I've only been on the FFML a relatively short time (about six
months), yet in this time I've seen more and better fics than I found in the
entire year before that.  No longer do I have to search obscure,
badly-formatted web sites for interesting fanfiction - instead, I just sit
back and wait for it to come rolling into my mailbox.
	The price for this?
	Comments and criticism.
	Being a fanfic writer myself, I know how depressing it can be when
you post a new fic or a new chapter and no response comes back.  But let's
face it - were most of us sending stuff to publishing companies, we'd get
the same response.  I send C&C out because I want some in return, and
because of me C&C'ing peoples work, I now have a fairly steady group of
prereaders who I can count on for C&C'ing.
	Before I found the FFML I was already writing fanfics.  Now, my case
may not be typical, but from what I've seen and heard, it is.  Fanfics
posted to r.a.a.c. recieve *less* of a response than they do on the FFML -
not surprising, since a lot of would-be enthusiasts are turned off by a
non-glitzy interface (ie, the FTP interface to r.a.a.c, or the HTTP
equivalent of same).  So, since no responses were forthcoming from r.a.a.c.,
I tried to get some criticism from some of my friends.
	Mistake.
	Anime enthusiasts can be found the world over, it's true.  But we're
still outnumbered by a gross amount.  Case in point - friends of mine would
look at my fanfics and say "Cool.  But who's this and why is it they can
throw energy blasts around?"
	That is somewhat depressing, to say the least.  *Some* background is
required to REALLY enjoy fanfiction.  If someone doesn't have the
background, then they both won't enjoy your fic to it's fullest potential
(original pieces like _It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl_ don't count here,
obviously :) and they won't be able to spot errors that EVERY writer can
make from time to time.
	On the FFML, you've got a plethora of relatively well-educated (some
are VERY well-educated... I'm just a computer nerd with a GED) people who
*can* and do spot those errors... as well as many others.  Frankly, now that
I've 'had a taste', as it were, I don't think I could force myself to go
back.

	I ramble.

	What I'm trying to say is this: we've got a great thing going here.
Sure, it's noisy.  Sure, you're not guaranteed a response.  Sure, you're
competing against hundreds of other people just for your poor little fic to
be noticed.
	So what?
	The FFML, even at it's worst, when flames flicker on the edge of the
screen and furious emails are flying back and forth through the ether...
even then, it's still a better place to get a response on fanfiction than
any other forum out there.

	But I never get any responses! you whine.
	Do you post C&C's yourself?  If not, why?  If so, great.  But just
because you do, it doesn't mean you're entitled to a response.  If you do
post C&C you are MUCH more likely to get a response on YOUR fic - this I've
learned from experience.  Turnabout is fair play, after all - if you don't
C&C someone else's fic, why should they bother with yours?
	
	But there's too much competition! you cry.
	Deal with it.  Even though this is an anime list, it's still the
Real World out here.  Like I said before, were most of us submitting stuff
to a RL publishing company for review, we'd get less of a response than we
do on the FFML.  I don't consider myself an especially good writer, and I've
recieved at least one response on EVERY post I've made to the list.  Show me
a publishing company or professional reviewer (they exist) who will do that
with something other than a form letter.

	Learn to deal with the issues, folks.  Sure, I would love to get
tons of responses to my next fanfic post.  Do I expect it?  No.  And like
everyone else on the list, I have a life outside of fanfiction.  Sometimes I
have enough time to read or skim something, but not enough time to reply.
Sometimes I don't even have time for that.  It happens, and no one can
change that.  Complaining about it certainly won't help.  If you feel you
have to leave the list, to 'make a statement', then more power to you.
Personally, I couldn't care less what 'statement' you make by leaving.  The
only people who matter are the ones who stay, and it's for them that I'll
keep writing, and it's for them that I'll keep C&C'ing, and that's all there
is to it.

	Brian Payne
	sofaspud@ior.com
	brianp@nhspokane.com
	http://www.ior.com/~sofaspud