I’d really appreciate it if authors who spend the time reading another author’s work could highlight the text and leave a comment - specifically addressing any confusion they may be having or offering suggestions for improvement.
In my experience, I’ve probably read through 15-20 authors’ first/second chapters (and counting!), and I always leave as many comments as I think are necessary. A lot of times, if the author’s done some amazing worldbuilding - nice and compact, not forced exposition, and then just seamlessly takes us back to the action - I leave a comment about how awesome it is, PLUS I point out my thought process for HOW it’s awesome. (For example, @Jaye Milius "Terminus" sticks out in my mind for being really good at worldbuillding in the posted chapter.) For me, leaving comments is a learning experience, for myself as much as for the benefit of the author (whether I’m right or wrong, I just like to get my thought process out in the open).
My comments are never "negative." I never say "this sucks" or something like that. BUT I definitely point out parts that I think are weak and proceed to explain as best I can WHY I found them to be. Maybe it’s some important detail above that I missed/misread that’s leading to the confusion. Fine... might be my fault. Or even still, in that scenario, it might be because that crucial detail wasn’t strong enough to stand out. Again, it’s like a learning process. I would say that’s the guiding rule for comment etiquette - treat it like a LEARNING PROCESS. I’m willing to bet that there’s NO author on Inkshares who thinks they’re an expert on writing. I don’t consider myself one. Writers, by most definition, are people who suffer from crippling self-doubt, right? :D We’re always second guessing ourselves, right? If you leave a comment and make your INTENTION TO LEARN / HELP clear, whether the comment is positive or negative, then I think the comments system can be of mutual benefit.
Just my two cents. :D
Oh, and for %^&*’s sakes... Please don’t point out misplaced modifiers or punctuation mistakes. That’s just nitpicky. I think a lot of your credibility as a commentor will go down the toilet if you get hung up on stuff like that. (...Unless you can zoom in on a specific grammatical error that’s led to ambiguity in meaning. But even still... Tread cautiously with grammar comments.)
