Shouting at a Brick Wall

It's hard to tell what readers think if they don't say anything. This is a rather frustrating fact, although I understand that there are plenty of legitimate reasons for readers not to comment.

For example, I get a lot of hits from foreign countries that aren't predominantly English-speaking. If the reader is not very confident in his or her English, I can totally understand why he or she would want to avoid saying anything the wrong way.

I'm not very good at critiques myself, so I don't want to review if I don't feel I have to—usually for oneshot fan fictions or other completed fan fictions that I can just add to my favourites to express approval—but I do try to give a few comments on things that affected me and encourage the author to post the next chapter soon. It just seems like a way to show respect for the writing and what the writer goes through.

Recently, I checked out the profile of someone who reviewed Cage, and I saw one section that I really loved:

"You know that thing you as a reader, or writer for a matter of fact, call too lazy to review? To us as writers it scares us and we begin to think:

Is my writing really that bad?

Does anybody even read this stuff?

What's wrong with it? Grammar? Spelling? My style? SOMEBODY TELL ME!

I suck at this... I quit.
 

Why do I even write anymore?

That's what causes some of your favorite stories on fanfiction to become abandoned, because the author lost their will to write. Every time we go without a review we get discouraged and that little sense of doubt in the back of our had starts nagging at us, telling us how much our writing sucks. When I was a reader I didn't believe in reviewing. But now as a writer, I review all the stories I possibly can. All it takes is a few seconds... Be kind about it too."

Thankfully I've been blessed to find someone patient enough to review just about everything I write, fan fiction or blog, so my situation really isn't that bad if no one else gives me feedback. Still, sometimes I have to wonder. I can see that people have viewed a chapter or post, but what did they think? Did it bore them so they never even finished? Did they think it was absolutely stupid and just held their tongues to avoid being rude? Did they just get redirected accidentally and not want to see it at all?

Then there's the case of Break Out, a fiction that has more or less moved entirely out of my interest. Still, I continued it because some reviewers pleaded so earnestly that it was a good story and something I should never consider abandoning. Then all of the reviews per chapter dribbled off to three or four. Now, that's a great number in my opinion, for, say, The Long and Winding Road or Cage. Those stories, however, still cry out to be written. Break Out is only there for the readers, few of which seem to care about my efforts enough to lend a bit of time to review. Am I right in feeling ripped off, or am I just whiny? Do I have to once again threaten to end the series for those enamoured reviewers to return? Has the uninspired quality sunk so low no one thinks I deserve a review?

I've always been insecure about the quality of my writing, and I think some dose of that is inevitable for the lot of us. But as the quote on my eBook cover goes, "A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it." Writing is a cooperative enterprise, and I want to feel like we're all actually cooperating. I'm sure I'll feel a bit differently as to how that relationship works when I have some stories for sale instead of just available for free on fanfiction.net, but I'll always want some feedback.

As far as the blog goes, I'm not too worried about stopping it. The New Fiction Idea #So-and-So series in particular has been helpful to me to keep track, even if I don't get all that much feedback from possible readers of the story. That's not to say I'm not disappointed in the same manner when something like New Short Story Idea #3 doesn't get any comments, but I can handle that. This blog isn't all that much work, and it's one of those things that I feel like I'm doing for myself. It's intended to generate a bigger fanbase for when I publish, but maybe it will get there. I'll just keep throwing my ramblings out there and hoping someone will respond.