Check in: Day 3, Sunday

[barbayat]

Hello everyone, I be doing the check ins for this week.

So, did you ...

... write something?
... thought about anything related to your stories?
... planned?
... sent something off to the beta?
... posted a story?
... dealt with real life issues?

Question(s) of the Day

Provided your feedback is something more than a comment saying "Oh well done" or "Write moar, plz" what type of comment do you usually get and how do you re-act?

What was your favourite feedback ever and what was the most helpful comment you ever gotten?

Comments

[zellieh]

I planned which chapters I'm going to work on next, and I typed up several pages of a handwritten scene, so I feel productive.

Then I wrote some hilarious porn in chat, and laughed until I cried.

I mostly get kudos, but comments? They tend to be "this was gorgeous/delightful/I loved it!" or "Please write more!" or "Loved your characterisation/voice for X", and sometimes a quote of a favourite line.

I like the quotes, and comments that are specific; they give me something to work with. The most helpful was a native-speaker who corrected my robo-translated Czech for Radek Zelenka in an SGA story. Also helpful are people who are willing to talk about themes and characters in longish conversations. Insights and new ideas often turn up, and I'll incorporate that into my next story or my general approach to writing.

I'm terrible at replying promptly to comments, though. I get flustered and can't decide what to say, so I either end up sounding formulaic ("Thank you for commenting"), or desperate ("Thanks so much for talking to me! Nobody ever talks to me!"), or demanding ("Tell me EXACTLY what you liked, in a 1,000 word essay, with footnotes and diagrams!"). Sometimes I don't answer at all for weeks or months, although I do try to answer it all at some point.

[voksen]

Managed just over 2,000 words today, not bad! Chat was super helpful at poking me along even though I went stealth AFK there, sorry bout that.

I too love quotebacks in comments, although alas it rarely happens to me :)

[mab_browne]

Today I wrote like a demon, but for a project unrelated to my fanfic. But into each fannish life a little extra work must fall. :-)

I have a friendly commenter who sent me essay length fb on a story that I'm proud of but that has a very small audience, so that made me very happy.

I don't know that I get 'useful' fb outside of the beta process, and a good beta is above rubies, quite frankly.