User blog comment:Phoenix Flight/Commenting and other things/@comment-17759525-20150216145306

c'mon people step it up

Those of you who have received comments from me know how thorough I am in my commenting. It takes forever and annoys the heck out of me, but I feel that it's really worth it to the authors. Over the course of a long comment, I point out what I like about the individual chapters, where grammar and spelling could be improved, and how a point in the story could be changed. I also muse about what I think will happen next; I have no idea if that has any impact or not, but still.

I'm not saying that everyone has to adopt my commenting system; heck, that'd be ridiculously great, but it's incredibly time-consuming. I know that I rarely actually finish commenting on whole stories, and I want to do better on that, but I like to think that what I do comment on is worthwhile. When I check my email or wiki activity and see that someone's commented on my stories, I get excited; if it's a short comment, like "OHEY THIS IS GREAT", I'm disappointed. At least it tells me that I'm not a total flop as a writer, but it's missing the point of commenting.

When I get longer comments, though, even if they're not especially detailed, I'm happy. I like reading about what people think I've written well - it gives me more confidence in my writing - but I also like hearing where I could improve. Overall it just helps me become a better writer, and it helps me know what people like or dislike.

Constructive criticism is called "constructive" for a reason. It's meant to improve the stories, not to shoot them down with a machine gun. It's a nice balance of "This is good" and "This could be better". It doesn't have to be rude, nor does it have to be especially thorough like my comments. Even just from reading comments on others' stories or commenting on them myself, I figure out how I myself could improve.

It's worth it, people. Give it a try.