Post by Swarm on Aug 5, 2022 0:18:48 GMT -5
So now that I've finally responded to Josh's last RP, I feel as though I am not so much of a hypocrite in making this post, lol. I want to talk about posting feedback to RPs, why I think it's important, and what I would like to see from you folks moving forward.
The truth is, this is not a message that is, for the most part, targeted toward our most experienced writers. Most of you folks tend to reply to most of the RPs consistently. Maybe not every time, for sure, but you all have lives and obligations outside of this e-fed that take precedent (as they should) so not necessarily getting around to replying to every RP every show in an expaditious manner is understandable. I really appreciate how consistently some of ya'll have been in providing feedback, so thank you for that!
It is fairly obvious to see the value add of feedback from our most experienced writers. Experienced writers know a lot of things about writing and thus can often provide an educated critical response and, for less experienced members, advice that they can take and use to improve their own writing. That is all pretty straightforward. But it seems like there is a bit of a divide right now between those who are more experienced and those who have less experience as far as replying to RPs. I speculate that part of this may come from a perception that their input, due to their lack of experience, is less valuable or qualified as their more experienced colleagues. This brings me to the main purpose of making this post which is ultimately to say, that perception could not be farther from the truth.
ALL feedback is valuable. Yes, it is helpful to have your work responded to with a critical eye from an elder or a peer, but it is also helpful to have your work responded to with a simple old opinion. Did this thing I wrote elicit the emotion I wanted it to elicit? It's hard to know when the sample size of responses is so small, frankly. There were structural devices I used on my last two RPs that I only got any idea whether they worked or not after asking a few people specifically about them. It would be nice for their to have been enough responses to gleam how broadly they worked or not.
Another aspect that I think is important to keep in mind is reciprocity. If you are not consistently responding to RPs, I want you to consider the people who do consistently respond to your RPs. There are people who have RPs posted right now that have less than 5 replies who have responded to, as far as I can see, basically every RP posted over the last two years. Several of those RPs are from some of you folks who aren't consistently responding. Most of the responses that are provided, are pretty in-depth, often as long as some RPs, going out of their way to offer their insight to your work. It kind of sucks sometimes when you go out of your way to do that and then your own work gets such little feedback, to be perfectly honest.
And finally, to your benefit, reading and analyzing people's work is good for your craft! If part of your objective in being involved here is to improve as a writer, analyzing and elaborating on what worked and didn't work for you with a given work is going to help. You might even find, when analyzing, that some of the devices people use to tell stories are ones that you want to employ in your own work.
I would like to note that I have been leaving the RPs unlocked for the purpose of removing any time sensitivity to posting feedback so if you do find yourself with some spare time and would like to/be willing to respond to some of the RPs from previous cards you may have missed, I would love to see that happening. I will be bumping threads as needed to ensure the forum is laid out in event order (IE RPs/news posts for the most recent events on top) so please feel free to respond to any RPs from any shows during this tour at your own discretion.
This isn't intended to target anyone specifically or guilt trip you guys. I understand that we all have obligations and lives that take precedent. But what I will say is, we have revived this fed to this point as a team, we will have to work as a team to keep it running, and we will have to work as a team to grow it from here. I have a lot of experience with e-fedding and I can tell you that one of the easiest ways for all of the work we put in, be it in writing RPs or writing/putting together results, is to do all of that work and see that a small minority of the participants are even engaging with the material. If we want this to survive, we have to work together to make that a reality. I hope to see an improvement in the volume of feedback in the weeks and months to come. Thank you all for everything we have accomplished so far. It's been a super fun tour and as we approach our big crescendo at Scars and Stripes, I think we're lined up for one of the best WFWF shows of all time!
The truth is, this is not a message that is, for the most part, targeted toward our most experienced writers. Most of you folks tend to reply to most of the RPs consistently. Maybe not every time, for sure, but you all have lives and obligations outside of this e-fed that take precedent (as they should) so not necessarily getting around to replying to every RP every show in an expaditious manner is understandable. I really appreciate how consistently some of ya'll have been in providing feedback, so thank you for that!
It is fairly obvious to see the value add of feedback from our most experienced writers. Experienced writers know a lot of things about writing and thus can often provide an educated critical response and, for less experienced members, advice that they can take and use to improve their own writing. That is all pretty straightforward. But it seems like there is a bit of a divide right now between those who are more experienced and those who have less experience as far as replying to RPs. I speculate that part of this may come from a perception that their input, due to their lack of experience, is less valuable or qualified as their more experienced colleagues. This brings me to the main purpose of making this post which is ultimately to say, that perception could not be farther from the truth.
ALL feedback is valuable. Yes, it is helpful to have your work responded to with a critical eye from an elder or a peer, but it is also helpful to have your work responded to with a simple old opinion. Did this thing I wrote elicit the emotion I wanted it to elicit? It's hard to know when the sample size of responses is so small, frankly. There were structural devices I used on my last two RPs that I only got any idea whether they worked or not after asking a few people specifically about them. It would be nice for their to have been enough responses to gleam how broadly they worked or not.
Another aspect that I think is important to keep in mind is reciprocity. If you are not consistently responding to RPs, I want you to consider the people who do consistently respond to your RPs. There are people who have RPs posted right now that have less than 5 replies who have responded to, as far as I can see, basically every RP posted over the last two years. Several of those RPs are from some of you folks who aren't consistently responding. Most of the responses that are provided, are pretty in-depth, often as long as some RPs, going out of their way to offer their insight to your work. It kind of sucks sometimes when you go out of your way to do that and then your own work gets such little feedback, to be perfectly honest.
And finally, to your benefit, reading and analyzing people's work is good for your craft! If part of your objective in being involved here is to improve as a writer, analyzing and elaborating on what worked and didn't work for you with a given work is going to help. You might even find, when analyzing, that some of the devices people use to tell stories are ones that you want to employ in your own work.
I would like to note that I have been leaving the RPs unlocked for the purpose of removing any time sensitivity to posting feedback so if you do find yourself with some spare time and would like to/be willing to respond to some of the RPs from previous cards you may have missed, I would love to see that happening. I will be bumping threads as needed to ensure the forum is laid out in event order (IE RPs/news posts for the most recent events on top) so please feel free to respond to any RPs from any shows during this tour at your own discretion.
This isn't intended to target anyone specifically or guilt trip you guys. I understand that we all have obligations and lives that take precedent. But what I will say is, we have revived this fed to this point as a team, we will have to work as a team to keep it running, and we will have to work as a team to grow it from here. I have a lot of experience with e-fedding and I can tell you that one of the easiest ways for all of the work we put in, be it in writing RPs or writing/putting together results, is to do all of that work and see that a small minority of the participants are even engaging with the material. If we want this to survive, we have to work together to make that a reality. I hope to see an improvement in the volume of feedback in the weeks and months to come. Thank you all for everything we have accomplished so far. It's been a super fun tour and as we approach our big crescendo at Scars and Stripes, I think we're lined up for one of the best WFWF shows of all time!
