So ilovemelissachapman came to me, and told me he wanted to retire from ff.net, all because of these awful people who have no consideration for the writer.
He's posting this not only as an inspiration to struggling authors, but as something to show flamers that their victims have feelings.
BTW, if anyone says in their review 'You should have retired' I will personally track you down and beat you up. Kapiesh?
Also, Forlay and D.M.P., forgive me for discussing some of your not so good reviews in the conversation. You two were the first two I could think of to look up. :D
~MC~
ilovemelissachapman : hi mad cow
Mad Cow: 'lo
ilovemelissachapman: brb
ilovemelissachapman: back
Mad Cow: k
ilovemelissachapman: well i know u had sucess at fanfiction.net but i have not so im annocing my retirement me ilovemelissachaspman says goodbye to fanfiction.net
ilovemelissachapman: its true this is a true story
Mad Cow: What do you mean, no success?
ilovemelissachapman: everyone hates my stories
Mad Cow: *snort* Having everyone love your stories isn't success!
Mad Cow: Success is being happy with your own work.
ilovemelissachapman: yes it is everyone hates mine u read the reviews
ilovemelissachapman: everyone hates my stories
Mad Cow: oh, c'mon. You're not hated. It's rare for newbies to be worshiped from the start. Besides, its some of your first fics.
Mad Cow: Have you read any of MY first fics?
ilovemelissachapman: yes
ilovemelissachapman: they will be happy im gone
Mad Cow: No, you havent
ilovemelissachapman: lol
Mad Cow: Trust me, my first fics, had I published them anywhere (which I didnt) would get awful reviews
ilovemelissachapman: listen im gone everyone hates me there happy im gone i bet
Mad Cow: Besides, everyone gets bad reviews.
Mad Cow: No, they wont be. You're bringing fresh new talent to the Aniscene.
ilovemelissachapman: im retiring and that final i have 13 stories left the write them everyone will say they suck
Mad Cow: Our section of ff.net is slowly dying. We need everyone writing that we can
ilovemelissachapman: i know but everyone hates melissachapmasn but i love her
Mad Cow: maybe you need to expand your horizions. Write stuff that isn't just geared for her.
ilovemelissachapman: i cant i love her
ilovemelissachapman: i have a survivor story ready but im not puting them up everyone will say they suck that why im giving them to u
Mad Cow: so? I am a huge Marco fan, yet occasionally I write stories not in his direction.
ilovemelissachapman: oh
Mad Cow: (Even if it's only to splatter Jake with horse poop-MWHAH!)
ilovemelissachapman: lol
ilovemelissachapman: im giving my stories to u im retiring
Mad Cow: Damn fanfiction.net! Connect me!!
Mad Cow: Not if I can help it.
ilovemelissachapman: i am mad cow
Mad Cow: Did you know some of my first poems were rejected for publishing at Mousie's Animorphs?
Mad Cow: But did I let that stop me? No.
ilovemelissachapman: they were my survivor stories probaly suck
Mad Cow: Don't write just for reviews, my friend. Write because you love to write, you feel the writing deep inside of you.
ilovemelissachapman: i will think about it but right now im retired
Mad Cow: Don't gear your stories toward and audience. If you do what you love and love that you do, then reviews shouldn't mean anything besides possible comments for revision.
ilovemelissachapman: whydo they have to have reviews at this website people feel rejected
Mad Cow: "What do you do when you get rejected? Try, try again." -Complete idiots Guide to Publishing Sicence Fiction
Mad Cow: Its go give ideas for improvements
ilovemelissachapman: ok i will think about it right now im retired ok mad cow
Mad Cow: "But remember: A [reviewers] suggestions are just suggestions." -CIGTPSF
ilovemelissachapman: ok
ilovemelissachapman: i dont know i will think about it mad cow
Mad Cow: "Getting rejected is an intergral part of the process of breaking out in the field." -CIGTPSF
ilovemelissachapman: ok
ilovemelissachapman: im still thinking about it
Mad Cow: "Rejection hurts. Kate Wilhelm, on of the founders of Clariton Workshop, is famous for having her students hold their manuscripts aloft and recite, 'This is me, that's my story.' You are not your story! When a story gets rejected, it's story thats rejected, not the writer." -CIGTPSF
ilovemelissachapman: ok i have reached my desision
ilovemelissachapman: im retiring that my final answer
Mad Cow: not if I can help it. Tell me: Why are you REALLY retiring?
ilovemelissachapman: because of mean people giving badreviews
Mad Cow: You said it: Mean people. Often, nice people don't bother. I only review a fic if it either makes me laugh out loud, or if it really touches me. But that doesn't mean the ones I don't review I don't like.
ilovemelissachapman: listyen to mad cow they dont like my stories so that it im gone never to see again on fanfiction.net
Mad Cow: Look, why do you care? Why should you care that some people don't like your stories? If you keep writing, eventually you'll get better and better.
Mad Cow: I'm still on that road. If I let every bad review get to me, I'd never write again! I've gotten loads of bad reviews. Sure, they sting a little, but I keep trying, and you should too, or you'll be letting talent go to waste.
ilovemelissachapman: no i wont im giving up this is turning out just like my 5th grade story
Mad Cow: Look, how old are you?
ilovemelissachapman: 12
Mad Cow: 12. Exactly. A lot of us are 14, 15+. You're a younger author trying to make it. We've had time to grow, you're still dealing with new talent.
ilovemelissachapman: but im retiring u cant stop me im retired
Mad Cow: You can't retire at 12!!
ilovemelissachapman: lol on a website i can
Mad Cow: If you love writing, then YOU SHOULDN'T CARE WHAT PEOPLE THINK!
ilovemelissachapman: i should of never wrote the date
Mad Cow: ff.net is just a place to publish what you write
ilovemelissachapman: i dont care
Mad Cow: I should have never written the sex scene in Senior Summer. But I did, and I got thwapped for it. But I didn't quit, I kept writing
ilovemelissachapman: lol
Mad Cow: I think your main problem is lack of being gramatically correct, spelling, etc. That caused alot of bad reviews for me in my 'younger days'
ilovemelissachapman: huh
Mad Cow: Then I got spellcheck, a dictionary, a BETA reader, and kept going
Mad Cow: People don't like spelling errors.
ilovemelissachapman: well i dont know what to do i will get back to u
ilovemelissachapman: and that a rap will leave it to a sequel
Mad Cow: Hey, am I startin g to get through?
ilovemelissachapman: yes
Mad Cow: Yay!
Mad Cow: Look. Read the review someone once sent Forlay: "i don't really like Animorphs very much anymore, but i can definitely say this: That was sick. Plain sick. Just horrible. How do you people sleep at night, being so gross, with all those gross thoughts? I'm going to write to K.A.A. about this, and she'll be SPEWING!!"
ilovemelissachapman: wo that a bad review
Mad Cow: see? If she had let that get to her, than we wouldnt have so many of her good fics.
ilovemelissachapman: cool
Mad Cow: "crap" someone said that in one of D.M.P.'s reviews.
ilovemelissachapman: that it i know what im gonna do im gonna put up my animorphs survivor and i dont carewhat they say
Mad Cow: "~yawns~OK,that was waaaay too boring.I stopped reading right in the middle.Too much Star Wars." -Another DMP review
Mad Cow: So you're not retiring! Yay!
ilovemelissachapman: ok thanks mad cow u really helped
Mad Cow: *grins* My secret pan worked! MWHAHAA!
Mad Cow: "That sucked!!!!!!!!!!!!" Another DMP review