewhere, finally said to you:
Good job!
How often do you hear that at home or at school or at work? And you have three reviews for your story that says "Good job!" ... isn't that three more times you've heard that, like, ever, like, in your life?
You write, no? If you do write, and you've received a review, then you know what it's like. If you don't write, then write! But if you're not yet ready to write, leave a review and trust me on this one, there is nothing like it, and you are giving the authoress a priceless treasure ... a priceless treasure that only costs you one mouse click and a few words.
Do you see what your review does? It breathes life into the authoress' story: she keeps writing because there are readers saying that they like reading it, and so the story does not die on the vine, but continues to grow, organically. Your reviews are the rain that water the plants; your reviews are the sun that allow the flowers of our stories to open to you.
So, write a review (again), please?
But what do I write in my review, geophf? you ask.
Glad you asked.
Here are the rules:
- Doesn't matter, just select the "submit review" option when you finish the chapter — and not a second later — and write a review. Even if that review is just one word: "good" or "more" or whatever. You read the chapter, so write the review. Right now.
- See rule number 1.
So those are the rules.
(*ahem*)
But there are a few lemmas to writing reviews. And they are these:
- Every word you write is read by your employer or a judge of a twific contest you are entering. And, even though you are using an alias, they know it's you. So keep it clean and courteous. Don't believe me? I didn't either, until three employers laid out copies of everything I wrote on the 'net (including aliased works). Good thing I kept it clean.
- A good review is any review. And any review is a good review. Full stop. A substantive review says something about this chapter and tells the authoress what you thought about that something or how you felt about it and why. A good review is nice; a substantive review may help the authoress write a better chapter next time.
How important are reviews? Oh, pretty, very, essentially important, I'd say.
Case in point. I was ready to pack it in: at the end of "Compulsion" chapter of MSR I was going to write "... and then Rosalie returned to find Bella dead. The end." Because why? Because I had just written ten chapters with no feedback even though I had one hundred readers per chapter. I figured, why continue if none of the readers were interested enough to comment on what I had poured my heart into?
But later, after I pushed through my despondency and continued writing, anyway, came out of that story the idea of "Thirteen Ways," and then I received a PM from an authoress saying that story had inspired her to write her own fiction. If I had quit, she wouldn't have read that story that wouldn't have existed, ... would she be writing now?
But eventually I did receive some encouragement and some reviews, and I did continue, and somebody did see something in that continuation that inspired them. That's what your reviews do: they encourage. Your reviews encourage, and they are so easy for you not to write, aren't they? "Oh, I'll get to that 'later.'" you say, where you know full well that 'later' eventually means 'never.' Don't say that and don't do that, please. All it takes is for you to hit the 'submit review' button, write some words, and, guaranteed from me at least, you'll get a thank-you PM response, and you'll have encouraged the writing you enjoy reading, and you'll show others that this particular work has something worthwhile in it to read.
When you review, you win (you get more chapters to read); the authoress wins (you send happiness to the authoress), and somebody else wins (you just may, indirectly, touch somebody else's life). A review is a win-win-win.
A review is full of win.
Thank you for your reviews. Please, please, please: keep'm comin', eh?
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