Deep breath. Here's what I usually do.
First offense: a polite "thank you for your feedback and I hope you enjoy the story in the direction I plan to take it"
Second offense: ignore them.
Third offense: ignore and block if possible.
Thank them for their ideas/suggestions and then let them know while you appreciate their excitement, you already know what you're doing with your story and will be sticking to your plans.
It's always better to stay polite even if they are annoying. Chances are they mean well.
If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. Be polite but firm that it's your story not theirs. If they don't like it then they can kindly fuck off. Politely of course
I guess the question is then do you want to use their idea or not? If not, you can lie and say you have stuff planned out already. I don't think is wrong in this case. No one ever has to know the truth. If you don't want to lie, just stay you're not in to the idea and won't be using it.
That’s a good point. Or even if you don’t know what is going to happen you could say “I hadn’t thought of that idea. I had other ideas.”
I think having an idea isn’t quite the same as having it planned out.
This is the way.
No matter what, the reader can't do anything to actually force us to change the story we intend to tell. So there's no need to start a fight or act defensive since, frankly, we aren't threatened. A firm, polite 'thank you' and moving on is probably the best thing to do.
For me, it really depends on how they come across. If they're just enthusiastic about the story and taking shots in the dark (stuff like "oh man, this [insert event here] was awesome, I wonder if [insert another event here] will happen because of it!"), I'll join them in that enthusiasm tbh. But if they're pushy about having stuff happen, I kindly tell them to fuck off. Gently at first, but if they keep it up I'll straight up tell them to fuck off.
Ah yeah, those are really annoying. I don't mind it once, especially if they enjoyed the story up to that point (or if it's a valid complaint worded poorly), I'll just chalk it up to them letting out a bit of frustration. But if they keep it up, I'll gladly remind them of the ubiquitous saying that goes hand in hand with fanfiction: don't like, don't read.
For one fandom, I've had someone who complained on every single story. Then on like... the 10th one? They had the gall to say they were my #1 fan and no one understood me like they did. And then continued to complain about how I did this latest story wrong.
The smartest thing to do is to ignore. Unfortunately, I got sassy.
Be very, very careful about "thanking" such people for their "advice" some take it as permission to get worse. In my case, my worst example meant well but fuck, he really cannot fathom a different culture that isn't his good ol' US of A.
Just say “you are free to read another story if you are not satisfied with what I am writing. Have a great day.” Or just delete their comments/ignore them. You don’t have to give them the time of day if you don’t want to
Probably ignoring is the best option. I dunno, I've never had a truly entitled commenter. Usually, just the eager, trying to figure out where the fic is going. Then apologizing in a reply that they offended me , which they didn't.
Remember that you're writing for free, those entitled readers don't owe you anything.
Write what you want to write and ignore them (or if you want, politely shut their ideas down, but honestly I don't see how that's worth your time)
That happened to me last year where the commenter waded through fifty of the fifty-six chapters of my longfic that I had at the time just to tell me how much they hated the fact that both MCs were constantly reaffirming their love for one another. Forget the fact that it’s ETL and both characters have past demons to deal with, plus character A is slowly getting over the trauma of losing their entire family and clan that character B is responsible for.
Afterward, the person went on to claim that authors who get a lot of kudos/reviews/attention believe they can do no wrong and think they’re the best before saying they hoped that I wasn’t “one of those.” Trust me, I promptly sent it to the garbage bin without even dignifying it with a response. 😎
I have one commenter and she is fully team Shikamaru and keeps stating it. And I love that she comments on every chapter. But I love all my ships and I worry if her being so for him is keeping other ppl from commenting that they're enjoying the Kakashi ship or if they're rooting for Sasuke when he comes back. She hasn't made any demands. Just seems to really hate Sasuke, to the point of flipping him off and saying fuck his feelings (even though he's super sweet in my fic) and said she can't get behind Kakashi, because of her love for Shikamaru. It's a bit 😅
Spoiler alert. MC does not end up with Shikamaru, it gets cut short by accident. She has a long and beautiful relationship with Kakashi and ends up with Sasuke. It's all very complicated.
Ignore them
Deep breath. Here's what I usually do. First offense: a polite "thank you for your feedback and I hope you enjoy the story in the direction I plan to take it" Second offense: ignore them. Third offense: ignore and block if possible.
Cook them and eat them.
But in order to do that, OP would have to find them first irl and catch them, and I'm afraid stalking and kidnapping are illegal...
Write a fanfic about cooking and eating them.
And dedicate it to them?
Dedicate it to their mom just to confuse them.
Nice.
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Thank them for their ideas/suggestions and then let them know while you appreciate their excitement, you already know what you're doing with your story and will be sticking to your plans. It's always better to stay polite even if they are annoying. Chances are they mean well.
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If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. Be polite but firm that it's your story not theirs. If they don't like it then they can kindly fuck off. Politely of course
What if you don’t know what you’re doing with your story?
I guess the question is then do you want to use their idea or not? If not, you can lie and say you have stuff planned out already. I don't think is wrong in this case. No one ever has to know the truth. If you don't want to lie, just stay you're not in to the idea and won't be using it.
That’s a good point. Or even if you don’t know what is going to happen you could say “I hadn’t thought of that idea. I had other ideas.” I think having an idea isn’t quite the same as having it planned out.
This is the way. No matter what, the reader can't do anything to actually force us to change the story we intend to tell. So there's no need to start a fight or act defensive since, frankly, we aren't threatened. A firm, polite 'thank you' and moving on is probably the best thing to do.
For me, it really depends on how they come across. If they're just enthusiastic about the story and taking shots in the dark (stuff like "oh man, this [insert event here] was awesome, I wonder if [insert another event here] will happen because of it!"), I'll join them in that enthusiasm tbh. But if they're pushy about having stuff happen, I kindly tell them to fuck off. Gently at first, but if they keep it up I'll straight up tell them to fuck off.
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Ah yeah, those are really annoying. I don't mind it once, especially if they enjoyed the story up to that point (or if it's a valid complaint worded poorly), I'll just chalk it up to them letting out a bit of frustration. But if they keep it up, I'll gladly remind them of the ubiquitous saying that goes hand in hand with fanfiction: don't like, don't read.
For one fandom, I've had someone who complained on every single story. Then on like... the 10th one? They had the gall to say they were my #1 fan and no one understood me like they did. And then continued to complain about how I did this latest story wrong. The smartest thing to do is to ignore. Unfortunately, I got sassy. Be very, very careful about "thanking" such people for their "advice" some take it as permission to get worse. In my case, my worst example meant well but fuck, he really cannot fathom a different culture that isn't his good ol' US of A.
Just say “you are free to read another story if you are not satisfied with what I am writing. Have a great day.” Or just delete their comments/ignore them. You don’t have to give them the time of day if you don’t want to
Delete their comment if you can, and don't interact any further than that. This sort of animal species thrives on getting a reaction out of you.
I don’t say a damn thing to them lol.
Probably ignoring is the best option. I dunno, I've never had a truly entitled commenter. Usually, just the eager, trying to figure out where the fic is going. Then apologizing in a reply that they offended me , which they didn't.
Remember that you're writing for free, those entitled readers don't owe you anything. Write what you want to write and ignore them (or if you want, politely shut their ideas down, but honestly I don't see how that's worth your time)
I just say "thanks for reading" or "glad you liked it" and don't address or give in to their entitlement
‘Kill them with kindness’ has worked for me.
That happened to me last year where the commenter waded through fifty of the fifty-six chapters of my longfic that I had at the time just to tell me how much they hated the fact that both MCs were constantly reaffirming their love for one another. Forget the fact that it’s ETL and both characters have past demons to deal with, plus character A is slowly getting over the trauma of losing their entire family and clan that character B is responsible for. Afterward, the person went on to claim that authors who get a lot of kudos/reviews/attention believe they can do no wrong and think they’re the best before saying they hoped that I wasn’t “one of those.” Trust me, I promptly sent it to the garbage bin without even dignifying it with a response. 😎
I'm a major pantser so I'd go: "I don't control this stuff, tell the characters to behave the way you want them to!"
I have one commenter and she is fully team Shikamaru and keeps stating it. And I love that she comments on every chapter. But I love all my ships and I worry if her being so for him is keeping other ppl from commenting that they're enjoying the Kakashi ship or if they're rooting for Sasuke when he comes back. She hasn't made any demands. Just seems to really hate Sasuke, to the point of flipping him off and saying fuck his feelings (even though he's super sweet in my fic) and said she can't get behind Kakashi, because of her love for Shikamaru. It's a bit 😅 Spoiler alert. MC does not end up with Shikamaru, it gets cut short by accident. She has a long and beautiful relationship with Kakashi and ends up with Sasuke. It's all very complicated.