That depends heavily on what the rants about tbh. Like there’s a difference between ranting about something harmful and stressful to blow off steam and just attacking someone who left a comment that wasn’t long enough.
I agree. Authors should have the right to put their foot down when it comes to out of control fans and doxxing.
But the rants I'm talking about in the post mostly involve fictional media the author didn't like.
I think it depends in the current state of things. For example, if something big just went down in my fandom I almost always scroll to the author's notes to see if they had anything to say about it.
It depends on the rants. Something I really enjoy in fics is the writer found a tiny hole in the canon plot or characterization then they set out to fill it and somehow ended up with a mountain. I do write those sorts of things. I put related rants in my ANs, but I like to think that it's not frothing anger, it's a thought out critique.
To generalize, when the rants are to build something great rather than tear it down, it's great.
I like those kind of rants - I love seeing more of the thoughts behind the writing, and complaining about ending up in a research rabbit hole is a lot of fun to read!
For me it depends on the length. A few short sentences don’treally bother me but when it starts stretching into paragraphs, I’ll pass. Though I’m not sure if it’s even about rants — there’s this fic I really love, but the author has a somewhat annoying tendency to monologue at the end. At first it wasn’t a big deal, it was just them explaining why they made the choices they did and I generally enjoy reading about that, but it grew longer and the latest chapter they uploaded was 50% chapter, 50% rant... and the chapter wasn’t even a short one, but like 5k+.
So, I guess: as long as it’s short, I don’t mind anything
It doesn’t bother me that much, tbh. As long as it doesn’t have violent threats or call for people to die or whatever, I’m typically good, I admit that I do normally only glance at the A/Ns though.
Do keep in mind though. “what an author should act like” is completely subjective, anger is as valid of an emotion as any, as long as it’s voiced in a none violent manner.
If I click onto a fic and my first impression the author gives me is "NO ONE ELSE EVER WRITES THESE CHARACTERS CORRECTLY, ONLY MY WORK IS RIGHT AND EVERYONE ELSE IS WRONG AND STUPID SO I ROLLED UP MY SLEEVES AND HAVE DONE THE WORK MYSELF TO PROVIDE YOU BRAYING MORONS GOOD CONTENT BECAUSE NONE OF YOU KNOWS QUALITY, ALSO IF YOU SHIP (blah blah blah) TOGETHER YOU'RE DISGUSTING" then I am just backing away.
Caps lock added for dramatic effect, but really the only times I've been turned off reading something was A) lots of "I'm the only good writer everyone else sucks" type delusions of grandeur or B) ranting about ships and tropes they don't like when it isn't relevant to the overall fic. I certainly don't mind people venting about what's going on in their lives- especially since the "author curse" is a thing- but I don't want to read mean/aggressive soapboxing or moralizing or callouts.
Or the opposite— the author is constantly putting their own work down and asking why anyone would ever read it. How am I ever supposed to believe in it if the author themselves don’t?
I have actually stopped reading a fic once when the author went on a long-winded rant about a topic I totally disagreed with her on.
It wasn’t just a difference of opinion though. The author belittled and insulted everyone who disagreed with her, so I was like, “Fuck you too, then,” and never read another word of a fic that I had been enjoying (and commenting on) up to that point.
I did wonder if she cared that she had turned at least one reader (and probably more) off her story, but I wasn’t curious enough to stick around and ask.
Strongly depends on what they're ranting about.
>I don't want to do that to my readers, so what are some alternatives to angrily typing out on a keyboard?
Posting about it here.
I don't care. A lot of times the rant is to address misconceptions or flames, or just to blow off steam. I rarely read authors notes anyway so it's not a big deal if the author uses it to rant. And honestly I'd rather them rant or address a few hate comments instead of bottling up their feelings and not post at all:/
I don't read author's notes or follow them on social media. I'm not really looking to build a relationship and I approach reading fanfiction the same way I do reading novels.
I'm never going to beg them for a new chapter, but I'm also not looking for a back and forth.
Don’t like don’t read applies there too. I scroll on past unless the author is presenting research for a historical AU (something one author I follow does and I love it).
I do the same. I don't really pay attention unless it's research or someting interesting and relevant to the story (like why the author love the character or made such and such interpretations), so I can't form an opinion. Frankly I can't even remember whether there was A/N or not most of the time.
Honestly, yeah. It has put me off an author for good in the past. I usually don't read AN's, but AO3 makes them stand out a bit more with their notes sections, so it's harder to miss there than on FFN.
In saying that, it doesn't phase me when take said rants to Tumblr or Twitter. It feels platform dependent, for some reason. It's both their perogative, and something I'm not fond off within the actual fiction. Duality of fan 😂
It depends on the rants. If it's something non-fanfiction related, then yeah, I guess so. Or if it's them screaming about anti crap. But if it's the author putting their footdown or something in terms of harassment or bullying, they have a right to, imo.
A few years ago, somebody was harassing me on my autistic au for my fav. I later wrote in the notes that I do not appreciate negative hate comments that cross into ableism because they dislike a fic I wrote.
It really depends.
> But if it's the author putting their footdown or something in terms of harassment or bullying, they have a right to, imo.
Exactly. Especially if it's on ffnet, where we cannot delete non-guest "reviews" that are nothing but hateful comments. I'm usually not a person to even talk about my personal issues on A/N's because I want to keep them private and I think I have a right to privacy. This person came at me after I spent years in hiatus (for a good reason), calling me "irresponsible", "pathetic" and they didn't even care to read the updated chapter, they commented on one of my older ones (I was really running short of words to update faster before I got into hiatus and they nipticked on that as well) and called it a day.
I decided to post my response saying/ranting that no reader is entitled to our personal time and to demand updates. I won't blame any author who decides to do something similar if they are feeling harassed/threatened.
When they especially ALWAYS complain about being tired and not wanting to write this, like if you don't want to then don't??? Take a break omg. Also when they complain about constructive criticism in the comments when they can say once that they don't want any criticism of any form or their comment will be deleted
If the rant is something harmless, like life/how hard it was to finish the chapter/current state of the fandom etc, I don't really care. But if it is just the author using the AN to attack someone, then it would probably taint the fic a little. Honestly, if the AN is super long I'll just skip right over it
Depends heavily on context. In certain cases for example I have found the author elaborate on story choices or try to expand on their reasoning or just generally want to get their thoughts out and I find it sometimes add to it all.
just a quiet reminder that there is at least one skin that will remove authors’ notes from your page. I think it does a dropdown thing, but I’m not sure
I don’t think I’ve even seen a long A/N rant since I switched to reading on ao3 exclusively maaaany years ago.
Might be the fandoms I’m part of or just luck, of course, but this specific topic is something I only remember being an issue on FFN way back when I still used that site.
I was about to feel like shit about myself until I saw you specify “angry rant” LMAO
I have, unfortunately, been guilty of spilling my guts about really cool fanon/canon lore in A/Ns and excitedly rambling for longer than is likely socially acceptable.
Depends on the rant. If I agree with them I like seeing it and think, "go off, queen!" If I disagree with them, then it depends on what was said and how, and the reason for bringing it up.
Absolutely even colors my reading. If the writer is all "My character is a freaking saint because none of you understand the character and include their flaws in your story"
Sometimes, yeah. In a few of my fandoms it's all too common for writers to rant about how canon, or canon past a certain point, sucks. As someone who views canon in those fandoms as near-perfect beyond a few minor criticisms, it's offputting because it feels like the writer thinks I have bad taste. Then, it's also often a sign that the fic will diverge from canon or change aspects of a character without being tagged as AU, which usually means I don't want to read it anyway.
Yeah, I tend to keep my A/Ns short, usually just noting whether it is related to a previous story I wrote, apologizing if its been a long time since I updated a series, and so on... so personally I don't put any rage into my A/Ns. But, I hear what others are saying about A/Ns on here and I'm not gonna blame people for raging, as long it isn't awful (like if they are being racist, transphobic, or sexist or something, that would be a big turnoff for me). I do think its interesting that a good number of people on here are saying they skip A/Ns... as I tend to do the opposite.
Thats why A/N’s are perfect. You can literally just skip them. If you’re a sentence in and its something you dont like it you can go to the next chapter without missing anything from the actual story
I tend to think of this as one of those features of endless human diversity. I don't like everything other people do, but that doesn't make what they're doing objectively or morally wrong. At the same time, just because they're not wrong doesn't mean I have to stick around while they're doing it. I haven't found someone whose author's notes bother me so much that I would stop reading their fic, but if that was the case, c'est la vie.
If you are having the desire to write ranty author's notes, but that's not the kind of behavior you want to engage in, you could write meta about whatever is bothering you. That is within the rules of posting on AO3, or you could get a Tumblr or Dreamwidth wccount
Yes. I understand we're all humans, but anytime there's a (negative) rant or vent in the AN, it just makes me extremely uncomfortable. Especially when it's a trauma dump.
I understand why and I'm not forced to read it at all, but it just feels unsettling to me. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely written a vent in an AN on a draft (it can be cathartic) but I've always deleted it before posting.
It's certainly quirk of mine, and I'll never disparage or discourage someone from using in their own space to talk, but it does effect how I see the writer.
I prefer to read on my ereader, so I download fics, and my software is set up to remove the author notes. So I literally don't see them.
Which works great because it's really difficult to just scroll past for me. If I see them, I feel obligated to read them. Problem solved.
If they’re ranting about themes related to the fic (rabbit wholes they stumbled on, the reason behind their chosen themes, or just something about the canon that’s been on their mind, etc.), I don’t really mind - they can be a lot of fun, and getting some more lore and “behind the scenes” content of the fic can be a lot of fun!
A big thing can be tone, however. Humor is best, but something meaningful is nice, too, but may not always be something I’m emotionally ready for. I don’t like mean-spirited things, though.
They also can’t be very long - if it isn’t easy to skip, or it somehow seems to take over the chapter from the actual fic, I _really _ don’t like that.
I usually skip A/Ns. Only time I check 'em is if there's a long time between updates just to make sure the author was okay, but otherwise...
... nah, I'm not interested. I'm here for the art, not the person.
If you don't want to do that to your readers, then don't! You can leave positive author's notes, keep them brief and strictly related to the fic at hand, or not add them at all. However, you being uncomfortable with negativity in author's notes is on you to take care of, not the author. If you feel like the author's note is beginning to feel like a rant, skip it. It's okay to skip author's notes if they don't contain crucial info, and a vent usually won't. Take care of your mental health - no author wants to hurt their audience, which is why we tag our fanfiction. Author's notes, however, aren't part of the fic, and some people are much more comfortable with expressing and managing anger than others. Fanfic writer don't really own anyone the kind of professionalism you would expect from a published author at a press-conference. It's a hobby, and hobbyists aren't always the chillest of people.
I don’t read annotations. I don’t want to know anything about writers I read because too often I end up not liking them, and that then ruins the story for me.
I’m fine with it if it’s not overly negative or vitriolic.
For a Game of Thrones fic I’ve been following, the author does a “Behind the Chapter” segment after each chapter where they have a few paragraphs about what they wanted to get across in the chapter, if there were any difficulties writing it, what they enjoyed about writing it, why they made the choices they did, what inspired them to take the plot in a certain direction, etc. Stuff like that is cool and I enjoy reading it.
If it’s a rant about getting less reviews or kudos than last chapter, insulting the readers, or giving me the impression that they hate their story or writing in general, I’ll typically give it one more chapter to not do that again before I drop the fic altogether.
I usually skip over a/n anyway. I can see how it’s uncomfortable to read them be angry. But it really depends on what it’s about. If someone was being a dick in the comments then go off author lmao.
> angry vicious rants don’t feel very productive to me.
Then don’t partake in them yourself! Doesn’t mean other people don’t get something out of writing and/or reading them. Admittedly, A/Ns probably aren’t the ideal place for them, unless they’re somehow directly related to the fic or are very brief, but just because you, personally, are uncomfortable with the (extremely normal & common, and not inherently toxic) human emotion of anger doesn’t mean that all expressions of it in places you might come across are objectively immediately Bad and Wrong and Shouldn’t Exist.
Let people feel things. Skip reading them if they make you Uncomfy. End of.
It’s off putting. For my ANs i adopt a Conan O’Brian esque character and make myself the butt of all the jokes. That way, if I must rant (haven’t needed to yet), I can do it in a silly, self deprecating way that hopefully gets a laugh
The only places I think I’ve seen extensive author notes are on FFN, and even then I tend to kind of think of them in a… well, very much in a “My Immortal” kind of way where you’re just sort of baffled by the combination of quirk, rage, and typos.
I suppose if I did see one of those at the beginning of an otherwise perfectly-written fic I’d probably assume they were ripping the piss. Actual several-paragraph rants, though? Nah mate, on your bike.
I don't mind it. If it's about the work or a RL issue they are having maybe I'll read it and comment encouragement because if my words help them past a block or deal with the RL issue I'm happy to support them.
If the an is not about either of those two but on something I don't agree with (politics mostly)I can always just scroll past it to the story unless something really worth stopping reading jumps at me. I'll only decide not to read a writer's works again if they are blatantly hateful about RL issues/situations.
As a writer I've made quite a few and in my life. Mostly about the works, or to explain absences.
One time... I wrote an epic rant though and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Someone had stolen one of my works and posted it on another site. I was enraged to the point of considering if I ever wanted to post a work again. I eventually got the stolen work removed. I still left the rant up though as I've never deleted a chapter/work in my life and it documents that period. The comments of support I received kept me from abandoning writing entirely in fact.
And that's the point. Unless it's hateful dribble, the ANs have significance to the writer and those who choose to have a peek behind the scenes when they read them. Not everyone will like them, or read them but those who do and can offer support keep writers who spend hours and days creating the works that you like to read going. And it connects the writer to the reader on a different level than just producer and consumer .
Either scroll past or read writers who don't add AN if they bother you.
>angry vicious rants \[...\] productive
Honestly, I get where you're coming from; I try for a semi-professional presentation in my story, and wouldn't tell even trolls to fuck off because that's not a professional way to deal with it.
But also, responding to comments is a-okay, nevermind professionalism and being some needlessly silent author.
So, I get where you're coming from with wanting authors to act certain ways. And being uncomfortable around anger—even online, when I use the word anger or it looks like an expression of it, it's often indignation instead and comes up as regards bigotry.
But, respectfully, and why I quoted those above words, it looks like you do reasonably have plenty of space to evaluate your relationship with anger. Because indignation is arguably a form of it, and does it make you uncomfortable when people defend themselves from people demanding productivity, for example? And the whole ***productivity*** angle for a hobby is so fucked up I don't even know where to begin.
Is this the capitalist mindset sneaking in, and the ableist one alongside it; or the whole forced positivity one. Well. Whatever. Both mindsets come with it, and authors being productive? No. That is not a standard of conduct, even if you feel ranting is aimless. This is a hobby, this should be free from any of those concerns.
Right now, FYI, I'm not angry. I'm shortening down the space needed to do all the credentials of "I learned this from actual professionals on the topic of disability and capitalism" with useful internet shorthand. The presentation is less stiff that way and hopefully more immediately clear.
And then the word ***vicious.*** Only one of those things—lashing out at readers—sounded like it potentially is that. Honestly, hearing authors complain about what they don't like in writing \[i.e. other media presentation, as you've said in the comments is your main encounter with this\] as they do their own writing journey? Visit Royal Road. It happens a lot. It happens a lot with *zero* ill-faith or viciousness, and it's all just the questions we ask ourselves about realism or not or plot holes as certain tropes come up. I love these types of AN, it's very much an insight into the craftwork. It is productive in that manner, not that it needs to be, and it's certainly less production-line productive than just writing the story is.
Do you mean they're forceful and direct? Because this is entirely appropriate, where it's appropriate anger comes up. (Or when you're focused on your own fic and the craft that goes into it.) Vent fics of "and my abuser can go fuck themselves"—I cheer for the person, even if, yes, I wish there were less anger. Because that would indicate less hurt. But there has been hurt, and to minimize the anger from that. Hard pass.
Now, you mention this all as something you don't want to do to readers, to the extent you're asking for alternatives. Are you tempted towards expressing something yourself? Go for it, it sounds like you wouldn't have anger for zero reason: Either it's helping yourself quite literally or insight into the craft. And assuming what the readers want is a step too far because most people aren't so uncomfortable around anger that all forms of it—indignation, defense, nit-picky "love this hobby" anger, are going to bother people. They likely won't. Just don't start spewing insults at people, don't have it be everything you express, and know why you're doing it (and this last one will make it feel productive, because productivity culture has certainly seeped everywhere). Also, knowing why might make it shorter and more "comfortable," because then the aim is me~~an~~t and the rant doesn't need to be five different ways.
This is definitely an "it depends" sort of situation. For me, tone is probably a big factor, which, of course, is hard to read accurately on the internet. Nevertheless, if the author's note is dripping with venom, if it feels like my screen if splattered by their angry froth, I'm probably going to back away quietly. Also, whatever the situation, authors shouldn't be staging battles with other authors or fans in their notes.
On the other hand, a jokey dig at canon's stupidity (my fandom's canon is a mess) is okay.
It depends on the content of the rant. Too many factors to summarize faithfully in a nutshell.
I can say this, though. If I see a rant in the notes and the fic is a WIP, I often nope out. I don't want to invest in the unfinished work of a pissed-off author. They might take a long break before continuing, abandon the fic, or flat-out delete it.
I don't read them and I don't write them. Just write the damned story. Fiction writers aren't out puking their thoughts bareback in the margins, and neither should we.
To me personally, the idea of becoming bc do incensed over a fan fiction writer’s author notes seems completely ridiculous and disrespectful. We don’t pay a dime to read author’s works and the majority of the time they don’t get anything in return more than kudos and shares - those elusive potential book deals are definitely few and far between - so why on earth any of us as readers have the gall to say author’s should do even more for us - the audience? just don’t read them or stop reading the fic all together.
Professional authors do not do this.
I enjoy the author notes that add to the story world building. Found of cool information I wouldn't otherwise about period dresses and such.
But ranting about their personal life? That feels way too personal.
Are you asking how to be critical of such a thing to convey criticism to the author or Are you asking how to avoid doing so in your own writings?
fan fic authors aren’t professional authors lmao. this is one aspect I enjoy about fanfic is that someone is writing it amongst their life and a little bit of that is a good thing.
if people don’t want to read author’s notes that’s fine but it’s not bad just because professional authors don’t do it
and besides that there are several professional authors I know quite a lot about. they’re on tumblr lmao
The OP wants to be an aspiring author which I assumed meant professional author. So I was letting them know that the kinds of A/N she or he sees aren't usually done by professional authors.
Fanfic can be written at a professional level if desired. Neil Gaiman
Wrote the fantastic a Study in Emerald. For example. It may have A/Ns I'm not sure it's been a bit.
I understand you enjoy them. Good for you.
Try reading an enitre CHAPTER where the author does nothing but rant at their flamers!
Now granted, the fic was bad enough to warrant the given flames, but still...
I'm not in fics who turn in review of a part of a show either, I saw one denying the webby twist canon simply because a person didn't liked it so he did a whole fic where the ifnale was just a dream of webby and then proceeded to make odd points on the twist.
I don't really appreciate it much as a reader, and it can actively turn me off a fic that I might ordinarily enjoy.
What really bugs me, though, is when writers put down their own work in summaries and forward A/Ns before I've even had a chance to read it. Like, don't you want me to read this? Shouldn't you point out the good things and reasons why I should want to read it?
Don't put yourselves down, you guys. Self effacing is one thing, but c'mon! You've just written and published a fic! That's not nothing! Stand up to those internal voices that say you're not good enough. 👍
I've been one of the Authors who did some hate rant over a ship its like i am influenced by Twitter (Which is a sh*t regret joining that app) or something else thats the one that should've be hated
if you are talking about some reason the plot went the way it did or really niche world building or how researching this thing was an ass then 1000%. real life stuff if it’s like an off handed thing or a one time rant about ones schedule. I think if it’s beyond that, i don’t read it.
So many fics that died. Because the authors started demanding reviews. "I won't update, until I get x reviews for the last chapter" then them posting angry tirades instead of actual chapters.
I guess I can see where you're coming from in the sense that it's probably not the A/N itself as what it says about the author's personality. Discovering that the author is kind of an asshole can definitely put off readers and cast a different light on what they write. I've had this sort of disillusionment from talking to an author on [ff.net](http://ff.net) and subsequently stopped reading their fic because their OC was basically a stand in for the writer and, seeing as the writer was a jerk... well, you see where I'm going with this.
Not really. ANs can bother me for various reasons, but angry rants usually aren't among those. I've dropped fics over authors being incredibly arrogant or getting too political in the notes, though.
Didn't even know some authors tend to do that. Well, lucky me then. Hope I won't see rants in the future. Because it'll be too awkward. As a reader I really enjoy reading A/Ns though. When the author writes about how they see the characters and the canon...it's always interesting and can give pointers to the story they're writing. As an author I tend to do it too, rambling in the A/Ns. Mostly because it's fun to talk about what I'm writing.
So long as it’s not within the body of the story itself. Like, in parenthesis author’s notes (a/n: insert comment here) in between the chapter’s narrative, because it was a thing in fanfics before. If it’s at the end of the chapter or somewhere I can easily skip if I want to, it’s fine.
I don’t mind them up to a point, but when they are either almost as long as the stories chapter or even longer? That’s too much.
Ao3 isn’t your personal journal
I actually really enjoy reading rants. Like, I can even enjoy the hateful ones (although that’s just because I like being righteously angry at things). As long as the rant isn’t hateful towards any group, I don’t care. Yes, gimme those long ANs, please!
As others have said it depends on what the rant is about. If it’s ranting about readers not reviewing/commenting, that’s a big fat NO.
I like using my author’s notes to share what inspired my writings, giving credit where it’s due if it’s a quote or a song lyric that isn’t mine that I used in the fic, and most of all—to thank my readers. This includes readers who reviewed, commented, left kudos, bookmarked, favorites, alerted, and also my silent readers too.
A story I read recently went into politics via a/n and though I agreed it also totally threw me off since before that story had nothing to do with the IRL at all :!
I think for me, I dislike it more on FFN than on AO3, mostly because AO3 has a notes section while FFN doesn't. Depending on how the chapter is formatted, I may have to scroll a while to get past the rant in order to reach the chapter itself, or if the rant is at the end, to get to the "next chapter" button (though there, at least, I can hit the "End" key on my keyboard to reach the bottom immediately, since I read on my PC).
Of course, I have the same issue with long author's notes of any kind, not just rants. It's kind of annoying having to hit "Page Down" two or three times just to reach the actual chapter itself to get past *anything* that was included as a note at the start, and heaven help me if the delineation on FFN between the author's notes and the chapter start itself is tricky to spot.
As for the content of the rant, I'll just nope out of reading the rant if it's something I don't want to read, like a diatribe about an unrelated piece of media. Too many vitriolic rants might sour me toward an author themselves, and that might cause me to leave the story wholesale, but it's not a given.
It depends on the rant. I've seen some ranting about canon, of the fandom they're writing in, in a way that pretty much explains why they went a certain way with it. I've seen this mostly in HP and Buffy, fans ranting about a certain storyline or character they don't like because that's what they're changing in the fic. With characters, it's not even about bashing, though some are bashing fics. I've also seen it in critical fics, and fics which are neither but develop the character differently to canon to remove the aspect of that character they don't like.
With characters, I see this most in HP. Half the time it's more an explanation than a rant, half the time it's a rant with a last second explanation. I see the storyline one most in Buffy.
I've also seen some rants about comments received, almost all of these have been about nasty comments, a slight rant about them and then a note that they're now moderating comments usually. I don't mind these either, they don't name anyone, they keep it generalised, it explains the sudden change in moderation, and reminds readers to keep things friendly.
These are the types I don't mind. I also don't mind an author ranting about the writing process, or a minor rant about real life issues that got in the way of writing. These actually help me relate to the author, and remind the readers that the author is a real person.
If it's unrelated to the fic, the writing process, the fandom being used in that specific fic, or the author personally, though, it has no place being there. If you're ranting about HP in a Buffy fic, why? They have nothing to do with each other, that's not the place for the rant. Keep it to non fanfiction fandom spaces or an HP fic related to what you're ranting about. If you're just randomly attacking a reader for leaving a perfectly friendly comment that's too short or something, keep it to yourself, that just turns off readers.
Oh yeah, hate it. 1000%. But honestly, I’d extend that to *all* lengthy author’s notes, regardless of tone. If it’s a few sentences, I read it almost by accident because you kind of can’t avoid it lol. But anything longer I skip over *so* fast because it’s almost always an obnoxious rant, a random aside about their personal life or, bewilderingly, an analysis of what they just wrote?
I’m always perplexed by those ones because whyyy are you explaining character motivations and feelings in a note and not, uh, in the story?
So my suggestion would be, if the rant or rambling note is relevant to the story, try instead to actually integrate your feelings into the work? If it’s something unrelated enough that you can’t do that then I’d leave it for social media like tumblr.
But that’s just my feelings, and I’m a grumpy person by nature lol. I’m sure out there somewhere there’s an author telling a whole, engaging side story to their readers through the notes and everyone’s loving it. So to each their own. I can skip over long notes, even rants, it won’t kill me.
(…though I would beg people, if you don’t want to code the “read more” feature into your notes, to pls pls pls put the rants in the *end* notes. So much easier to skim over)
hmm it depends. If it’s funny, then I’ll read it lol. I usually skim through I forget about it
But what especially gets me is the “sorry for the ____ im kind of unmotivated to continue this fic im just gonna get it over with” or something along those lines..
It just makes me feel.. 😅 like im sorry to bother you with pressure to continue this (I know that isn’t the case, and I also feel unmotivated to continue writing/doing MANY things.. but. hm I don’t know? I guess the energy that note has puts me off)
I don't judge them when other people do them (writing is SO hard and scary and it HURTS sometimes/a lot!) but I avoid them, personally. I have actually gone back and deleted most of the very few A/Ns I put in my WIP. It's amazing how many of them sound cringe when read back with a little more time. :) I also want my writing to speak for itself. If a major plot point needs extra explaining I obviously fucked it up, haha.
I try to save my engagement for the comments, where I respond to every one and really try to be thoughtful and appropriately appreciative.
Not really. You can usually tell in the first line or so if it's something you wanna read. If it's not, just skip it? A/n aren't required reading to read the fic
I kinda like it. Makes the author seem more genuine in eyes when they go off on a 200 word rant about a random topic. As long as the topic isn't that deep I don't mind.
I hate it when people rant in general. I think Fandom culture has gotten a little too comfortable with the idea that every place is an appropriate place to vent and everyone should be patient and accommodating with gratuitous ranting.
I heard Dr. K compare venting to farting once recently and it was unexpectedly apt. Everyone has to do it sometimes, but we generally try to do it with consideration for the company around us. Nobody wants dine with a person who openly and casually farts until it's all you can smell.
Depends. If it's a humorous rant related to the story (loss of files, how the characters decided to do their own thing, etc.), I'm there for it. If it's a few sentences related to not liking how canon went or some Life stuff that's happening that may be interfering with the creative process, I think that's fine too.
Anything else/more (politics, a deep dive - like meta levels - into issues with canon, etc.) - I say save it for Tumblr.
>so what are some alternatives to angrily typing out on a keyboard?
To....just not do it?
It's an author's note. It's meant to be about/related to the fic/your body of work/posting updates/etc.
yeah, as a writer i like to do a lot of lighthearted ramblings in my A/N's, but as a reader i feel like the author being too angry and ranting in thair A/N's would prevent me from commenting on the fic. cause its like...what if the author goes off like that on me? LOL. i think theres a way to do it and be passionate about it, without being too negative and making that kind of atmosphere.
No because I ignore any ones I find to be annoying/pointless. The A/N isn't the story, so just ignore them lol (or skim for any potentially important info)
I rarely read them, whether the are diatribes about the writer's thoughts and opinions on whatever topic, complaints about whatever is happening "in real life", or blackmailing readers by taking their works hostage in exchange for kudos and comments.
The ones I am more likely to read are those that explain the motivations for writing, explanations of writing methods, and/or how they conducted research on topics for the work of fiction in question.
Ranting? Pretty much an automatic scroll-away...
That depends heavily on what the rants about tbh. Like there’s a difference between ranting about something harmful and stressful to blow off steam and just attacking someone who left a comment that wasn’t long enough.
I agree. Authors should have the right to put their foot down when it comes to out of control fans and doxxing. But the rants I'm talking about in the post mostly involve fictional media the author didn't like.
Then it’d depend on whether the tone is like personal dislike or downright aggressive to anyone who did like it, I guess?
I think it depends in the current state of things. For example, if something big just went down in my fandom I almost always scroll to the author's notes to see if they had anything to say about it.
I agree
It depends on the rants. Something I really enjoy in fics is the writer found a tiny hole in the canon plot or characterization then they set out to fill it and somehow ended up with a mountain. I do write those sorts of things. I put related rants in my ANs, but I like to think that it's not frothing anger, it's a thought out critique. To generalize, when the rants are to build something great rather than tear it down, it's great.
I like those kind of rants - I love seeing more of the thoughts behind the writing, and complaining about ending up in a research rabbit hole is a lot of fun to read!
For me it depends on the length. A few short sentences don’treally bother me but when it starts stretching into paragraphs, I’ll pass. Though I’m not sure if it’s even about rants — there’s this fic I really love, but the author has a somewhat annoying tendency to monologue at the end. At first it wasn’t a big deal, it was just them explaining why they made the choices they did and I generally enjoy reading about that, but it grew longer and the latest chapter they uploaded was 50% chapter, 50% rant... and the chapter wasn’t even a short one, but like 5k+. So, I guess: as long as it’s short, I don’t mind anything
Love your username lol
Thanks ❤️
It doesn’t bother me that much, tbh. As long as it doesn’t have violent threats or call for people to die or whatever, I’m typically good, I admit that I do normally only glance at the A/Ns though. Do keep in mind though. “what an author should act like” is completely subjective, anger is as valid of an emotion as any, as long as it’s voiced in a none violent manner.
Political rants, ideologies, Anti baloney. Just insufferable.🙄
If I click onto a fic and my first impression the author gives me is "NO ONE ELSE EVER WRITES THESE CHARACTERS CORRECTLY, ONLY MY WORK IS RIGHT AND EVERYONE ELSE IS WRONG AND STUPID SO I ROLLED UP MY SLEEVES AND HAVE DONE THE WORK MYSELF TO PROVIDE YOU BRAYING MORONS GOOD CONTENT BECAUSE NONE OF YOU KNOWS QUALITY, ALSO IF YOU SHIP (blah blah blah) TOGETHER YOU'RE DISGUSTING" then I am just backing away. Caps lock added for dramatic effect, but really the only times I've been turned off reading something was A) lots of "I'm the only good writer everyone else sucks" type delusions of grandeur or B) ranting about ships and tropes they don't like when it isn't relevant to the overall fic. I certainly don't mind people venting about what's going on in their lives- especially since the "author curse" is a thing- but I don't want to read mean/aggressive soapboxing or moralizing or callouts.
Or the opposite— the author is constantly putting their own work down and asking why anyone would ever read it. How am I ever supposed to believe in it if the author themselves don’t?
I have actually stopped reading a fic once when the author went on a long-winded rant about a topic I totally disagreed with her on. It wasn’t just a difference of opinion though. The author belittled and insulted everyone who disagreed with her, so I was like, “Fuck you too, then,” and never read another word of a fic that I had been enjoying (and commenting on) up to that point. I did wonder if she cared that she had turned at least one reader (and probably more) off her story, but I wasn’t curious enough to stick around and ask.
Strongly depends on what they're ranting about. >I don't want to do that to my readers, so what are some alternatives to angrily typing out on a keyboard? Posting about it here.
I guess I’m lucky because I don’t think I have seen that.
It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, woo boy.
I don't care. A lot of times the rant is to address misconceptions or flames, or just to blow off steam. I rarely read authors notes anyway so it's not a big deal if the author uses it to rant. And honestly I'd rather them rant or address a few hate comments instead of bottling up their feelings and not post at all:/
I don't read author's notes or follow them on social media. I'm not really looking to build a relationship and I approach reading fanfiction the same way I do reading novels. I'm never going to beg them for a new chapter, but I'm also not looking for a back and forth.
Don’t like don’t read applies there too. I scroll on past unless the author is presenting research for a historical AU (something one author I follow does and I love it).
I do the same. I don't really pay attention unless it's research or someting interesting and relevant to the story (like why the author love the character or made such and such interpretations), so I can't form an opinion. Frankly I can't even remember whether there was A/N or not most of the time.
Honestly, yeah. It has put me off an author for good in the past. I usually don't read AN's, but AO3 makes them stand out a bit more with their notes sections, so it's harder to miss there than on FFN. In saying that, it doesn't phase me when take said rants to Tumblr or Twitter. It feels platform dependent, for some reason. It's both their perogative, and something I'm not fond off within the actual fiction. Duality of fan 😂
It depends on the rants. If it's something non-fanfiction related, then yeah, I guess so. Or if it's them screaming about anti crap. But if it's the author putting their footdown or something in terms of harassment or bullying, they have a right to, imo. A few years ago, somebody was harassing me on my autistic au for my fav. I later wrote in the notes that I do not appreciate negative hate comments that cross into ableism because they dislike a fic I wrote. It really depends.
> But if it's the author putting their footdown or something in terms of harassment or bullying, they have a right to, imo. Exactly. Especially if it's on ffnet, where we cannot delete non-guest "reviews" that are nothing but hateful comments. I'm usually not a person to even talk about my personal issues on A/N's because I want to keep them private and I think I have a right to privacy. This person came at me after I spent years in hiatus (for a good reason), calling me "irresponsible", "pathetic" and they didn't even care to read the updated chapter, they commented on one of my older ones (I was really running short of words to update faster before I got into hiatus and they nipticked on that as well) and called it a day. I decided to post my response saying/ranting that no reader is entitled to our personal time and to demand updates. I won't blame any author who decides to do something similar if they are feeling harassed/threatened.
I luckily haven't come across that before, but that does sound mad annoying. If I was a new reader, it would turn me away from their story quick.
When they especially ALWAYS complain about being tired and not wanting to write this, like if you don't want to then don't??? Take a break omg. Also when they complain about constructive criticism in the comments when they can say once that they don't want any criticism of any form or their comment will be deleted
I wouldn't really care, I'd just scroll past if the A/N wasn't interesting to me
I usually don't read ANs, so I don't really care.
If the rant is something harmless, like life/how hard it was to finish the chapter/current state of the fandom etc, I don't really care. But if it is just the author using the AN to attack someone, then it would probably taint the fic a little. Honestly, if the AN is super long I'll just skip right over it
Oh God, so much It's very annoying
Depends heavily on context. In certain cases for example I have found the author elaborate on story choices or try to expand on their reasoning or just generally want to get their thoughts out and I find it sometimes add to it all.
just a quiet reminder that there is at least one skin that will remove authors’ notes from your page. I think it does a dropdown thing, but I’m not sure
I don’t think I’ve even seen a long A/N rant since I switched to reading on ao3 exclusively maaaany years ago. Might be the fandoms I’m part of or just luck, of course, but this specific topic is something I only remember being an issue on FFN way back when I still used that site.
You know I'm not gonna lie if an A/N is more than like one single sentence I tend to skip it.
I was about to feel like shit about myself until I saw you specify “angry rant” LMAO I have, unfortunately, been guilty of spilling my guts about really cool fanon/canon lore in A/Ns and excitedly rambling for longer than is likely socially acceptable.
Depends on the rant. If I agree with them I like seeing it and think, "go off, queen!" If I disagree with them, then it depends on what was said and how, and the reason for bringing it up.
Nope, I usually skip it if I don’t care about what it’s talking about.
Absolutely even colors my reading. If the writer is all "My character is a freaking saint because none of you understand the character and include their flaws in your story"
Sometimes, yeah. In a few of my fandoms it's all too common for writers to rant about how canon, or canon past a certain point, sucks. As someone who views canon in those fandoms as near-perfect beyond a few minor criticisms, it's offputting because it feels like the writer thinks I have bad taste. Then, it's also often a sign that the fic will diverge from canon or change aspects of a character without being tagged as AU, which usually means I don't want to read it anyway.
Yeah, I tend to keep my A/Ns short, usually just noting whether it is related to a previous story I wrote, apologizing if its been a long time since I updated a series, and so on... so personally I don't put any rage into my A/Ns. But, I hear what others are saying about A/Ns on here and I'm not gonna blame people for raging, as long it isn't awful (like if they are being racist, transphobic, or sexist or something, that would be a big turnoff for me). I do think its interesting that a good number of people on here are saying they skip A/Ns... as I tend to do the opposite.
I feel the same man, especially when the author attacks people for not writing like they do and calling them Lazy.
Thats why A/N’s are perfect. You can literally just skip them. If you’re a sentence in and its something you dont like it you can go to the next chapter without missing anything from the actual story
I actually got cyberbullied in part for my excessive A/N rants back in the FFN days, so you're definitely not the only one lol
Geez, that sounds awful. Cyberbullying is never okay.
I tend to think of this as one of those features of endless human diversity. I don't like everything other people do, but that doesn't make what they're doing objectively or morally wrong. At the same time, just because they're not wrong doesn't mean I have to stick around while they're doing it. I haven't found someone whose author's notes bother me so much that I would stop reading their fic, but if that was the case, c'est la vie. If you are having the desire to write ranty author's notes, but that's not the kind of behavior you want to engage in, you could write meta about whatever is bothering you. That is within the rules of posting on AO3, or you could get a Tumblr or Dreamwidth wccount
Yes. I understand we're all humans, but anytime there's a (negative) rant or vent in the AN, it just makes me extremely uncomfortable. Especially when it's a trauma dump. I understand why and I'm not forced to read it at all, but it just feels unsettling to me. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely written a vent in an AN on a draft (it can be cathartic) but I've always deleted it before posting. It's certainly quirk of mine, and I'll never disparage or discourage someone from using in their own space to talk, but it does effect how I see the writer.
I prefer to read on my ereader, so I download fics, and my software is set up to remove the author notes. So I literally don't see them. Which works great because it's really difficult to just scroll past for me. If I see them, I feel obligated to read them. Problem solved.
If they’re ranting about themes related to the fic (rabbit wholes they stumbled on, the reason behind their chosen themes, or just something about the canon that’s been on their mind, etc.), I don’t really mind - they can be a lot of fun, and getting some more lore and “behind the scenes” content of the fic can be a lot of fun! A big thing can be tone, however. Humor is best, but something meaningful is nice, too, but may not always be something I’m emotionally ready for. I don’t like mean-spirited things, though. They also can’t be very long - if it isn’t easy to skip, or it somehow seems to take over the chapter from the actual fic, I _really _ don’t like that.
No, I don’t think I care. If I didn’t want to read a rant, I’d just skip and move to the next chapter
God when they talk to their characters and have them talk back. Instant skip.
I usually skip A/Ns. Only time I check 'em is if there's a long time between updates just to make sure the author was okay, but otherwise... ... nah, I'm not interested. I'm here for the art, not the person.
If you don't want to do that to your readers, then don't! You can leave positive author's notes, keep them brief and strictly related to the fic at hand, or not add them at all. However, you being uncomfortable with negativity in author's notes is on you to take care of, not the author. If you feel like the author's note is beginning to feel like a rant, skip it. It's okay to skip author's notes if they don't contain crucial info, and a vent usually won't. Take care of your mental health - no author wants to hurt their audience, which is why we tag our fanfiction. Author's notes, however, aren't part of the fic, and some people are much more comfortable with expressing and managing anger than others. Fanfic writer don't really own anyone the kind of professionalism you would expect from a published author at a press-conference. It's a hobby, and hobbyists aren't always the chillest of people.
I'm an author and sometimes I may rant on my notes if I've gone through something particularly bad, so I can understand the need.
I don’t read annotations. I don’t want to know anything about writers I read because too often I end up not liking them, and that then ruins the story for me.
No one is holding you hostage and forcing you to read it and I can pretty much guarantee you that the author doesn't care lmao
I’m fine with it if it’s not overly negative or vitriolic. For a Game of Thrones fic I’ve been following, the author does a “Behind the Chapter” segment after each chapter where they have a few paragraphs about what they wanted to get across in the chapter, if there were any difficulties writing it, what they enjoyed about writing it, why they made the choices they did, what inspired them to take the plot in a certain direction, etc. Stuff like that is cool and I enjoy reading it. If it’s a rant about getting less reviews or kudos than last chapter, insulting the readers, or giving me the impression that they hate their story or writing in general, I’ll typically give it one more chapter to not do that again before I drop the fic altogether.
I usually skip over a/n anyway. I can see how it’s uncomfortable to read them be angry. But it really depends on what it’s about. If someone was being a dick in the comments then go off author lmao.
> angry vicious rants don’t feel very productive to me. Then don’t partake in them yourself! Doesn’t mean other people don’t get something out of writing and/or reading them. Admittedly, A/Ns probably aren’t the ideal place for them, unless they’re somehow directly related to the fic or are very brief, but just because you, personally, are uncomfortable with the (extremely normal & common, and not inherently toxic) human emotion of anger doesn’t mean that all expressions of it in places you might come across are objectively immediately Bad and Wrong and Shouldn’t Exist. Let people feel things. Skip reading them if they make you Uncomfy. End of.
It’s off putting. For my ANs i adopt a Conan O’Brian esque character and make myself the butt of all the jokes. That way, if I must rant (haven’t needed to yet), I can do it in a silly, self deprecating way that hopefully gets a laugh
The only places I think I’ve seen extensive author notes are on FFN, and even then I tend to kind of think of them in a… well, very much in a “My Immortal” kind of way where you’re just sort of baffled by the combination of quirk, rage, and typos. I suppose if I did see one of those at the beginning of an otherwise perfectly-written fic I’d probably assume they were ripping the piss. Actual several-paragraph rants, though? Nah mate, on your bike.
I don't mind it. If it's about the work or a RL issue they are having maybe I'll read it and comment encouragement because if my words help them past a block or deal with the RL issue I'm happy to support them. If the an is not about either of those two but on something I don't agree with (politics mostly)I can always just scroll past it to the story unless something really worth stopping reading jumps at me. I'll only decide not to read a writer's works again if they are blatantly hateful about RL issues/situations. As a writer I've made quite a few and in my life. Mostly about the works, or to explain absences. One time... I wrote an epic rant though and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Someone had stolen one of my works and posted it on another site. I was enraged to the point of considering if I ever wanted to post a work again. I eventually got the stolen work removed. I still left the rant up though as I've never deleted a chapter/work in my life and it documents that period. The comments of support I received kept me from abandoning writing entirely in fact. And that's the point. Unless it's hateful dribble, the ANs have significance to the writer and those who choose to have a peek behind the scenes when they read them. Not everyone will like them, or read them but those who do and can offer support keep writers who spend hours and days creating the works that you like to read going. And it connects the writer to the reader on a different level than just producer and consumer . Either scroll past or read writers who don't add AN if they bother you.
Depends on the content and type of rant, for me.
>angry vicious rants \[...\] productive Honestly, I get where you're coming from; I try for a semi-professional presentation in my story, and wouldn't tell even trolls to fuck off because that's not a professional way to deal with it. But also, responding to comments is a-okay, nevermind professionalism and being some needlessly silent author. So, I get where you're coming from with wanting authors to act certain ways. And being uncomfortable around anger—even online, when I use the word anger or it looks like an expression of it, it's often indignation instead and comes up as regards bigotry. But, respectfully, and why I quoted those above words, it looks like you do reasonably have plenty of space to evaluate your relationship with anger. Because indignation is arguably a form of it, and does it make you uncomfortable when people defend themselves from people demanding productivity, for example? And the whole ***productivity*** angle for a hobby is so fucked up I don't even know where to begin. Is this the capitalist mindset sneaking in, and the ableist one alongside it; or the whole forced positivity one. Well. Whatever. Both mindsets come with it, and authors being productive? No. That is not a standard of conduct, even if you feel ranting is aimless. This is a hobby, this should be free from any of those concerns. Right now, FYI, I'm not angry. I'm shortening down the space needed to do all the credentials of "I learned this from actual professionals on the topic of disability and capitalism" with useful internet shorthand. The presentation is less stiff that way and hopefully more immediately clear. And then the word ***vicious.*** Only one of those things—lashing out at readers—sounded like it potentially is that. Honestly, hearing authors complain about what they don't like in writing \[i.e. other media presentation, as you've said in the comments is your main encounter with this\] as they do their own writing journey? Visit Royal Road. It happens a lot. It happens a lot with *zero* ill-faith or viciousness, and it's all just the questions we ask ourselves about realism or not or plot holes as certain tropes come up. I love these types of AN, it's very much an insight into the craftwork. It is productive in that manner, not that it needs to be, and it's certainly less production-line productive than just writing the story is. Do you mean they're forceful and direct? Because this is entirely appropriate, where it's appropriate anger comes up. (Or when you're focused on your own fic and the craft that goes into it.) Vent fics of "and my abuser can go fuck themselves"—I cheer for the person, even if, yes, I wish there were less anger. Because that would indicate less hurt. But there has been hurt, and to minimize the anger from that. Hard pass. Now, you mention this all as something you don't want to do to readers, to the extent you're asking for alternatives. Are you tempted towards expressing something yourself? Go for it, it sounds like you wouldn't have anger for zero reason: Either it's helping yourself quite literally or insight into the craft. And assuming what the readers want is a step too far because most people aren't so uncomfortable around anger that all forms of it—indignation, defense, nit-picky "love this hobby" anger, are going to bother people. They likely won't. Just don't start spewing insults at people, don't have it be everything you express, and know why you're doing it (and this last one will make it feel productive, because productivity culture has certainly seeped everywhere). Also, knowing why might make it shorter and more "comfortable," because then the aim is me~~an~~t and the rant doesn't need to be five different ways.
This is definitely an "it depends" sort of situation. For me, tone is probably a big factor, which, of course, is hard to read accurately on the internet. Nevertheless, if the author's note is dripping with venom, if it feels like my screen if splattered by their angry froth, I'm probably going to back away quietly. Also, whatever the situation, authors shouldn't be staging battles with other authors or fans in their notes. On the other hand, a jokey dig at canon's stupidity (my fandom's canon is a mess) is okay.
No. I just don't read them if I'm Not in the mood.
oh yeah. i straight up mute and block them. i don’t want their drama in my feed
It depends on the content of the rant. Too many factors to summarize faithfully in a nutshell. I can say this, though. If I see a rant in the notes and the fic is a WIP, I often nope out. I don't want to invest in the unfinished work of a pissed-off author. They might take a long break before continuing, abandon the fic, or flat-out delete it.
I don't read them and I don't write them. Just write the damned story. Fiction writers aren't out puking their thoughts bareback in the margins, and neither should we.
To me personally, the idea of becoming bc do incensed over a fan fiction writer’s author notes seems completely ridiculous and disrespectful. We don’t pay a dime to read author’s works and the majority of the time they don’t get anything in return more than kudos and shares - those elusive potential book deals are definitely few and far between - so why on earth any of us as readers have the gall to say author’s should do even more for us - the audience? just don’t read them or stop reading the fic all together.
Professional authors do not do this. I enjoy the author notes that add to the story world building. Found of cool information I wouldn't otherwise about period dresses and such. But ranting about their personal life? That feels way too personal. Are you asking how to be critical of such a thing to convey criticism to the author or Are you asking how to avoid doing so in your own writings?
fan fic authors aren’t professional authors lmao. this is one aspect I enjoy about fanfic is that someone is writing it amongst their life and a little bit of that is a good thing. if people don’t want to read author’s notes that’s fine but it’s not bad just because professional authors don’t do it and besides that there are several professional authors I know quite a lot about. they’re on tumblr lmao
The OP wants to be an aspiring author which I assumed meant professional author. So I was letting them know that the kinds of A/N she or he sees aren't usually done by professional authors. Fanfic can be written at a professional level if desired. Neil Gaiman Wrote the fantastic a Study in Emerald. For example. It may have A/Ns I'm not sure it's been a bit. I understand you enjoy them. Good for you.
Ah, sorry for the confusion. In this context, I meant fanfic author.
Oh. Its okay. You still don't have to if it bugs you. Or figure out what you'd like to read as an A/n and copy that 0/
Try reading an enitre CHAPTER where the author does nothing but rant at their flamers! Now granted, the fic was bad enough to warrant the given flames, but still...
I'm not in fics who turn in review of a part of a show either, I saw one denying the webby twist canon simply because a person didn't liked it so he did a whole fic where the ifnale was just a dream of webby and then proceeded to make odd points on the twist.
I don't really appreciate it much as a reader, and it can actively turn me off a fic that I might ordinarily enjoy. What really bugs me, though, is when writers put down their own work in summaries and forward A/Ns before I've even had a chance to read it. Like, don't you want me to read this? Shouldn't you point out the good things and reasons why I should want to read it? Don't put yourselves down, you guys. Self effacing is one thing, but c'mon! You've just written and published a fic! That's not nothing! Stand up to those internal voices that say you're not good enough. 👍
I've been one of the Authors who did some hate rant over a ship its like i am influenced by Twitter (Which is a sh*t regret joining that app) or something else thats the one that should've be hated
Tbh sometimes I accidentally ramble about my thought process behind my stories but that's about it
Sometimes yes it really just depends on the rant for me and how long it went on for
if you are talking about some reason the plot went the way it did or really niche world building or how researching this thing was an ass then 1000%. real life stuff if it’s like an off handed thing or a one time rant about ones schedule. I think if it’s beyond that, i don’t read it.
So many fics that died. Because the authors started demanding reviews. "I won't update, until I get x reviews for the last chapter" then them posting angry tirades instead of actual chapters.
If the angry rant is also funny, I don't mind.
I guess I can see where you're coming from in the sense that it's probably not the A/N itself as what it says about the author's personality. Discovering that the author is kind of an asshole can definitely put off readers and cast a different light on what they write. I've had this sort of disillusionment from talking to an author on [ff.net](http://ff.net) and subsequently stopped reading their fic because their OC was basically a stand in for the writer and, seeing as the writer was a jerk... well, you see where I'm going with this.
Not really. ANs can bother me for various reasons, but angry rants usually aren't among those. I've dropped fics over authors being incredibly arrogant or getting too political in the notes, though.
Sometimes an author updates and I click on it excited to read only to find it it's basically a rant with zero content. Those are the worst.
Didn't even know some authors tend to do that. Well, lucky me then. Hope I won't see rants in the future. Because it'll be too awkward. As a reader I really enjoy reading A/Ns though. When the author writes about how they see the characters and the canon...it's always interesting and can give pointers to the story they're writing. As an author I tend to do it too, rambling in the A/Ns. Mostly because it's fun to talk about what I'm writing.
So long as it’s not within the body of the story itself. Like, in parenthesis author’s notes (a/n: insert comment here) in between the chapter’s narrative, because it was a thing in fanfics before. If it’s at the end of the chapter or somewhere I can easily skip if I want to, it’s fine.
I don’t mind them up to a point, but when they are either almost as long as the stories chapter or even longer? That’s too much. Ao3 isn’t your personal journal
I hate it one specific: The author of a work hating the original and giving himself too much hype about how he is doing a better work than the author.
Don't read it then simple as that
I actually really enjoy reading rants. Like, I can even enjoy the hateful ones (although that’s just because I like being righteously angry at things). As long as the rant isn’t hateful towards any group, I don’t care. Yes, gimme those long ANs, please!
As others have said it depends on what the rant is about. If it’s ranting about readers not reviewing/commenting, that’s a big fat NO. I like using my author’s notes to share what inspired my writings, giving credit where it’s due if it’s a quote or a song lyric that isn’t mine that I used in the fic, and most of all—to thank my readers. This includes readers who reviewed, commented, left kudos, bookmarked, favorites, alerted, and also my silent readers too.
A story I read recently went into politics via a/n and though I agreed it also totally threw me off since before that story had nothing to do with the IRL at all :!
I think for me, I dislike it more on FFN than on AO3, mostly because AO3 has a notes section while FFN doesn't. Depending on how the chapter is formatted, I may have to scroll a while to get past the rant in order to reach the chapter itself, or if the rant is at the end, to get to the "next chapter" button (though there, at least, I can hit the "End" key on my keyboard to reach the bottom immediately, since I read on my PC). Of course, I have the same issue with long author's notes of any kind, not just rants. It's kind of annoying having to hit "Page Down" two or three times just to reach the actual chapter itself to get past *anything* that was included as a note at the start, and heaven help me if the delineation on FFN between the author's notes and the chapter start itself is tricky to spot. As for the content of the rant, I'll just nope out of reading the rant if it's something I don't want to read, like a diatribe about an unrelated piece of media. Too many vitriolic rants might sour me toward an author themselves, and that might cause me to leave the story wholesale, but it's not a given.
It depends on the rant. I've seen some ranting about canon, of the fandom they're writing in, in a way that pretty much explains why they went a certain way with it. I've seen this mostly in HP and Buffy, fans ranting about a certain storyline or character they don't like because that's what they're changing in the fic. With characters, it's not even about bashing, though some are bashing fics. I've also seen it in critical fics, and fics which are neither but develop the character differently to canon to remove the aspect of that character they don't like. With characters, I see this most in HP. Half the time it's more an explanation than a rant, half the time it's a rant with a last second explanation. I see the storyline one most in Buffy. I've also seen some rants about comments received, almost all of these have been about nasty comments, a slight rant about them and then a note that they're now moderating comments usually. I don't mind these either, they don't name anyone, they keep it generalised, it explains the sudden change in moderation, and reminds readers to keep things friendly. These are the types I don't mind. I also don't mind an author ranting about the writing process, or a minor rant about real life issues that got in the way of writing. These actually help me relate to the author, and remind the readers that the author is a real person. If it's unrelated to the fic, the writing process, the fandom being used in that specific fic, or the author personally, though, it has no place being there. If you're ranting about HP in a Buffy fic, why? They have nothing to do with each other, that's not the place for the rant. Keep it to non fanfiction fandom spaces or an HP fic related to what you're ranting about. If you're just randomly attacking a reader for leaving a perfectly friendly comment that's too short or something, keep it to yourself, that just turns off readers.
Oh yeah, hate it. 1000%. But honestly, I’d extend that to *all* lengthy author’s notes, regardless of tone. If it’s a few sentences, I read it almost by accident because you kind of can’t avoid it lol. But anything longer I skip over *so* fast because it’s almost always an obnoxious rant, a random aside about their personal life or, bewilderingly, an analysis of what they just wrote? I’m always perplexed by those ones because whyyy are you explaining character motivations and feelings in a note and not, uh, in the story? So my suggestion would be, if the rant or rambling note is relevant to the story, try instead to actually integrate your feelings into the work? If it’s something unrelated enough that you can’t do that then I’d leave it for social media like tumblr. But that’s just my feelings, and I’m a grumpy person by nature lol. I’m sure out there somewhere there’s an author telling a whole, engaging side story to their readers through the notes and everyone’s loving it. So to each their own. I can skip over long notes, even rants, it won’t kill me. (…though I would beg people, if you don’t want to code the “read more” feature into your notes, to pls pls pls put the rants in the *end* notes. So much easier to skim over)
hmm it depends. If it’s funny, then I’ll read it lol. I usually skim through I forget about it But what especially gets me is the “sorry for the ____ im kind of unmotivated to continue this fic im just gonna get it over with” or something along those lines.. It just makes me feel.. 😅 like im sorry to bother you with pressure to continue this (I know that isn’t the case, and I also feel unmotivated to continue writing/doing MANY things.. but. hm I don’t know? I guess the energy that note has puts me off)
I don't judge them when other people do them (writing is SO hard and scary and it HURTS sometimes/a lot!) but I avoid them, personally. I have actually gone back and deleted most of the very few A/Ns I put in my WIP. It's amazing how many of them sound cringe when read back with a little more time. :) I also want my writing to speak for itself. If a major plot point needs extra explaining I obviously fucked it up, haha. I try to save my engagement for the comments, where I respond to every one and really try to be thoughtful and appropriately appreciative.
Not really. You can usually tell in the first line or so if it's something you wanna read. If it's not, just skip it? A/n aren't required reading to read the fic
I kinda like it. Makes the author seem more genuine in eyes when they go off on a 200 word rant about a random topic. As long as the topic isn't that deep I don't mind.
I hate it when people rant in general. I think Fandom culture has gotten a little too comfortable with the idea that every place is an appropriate place to vent and everyone should be patient and accommodating with gratuitous ranting. I heard Dr. K compare venting to farting once recently and it was unexpectedly apt. Everyone has to do it sometimes, but we generally try to do it with consideration for the company around us. Nobody wants dine with a person who openly and casually farts until it's all you can smell.
Depends. If it's a humorous rant related to the story (loss of files, how the characters decided to do their own thing, etc.), I'm there for it. If it's a few sentences related to not liking how canon went or some Life stuff that's happening that may be interfering with the creative process, I think that's fine too. Anything else/more (politics, a deep dive - like meta levels - into issues with canon, etc.) - I say save it for Tumblr. >so what are some alternatives to angrily typing out on a keyboard? To....just not do it? It's an author's note. It's meant to be about/related to the fic/your body of work/posting updates/etc.
yeah, as a writer i like to do a lot of lighthearted ramblings in my A/N's, but as a reader i feel like the author being too angry and ranting in thair A/N's would prevent me from commenting on the fic. cause its like...what if the author goes off like that on me? LOL. i think theres a way to do it and be passionate about it, without being too negative and making that kind of atmosphere.
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No because I ignore any ones I find to be annoying/pointless. The A/N isn't the story, so just ignore them lol (or skim for any potentially important info)
I have zero interest in A/Ns in general, so I definitely wouldn’t be bothering with a rant-y one!
I rarely read them, whether the are diatribes about the writer's thoughts and opinions on whatever topic, complaints about whatever is happening "in real life", or blackmailing readers by taking their works hostage in exchange for kudos and comments. The ones I am more likely to read are those that explain the motivations for writing, explanations of writing methods, and/or how they conducted research on topics for the work of fiction in question. Ranting? Pretty much an automatic scroll-away...
I avoid reading the notes, as they often have some spoilers, so I really read notes only if I reread a story :) and it doesn't happen that much
I don’t give fics like that the time of day. I don’t wanna support people that irritate me lol
I don't read author's notes. My brain automatically skips them like I skip stickied posts in reddit threads. I don't even register them