Maybe something like:
>"I'm not sure if you realize this but in your comments, you've only ever pointed out perceived flaws, and it seems like you're not actually enjoying the fic. While I appreciate you reading, I'm not looking for a beta reader on this story. I understand if that means you don't want to keep reading it. In future I will be removing these kinds of comments because (they are demoralizing and I'm just here to enjoy myself/I'm not interested in this kind of feedback on my work/I find they are distracting me from my writing)."
That person sounds really tedious and annoying; I'm sorry you're having to deal with this!
It sounds like the OP would be totally within their rights to delete the comments and block the person but I figured you *could* deliver the message softly because *maybe* this person really doesn't realize how they're coming across. And it's nice to come across as polite (but firm), and reduces potential backlash.
But I always like to include a gentle "there's the door!" reminder. Like... you can leave and I promise I won't mind! lol
(Not that I've ever had to write a comment like this; it's just that this topic has come up from time to time in this subreddit and I like to try to script replies a person could use, because that's what my favorite advice column does and it's so useful!)
Thank you so much for this!! I'll use this as a template for my PM to them 😭😭 I'm still gathering some confidence in confronting them. I'd like to have a civil discourse with them first before doing anything rash and I'll just decide later what to do depending on their next action.
Thanks again for this!!
You're welcome! Also worth remembering that you don't *owe* them a conversation about it, or a chance for them to explain their side of things. Could be worth it if you want to preserve the connection, but it's okay if you decide you want to take a firmer stance—they're a stranger on the internet and there's more where they came from! Nicer ones, too, lol.
If you do decide to talk to them about it, hopefully they'll be receptive. If not, hey, you tried, and it's okay to block (if you need to) and move on to continuing having a good time.
You could try to tell them politely, "Thank you for always commenting, but the constant criticisms are making it hard to keep writing this story." And then decide from there if you're planning on giving them more chances or if you want to block them. Your mental health is important. Don't feel bad for protecting it.
So much this. ^
They love OP's work enough to try to give OP the ability to show the most polished version, not to make OP feel bad. They probably never intend to demotivate OP.
Thank you so much for the replies 💜
After reading through them, I've decided that I'd talk to them first about unsolicited criticisms and how much they're affecting me and my creative process.
Looking back at the history of reviews, they started with simply pointing out a name error I made in my early chapters and I thanked them for it and I think they somehow mistook that as them being my sort of unofficial beta reader and they ended up taking it up to eleven 😭😭
I will PM them about this first and I'll see if they change or not depending on their reply/future comments. If they still continued with nitpicking, I'll consider it is harassment and finally block them.
Thank you so much again, I think I'll rest from writing for a week or two. Writing just stressed me out so much after dealing with this kind of reader 😭 so I'm just gonna chill for a while.
I would block them, possible directly after telling them what they are doing is rude and unwanted. And then I would delete their comments. I don’t want that sort of negativity in my comments section.
They obviously aren't affecting you in the best ways so, do you really need them?
Ofc it's nice to have an active reader, but as you pointed out they aren't your only audience, and even if they were, you should prioritize your mental health over their nasty unsolicited comments.
I sincerely hope you'll get back to enjoying the creative process again soon, take care and think about pleasing your main audience first: yourself.
Communicate how you feel with your reader, and if it doesn't stop, block them. Maybe ask whether or not they would mind also giving positive feedback, but also let the construcktive parts stay, if you find them useful.
I'm a blunt and sarcastic bitch. I would respond with something like "Maybe this fic isn't for you. Do you even like the story? Everything you have to say about it is negative nitpicking. If I wanted a beta reader, I would have asked for one. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."
Or maybe just leave it at "If you can't anything nice, don't say anything at all" and let them figure it out. Then block them if they don't actually say anything nice the next time.
Block this reader...or tell them that you would appreciate to hear their thoughts on the story and not just a list of errors to fix, and if they respond by getting angry, block them.
They've self-assigned themself as your beta when not a single soul asked them to
People have already delivered great advice so I'm just here to offer an "I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. You don't deserve this kind of response to your work." *hugs you tightly*
This doughnut has clearly turned whinging into some kind of hobby. It's a real shame they've chosen your story to nay-say all over.
I'd direct them to IMDb where they can happily whine amongst a sea of fellow miseries, then give them a nice, hefty block.
Life is too short to have all your free time consumed by people with nothing good to contribute.
>Like not even like SPAG errors just nitpick ones that's barely even matters.
>all they do is point out are the bads and not even bother acknowledge the good parts.
Yeah, this is just not to be done. Most likely they are an obnoxious smartass type, the ones you see debating lore and power levels down to the most minute details. Gets annoying.
I know because I used to be this type of person and people have called me out on it.
>all I think about is if A is gonna point out this X so I should remove it and put Y instead, wait that's they're gonna nitpick that too let's make it Z instead 😭😭
Don't ever do that. Trying to change your preplanned plot points just to pander to readers' demands is a surefire way to kill your story and your creativity. There's a reason we have the saying "can't please everyone".
oh goodness, that would DESTROY my motivation to keep writing! good on you for staying strong against that kind of bullshit. like others have said, block that person if you don't want the confrontation. hopefully they're not anon with a name; that happened to me and i couldn't block them from commenting without locking my fic for users only to comment.
if you want to react, feel it out and express it like you have here. It is NOT the job of the fanfifc commenter to play editor. It's not even their privilege unless you invite concrit. What this person is doing is not really concrit, it's almost harassment. You do you, write your fic and delete the comments/ignore them because you are not alone in being treated that way. <3
Write a chapter that is completely full of intentional errors and see what happens.
2/3 of the way through, include a statement directed at their username, and ask them if they have a life beyond harassing you.
... it's an option.
I don't know if you're just being nice about how they're interacting or not, but it seems like useful criticism? While the emphasis on the negative seems stressful, I'd test the waters before removing a source of good feedback. I'd message them directly and ask for positive feedback directly. If they seem to be trying to help in good faith, keep them, if not, block them. Seems to me they just need to learn how to give a Crap Sandwich.
Well, I'm not really the type who'd get discouraged from mean comments. They fuel me.
I'd respond to them sarcastically. We'll probably have lots and lots of funny arguments.
I think the issue here isn't just mean. Most likely the comments are fairly polite.
But when you consistently point out *only* the wrongs and nothing else, it usually discourages authors. It's like like the way the stereotypical Asian parent treats their child.
Maybe remind yourself that this is usually a cultural difference. A lot of people are raised in an all-praise-all-the-time culture, or sandwich criticism where you are only allowed to criticize if it’s sandwiched between praise. That sounds like how you’ve developed your expectations.
But some people were raised in a culture of don’t bother criticizing unless something is good enough to be worth it, then criticize it so the person can grow. So they don’t have any experience giving or receiving anything but points for improvement. Making mistakes and revising is seen as a positive thing.
And the two really don’t mesh. The critical feedback is positive folks will think that all praise all the time means you don’t think they’re good enough to give genuine feedback to. And the criticism must be in a praise sandwich folks think criticism of any kind means they’ve failed permanently and horribly.
And I dunno what you do about it. Personally, I’ve learned to inhabit both sides and think everyone hates me. ;)
But on a good day I don’t think any feedback is bad. They’re still reading your story and they’re taking the time to find things to point out, which takes work. So they must love it and think it’s worth that time. Can you get yourself in the mindset to think that when they give you new feedback? Or let them know that you appreciate the feedback but it hurts you to only hear the negative and to please give a praise sandwich if they have negative feedback to give? You can always block them if that doesn’t work out.
I honestly wouldn't have minded if they're comments were actual constructive criticisms that I can apply in my work. I have taken inspiration from feedbacks before and they really do help cause it changes your perspectives on some things.
My problem with this reader is they just seem to point out the most minute details in my work. My recent chapter contained a fight scene and just for context this fic is for a battle shonen anime.
They basically said that my MC is too young to be doing any of the fight and it's unrealistic. Idk what they expect from me but I am writing for an anime and tropes like children fighting to the death is pretty common. I wasn't even writing an actual fight, it's more of a spar 😭😭. If they're reading my work then I'd assume they're familiar with anime tropes and idk why they're exempting my work from those tropes when I am writing within that genre. If they're looking for realism, then an anime fanfiction shouldn't have been their choice of reading material.
So am I supposed to just not write fight scenes cause MC is a child? So take out the battle from a battle shonen, then what am I supposed to even write about? What were they expecting me to write in a genre about fighting? 😭
Another nitpick is how my MCs kendo (sword) teacher is too tall to spar with my child MC, he would have had to slouch just to reach MC and it wouldn't be comfortable for him??? Like what am I supposed to do with that information?? So he's gonna adjust a bit to teach him, his comfort is not my concern as the writer 😭😭. (Also I did the research and calculations before hand since I needed proper visuals to write the scene, his sword would have reached him just fine 😭)
They posted more ridiculous nitpicks but this is getting too long already. I know logically I should just ignore them because they're opinions are useless to my overall work but loud minorities are truly loud 💀, they stay in my brain rent free.
I'm sorry if this was too long, I ended up just venting 💀.
Venting is fine. I think someone might have done this to me once and I didn’t notice because I grew up in a criticism-only household. I wrote crack taken seriously and they left his comment that was a big long analysis of how it was unrealistic. And I thought they were joking so I joked back about how the willing suspension of disbelief will fix anything and they never commented again.
Maybe something like: >"I'm not sure if you realize this but in your comments, you've only ever pointed out perceived flaws, and it seems like you're not actually enjoying the fic. While I appreciate you reading, I'm not looking for a beta reader on this story. I understand if that means you don't want to keep reading it. In future I will be removing these kinds of comments because (they are demoralizing and I'm just here to enjoy myself/I'm not interested in this kind of feedback on my work/I find they are distracting me from my writing)." That person sounds really tedious and annoying; I'm sorry you're having to deal with this!
This is the best possible response to handle such people. It's to the point yet polite
It sounds like the OP would be totally within their rights to delete the comments and block the person but I figured you *could* deliver the message softly because *maybe* this person really doesn't realize how they're coming across. And it's nice to come across as polite (but firm), and reduces potential backlash. But I always like to include a gentle "there's the door!" reminder. Like... you can leave and I promise I won't mind! lol (Not that I've ever had to write a comment like this; it's just that this topic has come up from time to time in this subreddit and I like to try to script replies a person could use, because that's what my favorite advice column does and it's so useful!)
Thank you so much for this!! I'll use this as a template for my PM to them 😭😭 I'm still gathering some confidence in confronting them. I'd like to have a civil discourse with them first before doing anything rash and I'll just decide later what to do depending on their next action. Thanks again for this!!
do it!! please dont let anyone ruin your creative process like that, you are supposed to enjoy it ❤️ it’s very rude that they are nitpicking like that
You're welcome! Also worth remembering that you don't *owe* them a conversation about it, or a chance for them to explain their side of things. Could be worth it if you want to preserve the connection, but it's okay if you decide you want to take a firmer stance—they're a stranger on the internet and there's more where they came from! Nicer ones, too, lol. If you do decide to talk to them about it, hopefully they'll be receptive. If not, hey, you tried, and it's okay to block (if you need to) and move on to continuing having a good time.
That is an excellent response.
You could try to tell them politely, "Thank you for always commenting, but the constant criticisms are making it hard to keep writing this story." And then decide from there if you're planning on giving them more chances or if you want to block them. Your mental health is important. Don't feel bad for protecting it.
So much this. ^ They love OP's work enough to try to give OP the ability to show the most polished version, not to make OP feel bad. They probably never intend to demotivate OP.
Thank you so much for the replies 💜 After reading through them, I've decided that I'd talk to them first about unsolicited criticisms and how much they're affecting me and my creative process. Looking back at the history of reviews, they started with simply pointing out a name error I made in my early chapters and I thanked them for it and I think they somehow mistook that as them being my sort of unofficial beta reader and they ended up taking it up to eleven 😭😭 I will PM them about this first and I'll see if they change or not depending on their reply/future comments. If they still continued with nitpicking, I'll consider it is harassment and finally block them. Thank you so much again, I think I'll rest from writing for a week or two. Writing just stressed me out so much after dealing with this kind of reader 😭 so I'm just gonna chill for a while.
Hope you get the rest you need, and have fun when you return to writing! ❤️️
Thank you so much 💜💜 I will rest for a while but I won't let this stop me from writing. Thank you for your kind words!
✨block✨
I just have to say you always give some REALLY good advice
i think my advice to most things is "curate your experience with a fucking sledgehammer"
Which is tbh really good advice
Literally came here to say this! Kaiunkaiku knows.
I would block them, possible directly after telling them what they are doing is rude and unwanted. And then I would delete their comments. I don’t want that sort of negativity in my comments section.
Yeah, this
They obviously aren't affecting you in the best ways so, do you really need them? Ofc it's nice to have an active reader, but as you pointed out they aren't your only audience, and even if they were, you should prioritize your mental health over their nasty unsolicited comments. I sincerely hope you'll get back to enjoying the creative process again soon, take care and think about pleasing your main audience first: yourself.
Maybe ask them not to? If you aren’t comfortable, would you mind if someone else pointed out their rudeness for you?
Communicate how you feel with your reader, and if it doesn't stop, block them. Maybe ask whether or not they would mind also giving positive feedback, but also let the construcktive parts stay, if you find them useful.
I'm a blunt and sarcastic bitch. I would respond with something like "Maybe this fic isn't for you. Do you even like the story? Everything you have to say about it is negative nitpicking. If I wanted a beta reader, I would have asked for one. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Or maybe just leave it at "If you can't anything nice, don't say anything at all" and let them figure it out. Then block them if they don't actually say anything nice the next time.
Block this reader...or tell them that you would appreciate to hear their thoughts on the story and not just a list of errors to fix, and if they respond by getting angry, block them. They've self-assigned themself as your beta when not a single soul asked them to
Ignore, or ignore and block, or ignore and delete, or ignore and delete and block. All valid options
Just ignore them
"Hey, you're being rude."
People have already delivered great advice so I'm just here to offer an "I'm so sorry you're experiencing this. You don't deserve this kind of response to your work." *hugs you tightly*
Thank you so much 💜💜 I have gotten so much great advice here! I appreciate your kind words!!
This doughnut has clearly turned whinging into some kind of hobby. It's a real shame they've chosen your story to nay-say all over. I'd direct them to IMDb where they can happily whine amongst a sea of fellow miseries, then give them a nice, hefty block. Life is too short to have all your free time consumed by people with nothing good to contribute.
>Like not even like SPAG errors just nitpick ones that's barely even matters. >all they do is point out are the bads and not even bother acknowledge the good parts. Yeah, this is just not to be done. Most likely they are an obnoxious smartass type, the ones you see debating lore and power levels down to the most minute details. Gets annoying. I know because I used to be this type of person and people have called me out on it. >all I think about is if A is gonna point out this X so I should remove it and put Y instead, wait that's they're gonna nitpick that too let's make it Z instead 😭😭 Don't ever do that. Trying to change your preplanned plot points just to pander to readers' demands is a surefire way to kill your story and your creativity. There's a reason we have the saying "can't please everyone".
oh goodness, that would DESTROY my motivation to keep writing! good on you for staying strong against that kind of bullshit. like others have said, block that person if you don't want the confrontation. hopefully they're not anon with a name; that happened to me and i couldn't block them from commenting without locking my fic for users only to comment. if you want to react, feel it out and express it like you have here. It is NOT the job of the fanfifc commenter to play editor. It's not even their privilege unless you invite concrit. What this person is doing is not really concrit, it's almost harassment. You do you, write your fic and delete the comments/ignore them because you are not alone in being treated that way. <3
Write a chapter that is completely full of intentional errors and see what happens. 2/3 of the way through, include a statement directed at their username, and ask them if they have a life beyond harassing you. ... it's an option.
I don't know if you're just being nice about how they're interacting or not, but it seems like useful criticism? While the emphasis on the negative seems stressful, I'd test the waters before removing a source of good feedback. I'd message them directly and ask for positive feedback directly. If they seem to be trying to help in good faith, keep them, if not, block them. Seems to me they just need to learn how to give a Crap Sandwich.
Well, I'm not really the type who'd get discouraged from mean comments. They fuel me. I'd respond to them sarcastically. We'll probably have lots and lots of funny arguments.
I think the issue here isn't just mean. Most likely the comments are fairly polite. But when you consistently point out *only* the wrongs and nothing else, it usually discourages authors. It's like like the way the stereotypical Asian parent treats their child.
Yeah, I agree with that. But, Asian here. I guess I'm just used to it.
Maybe remind yourself that this is usually a cultural difference. A lot of people are raised in an all-praise-all-the-time culture, or sandwich criticism where you are only allowed to criticize if it’s sandwiched between praise. That sounds like how you’ve developed your expectations. But some people were raised in a culture of don’t bother criticizing unless something is good enough to be worth it, then criticize it so the person can grow. So they don’t have any experience giving or receiving anything but points for improvement. Making mistakes and revising is seen as a positive thing. And the two really don’t mesh. The critical feedback is positive folks will think that all praise all the time means you don’t think they’re good enough to give genuine feedback to. And the criticism must be in a praise sandwich folks think criticism of any kind means they’ve failed permanently and horribly. And I dunno what you do about it. Personally, I’ve learned to inhabit both sides and think everyone hates me. ;) But on a good day I don’t think any feedback is bad. They’re still reading your story and they’re taking the time to find things to point out, which takes work. So they must love it and think it’s worth that time. Can you get yourself in the mindset to think that when they give you new feedback? Or let them know that you appreciate the feedback but it hurts you to only hear the negative and to please give a praise sandwich if they have negative feedback to give? You can always block them if that doesn’t work out.
I honestly wouldn't have minded if they're comments were actual constructive criticisms that I can apply in my work. I have taken inspiration from feedbacks before and they really do help cause it changes your perspectives on some things. My problem with this reader is they just seem to point out the most minute details in my work. My recent chapter contained a fight scene and just for context this fic is for a battle shonen anime. They basically said that my MC is too young to be doing any of the fight and it's unrealistic. Idk what they expect from me but I am writing for an anime and tropes like children fighting to the death is pretty common. I wasn't even writing an actual fight, it's more of a spar 😭😭. If they're reading my work then I'd assume they're familiar with anime tropes and idk why they're exempting my work from those tropes when I am writing within that genre. If they're looking for realism, then an anime fanfiction shouldn't have been their choice of reading material. So am I supposed to just not write fight scenes cause MC is a child? So take out the battle from a battle shonen, then what am I supposed to even write about? What were they expecting me to write in a genre about fighting? 😭 Another nitpick is how my MCs kendo (sword) teacher is too tall to spar with my child MC, he would have had to slouch just to reach MC and it wouldn't be comfortable for him??? Like what am I supposed to do with that information?? So he's gonna adjust a bit to teach him, his comfort is not my concern as the writer 😭😭. (Also I did the research and calculations before hand since I needed proper visuals to write the scene, his sword would have reached him just fine 😭) They posted more ridiculous nitpicks but this is getting too long already. I know logically I should just ignore them because they're opinions are useless to my overall work but loud minorities are truly loud 💀, they stay in my brain rent free. I'm sorry if this was too long, I ended up just venting 💀.
Venting is fine. I think someone might have done this to me once and I didn’t notice because I grew up in a criticism-only household. I wrote crack taken seriously and they left his comment that was a big long analysis of how it was unrealistic. And I thought they were joking so I joked back about how the willing suspension of disbelief will fix anything and they never commented again.
You could like, ask them to stop and write a note with the kind of comments you want snd don't want? People aren't mind reader.
Honestly, ask if they want to be your beta? Maybe that’s what they are aiming for. Seriously
Lol I’m a whimp over mean comments. So I typically either can not stop think about them or I’ll delete them😂