✨Cafe Anon✨ · 3mo
Hey! I would like to ask a question to all the writer out there using this. I hope It's okay with you.
I want to know why do some of you writers get offended/defensive whenever one of your reader ask you about a update? It’s not like they are pressuring you, they are just asking a simple question. What's so wrong in it?
Instead of getting upset shouldn’t you be happy that someone out there is reading your fic and waiting patiently for your next update? Shouldn’t that motivate you? Make you feel better? Why do some of you always reply so passive aggressively?
Honestly as someone who read a lot, getting such a passive aggressive response from your favourite author is heartbreaking. It’s one of the reason author nowadays doesn’t get much comment on their fic. Readers are afraid that they will offend the writer by wanting a update for a next chapter or showing their excitement about it. I usually doesn’t ask for an update because of this one single reason. Sometimes it gets month before the author update and i think readers should be allowed to ask this simple question without feeling guilty.
I Once asked a author when were they going to update the next chapter since it was over three-four months since their last update. They replied so passive aggressively, talking and complaining about how writers also have a life and blah blah blah and i shouldn’t make them feel more guilty than they already were feeling for not updating. I swear i almost cried that day and never read that fic ever Again. It really hurts when your favourite author Behave like a shit to you.
After that i stopped interacting with my favourite authors, i am afraid i will offend some of them or they will behave rudely with me i only response when they upload a new chapter.
Please please be kind to your readers while answering this singular question. You can reply with simple 'i am working hard on it for you all' 'life has been a bit rough so i am taking some time off' 'thank you for loving the story, i am not sure when can i update next since i am currently busy in my real life.'
You can be kind respectful and still show your point. No need to get so offended or passive aggressive.
At last please be kind to your readers if you want them to be kind to you.
Thank you.
Hi there anon!
I am sorry to hear that you’ve had bad experiences in the past that led you to feeling confused and cut-off from your favorite writers. I can understand how, if you are not a writer, maybe it would be a bit confusing as to why a writer might respond badly to being asked such a question. I hope that I can help to explain and maybe clarify why many writers grow frustrated when they are asked questions like this.
To start off with, I completely understand that, as a reader, your intention is probably not to cause pressure to the authors. As you mentioned, oftentimes these types of questions come out of a place of genuine interest in the story, and therefore a reader’s intentions are good. So if readers mean well, then why do writers respond so negatively?
Well, let’s think about it from a writer’s perspective. No writer starts a story without wanting to finish it. As precious as our stories are to our readers, they are even more precious to us. Oftentimes, writers want nothing more than to be able to tell our stories from beginning to end and to share them with our readers as quickly as we can!
So if a writer is not updating, what are the reasons why that might be? A writer might be going through something external, such as a big life event (having a baby, switching jobs, a death in the family, etc.) and not have time to write. Or maybe they are struggling with something internal, such as running low on motivation or inspiration, making them unable to write their story.
In the case of both options, the reason an author is not updating is almost always 1) out of their control and 2) quite stressful. If a writer is in a position where all they want to do is write, and yet they are unable to, they are probably already putting a lot of pressure and shame on themselves to get things done. Especially if they know that they have an audience that is excited for updates.
So, with that in mind, if you think about a writer who is already stressed and feeling pressure to get an update out – how do you think they would feel to see a reader commenting, “When is the next update?” Even if the question is asked with good intentions, as a writer, we often feel terrible or like a failure that we are unable to give as much as we want to our stories and our readers. Even if the question is not intended to be pressuring, it is pressuring.
This is where we come to a difference in intentions vs actual effects. Sometimes well-meaning things can still be hurtful. That’s why it’s so important to take each other’s thoughts and viewpoints into account.
I’m sorry that you had a bad experience, but I also do not think that the answer is so simple as, “Writers should just be grateful to get questions like this.” At the end of the day, fic writers are putting in lots of time and effort to make art for free. I understand that many readers mean well by asking questions like these, but the truth is that, as a writer, these questions almost always come across as stressful and even entitled at times.
Interactions between readers and writers are a two-way street, and there are other things that a reader could say to communicate that they are excited about the story as well. We are all just people doing our best. We can all work hard to be as gracious as we can with each other. :)
I hope that this explanation could be helpful! At the end of the day, writers and readers live in a symbiotic relationship, so I think that keeping up communication between us is very important <3 Thanks for bringing your thoughts to the café!
