Friday, September 25, 2015

Thoughts about Comments

For me, the attribute that makes a comment most useful or entertaining to read is specificity.  General impressions are nice, but I really appreciate when someone points out a particular aspect of my story that they liked or disliked.  For instance, on my Week 3 story, two people mentioned that they liked how I described Vali's morning workout.  This is helpful to me because I know that I did a good job in this instance of making the character relatable, which was the entire point of the story.

So far, I haven't received much in the way of criticism or suggestions.  While this inflates my ego, it doesn't make me a better writer.  I really would appreciate more constructive criticism.

I also appreciate comments on my image.  As the first impression of the story, I think the images are very important.  This is probably because I am a photographer, so I like to think about images, and I am happy when other people enjoy my photography.  Although I don't expect anyone here to give me constructive feedback on my photography, I've found that is something difficult to come by.

Additionally, on several of my posts, I've provided links within the story or author's note.  I appreciate when people who comment on those links so that I know they were somewhat useful.

I think the most interesting comments I receive on my introduction post are ones with facts, anecdotes or links.  Its almost always more fun to read a comment when you get an interesting fact or story out of it.
 
With my comments so far, I think I've done a good job of providing specific suggestions for people to improve their writing.  However, I need to focus on providing more specific praise.

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