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What do you do when you want feedback...

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Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon):
... But no one seems to be giving it?

I've been writing and posting (on my LiveJournal) a series of snippets of a larger fanfiction I've been pecking away at for almost a year now and I've been enjoying myself... But I feel like a singer who's meeting dead silence from the audience after every song. I'm about ready to start offering cybersex in exchange for feedback on this thing (whole new meaning on the phrase "review whoring", ha ha ha.) or threaten suicide (partly true, since I'm feeling so worthless right now, I feel like I could disappear without anyone noticing). I just feel like if I tell myself I'm doing good, I'm only kidding myself, but if I hear it from another person, it's somehow more validating...

Maybe this should go in the Open Mic in the Angst Corner forum -.-

Kris_W:
Really, the only thing you can offer that matters is your writing. If you're getting no answers then, well, that's a pretty clear response. You need to work on the writing more.

Bummer, neh? Here's some tips -
- Make sure every piece you post has a beginning, middle and end even if it is only a few paragraphs. It is easier to respond to pieces that have closure than to pieces that just float there unattached.

- Give the readers some idea what you are looking for, such as - Cheerleader, Grammarian, Character Arc critique, plot holes finder, fact checker and continuity. Pick one of these, not all of them - focus on ONE thing only. Ok - two things. Also ask them to let you know the point they stopped reading. This gives them permission to not finish the piece and still give you feedback.

- Don't mess over friendships in an effort to get responses. Give responders a time frame and let them off the hook if they don't reply by then. Something like 'If you haven't gotten to this by DATE / TIME don't worry about it'. And then after that point in time let them know you moved on. Then drop it.

- Do not argue, correct or get mad at people who give your responses, especially if the response is silence. No matter what sort of response you get, your correct reply should be 'Thank you'.

- You have to mean that 'Thank You', too.
 

Starbeam:
Are you asking for responses when you post?  Some people just don't comment unless there's a question, even if it's just along the lines of "What do you think?", and sometimes people just don't have anything to say.  Or they don't know how to respond.  Is it posting in a specific community or just on your normal LJ?  Are the people who read people who would be able to comment?  Is it possible that color combinations might be difficult for people to read, or something like that?  I'm part of a small forum and don't comment much on what's posted because it's white text against a black background, and my eyes don't like that. 

For me personally, I just stopped posting writing on LJ.  I got pretty much the same sort of response, nothing, when I would post pretty much anything, so mine tends to be more just to keep up with a few people who still post.  I also get frustrated really easily with most comments on my writing because they tend to be "this is good" and never helpful to me.  Instead I just write, and if I decide I want any kind of feedback, I ask my b/f.

LizW65:
I'm not familiar with Live Journal, but when I gave my manuscript to several people to read, I included a questionnaire with very specific questions about character, plot, historical accuracy, continuity, and so on, to hopefully avoid the "It's great!"  "It sucks!" type of critique that so many people seem to get.  It's been very useful, and I've found that making up the questionnaire and also just getting away from the story for a while is helping me to get a grip on some problems in the manuscript that I knew were there but was a little too close to.
(Oh, and I wouldn't recommend threatening suicide unless, God forbid, you're actually contemplating an attempt; it'll likely freak people out. :))

Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon):
Whew... Thanks for all the advice: I'm less of a wreck than I was last night, but I'm still depressed about this (not enough to stop writing it, but enough that I'm still questioning why I'm writing it...).

@ LizW65: I'd offer a questionnaire to my readers, but I'm afraid of coming across like I'm grilling people about it, or (God forbid), one of those telephone survey wonks from "consumer interest panels", which I swear are the Trojan Horse-laden spam of Real Life.

I'm past the suicidal thoughts, but while I wasn't actually going to make an attempt on my life, I was at the point where I felt so hopeless and useless that I was seriously wondering if anyone would notice (or care) if I just disappeared.

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