Dead Air/Other Fic Comms/Reviews

POSTED BY: biggrstaffbunch
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 3, 2007 02:39
VIEWED: 19536
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Hi, all. One of my favorite things about BSR is that I always tend to get speedy, thoughtful reviews of my work. It's rarely ever been that way except for LJ, for me.

When I started out in Whedonverse with Btvs and Angel, I posted back at ff.net. I have an old account, where the volume of the reviews was great, the quality, not so much: (OMG LOLZ SO GREAT YAY.) Nice, but not constructive/really all that complimentary anyways.

On LJ, I found I got the best feedback. Lots of people, lots of comms to attract people, good, thoughtful feedback.

Then I entered firefly fandom on LJ and I heard crickets. Maybe cause it's summer. Maybe cause I don't write Rayne or Mal/River, which seems the biggest pairings there. Maybe cause I'm not a BNF. I'm not sure, but I'm very curious as to whether this is occuring to anyone else.

Is there a dearth in reviews on LJ for firefly fanfic? What other sites do you use to get your firefly fanfic out? What do you do when there's dead air and you REALLY want feedback? (Like Rosie said, its a lot like crystal meth--addictive and explosive, hee hee)

Just thought I'd throw it out there.

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I find that I get a *whole* lot less feedback on LJ. As you say BGSB, the audience on LJ is different. I've noticed that the feedback goes on and on for non-canon smut, (and the smuttier the better!) but regular dramatic/adventurous fic isn't so popular.

On the plus side, the feedback I do get on LJ is often quite interesting, and because of the way the comments are handled on the page it's easy to have ongoing discussions. That's nice because I feel like I've gotten to know a few of my readers. I'm trying to do that here, to respond to feedback on FFF. It's a little awkward, but worth it.

Another thing I'll throw in - it bugs me that I have no idea how many people see my posts on LJ. There's no counter like there is here. People friend me (to get my posts to show on their friends page, I assume) and then lots of comments show for the last chapter in a given series, so I know I do have readers. Some at least LOL! But I do wish I had a better handle on how many people are reading, so I'd know if it's worth the bother to post two places.

BTW, is it horribly rude that LJ people friend me and I don't friend them back? I really don't know the politeness rules... But people friend me without leaving any comments, and I have no idea who they are or anything, so I'm not sure what to about it. Uh... other than nothing.


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I've noticed about the lack of feedback! For awhile, I was in wonder as to how you didnt get pages and pages of commentary. Your fic in another fandom (well, the novel-like length and the sheer inventiveness and amazingness of it) would make you a BNF (big name fan) RIGHT away in Buffy fandom or HP fandom. I myself will try and leave feedback for every chapter, because I def do read!

Its not rude at all not to friend back--if they dont leave a note telling you who they are, it's sort of weird, right? That said, I'd love to friend you, if I may? I'm also thinking of forming a fireflyfandom reviewers comm, where the people who join do a fic swap everytime they post... i.e, Here's my fic, I'll review yours if you review mine. Who knows...

I saw your post somewhere about Mal/River dominating lj...so, so true. Rayne, too. Its a shame that genfic doesn't get so much attention--have you joined the fireflygen comm?

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Hey! I'm not ignoring your nice post, just been away from mail for a few days. Home construction and all.

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Originally posted by biggrstaffbunch:
would make you a BNF (big name fan) RIGHT away in Buffy fandom or HP fandom. I myself will try and leave feedback for every chapter, because I def do read!

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BNF - that would be cool! Initials after my name LOL!

Anyway, I didn't mean to whine about feedback or lack thereof, so don't feel pressured. It's more that I wonder how many readers I have. (Yes, I have fantasies of drumming up support to write other things...) I just mean to say that it's encouraging how FFF gives a hit count, so you know people are accessing your fic, whether they comment or not.

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I'd love to friend you, if I may?

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Please do! I'll return the favor!

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I'm also thinking of forming a fireflyfandom reviewers comm, where the people who join do a fic swap everytime they post... i.e, Here's my fic, I'll review yours if you review mine. Who knows...

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I don't know if I'd be good at pre-agreed comment-leaving... Mostly because I just don't read much these days. My attention span is so short, and I only like to comment when I *really* read so I can say something meaningful and useful. (Which is why I have no leg to stand on about demanding feedback from my readers. I'm so bad about it myself! LOL!)

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I saw your post somewhere about Mal/River dominating lj...so, so true. Rayne, too. Its a shame that genfic doesn't get so much attention--have you joined the fireflygen comm?

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You know, I think the same day I left that comment, a bunch of Mal/Inara fic appeared. It must be a temporary weirdness, all the River romance fic. Or... do you think that the long hiatus without new material from the source (Joss), and the fact that there is so little canon behind Firefly, is limiting to fic? I don't know, but I wonder if writers are digging into weird pairings because they've used up all the usual storylines...

I tried looking for an LJ community called fireflygen, but not seeing it. I'm a little ignorant about LJ. Help!

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With one-shots and drabbles, I tend to get about the same number of comments here and on LJ, but I find that my series gets significantly more feedback on fireflyfans.net. I didn't originally start posting the longer story over on LJ, so that may be a contributing factor, but like Mal4Prez said, I've gotten a lot more comments on the last chapter (er... latest, rather) than on the earlier ones.

However, I find that, usually, the comments and discussion I get on LJ are more indepth than they are here.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and probably get in trouble, but on the whole, I've found the writing to be better on LJ, than here - that's not to say there aren't good stories/authors here! Just that there seems to be a lot more... less well-writen fic here. But then, I suspect that the population of authors here at fff.net far exceeds that of the communities on LJ, so perhaps that's just an indication of that.

As to what I do when I really want feedback... well, not much of anything beyond continually refreshing my screen *G* Personally, I find pleas and threats requesting feedback to be an instant turn off. If I see someone whinging about not getting feedback, or saying they won't continue if they dont' start getting some feedback, I'll likely not even bother reading their story. Feedback, while a lovely thing, is earned, not deserved. Trust me when I say I know what it is like not to be getting feedback on something you've spent hours of blood, sweat and tears on, but to me, a comment I receive that's unsolicited and left because my reader felt that something in what I wrote touched them or moved them enough to comment... that's the real feedback I want to receive.

There surely does seem to be a lot of Mal/River and Jayne/River about lately. Whether that's because there are a greater number of authors who are perhaps River's age and are living out their fantasies through writing her with these older men, I don't know, but I miss the other pairings (okay, I'll be honest, I miss Mal/Inara dearly!!) Truthfully, Firefly fandom on LJ seems to be in decline lately. I missed out on the golden days of when the show was actually on the air, and even on all the pre-Serenity excitement, but even when I joined, the comms were so much more alive and exciting than they are now. It's a sad thing.

BNFs... I think they are a breed apart here and on LJ. I'm going to get in trouble again and say that I see a lot of mutual back patting going on here, friends raving about friends' stories, making 'BNF's of people when their work is so often OOC and poorly written. Again, not to say it doesn't happen on LJ, but for the most part, (in my limited experience) folks on LJ will be more willing to offer you constructive criticism rather than blind adoration. Just my opinion. *shrug* So when I see someone on LJ that I think of as a real BNF in firefly fanfiction, I know I'm pretty safe in my assumption that they are an excellent author and not just someone begin carried on the shoulders of all their little friends' comments... (does that sound mean?)

Anyway, BSB, I've seen you on LJ, and I think I even left you feedback ;o) and I for one am glad to see you there! The more quality writers we have on LJ, the better as far as I'm concerned. While I agree with Mal4Prez, knowing how many folk are reading your work is a nice feature here, I *much* prefer the comment system on LJ, and I also find LJ easier to read, it's cusomizable, blah blah blah... you know. :o)

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>Personally, I find pleas and threats requesting feedback to be an instant turn off.

I couldn't agree more.

"A government is a body of people usually notably ungoverned."

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I like lj, mainly because i find the interaction more personal there. I like a story, i review, i get a reply, sometimes chat starts-in a few cases mass chat, IM and rping. With fff, I haven't found that so much, though I haven't done that much FBing since my choice of pairing-or lack of isn't so popular.

I post my general fic here, i read the gen fic and some of the bits of slash that coem up. I have to admit to not reading as much here, instead i follow the authors to their web site of journal to read fic. That's not because i don't like fff, i do, but i'm photosensitive and the white on vlack makes my eyes hurt after a while.

For archive reading, i like the firefly glow but for fanfic ise i like ff_fic, firefly_gen (livejournal) and the slash orientated ones. Sometimes i get a couple of reviews, sometimes none, not just in this fandom but others too. If i really want concrit, i ask one of the ljers on my flist is they would beta harshly for me, but on the whole it's just a fun place to be.

Without feedback i wouldn't stop writing, I just wouldn't worry about posting things until i really wanted to. I keep forgetting to archive stuff, so i have a lot i need to put on the automated archives because i get FB there too.

Don't know if that answers your questions but hey :)

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Originally posted by Leiasky:
>Personally, I find pleas and threats requesting feedback to be an instant turn off.

I couldn't agree more.

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Ditto. Except I add this: someone asking for critique (ie "I'm a new writer and not sure what I'm doing, so please help me out!") is not a problem - as long as the writer is really ready to handle critical comments.

But the whole "pleeeeeeeeeeeeease leave feedback!" thing is pretty much useless. And annoying, when it’s tacked onto every single posting. I figure, the best way to get more feedback isn’t to beg for it, it’s to write better stuff. That’s just the reality we all face, as much as it sucks!

EDIT: wow, that sounded a little harsh... I should say that the way to get more feedback is to write better - and to write what the audience wants, which is often not possible. ie I'm not going to write non-canon smut on LJ, no matter that it might get me more feedback!

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Originally posted by 2x2:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and probably get in trouble, but on the whole, I've found the writing to be better on LJ, than here - that's not to say there aren't good stories/authors here! Just that there seems to be a lot more... less well-writen fic here. But then, I suspect that the population of authors here at fff.net far exceeds that of the communities on LJ, so perhaps that's just an indication of that.

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Yeah… I feel like there are a few random FFF writers who can’t take the trouble to open any old paperback they have lying around and seeing the obvious differences from what they post. Things like… capitalizing the beginning of a sentence. Using quotations, and the punctuation around them. Sentence and paragraph lengths. Just using sentences and paragraphs for criminy's sake!

I’m not saying that to be mean; I just don’t understand how anyone can take the risk of posting a creation for pubic consumption and not be a little more careful about making it intelligible. That's just screwing yourself over from square one, and can’t be fun.

Anyway, 2x2, you’re right that there's a certain very poor level of fic here from time to time, but not so much in LJ. People there seem to be more aware of the basics. Hmmm, I wonder why? Weird.

I also miss the golden days – even though I wasn’t here for most of them LOL! I started reading fic maybe a month after the BDM, but wandered back through the whole BSR. It seems there was once a lot more vitality. But it’s hard to maintain that fire after nearly two years of no new material, I guess. (Joss! We need you!!)

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I'm going to get in trouble again and say that I see a lot of mutual back patting going on here, friends raving about friends' stories, making 'BNF's of people when their work is so often OOC and poorly written.

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I’m not going to into the whole OOC problem, because it’s hard to define In Charcter with so little canon…

But, as for the poorly written, my feeling is the basic writer population here is focused on storyline, and not so much interested (or aware?) of the craft of putting words together. Run on sentences or many short sentences with no pleasing rhythm, a lack of clarity about setting and mood and point of view, not thinking out the details of how characters move and talk, that kind of thing. It gets to be all about getting character A and character B into such and such a situation, with very little care for how the scenes are constructed and presented.

Which, really, is why I don’t read much. When the first paragraph has three blatant spelling errors, an incomplete sentence or two, and no clear point of view, I’m just not going to read it. I don’t care how brilliant and interesting the storyline is - I want to be able to visualize the scenes without working too hard. I’m lazy that way.

Is this turning into an Unpopular Fic Opinion thread? Damn, and I was going to swear off being bitchy. Oh well. I guess I’m embracing my own personal reality. I’m a bitch.

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So when I see someone on LJ that I think of as a real BNF in fire

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