[PUBLIC POST] Positive Feedback!

[ljwrites]

As promised, this week we discuss the flip side of last week's post, positive feedback about your writing. What are some memorable compliments you have received? How was it helpful? When is a compliment less helpful, though still no doubt appreciated? How do you give positive feedback? What effect does positive feedback have on you? Feel free to discuss these or related subjects in the comments.

Comments

[dhampyresa]

I have had THE LOVELIEST comment(s) sitting in my Ao3 inbox for about two months and a half now and I don't know how to answer it -- just thinking about it makes me want to touch my face and go "omgOmgOMG" on a loop.

When giving feedback on Ao3 I try to point at specific stuff I like ("I love how you wrote the landscape descriptions" or "OMG YOU REMEMBERED [tiny canon detail]" or "Wow, the way you wrote Character as doing Thing and having Emotion was amazing"). As much as possible, I also try to pick specific phrases I particularly liked for whatever reason.

If it's a gift fic, I'll basically have a notepad window open where I "liveblog" the fic (write down quotes I like and why) as I go. SOMEBODY WROTE ME STUFF the least I can do is show them how much I appreciate that.

I love getting positive feedback (who doesn't!) and it always motivates me to write more. It's less helpful when it gives me more plotbunnies, I already have too many.

It can be hard for me to both reply to and leave comments on Ao3, so I made myself a deal that for every comment I replied to I would leave someone else a comment. So far it's kind of working. I don't necessarily reply to comment faster, but at least I'm leaving some comments when I do.

[ljwrites]

I was going to wait to reply to the comments I received from History Exchange until the author reveal, and then another author's reply helped me realize I can remain anonymous while replying and now what am I going to say?? *buries head in sand*

That's a good strategy, to reply with specific details. Lots of time a reviewer can say they liked something but may have difficulty saying why, and saying what exactly they liked can supply more detail and lets the author infer the why whether it's stated outright or not.

I see you've done the liveblogging thing for the fic you were gifted with. Impressive! I aim for longer and more specific comments on fics that were written for me, but I've never gone into that level of detail.

I've seldom gotten plotbunnies from reviews. Funnily enough when I do get ideas it's for the fic in progress, and I have in fact corrected course on ongoing projects based on reviews so they're helpful for me in that sense.