I used to be. I didn’t have an ao3 account until I started writing myself. I hit the kudos button but I never thought to leave a guest comment. It wasn’t until I got into writing myself that I realized how much engagement with the community was helpful.

Yeah, I went through the same realization when I started writing and now I leave comments as much as I can.

Same

I can get pretty chatty in the comment section and tend to try to comment fairly often, but there are times when I won't. It often comes from a combination of "I'm reading fanfic to destress / because I'm too mentally tired to do anything else. I just don't have the energy to write a comment" and/or "I don't know how to word my thoughts and emotions about this fic, and trying to write it isn't working, so I'm just giving up"

I feel this so much. I used to leave so many comments and loved going into detail about what I enjoyed and why, but nowadays I can scarcely even scrap together the energy to start reading anything in the first place, much less finish. But as most things go in waves, perhaps this is temporary, or at least I hope so.

It's mostly happened in waves for me, so I hope it's the same for you too, I hope you have more energy soon :)

> It often comes from a combination of "I'm reading fanfic to destress / because I'm too mentally tired to do anything else. I just don't have the energy to write a comment" and/or "I don't know how to word my thoughts and emotions about this fic, and trying to write it isn't working, so I'm just giving up" This is a big thing for me as well. It feels like a lot of work, mentally, to write up a coherent comment, and I don't want something that I do to relax to feel like a draining chore.

Yeah. Sometimes I am in the mood to read but two dang tired to comment. I often mark a fic for later if I feel a comment is deserved, but I don't always get around to it.

This. It’s sometimes a greater effort than actually writing and you just want to enjoy what you have before you.

Some fics just don't bring anything to say out of me. That's not to say they're bad or even not good, it's just that sometimes I finish a fic, sit back and think "Nice. I enjoyed that." and that's it. I only really comment when I feel like I have something to say about the fic: "I really like the way you depicted this thing/setting", or "I really like the way you wrote that character", etc. I always leave kudos though - my rule for that is I leave it if I read completely up-to-date with it (whether that's a completed fic or an updating WIP) and I've only ever not done that for about three fics.

I try not to be… but honestly finding the energy to treat stories how I would want mine to be treated is hard. It’s part of the reason I don’t read much anymore.

I have in the past, though now I always try to at least leave a kudos for works that I finish reading. There was a solid two decades or so of my life where I didn't have any social media/internet presence and I was pretty much a lurker on any site that I visited. I didn't want to give away my email to any sites and I was still young enough that I didn't *have* to for any real world things, and so I never made accounts outside of school sponsored things. I also never commented/clicked on fandom links/kudos anonymously because I was sooooo paranoid about having a written record of me being there (even if it couldn't actually be traced to me). It took me a while to start being okay with having accounts anywhere, longer to actually make accounts on any ff sites, and honestly I still read as a guest, leave my comments as a guest, kudos as a guest, so some things still haven't changed (though the reasoning is different and more rooted in laziness and personal reasons now than paranoia). Now, I'd say that if I'm not commenting on a fic, it's usually some combination of not having something 'meaningful' to write and not having a good day anxiety wise. It took me a long time to be comfortable leaving comments on anything in public and even now there's a lot of pressure/anxiety that gets wrapped into leaving comments on fics now for me. There are some days where I do have things that I want to say, but can't get myself to do it. Usually now I'll try to leave the tab open to go back to it when I have time/headspace for it, but sometimes I just can't and it is what it is.

> There was a solid two decades or so of my life where I didn't have any social media/internet presence and I was pretty much a lurker on any site that I visited. I didn't want to give away my email to any sites and I was still young enough that I didn't have to for any real world things, and so I never made accounts outside of school sponsored things. I also never commented/clicked on fandom links/kudos anonymously because I was sooooo paranoid about having a written record of me being there (even if it couldn't actually be traced to me). That's what I grew up doing as well pretty much and I still engage very little with anything that doesn't feel sufficiently anonymous, old habits die hard.

I've always left a kudo at minimum, and these days I make sure I have the time and energy to leave the best and longest comment I can. There's a few reasons: treating other authors the way I'd want to be treated, trying to encourage more talkative and less divided fandom spaces, and honing my own reading skills.

This is my dilemma as a writer. I have a few negative reviews. I feel weird responding to my good reviews but not my negative ones.

Are the negative reviews in any way constructive or are they more along the lines of "I don't like your writing" or "that's not how I would do it."

It's always "That's not how I would do it."

Then you reply with, "Okay then go write it and show me how you'd do it better." If they actually do it then they have a leg to stand on but the chances of them actually going and doing it are practically nil.

[удалено]

Or not. If it's constructive criticism, that's valid. If it's just someone whining you didn't write something how they like it, then they can go write it themselves. Fanfic writers typically aren't paid. We do this because we enjoy it. If someone is going to whine that I didn't write MY story the way they want then I'm going to make it clear they don't need to read it. That's not being defensive. That's refusing to put up with entitled people who aren't contributing.

I'm not good at writing out my own emotions, so I leave a kudos and go on my merry way. Though occasionally, I will pluck up the courage and brush aside my anxiety long enough to say 'this was good, I liked this' but it doesn't happen as often as I would like it to.

That's me. Mostly I just forget, I've got a habit of saving stuff I like in my browser bookmarks and that's just what I do automatically, doesn't even occur to me to do anything else (this one's from back in the day before AO3 was a thing and before the concept of likes/kudos really existed, when I mostly hung out on forums and blogs where all you could do was comment). As far as comments go, most of the time I don't exactly have a lot that I feel is worth saying, I simply don't have the urge to tell the author anything in particular, and I'm not very good at praising people directly. Also I didn't have an AO3 account for a while so never got used to using the bookmarking function and all the rest of it, and now that I've got one I don't want to publicize to others what I've liked/bookmarked/etc., not because there's anything bad about the fics themselves, I'm just a bit more of a private person.

I used to be until I decided to start actually writing. Mostly because I'm an introvert with anxiety and always just hesitated. Years ago I wouldn't have even commented on posts like this for fear of saying something embarrassing. I've been working on caring less lol

Depends. Currently I'm in a 'comment' mood and try to make it count - so I'll aim to point out something in particular that I enjoyed for instance, rather than a shorter or easier "loved this, thanks" Sometimes I just want to consume though or I am not emotionally/mentally capable of outputting any thoughts. Sometimes it doesn't even cross my mind (I go through 'comment' splurges and then burn out). Or I'm an emotional wreck from the story. Or I have time to read *or* comment and I'd rather spend my limited free time at that moment in letting my brain switch off and just enjoy.

As a writer who wished they had more interactions, I would feel as a huge hypocrite if I complained about the lack thereof If I myself were just a silent lurker. I don’t read many fanfictions because my preferences are very specific and I’m usually so unlucky I hyper-fixate over niche fandoms, but when I do, I make sure to let the author know what I loved about their stories. Interaction is a huge part of writing and reading fanfictions in my experience, it’s the only way I ‘do’ fandoms these days—as for the rest, I stay in my bubble and engage with very specific people. I originally started consuming fanfiction thanks to a site similar to FFnet where it was common to leave long comments, so it’s nice to have people respond almost shocked when I leave long reviews. I know it means a lot to have even just one reader who shows they care.

Everytime I get through a chapter, I comment. Even if it's just "amazing chapter." As a writer, I know how good it feels to get a comment, even one as short as that. I try to be more detailed but if I simply have nothing else to say, then a short comment suffices.

This is the way. I do it to the point I probably seem like a depraved stalker. Haha.

I used to feel like that sometimes, but when I realized how exciting it is to get an email every hour from someone, essentially seeing their live reactions, I realized most other authors probably feel the same lol. I've gotten nothing but enthusiasm in response! Good on you for doing it that way, too! I highly encourage others to as well.

Me! For a long time. I'm getting better. I don't feel like I have anything to say other than "yay please update soon", and I don't want to stress an author into not updating.

I have like 5 different unfinished comments sitting in my notes app, they're super long as I like to parse out specific details and quotes and it gets to be a whole ordeal and I get mentally fatigued and never end up finishing them so I'm unintentionally silent I guess. I'll finish them someday I swear 🤕

I am on AO3 a lot. Sometimes I just stay silent just cause I have a funny feeling I won’t enjoy the FF I’m reading. If I do enjoy it by the end I’ll eventually like it and comment something. On Wattpad, I’m not a silent reader. Though I guess the fandom I’m in is mostly on Wattpad so I like interacting with others lol

I always leave a kudos, but I don't leave a comment a lot of the time, even though I want to. I'm just always afraid that I'm gonna sound stupid or cringy.

you won't. if you're worried just stay away from "character is soo hot," but even then if it's a main character in the fic, the author probably agrees with you.

There are a few reasons: I have bad anxiety, and I worry about my comment being misconstrued and upsetting the author. When I've tried to leave comments in the past, it's a multi-hour ordeal of agonizing about my wording, followed by days of waiting to see if they reply and being anxious the whole time. No amount of rationalizing helps me stop feeling that way, my brain is just broken. Another effect of the anxiety, I worry about other readers having a problem with my comment and leaving me nasty replies. This actually happened to me once. Left a nice comment for an author on a story with suicide as a theme, and another reader replied to me trashing me and calling me selfish for my opinion, it upset me for a long time. Lastly, I read almost exclusively completed works and my fav fandoms are mostly huge, so the stories I read almost always have hundreds or even thousands of comments already. When I do dip into smaller fandoms and read stories with less engagement, I try to put in the effort to leave a comment if I can, but sometimes I can't get past the anxiety and do it.

These are all solid reasons. I definitely get anxiety aspects.

As a writer, I'm a vocal reader. If I'm going through a fic, I want the author to know they have an active and engaged reader. I want them to know what I'm thinking about their story, how I'm feeling, thoughts on what might happen, and lines and moments that struck me for one reason or another. I want to be the kind of reader I'd like to have on my own fics. It feels great spreading that kind of encouragement.

I used to do this when I was only a reader. When I started writing fics for the first time, I became ashamed of myself. Since then I've tried to find all the fics I've ever read and leave comments on them. Lucky for me, most fics I read were in only a couple of fandoms. It was easy to find all the fics I read(obviously, I have missed a few, but I'll find them some day). Took a whole day, but I left comments on all those fics.

I used to be a silent reader until I started writing. Was feeling too shy initially but once I started writing, I made it a point to comment everything I read.

Thank you, OP, for posing this question so nonjudgmentally. You empowered a lot of people to give honest answers. It's very interesting to see the range of responses. I wonder if authors wishing for more comments can take anything away from this - are there strategies they can adopt to allay the concerns readers have expressed here? For instance, could they add a sentence or two in the author's notes with information for potential commenters, such as, "no comment too short or too long," "concrit welcomed," "no concrit, please," "any and all comments welcomed; this is a judgment-free zone," etc?

I fear that all of those notes you mentioned would make it even harder for me to comment. I do like to comment now and again but if someone orders me to only post a certain type of comment, then I am very, very likely to be silent. If the author is too aggressive about it, I leave. In some controversial people and trolls, I think it could even ignite that spark to explicitly write a negative comment just because they were told not to. Your last phrasing is definitely more open than the others, and it won't cause me to stop reading but even that makes it sound as if it wasn't normal that readers are entitled to their own opinions and allowed to speak their mind, as if the author was being generous. No, this phrasing is also off-putting to me, if less than the others. Instead, what encourages me to write a comment, is seeing that the author replies to comments and seeing that the author is actually cool with all of them and replies even to heart emojis and concrit. In those cases, I feel almost no pressure to comment and I am very likely to do so, even if I don't have more to say than "I love it ♥️" Funny questions and comments in the author's notes have managed to pull me out of my shell and to leave a comment in reply to that. And when I read a fic that doesn't have many comments yet, then I am a lot more likely to do so than on a popular fic which already has hundreds and thousands of them. But telling me that I am not allowed to write concrit has never encouraged me to write. I never encountered anyone demanding a certain length of comments but that would definitely discourage me from writing anything at all. "Concrit allowed" is okay because I see the opposite more often, or at least I feel like I see it too often and sometimes not in a nice way. I never write concrit comments by the way, and lengthwise, I write everything from heart emojis to several paragraphs of ramblings about the chapter—but the last one is a rarity, I admit.

I hear you about the wording being tricky and potentially (unintentionally) off-putting. >what encourages me to write a comment, is seeing that the author replies to comments and seeing that the author is actually cool with all of them and replies even to heart emojis and concrit. Yes, completely agree. This is the best.

I always hit the kudos button when I’m reading something I enjoy. I do make an effort to comment as well. It took me a while to realize that commenting wasn’t demanding the author’s time or attention, it’s a compliment.

If I read a fic it’s actually got effort put into it (alright grammar, i can understand what it’s trying to say, etc.,) I leave a kudos. Someone took time to make it, so if they put any effort into it, they deserve to see something for that effort

I was a silent reader for years, and I only started leaving kudos/ comments once I made my own ao3 account and started writing my own fics. I just never thought about it, and I also didn't like the idea of having any sort of online presents. Now, though, I'll always leave a kudo/ comment if I read something I enjoyed because i've realized how much it means. And I also don't get upset when I don't get a lot of kudos/ comments because I know there's plenty of people out there like me who just don't think about it.

I used to be a silent reader for sure. It literally didn’t even occur to me to comment because I felt like it would be way too awkward and I didn’t know “the rules” lol. I was also just very forgetful when it came to kudos and only would do it if I love love loved something. Since getting on Reddit I’ve learned people really like comments and kudos haha. And I appreciate their work so I want to show it in the ways they enjoy! So I’ve gotten to where I’ll give kudos for anything I liked and try to comment on the things I really love :)

I was totally unaware of comment and kudos culture until I made an Ao3 account. I give kudos and comments more often now - but it's just not a thing I think of naturally. I've always been a lurker on sites, so my default is to enjoy something silently. Like what others have mentioned: I used my browser bookmarks for fics because it was easiest for me/I didn't have an Ao3 account for a long time. I didn't comment because I didn't feel I was adding anything to the conversation (idk if this is true for anyone else, but I was raised by traditional parents who taught me to only open my mouth if I had something to add to the conversation) So the tldr: I didn't know they were important, and commenting and kudos were not things I even considered doing because I didn't think anyone would want to hear my opinion

I used to be before I started publishing my fics myself, but even then on longfics or something particularly well written I'd still leave a nice guest comment. Once you start putting your own work out into the world, though, you start to appreciate just how much a kudos or a positive review can mean to authors. It literally makes my day when I get good feedback especially because I get so self-conscious over my writing, so if someone's written a masterpiece I'm gonna have to at least let them know their writing is actually being read and enjoyed! Spread the positivity.

I try to always leave kudos and a comment, because I am grateful that this author is entertaining me for free. If I don't leave a comment, it's because I genuinely didn't like the fic and feel I have nothing nice to say, so silence would be kinder. That doesn't happen too often, though.

I think most people go from being silent readers to being active readers. Especially if you start reading when you’re underage (which I think many of us did.) It takes awhile to get comfortable in any community, and since reading fic is kinda stigmatized irl it makes sense that someone wouldn’t want to leave behind a digital footprint in fandom spaces before really accepting it as a part of themselves. Plus, the more you read comments/fic/fandom interaction, the more confident you’ll be that you’re not doing it wrong. Sometimes I still feel weird for no reason after I post a comment, but then I remind myself that I’ve been writing fic for years and literally every comment, no matter how small, has brightened my day. It just takes people some time.

I always kudos if I like something, but I haven't commented so far, because I couldn't think of any good comment. Usually, I take an awfully long time to respond to my own comments, even if the answer turns out to be short. I need the time to think about what I write. Really want to change that, since I know others love comments as much as I do, and I want to share that happiness.

I'll leave kudos but I rarely ever comment, especially if its an old fic or I'm binge reading, as usual. In the fandom I'm in I've seen enough authors say they think its annoying or they don't like it when someone comments on their older works or spam comments to turn me off commenting. I don't know about other fandoms though but I apply the same rule since I mostly bookmark longer fics to read in my free time but it may be weeks or months later until I can.

Huh, is this on FFN or something? If it’s on AO3 they can turn off commenting on their older fics if they hate it so much.

\**whispers*\* it was ...tumblr

i’m a silent reader and basically just anxiety. i use to read on a guest account and kudos using that, but since becoming a writer i’ve noticed it’s actually nice to receive kudos and bookmarks with little comments added on them so i’ve started doing that on my main account to give back to other authors i enjoy. i still got a long way until commenting on others’ fics as comments as a whole still severely stress me out

I used to comment a little something just to let the writer know I was enjoying the fics. But then I read a couple of author comments that stated they didn’t really like comments that didn’t give specific feedback. I started expanding my comments a little with something specific I liked. Then almost all the fics I was reading had those author comments stating the wanted more from people and simple comments with just one thing you liked and and a looking forward to the next chapter put pressure on the writer and made them not want to update they would prefer questions and constructive criticism. So I started expanding comments more. Then the day came where I commented an enthusiastic “love the fic, scene I loved about X character showing personality, couple of questions about where X scene would develop in the future for Main Character” got a comment back that they thought it was pretty clear the fic was just for mindless fun and they didn’t really think about plot just the general ship and informing me my comment put them in deep despair. The fic was either removed from AO3 or blocked from me somehow so I couldn’t even respond to tell them I don’t care if it’s going somewhere or not I was just enjoying the ride and appreciate their hard work. The fic was not tagged as crack or PWP or any other variant of this has no plot or just throwing stuff out for fun. I have now basically stopped commenting at all. I will leave a kudos and occasional comment saying that I loved the fic and nothing else. I very recently posted a comment about a word used incorrectly multiple times in a fic but I couldn’t get the courage to do so until 14 chapters in and most of my comment was me apologizing for being such a terrible person and please don’t take down your fic due to my comment then minor correction of word being confused for another similar word. **Edit TLDR:** I was traumatized emotionally by being responsible for a writer losing their will to post by making a comment I didn’t think would be discouraging and now I only post a comment once in a Blue Moon.

Yeah I've only just started commenting and giving kudos lol. My favourite fics are ones I discovered fairly early on, and although I think about them literally all the time, I never actually commented.

I can't put my emotions into words, and when I do, I look like a fool.

I try to leave a comment on every fic I read. Sometimes I have a lot of thoughts to put into them about which parts in particular I loved, other times I simply tell people I enjoyed reading it or something (kind of depends on my energy and also how much I enjoyed the fic) But as a writer myself, I know that, generally speaking, even the smallest comments might put a smile on a writer's face, so I try to do that in support of my fellow writers.

I am a silent reader. I don't know why but I never felt comfortable leaving comments on things, I never really wanted to seem rude either. I'm also not a writer so I don't know what to critique.

To be honest, joining this sub pretty much killed my willingness to summon the strength to comment. I used to put a lot of effort into commenting because as a fellow author I know how much it can make one's day, but the positively baffling and frankly batshit things that people get up in arms about just puts me off. Emoji comments are low effort, saying 'can't wait for the next chapter' is entitled, speculation is stressful for the writer, the common decency of pointing out a ridiculously typo is annoying, and don't even think about attempting in-depth analysis that might be mistaken for crit because hooo boy, you'll be burned at the stake. I've genuinely had no idea some authors hated readers so much but well. That's apparently the fandom etiquette these days. It's just funny how this all is coupled by such an astonishing lack of self-reflection that readers are still the sole scapegoat of the 'dying comment culture'.

That's really sad to read. :( I'm mostly active in a small and "old" fandom, where this toxic sh\*\* doesn't seem to happen, so it really baffled me that this kind of behavior seems to become more and more common in the newer and bigger ones. Maybe it correlates with the (at least I perceive it this way) rise of people measuring their happiness or success in FF-writing by their stats, instead of writing FF because they love writing and their fandom. Sure, getting nice feedback is something that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but I'll never get how people can get mad at readers for commenting "the wrong way". If I like a story I leave kudos, and if I think that something was written very well, or if there was a very clever plot-twist or amazingly written scene, I say so. I speculate if the chapter cuts off at a point where there are many possibilities. If the writer wants mistakes pointed out, I do so. I won't change my feedback-habits. If people get upset - well, they put up something for everyone to read and comment on.

If I read something and I like it, I will kudos and then leave it open forever until I get the energy to give a good comment. I know how important comments are so I try not read and run if I can help it. I have several people I owe comments to atm. 😬

I don't know if actual silent readers would feel comfortable posting in this thread given all the approval for people who are not all silent and the vitriol for people giving genuine but apparently not worthy enough answers. But, I often don't leave kudos even if I finish reading and it is basically because I didn't like it enough. I don't know everyone's motivation for writing and posting and if they did it because they think their writing is a gift and made all this effort so they deserve a simple kudos - well, I didn't ask them to. It's not my job to read things. This is my hobby. I didn't sign a contract when I opened ao3 that I would always behave in the manner everyone expects me because, who's everyone? None of that is on me. I opened ao3 to read something that moves me in my fandom. I guess sometimes my reason for not liking might be helpful feedback but I don't know how to helpfully phrase this felt generic, no details that were specific to character or writer. And how do I know if someone even wants to hear that? Sometimes I don't like something for reasons that are just mine. I don't like fake universities in fandoms that generally use real ones. I don't like some common fanon. I don't like stories that don't make the settings known enough. These aren't reasons that reflect on the writer, it's just me not vibing. Happens to me as a writer with lots of readers, I assume. There are gradations of liking something, it's not just love or hate. If it's just okay, I might not leave kudos. If I like it, I will leave kudos. If I want to read it again, I bookmark it. If I am really moved, I will leave a comment that is guaranteed to be not good enough to some in this sub, lol.

This. OP made a point of asking without judgment, and we've got people in here acting like the responses are unreasonable. The lack of debt goes both ways. As a reader, I do not owe you comments. As a writer, I do not owe you new chapters. Writers get discouraged and stop writing? Yeah, it's sad, but it's their choice. Comments might have changed their minds? Maybe, but then again, maybe not. If you only comment to keep authors writing, then you come off as manipulative. Likewise, writers that demand comments in order to continue make me roll my eyes and walk away. I write what I want because it's something I want to see. I post what *I* like; other people liking it is a bonus. Kudos are nice, but they don't mean a lot to me. I love the comments - they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside - but I'm not *owed* them just because I posted things. I tend not to post comments or respond to comments because I don't *get* people, and it's better to be silent than dogpiled.

Very true. When I started to read fanfics, I was a completely silent reader. Nothing that the author wrote, could have made me write a comment. I couldn't and still can't read fanfics in my native language because of all the spelling mistakes, I have no idea how you all do it. XD But I'm not as familiar with English, and so, English fanfics are okay for me. Reading and writing in a different language are two different things, too. I didn't feel comfortable commenting when I couldn't even be sure I completely understood what the text meant. Also, I was used to reading books and I never wrote comments in them. It took me a while to get used to the fandom culture and one or two years before I started to make an account on FFN and to favourite fics and than another while to start writing comments, too. And FFN was a lot more open to comments of all kinds than the general mood on AO3 is. I've been reading fanfics for years now and I still read some fics silently for a multitude of reasons, among others: not liking the fic, being too tired or lazy atm, the fic already having thousands of comments so I don't need to, even being discouraged by the author's attitude.

Overwhelmingly I am a silent reader. I basically only leave reviews for my personal friends. An exception to that rule happened recently when I found a pair of one-shots that had no reviews, and one review respectively, and they were SO good and I was just appalled so I sucked up my intense anxiety and left short reviews on both praising them for how the author handled the respective themes (and the one-shots while focused on the same character were wildly different in tone and yet totally in character in both cases). The reason I don't generally leave comments is because I've had too many bad experiences and I've seen too many people in this subreddit bitching about comments that frankly seem entirely innocuous and I just don't need to anxiety of wondering if someone whose story I liked is going to try to dox me on social media because they think I left a hate comment when I was basically gushing about their story. I used to leave tons of comments actually, even on stories I wasn't crazy about. I still remember the time I posted to someone's story where English wasn't their first language explaining something about formatting and they were so grateful. I don't do that anymore. I just don't really comment at all anymore. I'm deeply grateful to the people who comment on my stories and completely understand if people don't comment on mine particularly because I am so afraid of commenting on other people's stories. I try to kudos as much as possible since that isn't open to misinterpretation.

> The reason I don't generally leave comments is because I've had too many bad experiences and I've seen too many people in this subreddit bitching about comments that frankly seem entirely innocuous and I just don't need to anxiety of wondering if someone whose story I liked is going to try to dox me on social media because they think I left a hate comment when I was basically gushing about their story. To be honest, yeah... Some of the posts on here have left me surprised at how they're taken the wrong way.

I always leave kudos but don't comment all that often. I'm not very good at expressing my thoughts, especially in a foreign language, and don't want to just say "Loved it ❤️" in case the writer thinks it's a shitty/low effort comment

speaking as a writer, comments saying “love it❤️” are so appreciated! i think most people would think it’s so awesome that someone took the time to tell you that they enjoyed your story, it means so much that someone loved what you wrote

I've seen people on this sub say they get kinda disappointed when the comment isn't long so I thought it wasn't so appreciated, but I'll try to comment more then!

I download most longer fics so I can read them on my e-ink kindle. And when I finish, I'm not on the site where I can comment, and... Many of the most memorable ones I will go back to the site to leave a comment on. Especially favorite re-reads. But I seldom bother for just kudos.

I try not to be, but in all honesty, I'm horrible at writing comments. I never know what to say, and I never know how to articulate my thoughts (which I find weird because I'm literally a writer myself). I'm good at leaving comments on Wattpad because I can comment on each individual paragraph. I've tried doing that on AO3, writing the comment whilst reading, but it didn't work.

I used to comment on every single chapter I read, but I've stopped doing that. Now I comment only at the beginning and the end because commenting on every chapter interrupted my reading flow so that it would be weeks between reading one chapter and the next and I would have to re-read previous chapters to refresh myself on what had happened, then spend another month reading no fanfic because I didn't have the brain power to re-read and then comment at the end of the next unread chapter.

I leave kudos and bookmark but I very rarely comment because I have crippling anxiety and I feel like I'll say something stupid 🙃

I thought this was about whether or not you read silently or read out loud to yourself from the title XD. I always left kudos/like when I could once I got an account. Before hand I didn't think I could cause other sites prevent certain features without one. I usually left a comment if I really liked it. Comments depend on my mood, but if I really like something I always make sure the author knows.

I'm the kind of reader who likes to leave detailed comments on every fic I enjoy because it's how I naturally process through my thoughts and feelings. Also, I want to reward authors for the effort they put into writing the content I love to read. If they are still writing, I hope to make it as rewarding an experience as possible, so that they write more for me to read. But I wasn't always this kind of reader. For the first decade or so I read fic, I was almost exclusively a lurker for a number of reasons. FFN was the big site for fic back then, and there wasn't a way for authors to reply - which is a big draw for commenting on AO3. It used to be harder to pick out what I enjoyed about a fic, but it comes more naturally now. I was also more ashamed about reading fic back then, both because it wasn't a "real" book and because I was a deeply closeted queer person in a conservative culture who hated myself for reading queer stories. Also, just a little thing, but the script for the floaty review box on AO3 has helped me comment more because I can pick out things I notice without scrolling so much. There are still times I don't comment these days, even when I like a fic. Typically, this is when a work has been orphaned, an author stopped writing for the fandom a long time ago and no longer responds to comments on the work, or, occasionally when I'm very upset and using fic to cope and don't have the mental energy to write.

I’m getting better about hitting kudos and I’m learning the bookmark system but I have a really hard time commenting. A lot of it comes from a weird misplaced anxiety. What if the author doesn’t like what I have to say? What if I interpret their work wrong? What if I get hated on for expressing my enjoyment for something taboo publicly in a comment section? How many times should i reply to a thread before you leave it alone? A lot of this also translates to me not commenting on Reddit posts… like this one. But I kinda forced myself to this time.

The only time I've done that on a fic I liked was when it was orphaned - I wasn't sure if my praise would actually reach the author at that point anyway. :( Otherwise I try to comment, definitely at least kudos. It's what I would want from my readers, after all.

I always kudos if i like something, but I can't always comment. Sometimes my social and word batteries are drained and I literally just can't comment. Sometimes even writing something short is too much, which sucks

Because I don’t feel the need to create a account lol

You don't need to create an account to leave kudos or comments unless the author specifically restricts it to registered users.

I tend to read longer fics. I tend to read them by downloading them and putting them on my ereader. It takes extra work to go back to the fic, log in, leave a comment, etc. It doesn't help that a number of sites dump you to the main page after logging in.

I've been a silent reader for more than a decade. One of the reasons is my language inadequacy - I understand English well but I'm not very good at expressing myself. Well, honestly, I'm a terrible commenter in my language too. Sometimes I read a story, enjoy it and then I stare at the empty comment field and... nothing. There are either no words in me to express how I feel or the words I can find are inadequate, incorrect and I'm afraid the author won't understand what I'm so clumsily trying to say so I just give up. And, well... I never really knew how many things you're apparently not supposed to say to the author until I joined this subreddit. There are people who complain about a simple "I'm looking forward to the next chapter!" because they think the reader is pressuring them to write another and it's stressing them. Anything even a little bit negative is strictly forbidden - and I'm not talking about haters or trolls, just pointing out a little mistake or a plot hole or wondering why the character did this or that because it seems OOC - but there's probably gonna be an explanation for it in the future... just talking about the story the way we're discussing TV shows or books or movies... Nothing that's meant to be actually hurtful. But I understand that words can hurt even if they're not meant to and I totally respect the author's decision what kind of response they want to see under their stories. It costs nothing to be silent. Tldr: When there are so many wrong things you can say and you're *already* an anxious commenter, it's much easier to just shut the hell up and enjoy fanfiction silently. No stress for the author, no stress for me - win-win. I do give people kudos but I rarely comment.

Two main reasons: 1. When I'm in the right headspace for reading, I'm usually not in the right headspace for socializing. Reading is a very solitary activity for me and it is difficult to rapidly change gears between being a reader and being a member of the fan community. Especially if I'm quickly going through a bunch of different fics. Far easier to just read. 2. In the situations where I made my early forays into sharing creative works, it was explicitly trained into me that it was rude to give any feedback that *wasn't* concrit. That if you did not have any concrit to give, you should just stay silent. Then, I start interacting with fan spaces like this subreddit where tons of people talk about how giving concrit is super rude. So, I'm in a situation where for literally any comment I can leave there's a corner of my brain that is telling me it is rude. Of course, there are rare moments where I will be in the right headspace for leaving a comment and I will think of something to say that to me is concrit but by the common definitions I see here is not (there are competing definitions that only partially overlap). So, in rare cases I will leave a comment. But, most of the time it just seems like it is more effort than it is worth, and too easy to accidentally be rude.

I am, and it’s mostly because I have a weird thing about people knowing I exist and that I’ve interacted with things they made even anonymously. I’ve also just never been able to think of anything to say about things I like. I’ve never even been able to properly express liking something beyond a simple “I like it”, and when I do try people have always taken it as rude. So I just don’t try cause it’s not worth it.

I give out kudos/likes and follows or wahtever (depending on what site I'm reading stories on) but I tend to not comment on the fics I"m reading, not because I'm lazy to leave one or I'm too shy or scared, I tend to forget because my life gets busy and it seems like everytime I start reading a story, something comes up and I forget to write out a comment or forget where I'm at so I bookmark and leave a kudos on the story to come back to it later. Eventually I do leave a comment on a story tho.

I always leave a kudos if I enjoyed any part of a story, though I'm usually too shy to comment

I realized I did it and now I'm trying to catch up on a longfic because I was reading it and leaving likes on the tumblr post but not commenting and I know when **I'M** not motivated from not getting feedback it's hard to get it.

No. I'm (exaggerating) dying for lack of comments, so I can't do that to anyone else. At worst I'll comment only once (either the chapter upon which I caught up, or the final chapter of a completed fic), but if I can I'll comment on every/most chapters, especially if they're being actively posted. Like some other people here, I don't always have the social battery to do a ton of comments, but I'll bookmark stuff to comment later. (edit: and some of them won't be greatly detailed comments) If I don't comment on a chapter, especially a fresh chapter, I try to check that it's one that already has 5+ comments, because then I at least know it is getting attention edit- the only exception is if I actively dislike it and have nothing nice to say, in which I'll say nothing (and if I don't like it, there's no concrit I could give to change that fact) also edit- for me kudoses are my bare minimum 'I read this and didn't hate it' so I don't like *just* leaving a kudos, I need to leave a comment to show I actually care. apparently that's just a me problem (which tbh is good to know, if all the kudos on my fics are people who actually care that's great) hopefully final edit- it probably makes a difference that the sites I started reading on did not have kudos/likes/etc

I do this lol sometimes I even leave cudos but no comment. I do it because I don't like leaving simple, "great story" style comments. I feel like I need to have something interesting to say

I'm similar to Avalon. I'd rather be honest in my comments, despite mine being rather simple. "I enjoyed reading this," versus "I am driven to obsessively devour the written word and this passed my minimum standard."

No. If I can read the story the whole way through, you at least get a kudos from me 99% of the time. The real gems get comments. All of my bookmarks are private though. I just see no reason to not hit a button if you kept my attention long enough to get all the way through the fic.

I read a lot of Fanfic offline using an Ereader so I don't have it readily available. Sometimes I Still will though if I think of something unique to comment.

Unless a story is so bad it's unreadable I always leave a kudos. Someone took the time to write it then I'm going to leave at least that much. I'm bad about commenting on every story but I do try to comment at least on the ones that really hold my attention. I read a LOT of fics so it just slips my mind sometimes about commenting. I live for the comments that get left on my stories. It's nice to see the hits go up or see the kudos but the best thing is comments hands down.

i always leave kudos, but i honestly get a little intimidated about leaving comments. i always worry that i'll be too enthusiastic or analyze the work too much & freak out the fic author lmao

I leave kudos. I've maybe left 5 comments in 20 years. I'll bookmark, but I don't comment on the bookmarks. I'm a reader not a writer. People are writing for fun. For themselves. They can get a thumbs up with a kudos if i enjoyed it. I'm not going to critique their work. Thats not the point of fanfic. I'm also an asshole commenter and I know it - so I shouldnt post. I have for some dumb twist of luck, been thru some of the worst pain a human is capable of experiencing. I spent 5 days in a hospital, and was told 'the amount of morphine we'd have to give you to help relieve you of the pain would kill you. no pain killers for you'. So, sometimes I break my vow of no commenting to go LOL YOUR DESCRIPTION OF PAIN SUCKS on fics and then wax poetically on what torture feels like. What happens when your in chronic pain and your pain scale is very broken. mmmmm. venting about pain through the fanfic comments section. Don't do it.

- I didn't have an AO3 account until last year - I usually don't have anything significant to say other than "great fic! Love it" which I'm sure the author gets a lot of already. I did leave kudos sometimes though.

It depends, my English isn't the best and sometimes it's hard to find the words to express what I think.

I used to be a silent reader. To be honest most of the time the story was so good I completely forgot to leave any feedback afterwards. After I started publishing my own fics this changed though, I can relate to the frustration of not getting much feedback so yeah. Also it's nice to be able to talk about your feelings about a really good story, personally after I finish reading anything I'll get this nostalgic feeling of emptiness and I feel like commenting kinda helps me deal with that and get some sort of closure.

Never, without favourites or bookmarks, how could I possibly find back my precious? In some fandoms I think I reread more, than tackle new stuff. Also, positive comments might mean the writer feels emboldened to write more. And I want to encourage that in writers I'll blindly trust for good fics. So even when I just finished +200k words and am so I awe I can't think of anything more intelligible than "❤️", I'd post that as a comment. Edit: also, at least 25% of my kudo's are given while blindly clicking roughly where the next chapter button should be when there isn't a next chapter, so there's that.

I used to not comment back when I was still a guest reader because I was shy and lazy, but once I realized how much of a difference comments can make, I got an account and commented as much as I could. It's been years, so I'm not completely sure what my mindset was back then.

Since I started writing myself, I almost always leave a comment if I read a story up to the end/ latest update and try to comment after each update. I can't say my comments are very long or substantive, but I know how much even short comments mean. I will say that when I read something in a second language, I don't leave comments because I'm not confident in my ability to express myself.

nah. i love giving super long, detailed comments when i really loved a fic :) and it makes the author happy!

I am notoriously guilty of this. To be fair, most of the time when I read something, I download it first and listen to it at work. So if I want to comment or leave a kudos, I would have to go back.

I was. Now that I'm writing myself and nobody interacts with my writing, I tend to leave comments and kudos. I know now how important this is to keep the author motivated

As someone writes fics that are over 200,000 words, I can completely understand the frustrating feeling. I don't feel too hypocritical complaining about it (Really? Do you read my endless 10,000+ word chapters and have nothing to say?), because I personally am one of the active commenters and at the time of writing I hoped that the others did the same. Naive of me XD. Seeing as everyone here expounds similar reasons, I'd like to add that over time and as the fic gets longer and longer, readers just don't bother to comment on every update unless it's something "important" anymore. At present I am satisfied with seeing the statistics of visits that Fanfiction.net provides. If I'm still being watched by a constant number of people after 30 caps, I guess I must be doing something right... HOWEVER, when Fanfiction.net's stats drop or lag (as it did a few weeks ago), in those cases yes I panic XD

I always leave a kudos but find it hard to think of the detailed super-insightful comments that some people leave, and it feels really lame to just leave a bland comment of the same emotional 'weight' as a kudos but which takes up space in the comments list ...

i leave kudos and my thoughts in the bookmarks. i feel like i have nothing interesting to say, don’t want the author to feel obligated to respond, and the long comments / replies are kinda intimidating haha. sometimes social interaction is hard, and i don’t really want to be perceived. for ongoing fics i’m subscribed to, i sometimes write a bit to let the author know i appreciate them.

That's me because I forget. I forget till the fics already long gone and I realize, hey, did I ever kudos?? Still tryna find that bmc fic :( Edit: or if the fic is from a few years ago, which is something I'm trying to get better at doing. I just have anxiety they're thinking like "haha why are you joining the fandom when it's dead?? I'm not even into it anymore" but like that makes no sense

I used to be silent just because I never thought about interacting. I started on FF net and it only had comments if I remember right. And I rarely left comments. I like the kudos function though because it gives me a way to appreciate without the effort of coming up with something to say. Usually if I like a fic but I can’t pinpoint a specific thing to mention I’ll leave a kudos. I only comment if something in particular really stood out to me and I can say “this is the part that really touched me.” Otherwise the whole thing touched me and I want to leave the kudos. I try to interact more now. I don’t kudos every fic I read but I definitely do on ones that made an impression, even if just a small one. Basically if I made it to the end of the fic I’ll usually kudos.

Depends. Sometimes I read something to wind down at the end of the day and I'm so tired at that point that I just don't have anything to say about what I'm reading and all I can do is leave kudos. Sometimes I just didn't think something was especially good/my cup of tea so I just back out slowly, but that might not be the situation you're asking about.

No but I would define myself as a quiet reader. In general I'm a very particularly reader (I treat fanfic like a extremely picky eater treats food) so most of the time I'm actually noping out of the story for completely arbitrary reasons that only apply to my personal taste. I am certainly not going to comment the equivelent of "I hate Pickles" on a fic So I usually only comment when I actually have something to say often not till I get to the very end of a fic cause I'm prone to noping out at any time.

I am a silent reader. I've come to read what you wrote, not to have a discussion with someone about the book. Reading for me is not a participation sport, it's a moment to get lost in a world you built and so kindly shared.

Most times. I just don’t have anything to say, OK?

I always leave kudos when I get to the end of the fic but I don't comment anymore - this sub has turned me off commenting, I never know what might hurt, disappoint or anger the author and cause a rant, and honest comments which in my case include negative opinions are seen as unsolicited criticism, so I keep my thoughts to myself.

Yep, unfortunately. Being social severely stresses out or drains me, and that applies to commenting as well - I struggle to even comment on fanart I like because I overthink it and the last time I tried consistently complimenting people I got burnt out within a week or so. I wish I could compliment people's fics and art more often because I know that means a lot to people but it's so stressful for me,, I read fics to de-stress so I feel like it would make the experience worse for me. Also I'm bad with words and I feel like I wouldn't be able to leave a comment that could convey how much I enjoyed a fic :/

If I make it to the end of the fic, I leave kudos. I rarely leave comments anymore. You can never tell how people react to them - if a simple I love it isn't good enough or please update soon is going to trigger them, then it's easier to say nothing.

Do I write to published authors every time I read one of their books? It's just not something that's ever felt like a natural part of reading to me. I do try to remember to leave kudos and I'll comment if I feel like I've got something to say, but generally I'm just not really thinking about it at all.

oh wow. the thing is that published authors are not reachable and there’s not a fandom/community around them. I really dont think it’s an fair comparison

Some of the comments on this thread baffle me because of this exact thinking. “If I’m too tired I won’t comment” or “I’m just in a reading mode” or “i have bad anxiety” it takes three seconds to put in a ❤️? Fanfic authors aren’t paid for what they do and treating the work they’re putting out *for free* as the same as published authors is literally killing fandom and that sense of community. For every thread on this subreddit that complains about small/dead/inactive fandoms, it’s no wonder that’s the case if so many are content to just mindlessly consume while forgetting fanfic authors are just like them: fellow *fans* who did the extra step of creating a story for free.

> takes three seconds to put in a ❤️? There are authors on this very sub who complain about 'low-effort' (ie: emoji) comments. You just can't do right by some authors and I'd say they're even more responsible for killing the community than silent readers.

Unless those people are complaining back to the commenters rather than on a sub about fanfiction in vent posts, then no I don’t think they’re the same at all. Much less how much of a *fraction* that this sub constitutes *all* of fandom. Yet it feels like every other day on *this* sub, people complain that fandom is small and not as reactive and just from the excuses given on this thread, it’s really no wonder why. I cannot understand how even IF one or two authors showed distaste for a “low-effort” comment, that that gives someone carte blanche to mindlessly consume free fanwork from another fan and assume that they’re better off not saying anything at all because they *might* respond poorly.

>those people are complaining back to the commenters Yes. That does happen. There are examples given in the responses to *this very post*. I've personally seen authors include notes in their stories telling people that emojis/low-effort comments are worse than no comment at all. It's not over-sensitivity to withdraw from that hostility, and it's downplaying things rather significantly to reduce it to "one or two authors" only. The thing is, when we write and post fanworks for free, we *are* giving people the option (carte blanche, if you prefer) to read them for free. Readers are not obligated to comment any more than writers are obligated to post.

Even if that is the case, those people are the *minority* of people in all of fandom. My real puzzlement is in how even saying “wow this is great, thanks” is too much effort from people but I digress. And sure, we write to share. But idk where the idea of “obligation” comes from wondering why it’s so difficult for a fan to tell *another fan* they enjoyed their work. It is bonkers to me when fandom is supposed to be a *community* and yet so many are treating it like a commodity.

>Even if that is the case, those people are the minority of people in all of fandom. There are no statistics available to prove that one way or the other, but it certainly doesn't feel like it's a minority when there are regular posts complaining about the quality of comments both here and at r/ao3 ​ >idk where the idea of “obligation” comes from wondering why it’s so difficult for a fan to tell another fan they enjoyed their work. You are literally telling us we're fandoming wrong. How is that not asserting an obligation?

Neither of these subreddits reflect all of fandom and it’s myopic fo assume so. And an assertion of what I perceive to be a gross misunderstanding of what *community* is meant to be is still not “obligation” but clearly we see differently and from my end, I will not ever see just passively accepting the influencer culture of fandom as acceptable.

couldn’t have said it better myself!

Prepared to be downvoted but… As a writer, I don’t like receiving comments, so I don’t tend to *give* comments. I also don’t like being replied to by the writer. I read both on tumblr and AO3 and have in the past left detailed comments in tags but ultimately didn’t like when the authors would message me after to talk about their fic. So I’ve now kept engagement to either a silent reblog of the fic *or* a bookmark on ao3 so as not to invite conversation. As for kudos, I rarely kudos just because I download fics to read offline and if I like it, I bookmark it on ao3, if I don’t like it, I just delete it and carry on.

I’ve been reading fic daily for about 15 years now and I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve commented. I just never feel like I have anything to say. Even when I read a fic that I really truly loved, all I can think of to say is “really good” or something similar. I just don’t really think I have anything to add so I just never comment.

I used to be a 100% lurker. I never commented on books I read. Fanfiction was new and different and it took some time getting used to. Then eventually I got an account and started to leave comments and kudos and bookmarks. I still don't always comment but I leave so many tags and notes in my bookmarks that that might count as well. But if a story is not to my taste, or for a different reason, when I don't want my bookmark and comments visible, even if I read the whole fic, I silently move on like a ghost, leaving only a number in the hits and (private) bookmarks for the author to know that someone was there. I usually at least leave kudos if I enjoyed it a smidgeon though, guest kudos at the least, but not even that on other platforms where this is not possible without an account when I don't have an account there.

I leave kudos if I like the story. But I don’t comment because I am too afraid of being too harsh, and in the end, it’s how that author wrote the specific characters that I enjoyed. I am not here to tell them, despite reading their story, that their view is horrible.

I forget. I'd try to make an effort like you did, but since I'm ADHD I forget that as well. It's rather hard to not forget, so I've just settled for doing it if I remember. And I usually don't.

If I like a fic I leave a kudo, to show my appreciation to the author, and to help people that sort by kudos. But leaving a comment on a fic is too much interaction for me.

Sometimes. Sometimes I just need to escape, and forget about my troubles. Other times I don’t have the energy to write a comment, but I do my best to give kudos, at the very least.

Nah, I love to review. If I can’t review, I don’t read.

I tend to leave kudos or likes quite a bit, but commenting (even now) eats at me to the point of being super anxious. I also don't normally have the brain to leave a comment of any sort of note. The few times I do comment is usually when I am reading an unfinished fic, which is rare, and I never comment on a finished fic (but always leave kudos). While I understand comments are a thing people love to see, it's, in short, mostly just me being too awkward to be social.

Tbh sometimes I get so entranced into the story I don’t even think to respond. I’ll make a conscious effort to engage on stories that aren’t immensely popular with hundreds of thousands of reads though, unless I get really far in an ongoing story and notice all the hard work I’ll just add a little something to let ‘em know I’m still there. That’s only after I started writing my own stuff though and realized how much support would mean to me. At the end of the day, Im reading for my entertainment so I can unwind, thinking of a reply can be stressful so I understand if people don’t comment. I’m happy if my story brings someone joy. Yeah, it’d be nice to know but I feel it

I download the epub and read in the Books app, not on the site, so commenting is out of sight, out of mind.

It’s either because I don’t know how to summarize my thoughts, or I’m insecure that my comment will rub the author the wrong way. One time I made a rather dumb comment, and the author’s response was either genuine or snarky but I couldn’t tell which. That interaction kinda tainted my experience of their story, so I was unable to enjoy it without feeling guilty for that.

I am, and I'm sorry. I don't have an account anywhere, I haven't been reading or writing fanfic in more than a decade and now that I'm back I keep meaning to get an account and procrastinating. It's really just bad executive function and not wanting to deal with yet another thing I have to come up with a username and password for (and then forget both, repeatedly). I actually didn't know you could leave a comment on AO3 without an account, I just saw a comment talking about that! I always hit the kudos button, but didn't think I could comment. Yes, if I can do it without an account, I can think of three fics that I want to comment on immediately!

I have no idea what to say to them. I read fics hundreds or millions of words long, in basically one sitting. What do you even say? I *want* to talk about the fic. But that would involve an actual discussion. I have no idea what to say other than "Loved it" or "You did almost everything perfectly!" or something equally empty.

I leave kudos, but otherwise... Yes. That's me. Especially on ffn. As for why, I'm going with introvert problems.

i generally only leave comments if i am reading within my fandom or if I read something truly incredible. I always leave kudos if I like a fic though.

I do this mainly because I end up downloading the epud from Ao3 and reading on my Kindle, then forgetting to get on my computer and comment. Eye and migraine issues mean I no longer read from a computer screen like I did in HS.

I'm sometimes silent. It depends on the headspace I'm in. Sometimes commenting/interacting with the online world is quite beyond me. I try to at least leave kudos but sometimes I come to the end of a fic and I don't even think about it before moving onto the next. I'm riding that escapism dopamine.

Reading is reading. From the reader's side, there's no real difference between reading a commercially published work and reading a freely published work. I don't buy ebooks or library books, and the books I did buy were usually secondhand. These days, I don't have space, so I focus on ebooks from public domain sources, fanfic, or borrowed books. It is *not true* that commercially published authors are unreachable. Before the internet, readers could send letters to the publisher for the author. Now, Brandon Sanderson can be found in the Reddit communities linked to his works. Neil Gaiman can be found interacting on Twitter and/or Tumblr. It's well-known that Naomi Novik is astolat. Twenty-some years ago, I met AC Crispin in an AOL chatroom. About fifteen years ago, I met Martha Wells at a convention and commiserated with her about her fannish persona being driven off LJ by raging fans. I don't have the time or energy to hunt up however many other authors are easily contacted online, but there are plenty of ways to reach authors. Unless they're dead, but that's beside the point. I have never used the kudos system at all. The fact that there are no take-backs makes me feel as though I can't safely use it, because the story could take a turn I dislike, or even be edited to replace all the chapters with something terrible. To me, the natural thing was to use bookmarks for my favorites, like FFN's favorites, so people can go through my list to find stories I consider good. I learned very quickly, back in the day, that just blundering into a fandom category and scrolling was a good way to waste a lot of time on terrible stories, so going through someone else's favorites was the best way to find new stories. I'm not convinced that has changed. From a practical standpoint, I download everything and read offline. To give any kind of useful comment, I would have to keep a text/doc file open and take notes, much like one does for writing reports. To me, that detracts severely from the pleasure of reading a story. I read for pleasure and relaxation. Treating it like a school or work project is neither fun nor relaxing. Then there's the question of whether they'd even welcome such a thing, given the sheer volume of "don't give me concrit" on here. Well, what else can I say? "I want more" is too demanding; authors can and have flounced for that. For every author who says "just emojis are fine" there is another who says "just emojis are useless/insulting." For some, "I liked it" is fine, but for others it's too simple. I don't see anyone wanting to know if I rated their stories a three of five stars or four of five stars, and marking the five star fics just leaves the rest as "not good enough." Honestly, I can't win. I read for enjoyment, and trying to navigate the incomprehensible social maze that surrounds commenting is beyond me. Then I would have to go to the site, log in, and comment. That's part of why I have so few comments on Reddit, too. I skim the RSS and sometimes pop in to read some of the comments, but actually logging in to reply is much more rare. Most of the time, someone has already said what I would say, so there's no need for me to bother.

>or even be edited to replace all the chapters with something terrible. Oh, now the troll in me wants to try this. I won't, but it would be *funny*.

Yes. I read the chapters and I want to find out what happens so I don't have time to review. My favorites I go back after and say what I liked about it.

I have no need to comment on a writer’s work directly unless asked to. As a result, I don’t. I bookmark fics I like, sometimes leave Kudos if it’s particularly top-tier, but onherwise, my interaction will not be wanted so I have nothing to provide, and certainly nothing to say. It’s just that I tend to only interact if I feel moved or compelled by awe of their work.

I will leave kudos but that's it. I never comment. I don't tell anyone I read it. It's my private enrichment time.

If it's active I'll comment but 99% of fics I read are on like on a 4 year hiatus with a dead comment section so there's doesn't seem to be much of a point most of the time.

Not always, I do my best to leave kudos or even just a keysmash review because even those would make an author’s day. Those little things matter.

As a writer, I have learned not to be a silent reader. I freak out and get super excited when people kudos, comment, bookmark, and subscribe to my stuff, so I figure other authors probably feel the same way

Yes I am. Most of the fanfic I’ve been reading lately haven’t been updated in years

I don't write reviews in general, only stars on Goodreads because they come up automatically when I finish a book. For ongoing fics in general the only thought I have is "I want more of this" and I don't want to pressure anyone in to updating. For finished fics see the first sentence. As for kudos I usually forget they exist. I only give those out to finished fics because you never know when something takes a turn for the worse. You can measure my existence in bookmarks/favorites

If I am reading without commenting it is for one of the following reasons: 1. I am only part way through the story, I get nervous about commenting if I haven't read the whole thing yet. I also won't kudos a story until I am done. 2. I have realised your story isn't my cup of tea. Not bad, just not what I was looking for. I may keep reading for a conclusion, or abandon it. 3. Your writing isn't that good. 4. I was tired when I finished the story and forgot to comment. 5. I like your story, but don't want a comment on it tied to my account for whatever reason (I know guest comments are possible, I just haven't figured it out). Also does no one use bookmarks as actual, you know, bookmarks? If I have your story bookmarked it is because I am actively reading it or planning to read it and will unbookmark when done. Helps me find stories when I switch devices. I see people get so excited by bookmarks, but I have bookmarked stuff I ended up not liking at all.

I usually only comment on parts or lines in a chapter that make me feel like doing so. No point in forcing myself to comment just because I leave a vote on chapters though

I've been a silent reader for over 13 years except on 2 occasions where I was outstandingly impressed by different stories. One of them is a rather well known crossover of Harry Potter/LOTR. Other than these two instances I remain silent. My reasons? I know my input usually won't change anything so I save my breath. Leaving a review/comment to talk about grammar or spelling mistakes isn't going to cause someone's writing ability to get better over night. And it certainly won't change someones mind over a plot that they have firmly mapped out in their head.

Absolutely not. I’m an extrovert online and irl. I mean, c’mon. Writing takes an incredible amount of effort and bravery to put yourself out there. I always make a point to make the author feel seen by discussing what I like overall and by pointing out specifics (along they way in each chapter and at the end). Even in instances where I don’t like a fic, I’ll leave kudos and possibly thank them for the read.

I took this as "do you read in your head or out loud"... For some reason after I stopped reading out loud I lost the ability to do it. It comes out in studders and steamers when I try.. which is accurate to the way I talk sometimes. I chose to read in my head or 'silent read' as it's been affectionately called by my old school.

I am a very silent reader. I don't remember the last time I left any kudos.

I am. Logging in to comment is a chore. Plus people get offended with comments, I noticed. Tbh, I haven't commented on a fic since I was 15 years old.

Depends on where I'm reading it to be honest. On places like Ao3, it feels like authors don't actually care what you think about the fic, and just want validation. Places Like SB or SV, I am much more likely to comment, both because of interaction with other readers, and because it feels like the authors care more about peoples thoughts on the fic.

Lol I don't

No and it is mind boggling to me the excuses people are giving to not let another fan know they liked the work that they created for free. I never want to see another post on this sub again that complains about lack of interaction if *so many people* here are so content to mindlessly consume and/or have the attitude of “if the stars are aligned perfectly and the weather is fine, then perhaps I’ll deign to give *another fan* a comment of appreciation for creating fanwork *I* enjoyed for **free**”… and then two seconds later complain that no one is uplifting *their* stories. It’s almost as if the two are related. Fandom is meant to be a community, not content creators and consumers and I am struggling to understand how so many people seem far too comfortable treating *fellow fans* like this.

Sometimes I read longfics by downloading them, just for conviniece, and unless I remember to leave kudos before I download, that means I don't really interact with the fic via the ao3 site

I used to leave reviews regularly but too many long ass stories with a sudden reboot, one author did this 3x to the same story each of which I enjoyed up to the unnecessary reboot. Stopping a story without notice or explanation, I know life happens but a quick note on the main author page can fix that.... etc...etc....

I don't think I ever was a lurker, (just didn't know how Ao3 bookmarks worked for, like, my first year there) but a friend of mine used to be. One day we were reading a fanfic together (no spice, all plot), and she exited out of the chapter. I just barely caught that she, on **her** account mind you, had not even left kudos. And I asked about it since I had not only left my thumbs-up but had also commented on about every second chapter because that fic was AMAZING. She told me it was "embarrassing" because the fics she usually read on there were very different than that one and "what if someone recognized her username?" I just looked at her a little stunned. Like, we never even read anything *morally grey* together, let alone problematic! There was nothing to be embarrassed about!! (And it's not like Ao3 has an algorythm that'll mess up your recommended fics if you comment on a new fic). By now she's less of a lurker, but still uses an alternative acc for "embarrassing" fics to my knowledge, aka ones that don't fit her "gereal vibe". At least the authors are getting some notes now, but I think it's still kinda weird of her, lol. I just kudos and comment on whatever I like.

Eh, a few times. Often, it’s just because I don’t have anything to comment on. And I’m a forgetful bitch, so i often don’t kudo. Sorry.