I've noticed something some people have trouble with when commenting is "I don't know what to say!" and let me tell you friend, that's ok, commenting is a learned skill like anything else, but I strongly believe commenting on fic is important, so here's a thread to help you out!

so you've just read something amazing!! and you've clicked the kudos but on and are staring down the comment box, what do you say?

first, some quick notes:
1. the author WANTS to hear from you!! I cannot overstate that most authors really want to hear from readers. even a simple comment means way more than a kudos

2. your comment will make a difference! it might seems like a small thing but it really does matter (yes, even on old works!!)

3. post your comment to ao3/ the platform that the work was written on! this makes it easy for the author to find and love later. if you have a question about the fic cc is a lovely platform, but doesn't quite have the same impact as comments on the original space

(and a few disclaimers:
this thread is just general tips. of course different people will have different commenting practices, as will friends vs. strangers. it might be perfectly fine for me to tell a friend I'll m^rder them over something, but don't do that to a stranger.

also: authors, unless they specifically ask for it, are generally not looking for constructive criticism. you may mean the best, but criticizing a work put out on the internet for free with no indication from the author that the feedback from would be welcome is in poor taste.)

I'll be breaking down this into types of feedback, feel free to pick and choose from which ones work for you!! make a lovely comment gremlin from these disparate parts

1.tell them your favorite lines!

this is an easy one, if a bit tricky on mobile. my favorite way to get around this is to c/p as I go so I have a record of what I'd like to mention later. obviously this method is pretty high effort, but it's one of my favorite kinds of feedback

was a line particularly poetic? did it offer some kind of insight into the character? did it make you cry? all things the author would love to hear!

2. how did this fic make you feel? / what did you do while reading this fic?

did you stay up until 3am to finish it? did you read it while taking the train to school? did you have to explain the weird face you made in public? did it make you happy/sad/content? tell the author!

3. style
this one can be a bit trickier to notice, especially if you've only read one thing from the author, but there's often a certain way the author writes! do they have beautiful prose? amazing dialogue?

hilarious character interactions? is it clear that they've done some extremely detailed reasearch into 16th century formalwear in France and the market price of sheep in the countryside at the time? make a mention!

4. plot

plot can be one of the best things about fic. from one-shots to full out novel-length casefics, a plot is something the author had to come up with from scratch. maybe you loved the twist near the end?

maybe you were on the edge of your seat? maybe it was the perfect excuse for some h/c or fluff? maybe it was the post-canon coda you never knew you needed? make a note of that, and tell the author!

5. what will you do with this fic?

something an author loves to hear is "I'm going to reread this" or "I'm going to send this to all of my friends". if you love a fic, tell the author how it's going to affect you in the future!

is it going to change your own writing? your perception of the characters? the way you consider horror movies? your thoughts on sheep?

and lastly (if you've gotten to the end of this thread, bravo), not every comment needs to be essay length. sure, I love getting long bits of feedback on my work, but a couple lines is more than enough to make me an author smile!

commenting doesn't have to be hard! spending a few minutes after reading a fic is an easy way to tell the author that you loved their work. there are hours of work that go into fics, and I cannot overstate how encouraging good comments are + how much they brighten a person's day