What are your favourite types of comment to receive?

[birdsofshore]

First of all, THREE of my prompts at hp_kinkfest have been claimed (one for fic AND art *flail*), and one at dracotops_harry, and I'm so bloody excited! I don't know who you are but I love you a lot already. Are you OK, mystery creators? Do you need anything while you're busy with that? I mean, can I get you a glass of water or a back rub or anything? No? OK. I'll just sit here very quietly in the corner. Waiting. WAITING AND FLAILING.

So, comments. \o/ This was inspired by a great post from blithelybonny which made me realise that writers of different genres might value different types of comment.

I think my own favourites are basically the ones where the commenter claims to be too sexually aroused to attain coherence. I'll let this one remain anon but I was extremely pleased to be told:

I think I can't brain.

I would have been happy with even ONE of the following sentences in a comment, but to have all three was a bit of a joy.

If I was male I would have turned gay for this fic. This is so disgustingly arousing I can't even describe how it made me feel. My limbs have literally fallen off !

Disgustingly arousing. LITERALLY FALLEN OFF. She typed it with her nose. I'm so happy.

This next one was actually on a bookmark, so not really intended for my eyes at all, but oh boy, I like it. :D

HOLY BUCKETS

I also remember certain comments from when I was new, and someone lovely said something really encouraging. Or how about the first time a writer I utterly fangirl over commented on something I wrote? GOD. That was the flail to end all flails. I'll keep the details of those ones private for now, sorry.

Some people leave the most wonderful detailed feedback. Those comments are pure gold. They feel like a gift - no, they ARE a gift. A gift of time, and love, and kindness. I have wanted to write since I was a little girl, and never had the confidence to properly try until a few years ago. I thought I was probably going to be pretty crap, and when I post something new, often I still think it's pretty crap, and I'm sure sometimes it is, but then - it's like magic. Someone comes along and takes a chance on what I wrote, and then they take the time to TELL ME they enjoyed it, and why. It's the most incredible thing. There are some people, and they know who they are, and they leave these comments by the bagfull. And I love them for it.

I also love making people late for work or school, or made them miss a train because they didn't want to stop reading. I REALLY like that. Or when someone was laughing so much they frightened their cat / baby / spouse. Probably half of these people are fibbing to me, but I don't care.

Any comment is great. Some people say they feel anxious about commenting, but even a little phrase or an encouraging word is lovely to receive. But I can't help having my favourites. So, to sum up, my dream comment would probably be something like: "This was so hot my eyes fell out. Reading this made me miss my own wedding, and then my whole neighbourhood was evacuated because I was laughing so hard."

What are your favourite type of comments? Do you remember your first ever comment? Do you have certain comments that you'll always remember?

Comments

[chickenpumpkin.livejournal.com]

My favorite comment? One reader wrote me a comment that was six or seven paragraphs long, just full of well-thought out analysis and squee. I made my husband read it, and then he printed it one day without telling me and now it's stuck above my desk with that awful gummy stuff that doesn't put holes in your walls. Every time I start to think that I should be writing menus or greeting cards, I look at that comment and it makes me keep trying.

I've been really lucky with commenters, though--there are some folks in fandom who are really excited to interact with writers and share their time and thoughts, (or who will contact you out of the blue on different sites to say how much they love your stuff--which is balls to the wall amazing, ahem) and I feel like I've managed to find a high percentage of those wonderful people, who are like crack cocaine to me ;D As nice as it is to get random flattering words out of the ether, I think those excited, repeat commenters are the people we all really end up writing for.

[capitu]

or who will contact you out of the blue on different sites to say how much they love your stuff--which is balls to the wall amazing, ahem


Well, some of those people are like little puppies sometimes. Very excitable and their happiness can't be contained. :D

[chickenpumpkin.livejournal.com]

Which is one of the very best things about them (puppies and people, actually) ;D

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

Drive-by to say that, that is such an adorable and thoughtful thing!

And also, 100% yes, agree.

[chickenpumpkin.livejournal.com]

He's quite the excellent husband, even if he does still sometimes get this terrified look on his face when I start talking about fictional men's sex lives in a very high-pitched voice. ;D

[birdsofshore]

Your husband is so thoughtful and sweet to do that!

I'm so glad you've had good experiences with commenters. It means such a lot, doesn't it? And we have such super, super commenters here in the HP fandom. <3

[chickenpumpkin.livejournal.com]

Oh, jeez, he really is. I highly recommend that someone clones the crap out of him sometime. Except for the messiness. That can go ;D