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exchange thoughts
I've been seeing a lot of discussion on my flist reading page about fannish exchanges and people having really terrible experiences with them and it makes me so sad! Apparently there are a bunch of people out there with really terrible behavior who are ruining exchanges for other people, enough so that fans avoid specific exchanges or even exchanges in general even though they enjoy them in theory.
I myself have never had those kinds of negative experiences with exchanges. I have often received fic that was kind of meh, but it doesn't bother me much--I am extraordinarily picky about fic anyway, so it's no surprise that sometimes people don't write stuff that knocks my socks off!--but I have always tried to be gracious when I comment: to thank them for writing for me, to find a few things in the fic that I genuinely do love. I think I have done a competent job with this. I always want to make my writer feel appreciated because I genuinely love the gift economy so much! I love that someone else loves this fandom I love enough to write for it! There's so much to celebrate even if the fic didn't work for me!
I remember when I first started participating in exchanges lo these many years ago (2009ish? Maybe?), I was disappointed in the fics I received and I was (inwardly!) like, "Exchanges are a disappointment!"
But somehow I managed to shift my focus from receiving to writing and started to view exchanges primarily as mechanisms that push me to write things I would not otherwise write. Once I started looking at it that way, all my disappointment evaporated, and I still just flat-out enjoy exchanges.
But after hearing some of y'all's experiences, I don't blame you for your negative feelings about exchanges! Y'all have dealt with some crap!
I am interested in knowing whether any of you think there are some administrative things that could cut down on this kind of bad behavior. Are there things that those running the exchange could do differently that would make a difference?
Or is this, to your mind, an entirely attitude-based problem, just a case of people being jerks? I am genuinely interested in your thoughts about this!
Alternately, you can complain here about bad exchange behavior or tell me about how much you love exchanges or a specific great experience you've had with one!
I myself love them--I just really, really love how I always end up writing something I never would have written under my own steam. I've written some of my very favorite pieces for exchanges! Even some that didn't get much attention comment-wise just make me so happy! (For instance, my Seraphina fic has never had a wide readership, but I love that fic! I'm so glad I wrote it!)
I myself have never had those kinds of negative experiences with exchanges. I have often received fic that was kind of meh, but it doesn't bother me much--I am extraordinarily picky about fic anyway, so it's no surprise that sometimes people don't write stuff that knocks my socks off!--but I have always tried to be gracious when I comment: to thank them for writing for me, to find a few things in the fic that I genuinely do love. I think I have done a competent job with this. I always want to make my writer feel appreciated because I genuinely love the gift economy so much! I love that someone else loves this fandom I love enough to write for it! There's so much to celebrate even if the fic didn't work for me!
I remember when I first started participating in exchanges lo these many years ago (2009ish? Maybe?), I was disappointed in the fics I received and I was (inwardly!) like, "Exchanges are a disappointment!"
But somehow I managed to shift my focus from receiving to writing and started to view exchanges primarily as mechanisms that push me to write things I would not otherwise write. Once I started looking at it that way, all my disappointment evaporated, and I still just flat-out enjoy exchanges.
But after hearing some of y'all's experiences, I don't blame you for your negative feelings about exchanges! Y'all have dealt with some crap!
I am interested in knowing whether any of you think there are some administrative things that could cut down on this kind of bad behavior. Are there things that those running the exchange could do differently that would make a difference?
Or is this, to your mind, an entirely attitude-based problem, just a case of people being jerks? I am genuinely interested in your thoughts about this!
Alternately, you can complain here about bad exchange behavior or tell me about how much you love exchanges or a specific great experience you've had with one!
I myself love them--I just really, really love how I always end up writing something I never would have written under my own steam. I've written some of my very favorite pieces for exchanges! Even some that didn't get much attention comment-wise just make me so happy! (For instance, my Seraphina fic has never had a wide readership, but I love that fic! I'm so glad I wrote it!)
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