Commitment and Reviews

Recently, I received a review to one of my old fics. It was nice to see some old names from the other fandom. Which brought me back to my own reflections again.

You see, before I started "I Want To Be A Turk!", I kinda wrote a semi-ending for my previous fic and I moved on. I naively thought then that I could finish "I Want To Be A Turk" in 6 months and then go back.

How foolish I was.

I admit, even now I feel the dread of needing to complete Days of Exile. But reading the review from my old readers renewed my commitment to update and complete Days of Exile.

So yeah. That's that. A short but genuine post about how I've been feeling. Even if I no longer feel the passion to write about Days of Exile (which really isn't the case, I promise!), I will finish the story because of my commitment. The day I fail to do so... I'm sure I'll at least apologise here on this blog before I go. If that doesn't happen, then you should figure out that some divine intervention prevented me from doing so, if you know what I mean! Of course, I really need support and encouragement from everyone once in a while. You know that you guys are really important to me, right?

Okay, on to another topic. Guys? When you want to give some suggestions to the author, be careful of how you phrase your words. I feel that a reviewer should never make his suggestions sound to the author as if he is commanding the author to take his suggestions. I'm speaking as a reviewer myself. At the very least, be polite and neutral about it so you don't seem pushy. I mean, dear reviewers, please don't use absolutes like "I want the story to continue this way." Sensitive authors (like myself :P) could be easily offended and you probably won't know why.

So I usually 'protect' myself by adding disclaimers like "This is just a suggestion", or "I'm just saying these things but you know your story best." Sometimes, I also assure the author that no matter the outcome, I would continue reading his/her story. And I do, even when the story becomes an atrocity (which hardly happens).

Now, speaking as an amateur author, I'm not too sure if other authors feel this way. Authors love comments, reviews and suggestions, but it's not cool when you get the vibe from your readers that they won't support you if you write the story this way. 'Nuff said.

Now, if you were to excuse me, I'll go write some stuff on Days of Exile.

Have a good week ahead!