The Etiquette of Holiday fics

[geoviki]

Like all the rest of you, I'm delighting in the reams and reams of new stories and art (and this year's art is especially terrific!). There's the granddaddy, merry_smutmas, and then others like harry_holidays, hd_holidays, smutty_claus, lupin_snape.... an embarrassment of riches!

As we are encouraging each other as writers and artists, I'm trying to leave feedback as well. One thing that caught my notice, though, has left me feeling uneasy, and I wondered what your views are: In your opinion, is it uncouth to leave concrit that's negative on a fest fic? (Disclosure: this is not anything that's happened regarding my own fic, just other folk's.)

I don't see the author requesting any, for one thing. Personally, I won't do it, but then I never leave anything less than praise unless I'm asked specifically and privately. If I don't like something, I just pass it by. Which unfortunately is the same response to something I've not yet read, so the writer is never sure if I'm unhappy or just behind (if the writer even cares what I think), but there you go.

But IMHO, these stories are gifts. And I can't see criticising a gift. Am I over-sensitive? What do you authors and artists think?

Comments

[bunney.livejournal.com]

I'd rather receive negative feedback than to wonder forever if the recipient even read it. That's happened to me and it's incredibly frustrating.

You can always phrase your feedback in such a way that you aren't necessarily commenting on the fic itself but rather on the writer's hard work in creating it.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Seeing as one of the fics I wrote was posted on one of the exchanges, and it got lots of good feedback, except for one: the freaking person I wrote it for! It's like, DAMN, if you wanted to be part of an exchange, at least pay attention to whether your fic was posted for you! (And yeah, it's been up for several days now.) *grumbles*

[bunney.livejournal.com]

Happened to me on the last fic exchange I was on. I spent a month checking for a comment, even if that comment was "this fic sucks!" Nothing. That, to me, is a million times more insulting.

I hope you hear from your recipient!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Thankee, dear. I'm sure I'll hear from the one for the other fic I did. But... *sigh* It's just obnoxious, to get a gift, and not even acknowledge it. Ya know?