This is not going to be a long post, I think others have said it all, and then some!
I understand what you are saying about feedback, Erik, but PLEASE, there are lots of us here who appreciate you, value your opinions as well as your writing.
Well, I said I wasn't going to reiterate what others have already said and I won't... But PLEASE, don't go!
I think B-boy's message is on target. People will leave feedback if they want to.
Soliciting in this forum is probably not the best way to generate that feedback. People will comment when they wish to. By asking for a "writers strike" you hold a gun to your readers heads, and when people feel "Threatened" they tend to go elsewhere.
But since I believe in free speech, I think you have the right to say what you want; however, when you present it the way it was the kind of feedback you're seeing is the result.
Erik has long been a valued member of the Archive community. He has crafted some imaginative stories for the benefit of us all. One of his, The Rite of Manhood, is among the very best of the entire set of stories. If you havent read it yet, do so now!!!
I can understand Eriks frustration with the paucity of feedback of any sort. Neither story that I submitted got any comment at all. Only two people have commented on the many nonfiction posts that Ive made.
We ought to do better. But, somehow I doubt that we will. Most of us will continue to ENJOY, but not take the time to repay those providing the enjoyment. I know that I will probably not do much better than I have in posting comments despite my best intentions.
Im writing directly to Erik asking him to read the posts made on this thread. To read the wonderful review of his story by Classy Bitch. (I wish that something/anything I wrote could get such a wonderful response). I hope that he will reconsider and will rejoin our community. We would all miss him if he did not.
I am not sure if Erik has his email listed in his stories or in his profile, but I would encourage everyone who is willing to write a nice note to him.
As I stated before the official Archive position is that he is very welcome and wanted here.
I know how you feel. But, I will add that I long ago got use to being ignored. I have been a writer for twelve years. I rarely get praise for what I write. At first, this worried me, even angered me. But then, I also realized that I wrote not for them, but for me. If I can share what I write with then and have it read, that is all the better. As much as I loved people talking about my works, and hearing them praised, I also got very little out of that type of talk but a good feeling. None of it ever made my poetry or prose any better. Nor does harsh, undirected critisizm help either.
I guess what I'm striking at is don't stop writing. Yeah, no one's posting feedback, no one's writing to you about your wonderful stories. But there are those out there who do love your stories, and who read them and cherish them. I know that you probably don't want to hear that, but it is the lumps that come with being an author.
Keep writing and have faith. Eventually, someone, somewhere, will write to you about your stories. And when they do, I truely hope that they will be good responses.
I'd like to thank several of the contributors to this thread for their kind words. I have decided that I will not abandon the Archive; there are too many nice people here. I may, however, take a break from writing stories because of my illness as well as no longer being inspired to write stories, but some day I will write again.
Erik (imported) wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2002 6:12 pm
I'd like to thank several of the contributors to this thread for their kind words. I have decided that I will not abandon the Archive; there are too many nice people here. I may, however, take a break from writing stories because of my illness as well as no longer being inspired to write stories, but some day I will write again.
erik,
i'm happy that you'll be staying around :p there's a whole lot of people who would truely, honestly, and sincerely miss your contrubitions and stories.
i hope you beat your illness and get back to feeling 100% very quickly.
A-1