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When TastyAsItGets asked me to write a piece about reviews, I spent the better part of a week wondering how and why I’ve managed to accumulate so many of them. I’m not going to harp on how an original story, good writing, fresh ideas, and well-characterized fanfics will get reviews. They will, but there’s no guarantee that if you build it, they will come. There are plenty of great stories with just a smattering of reviews out there.
I won’t say I have a secret to getting so many people to review, but I do know what I like and dislike about giving and getting reviews. Based on my reactions over the past few years of writing, I think I have a good understanding of what prompts readers to reach out and let me know what they think.
First of all, I don’t ever start a story without knowing exactly how it ends, and I won’t start something I can’t finish. Few things make me crazier than stories that are abandoned or writers who ask their readers for ideas. Whose story is it? Quite often I will write a story backwards, with the last few chapters done and waiting for me to catch up with the rest of the tale. That serves two purposes – it keeps the story on track and to keep it moving I just have to fill in the gaps between beginning and end. I also update quickly. Forty-three chapters of Into the West took me exactly two months to post. Granted, that’s insane. Even I’ll admit that. I don’t know what possessed me, but it was fun and I enjoyed it. At the same time, though, readers loved having a saga coming at them fast and furious, and they responded accordingly.
I also take great care with structuring my stories. My research is exact and accurate. That’s wildly important because you never know what your readers know. They’ll shock you at times. They’ve certainly startled me, but luckily I’ve never been called on the carpet where I can’t defend myself. A lot of reviews for my story Black Dwarfs, Blue River revolved around the descriptions of Edmund learning to work in a smithy. I happened to walk into that fic knowing a lot (but not enough) about working metal. I did tons of research, talked to people that knew how to make weapons, and delved into mythology to complete that story. It was worth every moment of work I put into it because I impressed and educated my readers in one shot. I also take care to keep time lines straight, seasons accurate, battles vivid, and so on. I balance action and dialogue with exposition and characterization with smatterings of humor. Again, the work I put into striking this balance shows in the reviews I get. Readers can see and appreciate time and effort poured into the fandoms they love.
Second, I respond to every single review that I get. I don’t care if it takes me weeks to get to them all - I answer every review that I can, even if the person just wrote "Good!" Readers took the time to review, and I feel it’s only right that I respond. When I can, I return their review with one of my own. If people ask questions, I try to answer them. If they have pointed out typos, I thank them and correct them (even though gross nit-picking and people who feel the need to find flaws regardless of how well they enjoyed the chapter just make me roll my eyes and curtail my response). I don’t concern myself if the review is positive, negative, has nothing to do with the chapter, if the reviewer has called me sick or a goddess (yes, I’ve had both) – she has taken the time to let me know what she thinks. Since it’s about my work, I care deeply, and I thank her. I’ve made many good friends, have found all my beta readers (and I have a small troop of them), and have gotten some excellent ideas and advice by doing this.
I’ve gotten many emails and messages from people who appreciate getting a response to their comments or a quick thank-you from me for adding my stories to their favorites. It may seem like a lot of work and at times it is, but it pays off, because those readers will keep coming back. I know quite a few people – myself among them – who will stop reviewing a story regardless of how good it may be if I don’t get some kind of reaction from the writer. A thank-you or shout out in the author’s notes, a response to a review, an email, anything. It’s almost like giving a person a present without getting a thank-you in return. I’m not so secure in my position as a writer of Narnia fanfic to ignore the people who hold me in such high regard. Some writers claim to be too busy to answer individual reviews and I just shake my head, because what am I if not busy most of the time? We all are. That’s a given. Yet these busy writers expect their busy readers to review. If anything, I’d just like to be thanked for taking the time to read a story, let alone offering a long review.
Third, to get reviews, you have to start by giving them, rather like respect. Quite often you’ll get the kind of reviews that you give. If you want something to sink your teeth into, give authors detailed critiques and tell them what did and didn’t work for you in a story or chapter. If you want nice reviews, give nice reviews. As I said before some people feel the need to find mistakes. Doing this doesn’t always come across in a constructive manner. Ripping a new author to shreds because the story’s been done or a name is incorrectly spelled or she’s deviated from canon only makes the reviewer look bad. And what will you get in return? People who shy away from the bad reviewer’s stories or repay them in kind. Is it worth it? Really?
Which leads to my final point: author’s notes. Please don’t beg, threaten, or hold a story hostage for reviews. Such conduct is childish and degrades both the story and the writer. If I see a note demanding or whining or giving me puppy dog eyes begging for reviews, I don’t care how amazing the story was or how much I loved it, I won’t review. I’m not so curious about any story that I’d give in to those tactics, I’m not an enabler, and I don’t make deals with anyone that takes hostages. Is this a story or a prisoner exchange? Writers that tell me that I’d better have ample supplies of Kleenex available, or that they’ve ended in an ‘evil cliffy’ (whatever that is, as if I can’t figure it out for myself), and so on, just make me move along without saying anything 99.9% of the time. If your writing does its job properly then I can figure such things out for myself, thanks. I don’t need to be told what I’m supposed to feel or what just happened in the story. If I’m clever enough to read I’m also clever enough to draw my own conclusions. If a story touches something within me, I’ll review it. It’s that simple. A simple note that reviews are appreciated and treasured tell me a great deal about how serious the person is about becoming a better writer versus demands to be told how wonderful they are.
In my opinion, it’s not enough that you just write well to get a lot of reviews. It’s also a matter of giving back what you’ve been given, of encouraging others, building relationships, and offering a helping hand. I don’t ever allow myself to forget that I was once new to writing fanfic and the thrill I felt when my first stories drew some attention of established writers. Some encouraged, some criticized, but ultimately they all took the time to let me know what they thought, and because of that I kept - and keep on - writing.
Elecktrum is a two-time winner of NFFR’s Revolution Award and a winner of TLC’s Lion Award for her Narnia fanfics. She has authored numerous stories for Narnia and has a habit of writing beastly long fics including "Into the West," "Thole," and "Black Dwarfs, Blue River." She has many more stories planned (if only her ADD muse would peel herself away from Fusion Fall) and fully intends to make life interesting for the Pevensies for a long time to come.