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vanwijk88
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 16 Jul 2017 Location: Auckland, NZ Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Posted: 26 Jul 2017 at 8:10am |
Already when I'm reading a lot of stories, especially the ones that had the most interesting synopses in the other threads and already have lots of replies, I'm finding that my sentiments echo what someone has commented already. This is extremely true of criticisms because usually either there are only a few major ones or another forum member has already done the deep analysis. My question then becomes is it worth commenting if you aren't providing any unique feedback? What is people's general stance on this?Do you want to know how many people agree with particular assessments or not want to be flooded with heaps of messages saying the same thing? If people avoid repeating the same criticisms then eventually, once a story has been thoroughly critiqued, commenting on other stories and expecting replies will mostly just become compliment fishing (not that I'm averse to this, noting my own guilty pleasure of reading compliments on my story multiple times over), and overall, although that's nice, I don't feel like it should become the culture of any particular story forum.
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MegOverman
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Location: Ohio Status: Offline Points: 1439 |
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I prefer that readers comment WITHOUT reading feedback others wrote first. This eliminates your dilemma, if you choose to do it.
My reasoning: If you read feedback before you read the story, you're going to notice the things others pointed out. If you read feedback AFTER you read the story (but before you generate your feedback), your mind is going to tell you "Wait! You noticed that too." Or "Your other observation doesn't make sense if what these three people said is true." I actually discount feedback when I know the person read other comment. (I can tell when they say things like "Like others said..." "I also noticed what X pointed out.") It is VERY valuable to get the same comment three times, because I know it's not just one reader who feels that way. With the caveat that it has to come from three readers who weren't influenced by each other. Piggybacking on other feedback can actually be harmful if the feedback is flawed. It gives the writer the sense that a whole bunch of people had the same reaction, when really only one person did and the rest just thought it sounded like a good point. Hope that helps! Edited by MegOverman - 26 Jul 2017 at 8:23am |
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Suave
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 25 Jan 2015 Location: Thailand Status: Online Points: 25027 |
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Personally, I don't care if it is all the same or not, if they read the others before or not. I like to read them, and each will have its little extra little bit in it. I like to know people read it, though if you were to go to the forum and look for your post, without using the Master list, that will tell you how many have looked in on your story. But, that is just me.
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plkphoto
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 14 Jan 2015 Location: AliceSprings OZ Status: Offline Points: 3153 |
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I always comment without reading the other feedback first. If a whole lot of people bring up the same thing, good or bad, it lets you know what's working and what's not. :)
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nixie
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 01 Aug 2015 Location: Seattle, WA Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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I find 'repeat comments" *very* helpful. They tell me the difference between "one person thought this" and "the majority of readers thought this" which helps me validate and determine which bits to act on.
Meg, I will say that your approach means you will almost invariably discount my feedback, even though I don't read others' comments before reading. What I *do* do is read the story, take my own notes, and then skim the comments to see not only if someone has noticed the same things, but if the writer has added any info. So, for example, if someone commented on a character quirk, and the writer says "oh, I intended that to look like x" - instead of just commenting on the character quirk, I can add to that by saying "and here's how you could have bridged the gap to make me see what you intended" or "here's what made it seem not-like-you-intended, to me." While we don't want readers anchoring their feedback by reading comments first, that isn't the only time they could have read them, and there is value to be gained in a group conversation, IMHO. |
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MegOverman
NYC Midnight Addict Joined: 20 Jul 2014 Location: Ohio Status: Offline Points: 1439 |
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I probably overstated there. I still read and digest the group conversation. I just don't necessarily use feedback that clearly pivots off someone else's toward my mental tally of "how many individuals noticed / thought the same thing." I still appreciate ALL the feedback I get. I just find first uninfluenced takes especially useful. There's also value in the discussion that follows as people tease out the why and how-to-fix of issues. |
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jenspenden
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 25 Sep 2013 Location: Denver, CO Status: Offline Points: 5069 |
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I personally NEVER read the comments before I leave my own. I don't want to be swayed any which way. I want to tell the writer what I thought. That way they get my unique perspective.
...Now, will my perspective be unique? Maybe. Maybe not. I will sometimes skim through the reviews after I've posted mine to see if others said the same things as me. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. As a writer, I love seeing repetitious feedback. It means there's a general consensus about a certain aspect that (if negative) I need to fix, or (if positive) I need to keep. I'll admit, I'm not a fan of those who say, "I agree with the previous comments." It means that person read the reviews before they left their own, so their initial interpretation may have been tainted. I know many, MANY people on the forum do this, and some might write their reviews before they look at what others said, but...still. I want YOUR opinion (even if you don't think it's unique). Overall, I say do what makes you most comfortable. But, I don't think anybody would say, "Ugh, why did you repeat what a hundred other people already told me?" In my book, repetitious feedback is a great thing. |
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TheDustyZebra
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 22 Jan 2017 Location: Colorado Status: Offline Points: 1709 |
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Don't totally discount those. I read the story before I look at the other feedback, but then I read the other feedback (or at least some of it -- if there are many pages, I usually skip most of it) before writing my own. So I may very well say "As others have pointed out..." or something similar, but I didn't know they had pointed it out before I formed my own opinion.
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100MF2022 R1 G41 The Ties that Bind (Romance)
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jftrent
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 10 Jul 2017 Location: US Status: Offline Points: 122 |
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I agree with this wholeheartedly. I also agree with other folks' comments that you should read a story and form your own reaction before reading the critiques of others.
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nixie
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 01 Aug 2015 Location: Seattle, WA Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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poor Meg :) we took you way too literally!! ;)
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