Miserable Pile Of Words

Watching youths on tumblr talk about how 'fic authors do not want feedback' like what the fuck

like I get it it's a case by case basis and some people don't want it but the idea that your default footing should be 'people do not want feedback' is bugfuck wild to me. It's weird in that particular way that few things can ever be.

It's - I feel like there's a chunk of the internet who really would just be happier if I never looked at or talked to them and yet they're posting their stuff on places with comment sections and response options and it's so strange

it is hard to overstate just how important “people telling me what they think of my writing/art” is to me. part of the whole reason Her Majesty The Prince (and posting stories chapter by chapter in general) has been such an effective and enduring hyperfixation for me is that I get feedback as I’m writing the thing and that gives me the drive to keep going

I totally respect folks for whom this isn’t the case but good gosh y’all please keep telling people how the things they create affect you, for some of us it’s literally what keeps us going

_{What Zandra said}

Me: "Oh this is happening now? Randomly? Should I be worried?"
The internet: "Could be nothing! Or it could be ALS! Or a tumor! Cancer!"
Me: "... why the fuck did I even look on the internet?"

Anyway, guess I'll be reaching out to the specialists again and go "hey, what the fuck?"

you should leave comments on peoples' art!

many of us are so used to the informal way of engaging with each others' art on places like twitter, where you just drop a like and a retweet and move on. but, and i won't speak for every artist on the internet, comments can be just as -- if not more -- valuable than simply just clicking the heart. the heart tells you "hey, i saw this and thought it was good", but a comment (to me at least) shows that a piece spoke to you in at least some way, even if it's just "the shading is good" or "nice color choices" or "awesome riffs". anybody can just click a button and scroll away, but those couple seconds that you spend typing something for them to read is a couple seconds of care and attention that i think really matters.

comments also open up a gateway for artists to actually interact with the people that like their work. again -- only speaking for myself -- but i absolutely love talking about art with other people, whether it be their art or my own, whether i have a substantial amount to say or just a compliment that i appreciate what they created. if you say "i like this", i might say "thanks" or i might give you a little description of how i got to that point or how i did that thing, and who knows -- maybe that comment reply might have some insight that motivates you or someone else reading it to do something similar, or engage in an artistic process of their very own.

all of this is to say -- i think you should leave comments on peoples' art on cohost if you like their art! don't simply just reblog and walk away, take a couple of seconds of your day to drop some appreciation. you might actually perk up an artist today and make them feel good about what they've made :)

This.
_Please.

I don't specifically write for other people¹, and don't get me wrong, hearts and rechosts are great! Mind-blowingly amazing even! They're little "wait, people like me?" bubbles of joy, or in the case of rechosts, undeniable proof that there's someone that enjoyed my scribblings enough to grab the people that follow them by the arm and go "See? This thing here? I liked this! Look at it!", and I love² you³ for those!

But... it's even nicer⁴ when people just... say something⁵? Anything. Something they liked, or something they hated! Either is fine, both types of feedback can help me hone my craft⁶. Questions about a story or my process⁸ are more than welcome⁹!

[shameless plug]
The more you boost and pump up my pitifully insecure and deflated ego, and the betterer I can get at writing, the more the velocity and volume of things for you to read will increase¹⁰!
[/shameless plug]

Come on, do something.