Writers vs Artists - a Culture Clash
Jun. 10th, 2019 04:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
This might come off as something as a rant, and I guess to a point it is - but mostly it's just genuine puzzlement. Because I honestly don't understand the entirely different responses from the two creative halves of fandom.
I'm a fanfic writer, and when people comment on my fics, I always reply. And it's pretty much universal, it seems, because when I comment on other people's fics, I almost always get a response. If my comment was fairly short, it may be, 'Glad you liked it, thanks for letting me know.' If my comment was more detailed, the reply will often be, 'I'm so glad you liked that bit, it was one of my favourites, let me tell you my inspiration for it!' Basically, enthusiasm is met with enthusiasm, and everyone wants to talk about their work. I think I've commented on maybe four or five fics EVER across twenty years and over a dozen fandoms where the author hasn't responded.
And then there are the artists. I've reblogged fanart on tumblr and pillowfort with detailed comments explaining what I loved about it - the light, the shading, the composition. I've sent direct, personal messages to fan artists across various forums telling them how much I love their work. I've promoted artists, linking to their work, and to their sites, and tagging them, and telling everyone who'll listen how fabulous they are. And out of the dozens and dozens of fanarts I've praised and pimped publicly and privately, do you know how many of the artists ever bothered to reply to me? Three. Yes, three. Basically, it's the exact inverse of what I get from writers, and what I give as a writer.
Is is that fanfic writers get so few responses, they'll do anything for more? Is is that fanartists who get hundreds, and in a few cases thousands of notes on every piece of art, don't have the time to respond to them all? Is it because writers write for free with praise as their only reward, while artists are selling their work for cash and don't need to bother with verbal feedback when they're getting paid in actual money? I know that some of them don't speak English as a first language, and maybe they don't reply because they'd find it hard to communicate with me beyond the basics, but that's not true for most of them and I'm honestly just... ???
I can tell you that as a result of this, I'm commenting less and less on art. I'll still reblog it if I like it, but I rarely say anything personal about it any more. I have to ABSOLUTELY love it to say anything, or if it's art by a new artist to a fandom with very few notes, I'll say something to try and encourage them. But for the vast majority of fanart by the vast majority of fanartists, I'll just reblog and move on, because I get tired of shouting into the void.
I'm a fanfic writer, and when people comment on my fics, I always reply. And it's pretty much universal, it seems, because when I comment on other people's fics, I almost always get a response. If my comment was fairly short, it may be, 'Glad you liked it, thanks for letting me know.' If my comment was more detailed, the reply will often be, 'I'm so glad you liked that bit, it was one of my favourites, let me tell you my inspiration for it!' Basically, enthusiasm is met with enthusiasm, and everyone wants to talk about their work. I think I've commented on maybe four or five fics EVER across twenty years and over a dozen fandoms where the author hasn't responded.
And then there are the artists. I've reblogged fanart on tumblr and pillowfort with detailed comments explaining what I loved about it - the light, the shading, the composition. I've sent direct, personal messages to fan artists across various forums telling them how much I love their work. I've promoted artists, linking to their work, and to their sites, and tagging them, and telling everyone who'll listen how fabulous they are. And out of the dozens and dozens of fanarts I've praised and pimped publicly and privately, do you know how many of the artists ever bothered to reply to me? Three. Yes, three. Basically, it's the exact inverse of what I get from writers, and what I give as a writer.
Is is that fanfic writers get so few responses, they'll do anything for more? Is is that fanartists who get hundreds, and in a few cases thousands of notes on every piece of art, don't have the time to respond to them all? Is it because writers write for free with praise as their only reward, while artists are selling their work for cash and don't need to bother with verbal feedback when they're getting paid in actual money? I know that some of them don't speak English as a first language, and maybe they don't reply because they'd find it hard to communicate with me beyond the basics, but that's not true for most of them and I'm honestly just... ???
I can tell you that as a result of this, I'm commenting less and less on art. I'll still reblog it if I like it, but I rarely say anything personal about it any more. I have to ABSOLUTELY love it to say anything, or if it's art by a new artist to a fandom with very few notes, I'll say something to try and encourage them. But for the vast majority of fanart by the vast majority of fanartists, I'll just reblog and move on, because I get tired of shouting into the void.
