Acknowledgment of feedback

[Sabledrake]

Just what am I to respond to someone saying "Hey I liked your story it gave me a hard-on" - something like "good for you"..?

That's usually about what I tell 'em, yeah ...

Sabledrake

 

[steve w]

I have to admit I find KillerMuffin' s approach unusual, to say the least. How long do three e-mails take to respond to? About as long as it took those people who had the courtesy to write in the first place? Feedback is surely the quickest way to improve your own writing, or at least get over that feeling that you're in some gap in the space/time thingy and there's no-one else there.

I always reply if there's an addy present, and I have to say I've met some lovely people through it. This enhances my life, and involved no more than a few lines at first to achieve that. Small price to pay, in my view.

My only gripe with feedbackers is their tendency not to specify which story they're feeding back on. This makes it difficult to do more than thank them, once you've got a couple of stories on Lit.

 

[Dirty Slut]

I have to admit I find KillerMuffin' s approach unusual, to say the least. How long do three e-mails take to respond to? About as long as it took those people who had the courtesy to write in the first place? Feedback is surely the quickest way to improve your own writing, or at least get over that feeling that you're in some gap in the space/time thingy and there's no-one else there.

I always reply if there's an addy present, and I have to say I've met some lovely people through it. This enhances my life, and involved no more than a few lines at first to achieve that. Small price to pay, in my view.

My only gripe with feedbackers is their tendency not to specify which story they're feeding back on. This makes it difficult to do more than thank them, once you've got a couple of stories on Lit.

How you find some other authors treatment of their feedback is of no consequence to them. We each do what our heart tells us to do, not what others try to force us to do because it works for them. I personally don't need somebody else telling me how good or bad they think my story is, as I am very secure in knowing my own limitations, and for whom I post my stories for. Like many people here say: "If I don't like the story I just back out of the page, and don't vote." Yeah, right... In any case feedback is opinionated, and like assholes, and excuses everybody has one. The problem with most people is that they think only their opinion counts in this world.

DS

 

[steve w]

Dirty Slut,

I look back at your previous postings and note that you don't want anything to do with feedback. That's up to you, but I have a different approach.

I don't need the view of another person about my writing, I just find it nice that people have read it, and taken the time to express an opinion. I don't need people to smile at me either, but that's not to say it's unpleasant when it happens. I also don't subscribe to the view that I'm the only person who knows about my writing, or can ever improve it. Green Gem rightly points out the importance of writing with one's own voice, but equally, other people can help me to improve.

To close off from that would mean that I am, I would suggest, not as good a writer as I could be. I repeat that the time it takes to respond politely to feedback is a worthwhile investment. I think I managed to express that without sounding aggressive or implying superiority compared to others.

 

[kiwiwolf]

I started a thread a while back about a similar topic. Mainly about how the authors here go about replying, whether in bulk or individually. The consensus was for individual replies and so I sallied forth to answer my flood of feedback. It didn't take long to get behind and now to my shame and embarrassment I find myself with a new folder in my email programme entitled "Feedback Awaiting Reply." I still have masses of replies to write but I chip away at it every day or so.

I figure if they have taken the time to write to you and give you honest feedback, they deserve to get a response.

Just my two cents worth.