I think that this person has it completely wrong. (mini rant regarding AFF)

So following a blog post by -Tigress- I found myself checking out AFF Confessions on Tumblr. There have been a few that I scoffed and totally disagreed with, then I saw this;

 

 

No. It isn't mandatory, but if you're going to complain about readers not commenting or subscribing (neither of which are mandatory) then your argument suddenly becomes hypocritical.

No, a story isn't a sold item. It isn't a 'service' so that whole part of your comment is completely redundant. It's ridiculous, really. The way you put it could be twisted anyway. So they don't comment - does that mean that they've stolen it? We could also talk about it the other way, where their comment is the service so your reply is the payment. i won't even go there though because this analogy is so stupid I almost want to flush my own head down a motel toilet right now.


Let me put it another way.

You are making a meal, you make too much so you offer it out to people. People think 'ooh that looks nice' and eat some. They enjoy it and they say 'this is really nice, I can't wait to eat more of your food!!" What is the polite thing for you to do? You thank the person! You don't just ignore them!

Plus, people are missing the main point here which is that, okay, some people come on AFF to write stories and not make friends but most people wonder why they don't have AFF friends. I have learned from my experience on AFF that the best way to get people to read your fics is to be nice and friendly and be somebody that people want to talk to! I have a few people that read and comment on pretty much anything I post and these are the people I consider my best friends on this website - people that I support and they support me back.

I'm not a 'popular' author, I have a few hundred subscribers on some of my fics but those are longer ones. I do hope to become a more known person here, not because of my writing but because I make an effort to talk to people and meet people and I'm just a nice person, really. I don't think there will ever come a point where I stop ebing humble and appreciative of every single commenter or subscriber or upvoter and I want to thank these people for their support. 

Isn't it just nice to reply to people - whether it's a thank you or a joke about their comment. I always try to reply differently to commenters where I can because I want to be friendly and meet new people!

Sure, sometimes I forget to reply because I saw the comment on my phone and I hate typing on my phone, but I always reply even if it is a little delayed.

 The point is that if these people can take a few seconds to say what they think of your fic, you can take a few seconds to say "Thank you, I hope you carry on reading! :)".

If you honestly don't have the time or have a decent reason or you just don't like responding to comments, whatever, who am I to call you out? I don't see how it can be a time thing though. I work part time, I'm studying for a degree, I have a perfectly healthy social and family life and I have stupid amounts fo fics on the go yet I always take time to speak to my friends and commenters. It's a really important thing to me.

However if your excuse is "It isn't mandatory" then I think you're a bit of an idiot here and you're definitely missing on some of the other things - the social things that this website can offer you!

 

 

Okay sorry. Rant over.

I'm done.

~J

 

PS: My fics apparently now.

 

Just kidding guys, I actually have an a-level in media studies and interactive graphic/web design. I'm good at photoshop really.

 

Now I'm really done.

 

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evangeline101 #1
Replying isn't a must but its something i insist on doing whenever someone comments on my fics...even if some authors don't reply to their comments the readers shouldn't judge them immediately and call them arrogant (that's really bad) but the authors shouldn't try to complain either since commenting takes time and willingness....um i don't know what rubbish i was talking about ignore me
nocturnalrescue #2
Hmm I think replying is a wonderful thing to do so yes, I agree with you.

But at the same time, if a mildly popular author doesn't reply to me it's not the end of the world. I don't think authors should be judged on whether they reply or not. It's like saying "exo are so arrogant and full of themselves because they don't reply to my fanmail"

I don't get why people judge others so harshly like that... Why can we all accept the differences people have and the ways people act different than each other? ;-;
jhengchie #3
well i don't think replying is mandatory but it gives a good impression that the author is really good with their readers. I get a few friends and loyal readers because i reply to their comments..

It's a good feeling when you connect with others and you get insights on what they think about the stories you wrote ^^
yolochinchins #4
oH MY GOD WHAT
wow i read some of the confessions and omfg
the people on this site are just-
where do i even-
how-
w-

srsly a lot of those confessions are comment thirsty like wow wHY WOULD YOU GET UNMOTIVATED TO WRITE A FIC JUST CAUSE YOU GOT ONE COMMENT BUT YOU HAVE 100 SUBS? LIKE ??¿?? WHAT ??¿¿¿ THEY SHOULD FEEL PROUD OF WHAT THEY WRITE BECAUSE THEY WROTE IT AND LIKED WHAT THEY WROTE, NOT BECAUSE PEOPLE COMMENT ON IT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND??¿

but this confession up there... I can understand where they're coming from. Personally, I am thankful for every person who has ever sent me a comment, srsly that makes me really happy that they took the time to write something. I try to reply to every comment that I see, but I know that I don't reply to them all. I'm hella forgetful and I at replying back (swear to God, my irl friends will text me and I'll reply in a month, they hate me lol) and I know that certain people stopped commenting on some of my fic because they think I have a big head and I'm arrogant. Which is ridiculous because I'm completely self loathing in nearly every aspect, but it actually gets annoying and it does hurt that people expect me to reply to every single comment that just says "thanks for the update" or "your fic is nice". Especially when they get angry over the fact that I do reply, but my reply is just something short and simple as a "thanks for reading" or "thank you". Like, even when I comment on fic sometimes, I understand that the author cannot always reply back and most times I don't even expect them to write back. I don't write comments on fic to receive a reply (unless I ask a serious question), I write the comment to comment them, to let them know that I liked it or that I'm thankful for their update. I don't expect them to acknowledge me with a reply, I just want them to know what my personal thought on it was. I also know some of them can't actually reply because they too are busy or forgetful as well.
Dj-Tehee #5
well, I think poster doesn't really matter..
since sometimes I found some stories with awesome poster (thank to the postershop out there), but the story really makes me sad..
u.u
on the other hand, I found some GREAT slash AWESOME stories without any poster in it..
isn't there a saying about not judging a book by its cover?
X3
about the comment thingies, I know it's not a mandatory for the reader leave the author a comment and other way around..
but, as for me, I always try to reply all the comment the readers leave for me..
since I'm really glad that they're there to read n support my stories..
><
visinel #6
HELLO JADE AM I ONE OF THOSE BEST FRIENDS
Of course I am HAHAHAH
ILY
afterglow #7
LOL that poster xD
I can't make posters but people still loved my stories xD
LittleSushi #8
i just saw the comment about brits being obsessed with politeness but excuse me im not british and I do have a really annoying habit of being super polite to new people. like i dont know if u remember my first comment on your stories but most of them were really annoyingly polite lol
LittleSushi #9
let me vomit in the head of the person that wrote the posters, please
and i agree with you in the first point
peachysoo #10
And whoever wrote that confession about graphics and stories is stupid. I can't make graphics for crap, but that's because I don't have the time or energy to teach myself to use photoshop/gimp/etc... to actually get better at graphics. (I actually have to spend that time on learning how to use MATLAB effectively because MATLAB is basically the coding platform for many engineering jobs now that it would be stupid of me to waste my time trying to get better at photoshop than getting better at MATLAB.) (I don't even have enough time to read the fanfics I have on queue, especially since I'm one of those people that likes to give essay long comments on the stuff I read and enjoy... I guess I could read fics, but then I feel bad for not writing a comment, so I just put all my reading off until I can actually do something about it.)

And sorry, this got super long, but for the first time in like a month, I actually have time to fool around and surf the internet without worrying about what needs to be turned in. Tomorrow I get to go back to worrying about my grades and school work, haha.
peachysoo #11
I don't think comments are mandatory, but it would be nice to get them more, especially if you write long chapters and do your best at updating. I mean, they may not always get an author to write faster, but they do help feed an author's ego and keep them writing longer than those that barely get anything. And really, if the author is really trying hard to get a chapter out and is actually a pretty decent writer and is a decent person that doesn't expect people to constantly be given comments, it really would be appreciated if readers could actually give a comment every once in a while. I know that people usually may not be able to express themselves that well, but I'm sure a lot of authors would be okay with spazzing or almost unreadable comments because they liked it so much. (This is actually one of the reasons why people go to LJ, because once you make friends on LJ and get certain people to know you, you'll always have people commenting on your stuff. While here, it's a toss up, unless you do have friends that actually like the stuff you're writing.) I don't know, I just feel that even though authors shouldn't expect to get comments, I still think readers should take some time out of their day to give an author a comment, especially one that may not get that many in the first place. Fanfiction is free and without the writers that write it, then one can't enjoy it, so to keep people writing and creating a fun, nice environment, that gives you stuff to read, it doesn't take much to comment on a fic you like every once in a while. Especially since comments mean the world for newbie writers or writers that are trying new things. (I remember when I was like 13-14 years old and wrote my first fic and I literally was so happy to get comments... While now, it's great to know that people are reading, it would be really nice and make me happy if people would comment every once in a while too, even if it was to tell me how much my stuff .)
peachysoo #12
You see how I reply to comments... i.e. I usually write essay long stuff back, so it is time consuming and there are times where I can't say thank you to those that comment on my stuff, just because I am busy and don't like just putting down 'Thank you.' (And I am busy, but when you're an engineering major that goes to one of the tougher engineering schools in the nation, I don't have as much time as I would like to reply to everything. But I think people understand that and if they don't, then obviously, they don't know how hard engineering is and how much time it eats up, especially once you hit junior year. (I'm dreading my senior year because of the capstone project I get to do and literally, you're either in the shop making stuff, testing your project, or the library doing write ups and other homework and maybe get 2-3 hours of sleep a night. I get about 5 hours now, so I'm not looking forward to that.))

So while I think it's great if people actually reply to comments or at least try to do it and make the effort, I think readers should be okay and not expect authors to do it every single time, especially if they have a lot of readers (Can you imagine an author like Goddess who has like 30k subscribers per story sit down and reply to the thousands of comments she gets every day? I can't, but then again, she's also one to ignore those that actually try make her a better writer than she is...) or are actually really busy and can't reply back to stuff. (I'm sure people think it's odd that I actually am able to write stuff and post stuff as much as I do, but it's more on the fact that if I get like a half an hour break, I'm writing to de-stress myself from evil teachers and idiotic group members that I more or less want to stab because they can't do their work. Seriously, never get on an engineer's bad side if you can help it.)
walker #13
I totally get you. I reply to every comment. I think it is only polite and common courtesy. Maybe it's because we're British that we are obsessed with politeness lol *hits self with stereotyping*
hotterthanasummer #14
I have socialphobia, so I can't talk about leaving/replying to comments,
but that last thing made me laugh - because being able to write necessitates learning PS??? Was Jane Austin a writer then, since she couldn't use PS??? lol
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