OldHamster, I'm wondering if it might be a situation where readers are looking for more Huddy stories right now, given the show's direction? My other thought would be that it's December and a lot of folks are busy with RL right now, especially with the holidays approaching. Okay, and some people are flakes, who read and don't post :(

Do you ever get discouraged by the shortage of comments/reviews on a story? Especially when people who have been giving you positive feedback all along suddenly stop? Sure. All the time. There are fics that I think will get a ton of feedback and get maybe 8-10 comments (or will be up for hours before even getting one comment) but then there are fics I dash off not expecting much that get swamped with comments, so *shrugs.* Logically I tell myself that I have to separate my own internal critic from the comments numbers since they aren't necessarily linked, but it obviously is a disappointment. Of course I've seen work by top notch writers out there that likewise get few comments, so I console myself with that.

cupotrevor, we writers love any and all comments, even the simple "Love it," "Great story" or "Can't wait to see what happens next." But we especially love it when readers comment on what they specifically liked in a story: "That kiss was hot!" "His reaction to X was very House." Personally my favorite comments are those that tell me I've kept everyone in character, and those that start, "I really don't care for this pairing at all, but I liked this ...." I think most of us also appreciate concrit (constructive criticism) as well, as long as it's specific and not mean-spirited. Pointing out a typo, a bit of weird word usage or an OOC moment, fine. "This story sucks!" -- not. And somebody read my post from last night and took the time to comment on my recently finished fic. I wasn't posting to fish for comments, just to vent a little and see if any other writers have been in my shoes ... but thank you, whoever you are!

Oldhamster -- yes, yes, yes. For one thing, I've noticed that when I began posting stories at ff.net, I'd get about one comment per 100 "hits" on anything I posted. Over the last few months, for whatever reason, that number has really, really fallen. I have no idea why that is, and it does make me less willing to bother posting there, knowing I'll mostly get no response. As an experiment I've posted No Accounting -- which I put up all at once on LJ -- as a chaptered piece at the Pit. I've gotten a lot more readers doing it that way, but very few of them have left feedback. Maybe ... six readers, out of more than a thousand hits on the story. Cupotrevor, I'll second what Oldhamster said about comments. A simple "I'm enjoying this" is infinitely better than nothing, and is always appreciated. You know, I've heard from several readers that it's intimidating to comment on something that they think is exceptionally good. So you're not alone there, but you see, we write largely for you -- the person who doesn't write but just enjoys reading. While it's wonderful to get feedback from other writers, we're aiming to give something of value to the fandom as a whole, and it's very gratifying to know that people outside our relatively small circle are enjoying our work.

Sometimes I get notified that a reader has subscribed to a story/author alert. Those alert notifications are almost as good as comments. It means someone thinks enough of the story to want to continue reading it.

I have stopped looking at the comment count because it just is depressing. For every comment I get I will get four or five people who will add the story to their story favorites or story alerts. I think the comment that reader comments are a diminishing return is spot on. I can look at my stories and see early chapters with many comments and later xhapters with one or two comments but I can also look at my hits count and see that over 300 individual people at least looked at a story on a certain day. So they are out there, they're just not writing. As a reader I am bad about writing comments. If I am really into something I will whip something off but frankly it can be a little intimidating to write I am enjoying this when someone else is writing a paragraph about the nuances of the particular chapter. Still, I try to at least pop in every other chapter at least to let the author know I am still reading.

I'm new to fanfiction and never realized "fanfictionetiquette" existed :oops: . I feel the same as cupotrever and Troopercam, sometimes it's embarrassing to follow up the most eloquent comments with my own badly formulated sentences. If I may take Namaste's current Blythe fic as an example: I really enjoy all chapters, but was especially touched by some, and chose those to comment on. That really does not mean I don't like the rest of them, but I did not feel I had something interesting to say there. I'm happy this was mentioned, though, it has certainly made me more aware about how writers appreciate the feed back. It really is different from reading a library novel.

I think that's right about looking at hits rather than comment numbers. In a longer story, I get a sense of just how many people are reading through to the end (even if they skip a chapter or two along the way). To me, that's almost more gratifying than a lot of "great job" comments that aren't specific. As far as my own commenting, I'm not great at writing comments (bad me). I will occasionally give concrit, but try to be supportive. and I rarely comment if I think the story is a waste of time. I just don't read past the first paragraph. But I'm hopeless about stating specifics. If I like a story I say so, but it's usually amorphous as to why. Good writing, believable characters, believable story within the House-world do it for me, but I usually don't get more specific than that. I have stopped looking at the comment count because it just is depressing. For every comment I get I will get four or five people who will add the story to their story favorites or story alerts. I think the comment that reader comments are a diminishing return is spot on. I can look at my stories and see early chapters with many comments and later xhapters with one or two comments but I can also look at my hits count and see that over 300 individual people at least looked at a story on a certain day. So they are out there, they're just not writing. As a reader I am bad about writing comments. If I am really into something I will whip something off but frankly it can be a little intimidating to write I am enjoying this when someone else is writing a paragraph about the nuances of the particular chapter. Still, I try to at least pop in every other chapter at least to let the author know I am still reading.

I certainly understand that people don't comment on everything. It's certainly not a requirement, but it's nice to get. I tend to figure that comments represent a sentiment that the fic was above the standard 'net time consumer and left an impression on the reader, and I'm OK with more people reading it than will comment on it. Comments are nice to get, but they're not the only reason I write. They're the bonus. I also think that multi-part stories tend to get more comments when they're stated as being, say part one of five or there's some sort of specific time frame. I've seen fics that are one something like chapter 67 (especially on ff.net) with no end in sight, and readers just tend to figure they'll catch up with at some later point. Of course, I'm in the midst of one that'll probably be in the mid-20s in terms of number of chapters, so I shouldn't throw stones. I'll admit that I don't comment on everything, whether because the fic merely leaves me with a "meh" feeling or I don't have time and mean to get back to it or sometimes I don't finish it (though will try to comment when the comment level is low, if that makes sense). Now, I prefer to comment on LJ typically, because you can get more of a discussion or comment thread going, but ff.net, allows you to track the number of readers and hits -- as well as fav. stories -- which you don't get on LJ. And of course there are comments that leave you asking ... "what the hell?" Like a one word demand: "Update!!" on a one shot or completed fic.

I think it is such a crapshoot. There are fics that I worked very hard at and checked and rechecked and edited and had a beta check over as well. Those are the fics I get few comments on. The ones that get the most response are the ones that are written hurried on a bus or at work or when I'm half asleep (or in one case hung over.)

Dropping by for a moment to agree with what Namaste said about comments being a bonus, rather than being the main reason for writing in the first place. The reader doesn't owe me anything, and there are times I've failed to comment on things I've liked, too.