Now I have to admit that this blog post was inspired by a similar post by Conchobar earlier and whilst I am nowhere near as eloquent as he is, I do share the sentiment.
As authors here on AFF, we probably all spend a lot of our time away from the site itching to get back on and check our comments. I know I sure as hell do. In my opinion, there is nothing more motivating than logging onto the website and seeing the 'New Story Comment' alert. Seriously, it gives me the happy fuzzies. I like happy fuzzies.
I appreciate every comment, from the simple 'Please update' to the massive long gushy comments that make me want to cry and hug that person so tight they can't breathe because it's amazing that they say so much about something little old me has written, ya know.
I personally prefer comments to upvotes or subscribers. Yeah, I appreciate them all and they all make me feel fuzzy, but there's nothing that makes me smile as much as a really nice comment about something I wrote. I also love getting comments from new readers. I have readers that will read every fic that I post and seriously, I adore them more than words can say, but getting new subscribers saying that my fic made them cry or laugh is so uplifting as well.
But how many of us can genuinely say that they comment on every fic they complete? I can't.
Oh, I try. I try to always leave a constructive long comment (preferably with insane fangirling for the very bestest fics) but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Maybe I'm reading on my phone (I hate typing comments on my phone), so I try to remember to comment when I get back onto my computer but then I forget or life gets in the way. It happens easily and it happens to everyone.
Even the fics that I adore sometimes go uncommented on and I feel so guilty over that!
Now I am honestly not discounting upvotes and subscribers!
I know there are some authors out there that like all of their readers to subscribe and that is a habit that I'm trying to get into, but I've never done it before. For me, before someone told me that they think it's rude to read and enjoy and not subscribe, subscribing was something I only didfor ongoing fics, contests or review shops. I'm going to force myself into the habit of subscribing, upvoting and commenting on all stories, but in my opinion commenting is still the most important. You know that the readers are actually reading the fic, rather than subscribing for another day then leaving it and forgetting it.
So in my opinion, if you enjoy a fic enough to subscribe you should also be able to type out a real quick comment like "Oh this was so good, this part was funny. I liked this character. looking forward to the next update." It takes not even one minute and you have probably made the author a little happier when they see it. I gues it also works vice-versa, if you enjoy a fic well enough to comment, you should also subscribe and even upvote.
So I am going to take an oath, and I invite you fellow AFFers to join me:
I, StarlightSpirit, do solemnly swear to review all fics I read, regardless of the number of reviews, its age, or anything else.
I have joined the Review Revolution.
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