Feed me, Seymour

[prillalar]

How much feedback, in numerical terms, is enough? Would one note satisfy? Or does it have to be in the double or even triple digits?

That depends on the fandom and the story. I do have "feedback goals" when I post a story but I don't really want to give numbers. Whenever people compare numbers, I end up feeling inadequate and sad.

Certainly my expectations are more modest now than they were in the heyday of the X-Files.

Actually, I've long had a theory that everyone has a "feedback constant" that's not entirely related to their skill as an author. Multiply by various factors such as fandom and pairing, and you'll be getting the same amount of feedback fairly consistently.

Of course, I could be wrong. :)

When you started writing fanfic, were you aware of feedback?

Yes, I was. I was already reading fanfic and sending feedback.

Would you continue writing if you knew you'd never receive another piece of feedback ever?

Yes, but not fanfic. Fanfic is a shared experience for me and feedback is part of that.

Do you respond to your FB? If yes, then why? If not, why not?

I do try to, yes, and I'm usually quite good at getting it done right after I post a story. It's the stuff that trickles in on old stories that I might leave for a bit, simply due to the fact that I suck, not because I don't appreciate the feedback.

I think it's important to respond to feedback, to say thank you.

Do you, as an author, want constructive criticism? Or is that something better left for the privacy of beta readers? And if you were to get constructive crit, would you want it to be private email or is the original posting location - ie mailing list, newsgroup, ff.net, message board - okay for review purposes?

I'm fine with it, public or private. Actually, public can be interesting if it sparks a discussion. On the other hand, I had one experience with public crit that eventually killed my interest in the series I was writing, so maybe I shouldn't be too hasty. *g*

But, truly, I have a pretty thick skin about my work and I enjoy thoughtful comments. And flames, I like flames and can never seem to generate them outside of ff.n.

Do you, as an author, take time to FB other authors?

Yes, I do, when I've got time to read. I wish I had time to be more detailed, but I figure that they, like me, would rather get "I loved it!" than nothing at all.

And I would like to take this opportunity to say: What's with people who write me out of the blue to say "I loved your story!" but don't say which one of the nearly 200 pieces of fiction on my site and when I write back and say, thanks, but which story did you mean, they never write back and tell me?