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Will preface this by saying that if
sulien is thinking this is awfully coincidental, she's absolutely right - replying to one of her comments got me thinking.
I know as an author I love "meaty" comments. The ones where someone doesn't just say 'well done' or 'I liked it' but reacts or gives details about what they liked. These are the sort of comments I want to be able to leave as a reader. They are also the comments I feel I am worst at writing. (Seriously. Me trying to write one of those comments typically involves much flailing and handwaving, not all of it figurative.) I can say 'I enjoyed/liked/loved it!' but would rather say more.
Is there something I can do to get better at more substantive comments? I know Dawn Felagund has linked comment starters before. I'm not looking for a starter so much as a 'how do I get my brain to more reliably crystallize what about a particular story I liked/why I liked it?' And I need to convince my brain to do this in a timely fashion - while I've had some success with adding 'comment on [story]' to my to-do app*, in general if I don't comment right away, I don't comment.
*Yes, I have a to-do app. It's the one app that is on ALL my devices. It is key in getting me from the 'I thought about it' stage to the 'I did it' stage, not to mention extremely helpful in making sure I get repetitive but non-daily chores done on the regular and not just when I happen to think of them and am not distracted.
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I know as an author I love "meaty" comments. The ones where someone doesn't just say 'well done' or 'I liked it' but reacts or gives details about what they liked. These are the sort of comments I want to be able to leave as a reader. They are also the comments I feel I am worst at writing. (Seriously. Me trying to write one of those comments typically involves much flailing and handwaving, not all of it figurative.) I can say 'I enjoyed/liked/loved it!' but would rather say more.
Is there something I can do to get better at more substantive comments? I know Dawn Felagund has linked comment starters before. I'm not looking for a starter so much as a 'how do I get my brain to more reliably crystallize what about a particular story I liked/why I liked it?' And I need to convince my brain to do this in a timely fashion - while I've had some success with adding 'comment on [story]' to my to-do app*, in general if I don't comment right away, I don't comment.
*Yes, I have a to-do app. It's the one app that is on ALL my devices. It is key in getting me from the 'I thought about it' stage to the 'I did it' stage, not to mention extremely helpful in making sure I get repetitive but non-daily chores done on the regular and not just when I happen to think of them and am not distracted.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 02:26 am (UTC)If that doesn't work I might tell the writer how it made me feel--"made me laugh," "made me smile," "broke my heart." That's just me, of course. I don't have any self-consciousness about saying what I feel.
Worst comes to worst, I appreciate "Well done!" or "I really liked this story." So, something is better than nothing! Sometimes I just feel so low and yet I enjoyed the story, so, if it is on AO3, I give it a Kudo. (I hope Dawn doesn't come after me with a stick!)
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Date: 2019-06-14 02:31 am (UTC)I always at least leave Kudos on AO3, but I need to get better at actually commenting - I'm terrible at it.
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Date: 2019-06-14 03:35 am (UTC)Having said that, I've never had a problem with 'I really loved this story/this was a good read'. Pretty much anything beats watching the anonymous read count climb and wondering if they all hit the back button after the second paragraph.
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Date: 2019-06-14 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 08:12 am (UTC)I generally type up comments that way and then copy-paste to the comment box.
But the best way for me is to read a chapter and be so excited about it I just have to comment then and there. And I don’t think authors care if you’re a bit sqee-ful and say things like OMG I loved this, etc.
And/or I say what I loved about a particular character and what they did/said etc.
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Date: 2019-06-14 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 11:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 04:51 pm (UTC)As for the comments themselves, I've never had a problem stating my opinion on what I think/feel (boy, howdy). Just do that and say why a story (or a particular passage, or mood) evokes that reaction in you. Flailing around and fan-girling/boying isn't always a bad thing, sometimes a story is just that affecting.
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Date: 2019-06-14 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-15 12:40 am (UTC)You really are exceptionally good at getting into a character's head and making the reader see their emotions and motivations and how they shape the character's actions (you've certainly gotten me to look at the Fëanorions from a different angle). Maybe consider mentally stepping outside of yourself and looking at it as if you were writing yourself as a character reacting to the story? It won't necessarily help you in writing individual comments and reviews immediately, but the self-examination and increased self-awareness will help develop that ability to figure out the why of your reactions in future.
Pardon, still loopy here, so you're getting unfiltered stream of consciousness.
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Date: 2019-06-15 02:26 pm (UTC)This might seem a bit counter-intuitive. But if you develop your comments out of that, the author will see what you picked up on, in their story.
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Date: 2019-06-19 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-17 11:55 am (UTC)Not that I'm exactly a great commenter, mine tend to be a bit on the short side, but I think it does help.
On chaptered fiction, I like to respond to the characters almost as if they were telling me about what they did afterwards? That gives you comments like : OMG Fingon, what were you THINKING??? How are you going to get out of this one??? Which can be fun for the writer and I think are actually easier to reply to than pure praise.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-19 01:24 am (UTC)I do the response to characters sometimes. Maybe I should try that more consistently...