Disclaimers: Uh... I don't own the quotes I'm using for this lil' thing. Also, don't take offense to any of the things I say in this, okay?
Disappointment
By: Princess Relena
Okay, some people might stop reading this right when I say this, but: This is not about Gundam Wing, or Sailor Moon, at least not particularly. It's about all you fellow fanfiction writers. The thing is, I'm rather disappointed in how mean and flat out cruel some people are when they review stories. I'm only using two examples, but I'm sure that there are more than two bad reviews, and more than two awful so-called fans out there.
It's terrible how immature some people can be when reviewing a story. Some people who reviewed my story and were kind enough to give their e-mails already know that I used to write as Neo_Princess, and I received an awful review for my SM story, Rebirth. This is it:
"That f*cking sucked! The plot was nonexistent and it was so simple and almost pointless! I will make a note to beat her down in my next story..."
Okay, now does everyone understand why I'm complaining? I'm just glad that (hopefully) everyone isn't this rude, using language like that. I mean, KIDS READ THESE TOO, and it's not like they don't know what word that is with the lil' star!
Now, my best friend posted a story as Princess Sakura Kino, and she got a bad review. Sakura-Chan has only JUST been introduced to the wonderful world of fanfic-dom, and this was her first fanfiction EVER. See, she comes to my house to go online, so she hasn't read very many fanfics, and me being the baka I am, encouraged her to write and post, and she tried her very best, coming to me constantly for help, and she helped me with my fanfics in return. Anyway, after all her work, she posted up her story, "The Hook Up: Part 1," and this was the review she got:
"It sucked. I'm sorry, but your just a average writer (in this, at least) and just have been taking old, used, unoriginal ideas everyone has."
I warned her about bad reviews before she put the fic up, and she shrugged me off, saying it would be fine. However, when she saw that review, aawwwww, I'll just say what she did. "Ohhhhhh.... Straight to the heart... Should I even keep trying?" Luckily, Sakura-Chan recovered a million times quicker than I did with mine and she's still writing, only with a much more original story.
Okay, now to my point: I'm practically BEGGING all of you, can you be a little more, ah, easier on your reviews? I know a lot of people are pretty much flame-proof, but a lot of us writers aren't! It really gets to a person when you get a bad review.
Instead of just saying that a story sucks, tell what the person did wrong, then give an idea to improve the story, so it wouldn't "suck" so much. Try to tell how to make the fic a better. This way, no one ends up feeling bad, and the reviewer gets a clear conscience. But then there are probably people who diss other authors' fics on purpose, just to make themselves feel better than them. This request of mine won't help any of them, but I'm trying anyway.
Please, minna-san, take what I said seriously (not to mention maturely!) and try to review stories a little more gently. Sorry if I wasted the time of the nicer bunch of you guys out there! Ja ne, and by the way, part 3 of my story, "Proposal," will be out reeaaaaaally soon!