How To Write A Comment - Wallpapers, Doujinshi, Fan Fiction
As simple as it may seem, it is not easy to comment. Saying “it’s cute” or “it rocks!” doesn’t cut it for those few people who want to know more of your opinion about their work. Of course, no one will kill you for writing a short comment but artists who want more feedback won’t be very pleased either. But you don’t have a lot of inspiration and don’t like writing long comments. What are you going to do?! Here’s where I come in with these little tips which I myself follow when commenting.
This article is divided into 5 sections: the basics, wallpapers, doujinshi (fan art), fan fiction and final words (an overview).
THE BASICS
Ever heard of “netiquette”? I hadn’t before reading about the concept in a book. “Netiquette” is “network etiquette”, kind of an online good manners code. Most rules from real life apply to the Internet world as well, such as: be polite to others, don’t fake your genre and so on.
Besides, if you don’t respect the netiquette, it’s like karma. It’s going to come back and bite you in the arse when you least expect it. So it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?
Darn that grammar!
Always (I would double-underline this if I could) spell-check your comment before posting it. Reading a lot of ambiguous phrases gives people headaches (unless you’re used to it, which is pretty sad when you consider it) and poor grammar is the enemy of common sense. You can use online translators such as BabelFish. However, these aren’t precise all the time and errors might still exist. To eliminate these errors, use Microsoft Word (this isn’t some random advertisement, this is advice).
”That’s really coolio!!!11one”
Never use more than 2 punctuation marks one after another. The most frequent example of misuse is “!!!!!” or with even more exclamation marks; this points to 2 obvious facts: 1) the person who posts has to reach a number of characters to be able to post and doesn’t know what to say or 2) that person is a spammer. No matter from which angle you look at it, this is nothing but spam. One of the most used methods of dealing with spammers is banning them/taking away their right to comment. So, next time you post a comment like this, think about the future. You never know...
Abbreviations
Another thing I find in almost every post I read. Some phrases/words are really long and I’m not being ridiculous here, asking you to write them fully if you have to write them 5 times in a comment. This can backfire though and you can end up commenting with only abbreviations. That will make your comments shorter and you will resort to the aforementioned method, spamming the living daylights out of someone’s work. The final thought: abbreviate, just not too much.
What was this about again?
As strange as it might sound, some people comment on anything but the subject itself. Do you think the artist cares about how much you love the anime/film the character is from? To put it bluntly, not really. They might care if they are your friends but not if you 2 are total strangers. Stick to the subject and don’t start fantasizing, it’s best for you and the artist. Not to mention you might be reported as a spammer if you leave messages of this type.
”I hate this, it’s crap!”
Maybe it is, who knows? But may I ask, why is it? Unless you say why you think it’s crap, no one will mind you –as in, your comment will be ignored. If you complain about something, be sure to state why you think it’s wrong (in your opinion) and how the waller can modify that part which bothers you. It’s the same as spam, your comment isn’t really useful if you leave it as the hate message it is. So, instead of posting something that helps no one improve (and makes you look like an idiot too), take your time and think of something useful to say.
A few tips
- Be relaxed when writing a comment. There’s no point in unleashing your angst onto the poor artist. You’ll both end up upset in the end and it will be a waste of good time.
- Don’t write a big lump of text, split it into paragraphs. It’s easier to read and it looks more organized. Don’t overdo it, though, writing a sentence per paragraph can be considered spam too, not to mention it’s disturbing to the eye.
- Listen to some music you like. It’s easier to be inspired when listening to something you like.
