30 replies to this topic

[KnS]

Do you guys check an author's profile to see what it says? Do you read them? Does it seem unfriendly if an author doesn't introduce themselves? What kind of information do you want to know about an author if you're following their story?

What about story notes? Do you like them? Read them? If so, what kind of extra information interests you?

Just curious.

[kirabook]

It depends, but most of the time I do check their profiles, especially if they haven't updated in a while -I start to worry if they died-

Major turn off:
+ A huge uber long list of copypasta crap. It's horribly annoying and it makes me feel that they are 'immature', even though they could have written one of the best stories every.
+ Favorites that should be story alerts. This is just a personal petpeeve kinda thing. My favorites list is composed of true favorite stories that I really love and couldn't live without. Maybe I'm crazy, but how can someone have 600 favorites?! When someone story alerts me/favorites me/joins my c2, I always check to see what favorites they have that could relate to what I like or if they have something I haven't seen yet to add to my c2. There have been so many people I come across that apparent fave everything they lay their eyes on. >.>
+ While I don't really care too much, I do feel less... excited when authors have nothing on their profiles. It makes me feel like the author probably isn't there to stay for very long and we won't get much information on the stories in the future.
+ Not updating their profile since they day they joined. Yeah, updating a profile can be a little boring. But come on, at least add what stories you're currently working on/plan to work on/thoughts

Major turn on:
+ Updates. I like at least knowing why a chapter is taking so long or if there has been some delay. Just leaving me in the dark kinda worries me and depresses me, especially if they promised a chapter within a few days and it's 6 months later.
+ Estimates on how finished a chapter is. I like when authors do the little: 20% done, 80% done thing. It might be complete crap, but still, I feel like something is getting done, or that it's out there somewhere. I just have to wait.

Authors Notes:
+ I like authors notes. Some people hate them because they ruin the 'immersion', but having to wait for an update already ruins the immersion. I like having extra little details of how the chapter came to be, or any frustrations the author had. It's a big indicator on how updates will go in the future. If the author says that this chapter really frustrated them, I find it more likely that the next chapter will take longer to update. If they already have a lot of details on the next chapter or they have a snipit of a hint, I feel that the chapter will most likely be on time.

[KnS]

Thanks very much for the reply, kirabook. I'll keep your comments in mind.

I happened to check my ff.net profile page hit counter today -- for the first time ever, I think -- and realized I had absolutely nothing there for people to read. Made me wonder if I should. I don't want my fics to seem abandoned or unloved....

[JoHamSandwich]

Yea... if your profile page takes more than 5 seconds to scroll down to the stories, then it's waaaaaaaaay tooo long lol.

I like Author's Notes, especially if it shows a bit of insight in the chapter.

and pretty much what kirabook said is right on.

[Konohakitten]

Oh man I can't stand those long story of my life profiles! Hell take that back they dont even have anything to do with their lives its just useless copy and paste junk! One thing that I dont mind is when authors like to share what other pairings they like but then again it needs to be short XD I dont need to know every pairing they love in every anime they have ever seen. I also like it when authors use their profiles to update their personal lives. I have been meaning to do that myself ^^' I think this is much more effective then uploading a note. Those really tick me off especially if I get an update from someone that has been on hiatus and I see they uploaded a chapter and all it is is a note. Now I enjoy authors notes at the beginning of chapters and I myself use them too. I like to let me readers know what the chapter is going to contain.

[tricksie]

agree with everyone's collective thoughts about the Author's Profile. It's nice to see them used as a way to keep updated on a long story, and to know a bit more about the author. I do not even look at the copy-and-paste spam. I think the only people who do are the authors themselves.

As far as author's notes *ahem* I'm rather fond of them. Mine have sometimes been as along as other's whole chapters! But my choice to add them is specific to the story, because there are themes that carry from chapter to chapter and a someone reading each chapter individually will not catch them. So I decided, if I'm going to take the time to lay this stuff in here, I may as well gently point it out. There's a lot I don't, and stuff that is at all spoilerish is housed in extended notes offsite at my little story blog. (But there's never anything in there that's important to the story. If someone read the whole thing and never read the notes, it wouldn't matter. It's just extra thoughts, real places I've used in the setting, why I chose a character's behavior, parallel sentence structures, etc.)

All that being said, I don't like author's notes at the beginning of the chapter. Period. They should always go at the end. There the reader has the option to read them. You aren't forcing your opinions in between the reader and the story.

Along those lines, I also find the "answering" review comments to be a waste of characters. lol. You know, the one where the author has a litany of reviewers names with things like "Yes." or "You're right!" or "How did you know? That will be coming soon!" — and as a reader you have no idea what the author is talking about or responding to. I'm sure even the reviewer has forgotten what they've written. Again, I think this is something that from the author's perspective makes sense, but it only works for him/her. Everyone else is left scratching their heads.

And honestly, the long author profiles and those types of review notes I think are more to do with age and inexperience than anything. So though they irritate me, I don't think it's an inentional thing. I think the author genuinely thinks doing it that way is something everyone will love. So it's a forgiveable offense, and one I figure they'll grow out of the longer they are on ff.net.

[Madz]

I definitely check profiles - authors or non authors. In fact I think I ALWAYS check the profiles - it help me to 'discern' the person, though of course a profile is never accurate or give the true picture of the person. But at least I try to catch a glimpse of what's behind that screen name. A blank profile would indeed seem like a closed door to me.

I've found that the major thing that I usually look for when I check a profile is the gender. I'm not too happy about this habit, but unfortunately I cannot help trying to guess whether the author is male or female!
Other things I like to check is whether the author/members has any views or preferences about any pairings etc.
And same as others, I hate the loooooong copy and pastes thing.

As for notes, I don't mind short notes at the beginning (things like a general thank you etc), and long note explanatory notes at the end.
Anyway, if ever I don't want to read notes, I don't read them - simple - so it does not bother me whether the author write them or not.

[jworks]

Do you guys check an author's profile to see what it says? Do you read them? Does it seem unfriendly if an author doesn't introduce themselves? What kind of information do you want to know about an author if you're following their story?

What about story notes? Do you like them? Read them? If so, what kind of extra information interests you?

Just curious.

You know what, I respect an authors preference for anonymity or who doesn't want to write a profile. That being said, I absolutely LOVE to hear about them, and who they are, and background info on their stories. Its the same for me as when I come across Illustrators or designers (I'm an illustration student) I really like and follow on Tumblr or whatever. I find it incredibly interesting to find out a little bit about the person behind a creative work. The fact is, whether we as creators intend it or not, our work is the unique result of a unique temperament. We are individuals.

For example when I find an illustrator I love, The process sketches and doodles become more interesting to me than the finished illustration. Just because I get to see how they think and how they work.

As for what to actually put in your story notes or author profiles...well it can be anything and I usually read them and find them interesting. As a fan of yours, I encourage you to write a profile and more story notes

[Paradox Jast]

You know, it's pretty humorous to me about the timing of this post, KnS. I had been thinking pretty much about the exact same things as I was going along, posting my latest chapters.

Going back and looking at the old stuff, I really didn't want to junk up my chapters with stuff that a lot of people probably don't even read. Well... maybe they do. Regardless, I wanted to give people the option to read my review responses and thoughts, comments, etc... if they really wanted. So I moved all that stuff to a regularly (hopefully) updated blog. Progress markers for new chapters are/will be there, as well as my thoughts about why I did certain things, responses to reviews for those who are interested, statistics, and sometimes just random snippets about what I did that day.

I generally enjoy reading A/N's, though usually when they are simple. When they have no relation to writing or the story I may skim them. I don't particularly care for them before the story starts, nor do I like the ones that have the 'author' talking with 'characters' in the story as if reading from a play. I don't really care about age or gender if something is written well, though I have found that females tend to write emotional scenes better, while males tend to lean a little heavily on action sequences. As for me, well... I just like to tell a good story.

As for the profile page, I usually only update mine once every two to three months. While a blog is more for stream-of-consciousness, a profile page strikes me as something a little more sedentary.

I've been writing since 2007, though, so I know that a lot of authors will have different perspectives. I think I'm also slightly older than the average author as well (at 29) so that may also have something to do with it. Most fanfic authors strike me as being mid-teens to mid-twenties.

[Madz]

Kim, I would say it's half-half (at least among my favorite authors...).

And Paradox Jast rightly said - male writers do write better fight scenes (the exception being Tricksie - her fights scenes, same as ALL her writing are simply amazing).

[KnS]

I like Author's Notes, especially if it shows a bit of insight in the chapter.

Would you rather read notes within the chapter, on the author profile, or on a separate blog?

I also like it when authors use their profiles to update their personal lives. I have been meaning to do that myself ^^' I think this is much more effective then uploading a note. Those really tick me off especially if I get an update from someone that has been on hiatus and I see they uploaded a chapter and all it is is a note. Now I enjoy authors notes at the beginning of chapters and I myself use them too. I like to let me readers know what the chapter is going to contain.

I would never upload a note as a chapter. Is that what you meant? Seriously -- who would do that?

I'm glad to hear you like author notes at the beginning of a chapter. I think that's the right place for some kinds of notes, as long as they are brief. A lot of people read stories one chapter at a time as they are posted anyway, so the whole "it ruins the immersion" thing is pretty irrelevant. Beginning notes are very easy to skip if a reader doesn't like them or like to be interrupted by them. The chapter heading is an easy visual cue where to begin. Just my opinion.

As for me, I do check out the author's profile, especially if I really liked the story. I like it when the author says a littlw about himself/herself, it makes me feel more welcome. Oh and I definitely like to read the story notes and the author's opinion on how the story's going.

Thanks for this. I wondered if the lack of a profile or detailed notes seemed unfriendly. Good to know it does for some readers.

Along those lines, I also find the "answering" review comments to be a waste of characters. lol. You know, the one where the author has a litany of reviewers names with things like "Yes." or "You're right!" or "How did you know? That will be coming soon!" — and as a reader you have no idea what the author is talking about or responding to. I'm sure even the reviewer has forgotten what they've written. Again, I think this is something that from the author's perspective makes sense, but it only works for him/her. Everyone else is left scratching their heads.

I think an author's inability to address their responses to anyone and everyone who might read the reviews drives this tendency. It wouldn't be necessary to have a list of seemingly nonsensical replies in an author's note if ff.net would allow authors to respond to individual reviews on the review pages. But I don't want to get into all that again, lol.

I definitely check profiles - authors or non authors. In fact I think I ALWAYS check the profiles - it help me to 'discern' the person, though of course a profile is never accurate or give the true picture of the person. But at least I try to catch a glimpse of what's behind that screen name. A blank profile would indeed seem like a closed door to me.

Good feedback, thanks. My blank profile was suddenly bothering me, and comments like this gave me the push to do something about it.

As for what to actually put in your story notes or author profiles...well it can be anything and I usually read them and find them interesting. As a fan of yours, I encourage you to write a profile and more story notes

What kind of information would you like to read in the story notes? I'm always afraid that anything worth reading or interesting might be too spoilery to some. (And thanks again for being so nice and for being a fan. )

You know, it's pretty humorous to me about the timing of this post, KnS. I had been thinking pretty much about the exact same things as I was going along, posting my latest chapters.

Great minds and all that, I suppose. Or it's the fact that NaNoWriMo is looming.

Going back and looking at the old stuff, I really didn't want to junk up my chapters with stuff that a lot of people probably don't even read. Well... maybe they do. Regardless, I wanted to give people the option to read my review responses and thoughts, comments, etc... if they really wanted. So I moved all that stuff to a regularly (hopefully) updated blog. Progress markers for new chapters are/will be there, as well as my thoughts about why I did certain things, responses to reviews for those who are interested, statistics, and sometimes just random snippets about what I did that day.

I checked out your blog. It looks good. I created one a couple of years ago, but I never got around to doing anything with it. Maybe I'll take some time this weekend to dress it up a little and populate it with something. I haven't really decided what kind of information I want to share about my stories or writing process yet.

I've been writing since 2007, though, so I know that a lot of authors will have different perspectives. I think I'm also slightly older than the average author as well (at 29) so that may also have something to do with it. Most fanfic authors strike me as being mid-teens to mid-twenties.

I've been writing since 2002, but in other fandoms. I found it much, much easier to interact with readers in those other fandoms. I suppose that's why I feel like I'm starting over in this one. Naruto readers seem to have a different approach to fan fiction consumption than I'm used to, and seem to value writing styles that contrast considerably with my own natural style. I'm still trying to get the hang of it all.

Thanks to everyone's input, I do at least have something on my ff.net profile now. I'll expand notes and extra information to the blog later.

[Dragunov]

Authors notes are always good. I enjoy reading them, and dont really mind where they go.

[Konohakitten]

I would never upload a note as a chapter. Is that what you meant? Seriously -- who would do that?

I'm glad to hear you like author notes at the beginning of a chapter. I think that's the right place for some kinds of notes, as long as they are brief. A lot of people read stories one chapter at a time as they are posted anyway, so the whole "it ruins the immersion" thing is pretty irrelevant. Beginning notes are very easy to skip if a reader doesn't like them or like to be interrupted by them. The chapter heading is an easy visual cue where to begin. Just my opinion.

Yeah I've followed a few ppl that have uploaded a note as a chapter, and it just plain sucks. So its because of that that I personally leave all personal details in my notes at the beginning or ending of the story. I'm not going to waste ppls time with uploading a note, its just cruel. I find that almost all my readers do read my notes at the beginning and ending of the story as well. Usually in the beginning I clear up things from the previous chapter or if something needs to be explained I do it there.

Its been almost 5 months since my last update, which is killing me softly, I feel so bad. Anyhow I'm really thinking of doing a very very short recap at the beginning of the chapter. Mind you it will be no more then a few sentences long. I just to refresh ppl on what happened in the last chapter. I think this is a good example on when beginning notes are really helpful.

Edited by Konohakitten, 30 August 2012 - 09:13 AM.

[tricksie]

And Paradox Jast rightly said - male writers do write better fight scenes (the exception being Tricksie - her fights scenes, same as ALL her writing are simply amazing).

awww thanks madzy-chan! The fight scenes are my weakest area because...well, I'm not a ninja in real life! The rest of it I can wing it with some kind of experience. But fighting I come up dry. So I've had to research and work extra hard (reading about ninjas, fighting, etc. and watching some movies with great fight scenes) to help me get the feel of what I want to express. So thanks. I think fight scenes can grind a story to a halt. And your kind words make me feel like my kung fu movies nights have paid off!

I'm glad to hear you like author notes at the beginning of a chapter. I think that's the right place for some kinds of notes, as long as they are brief. A lot of people read stories one chapter at a time as they are posted anyway, so the whole "it ruins the immersion" thing is pretty irrelevant. Beginning notes are very easy to skip if a reader doesn't like them or like to be interrupted by them. The chapter heading is an easy visual cue where to begin. Just my opinion.

Hmm.... I must respectfully disagree on this point. There's not many reasons I could think of that would justify notes at the beginning.

• A quick line maybe, "Thanks for waiting. Here it is!" But only if it's been extremely delayed.

• A "Continued from...." note explaining an out-of-place disruption to the story.

• A previous excerpt that pertains to the upcoming chapter.

But the rest I think are just the author getting between the reader and the story with things s/he believes are more important.

The fact the fanfic delivers the chapters one at a time, to me, makes it even more important to leave out those beginning notes. A reader gets an alert, and they want to read the next chapter. Not an author's note. They want to dive right in.

I've never chosen to put notes at the end because of "immersion." I figure if a reader wants to be immersed they'll go buy a book! At least then they're assured that the story's going to at least be finished!

I understand what you're saying about the beginning notes being easy enough to skip. But why do things that are going to stop your reader from getting to what they want? Your story.

Yeah, this a little mincing hairs here. But I can't think of an area of writing where an author is encouraged to insert himself between the content and its reader. (Outside of op-ed pieces and blog posts, of course, where the focus is completely on the author's opinions.) So it's annoying to see it done so often in fanfic. I think it's sort of a bad habit that people keep doing because they see others doing it.

When I put my notes at the end of the story, I'm thinking specifically about what the reader wants from me — the story — and not forcing anyone to skip over what they don't want.

[KnS]

Hmm.... I must respectfully disagree on this point. There's not many reasons I could think of that would justify notes at the beginning.

I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on this one. The way I see it, even professionally published works frequently have a foreward, preface, or acknowledgement page -- which all, in your terms, get between the reader and the story -- and that's a story the reader has often paid to read. Sometimes there are even relevant quotations at the beginning of chapters. So it's not exactly an uncommon practice.

It seems to me that the placement of author notes is a wholly subjective and personal taste thing, and especially inconsequential considering the casual nature of the fan fiction environment. Two or three lines (including the copyright infringement disclaimer) at the beginning of a chapter, that is very easy to skip over if a reader doesn't like it, just isn't a big deal to me. It's a conscious decision on my part to put the copyright disclaimer in a place that's easy to see.

And it's not that I don't take fan fiction writing or producing a quality product seriously because I do. For the last ten years I have used fan fiction to expand and improve the more technical aspects of my writing. I'm personally more concerned with practicing the basic guidelines of novel writing, and have my hands full just coming up with a decent plot, focusing on characterization, writing engagingly but concisely, and uploading a finished product that is well-edited in terms of flow, length, and GSP. Author notes are the least of my worries, lol.

However, if I received reviews or PMs from readers complaining about my work or its presentation (including the placement or length of any notes), I would certainly listen and I'm always willing to reconsider my views. But in all the years I've been doing this I've never received a complaint about author notes.

Thanks for talking about this stuff. I really like hearing the opinions and experiences of other writers.

[tricksie]

I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on this one. The way I see it, even professionally published works frequently have a foreward, preface, or acknowledgement page -- which all, in your terms, get between the reader and the story -- and that's a story the reader has often paid to read. Sometimes there are even relevant quotations at the beginning of chapters. So it's not exactly an uncommon practice.

It seems to me that the placement of author notes is a wholly subjective and personal taste thing, and especially inconsequential considering the casual nature of the fan fiction environment. Two or three lines (including the copyright infringement disclaimer) at the beginning of a chapter, that is very easy to skip over if a reader doesn't like it, just isn't a big deal to me. It's a conscious decision on my part to put the copyright disclaimer in a place that's easy to see.

And it's not that I don't take fan fiction writing or producing a quality product seriously because I do. For the last ten years I have used fan fiction to expand and improve the more technical aspects of my writing. I'm personally more concerned with practicing the basic guidelines of novel writing, and have my hands full just coming up with a decent plot, focusing on characterization, writing engagingly but concisely, and uploading a finished product that is well-edited in terms of flow, length, and GSP. Author notes are the least of my worries, lol.

However, if I received reviews or PMs from readers complaining about my work or its presentation (including the placement or length of any notes), I would certainly listen and I'm always willing to reconsider my views. But in all the years I've been doing this I've never received a complaint about author notes.

Thanks for talking about this stuff. I really like hearing the opinions and experiences of other writers.

In printed books, those pages exist before the first chapter. So no, they are not standing between the reader and the story content. You turn the page, it says chapter one and the story begins. In fanfic however, you click through to the new chapter and you may have two paragraphs of nonsense before the first word of that chapter.

And of course the same with poetry, quotes, etc., which I use as well — as long as they pertain to the chapter at hand, then they are part of that story you are preparing to tell. Not an out-of-place note that doesn't belong with that chapter. I should have been more specific and included those in my examples.

So, what I don't care for are the multi-paragraph author's notes that don't relate to anything at all except that they're tacked on with each update. Content that would be better suited to a profile update, the review litany (mentioned above)...even a script-style back and forth between the author and the characters. Ugh. When I say an author inserting him or herself between the reader and the beginning of a story, this is what I mean.

And sorry, I didn't mean to sound like you weren't taking your writing efforts seriously. I wasn't even thinking of you — I was only thinking of those authors (probably h.s. or college-age) who write their stories but don't really make the leap to think about why, how and for whom they are doing it for.

Anyway I'm only elaborating on this because I do include lengthy author's notes, and I've thought long and hard over how to best present them. In my experience — in any type of medium — these are the little details that no one notices when you do right, but everyone notices when you do wrong. So, yeah, even as I use fanfic to help sharpen my creative writing skills, I still apply that work ethic. Nothing escapes it! lol - But I'm sorry to dump it all on you!

Best of luck with all the helpful stuff you've gotten here! It's definitely been interesting to read about everyone's perspectives!

[Konoha'sCrimsonFox]

actually, I'm guilty of that. My ff.net profile only has information on what Anime and Mangas i like and other pen names I use around the Internet. The rest is all my story listings. For me, there's isn't much good to explain about myself which is why I don't like to talk about myself. This is why my profile here is nearly empty. But I'm trying to brainstorm what's good about me, so I can write it down. Problem is, that I don't have that much time. Yesterday, it's the first time I've updated my ff.net profile in nearly two years.

For me, it's not really the authors background that I want to look at first. First thing I check is the gender. Don't tell me why because its a awful habit that I have as a reader lol.

Before, Authors notes always annoyed the heck out of me, but AN is very important. I have no problem if a author leaves a chapter of AN. I do it sometimes if have to. But what I really hate about ANs is that the author post them before the chapter begins and one after the chapter ends. It's like, why can't they write all the ANs one time at the end, instead of having them sandwiching the chapter. Worse is that I get baffled, thinking that the author's note is apart of the chapter in the beginning lol.

[KnS]

In printed books, those pages exist before the first chapter. So no, they are not standing between the reader and the story content. You turn the page, it says chapter one and the story begins. In fanfic however, you click through to the new chapter and you may have two paragraphs of nonsense before the first word of that chapter.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this, too. The way I look at it, anything that's between the title cover and the first word of the story is standing between the reader and the story content -- regardless of whether it's on the same page or not. In a printed book you still have to page through material you may not be interested in to get to the story. The electronic equivalent is an author note before the chapter begins because there is no other place to put it (except the summary, which is inappropriate), and even if you place notes at the end, it's still between the reader and the next chapter. My thinking is, if you can ignore notes at the end of a chapter, you can just as easily ignore them at the beginning. Just my opinion.

For what it's worth, I thought maybe I was on crack or something for thinking most readers I know don't mind notes at the beginning of fan fiction chapters -- it wouldn't be the first time I've been mistaken in my impressions, lol. So I pitched the question to the readers on my private blog earlier (which includes folks from the original fiction writers group I belong to), and so far all have said they're fine with notes at the beginning unless they're long. Then again, most of us are ex-Potter or Doctor Who people, so maybe we're a different stripe. Like I've said, readers and writers of the Naruto fandom seem to have very different tastes and expectations than what I'm used to, and I'm still trying to adjust.

Out of curiosity, have you written for other fandoms, tricksie?

And sorry, I didn't mean to sound like you weren't taking your writing efforts seriously. I wasn't even thinking of you — I was only thinking of those authors (probably h.s. or college-age) who write their stories but don't really make the leap to think about why, how and for whom they are doing it for.

Oh, you didn't. I was addressing my own "inconsequential considering the casual nature of the fan fiction environment" comment. Just because I think the environment is casual and for fun doesn't mean I shouldn't and don't try to do my best. So no worries.

Best of luck with all the helpful stuff you've gotten here! It's definitely been interesting to read about everyone's perspectives!

Thanks. I got my ff.net profile done, I just need to figure out what story details, if any, I want to put on a writing blog.

But what I really hate about ANs is that the author post them before the chapter begins and one after the chapter ends. It's like, why can't they write all the ANs one time at the end, instead of having them sandwiching the chapter. Worse is that I get baffled, thinking that the author's note is apart of the chapter in the beginning lol.

I put brief notes at the beginning and the end most of the time. Why? I put acknowledgements and the copyright disclaimer at the beginning, because in my estimation it is proper that they be seen before the chapter is read, and I write any other notes about the content of the chapter at the end where they aren't spoilers. I don't always put notes at the end, but I do if I think it's useful or necessary.

If you think the author's note is part of the chapter, are they not separated from the chapter content with a horizontal line break? If they're not they probably should be.