#i.e. the person who commented on Continuum with the idea of Adam's past being revealed via Jinn back on like chapter 1 or 2

[unofficialadamtaurus]

The fic-dish anon again, sorry for the follow up comment, your second paragraph just unlocked a suppressed memory

Back when I used to write, I had this one guest reader who’d review my entire chapter and then “suggest” (or push) for ways to “improve the story”…which were basically just things they wanted me to change about the plot, include, exclude etc. They’d be like “yeah i’m not sure about that part, I think it’d be more interesting if..” and I was like ?? Ok what do you want me to do about it. move along 🤨

It’s so weird when people “offer you advice” on how to “improve” your writing..when you never asked for said advice to begin with and said suggestions aren’t even objective advice (like pointing out typos or something), nope, i’d be them trying to push you to change your fic in a direction they want you to and it’s so uncomfortable and weird. It’s also kind of why I gave up on writing along with the fact it’s difficult for me to focus nowadays. And unfortunately this kind of behaviour isn’t even uncommon as it has happened to literally all of my online friends who are fic writers, to some extent.

I don’t understand how people struggle to grasp the fact that writing fics is a hobby, is personal and some people use it to vent or cope or maybe even “connect” to their favourite characters, in a way, and that at the end of the day we do it for ourselves & are doing it for free. We just choose to share it but that’s not a permission to try to make me tailor you a fic for free & give me your unwanted “advice” and suggestions. Seriously, if you want to read something specific that badly just pay an author who does commissions to write it for you..

In the past I thought that was usually done by younger readers who don’t really understand how their behaviour isn’t right (I’m sure the one I had a shitty experience with was a teen) but judging by my friends’ experiences, that’s not always the same.

Ugh, I hate those kinds of comments and I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Kudos to you for being able to brush them off. Particularly when you're not getting a lot of feedback, it can be hard to resist the urge to please the people who are responding. (Side note, if you're reading an enjoyable fic that has very few comments, definitely leave a few words! You'll make the writer's day and help them build the confidence in themselves needed to ignore pushy people.)

It's one thing to, if the writer has said they'll accept that kind of critique, bring up potential plot holes or weak scenes. I'm fine with that, for example. It's entirely different to critique a scene based solely on the fact that it didn't appeal to you personally and then suggest that the writer, for free on a story they wrote for themselves, go back and write a more tailored version.

There's a fundamental gap between the text that people read on the screen and the writer with their own motivations behind the words. As you pointed out, I'm sure a fair chunk of fanfic readers are young and genuinely haven't thought about that divide before...but then you have others who are clearly aware enough to grasp it but either don't care or refuse to acknowledge that not everything is made for their consumption.

The best thing to do as a writer is clearly establish what kinds of comments/critique you're looking for, if any, and politely yet firmly enforce those boundaries. If some fool refuses to listen, hit them with the block no jutsu.