My two cents on kudos and comments:
Receiving kudos on a story is always welcome. It’s a validation and I take it as a mark of appreciation. Every kudos email is refreshing and brightens my day. On a new story, it’s a sigh of relief that this fic didn’t go overlooked and someone out there has already had a chance to enjoy it. On older stories, it’s a smile at realizing that people are still finding and enjoying something I finished so long ago.
Receiving comments, however, is both validation and also inspiration. When a reader notes what they liked in a story – maybe something I did intentionally, but often it’s even something I hadn’t realized myself when I was writing it – that element sticks in my mind; it’s likelier that sort of thing will make it into the next story. When a reader has questions or speculation about where a fic is going to go, that gets me speculating too and can motivate me to pick up a stalled tale and see where it’s going to go myself. Anytime readers liked a fic enough to talk to me about it, I can’t help but think more about that fic myself, logically, right? And the more I’m thinking about it, the more new plots are suggesting themselves to my subconscious. When a new reader finds an older fic of mine, in a fandom I haven’t frequented lately, and tells me what they liked about it, suddenly I’m thinking about that fandom and that storyline again and maybe the urge to write in that world returns.
Plus, readers using comments – or tumblr messaging, or anything available to us – to talk to me about something I wrote (and vice versa, when I as a reader tell another writer what I loved about their fic) have led to some of my most treasured online friendships. That’s the best part of all.
This echoes what I’ve seen on a lot of the tags on my kudos ask. Kudos are lovely and like a thumbs up of approval or a like on a post. Comments are more of a connection between reader and writer.
Thanks for sharing!
Interesting commentary… When I look for new fics, I always sort by kudos because I figure more kudos = more individuals who liked the story…
Butttt as a writer, I alway loved getting the comments. Hmmm. Maybe I should comment more.
hannahbelleeeebackup 