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grundyscribblingWill 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.
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.
no subject
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.