I feel your pain.

German is the most difficult western language to understand. Chinese is the worst language to ever literally or expressly translate.

Good luck with you future endeavors,

...does it honestly bother you when a complete stranger who probably doesn't know the end of a pen from a penis tries to tell you your business? I think I understand a measure of your frustration, but be realistic; a review is only an opinion. It holds only as much power over yourself as you give it. Just like the one I'm about to give you!

Personally, I dislike the practice of author's notes. You're posting a story for readers to read. The content should stand alone and speak for itself. If there's a problem with the clarity of your content, then your reviews will usually reflect that. I don't think getting annoyed really serves any purpose. If the German is rotten then the German is rotten (not to be mistaken with me thinking Germans are rotten, I love sauerkraut as much as the next person...). End of story. If you know, then why does it matter?

Posting on fanfiction sites is often a hilarious practice, one I suppose that requires thick skin. Let's face it, this is the internet. There are a whole boatload of morons out there (I might be one of them!!! ). No sense getting worked up over them. You'll burn out.

And on one last note: have you considered taking the fic down until you've finished the rewrite? If reviews pointing out mushy areas of your fic you've already stated you're going to rewrite bother you to such an extent, why not bypass the situation completely and finish the rewrite before posting again? Or...why not remove the German 'for now' and put in a corrected version 'later'?

You can't stop people from voicing opinions. But you do have a measure of control over them. The latter, of course, is entirely dependent upon you, your writing, what you choose to post, and when you choose to post it.

Good Luck!

Personally, I dislike the practice of author's notes. You're posting a story for readers to read. The content should stand alone and speak for itself. If there's a problem with the clarity of your content, then your reviews will usually reflect that. I don't think getting annoyed really serves any purpose. If the German is rotten then the German is rotten (not to be mistaken with me thinking Germans are rotten, I love sauerkraut as much as the next person...). End of story. If you know, then why does it matter?

To be clear on the purpose of an authors note, it is used to update the readers on what is happening with the story, should it be going on hiatus or if posts will be slow. Occasionally (as it is with me) they are used to place up the translations so that people who don't understand the language knows what is said. It's also to give thanks to a writers beta/editor.

And on one last note: have you considered taking the fic down until you've finished the rewrite? If reviews pointing out mushy areas of your fic you've already stated you're going to rewrite bother you to such an extent, why not bypass the situation completely and finish the rewrite before posting again? Or...why not remove the German 'for now' and put in a corrected version 'later'?

Well, while both are good suggestions, there's a reason for both that I don't do either.

1) I dislike with a passion taking unfinished stories unless I know that they're not going anywhere. Then I'll telling those who are watching the story, via PM's and the such, why I'm taking it down so they're not left hanging. It's happened to me quite a bit and it leaves a bad taste and distrust of the author.

2) I've edited the German. 6 times so far. Using a couple of translations. I plan on calling a friend up and getting her opinion on it since she did take German for 5 years and was good with it.

And it's not so much the review as the fact that someone can't take 10 seconds to read the nice bold, capitalized letters that says "German will be fixed at a later date so stop reviewing about it". That's what grates on my nerves.

And if I sound like a bitch, I don't mean to but my speech patterns are a bit odd, or so my friends have told me and they kinda translate into what I write.

Having written and/or edited fanfiction for over 5 years I know what you're going through. It seems as though the norm is to skip the author's note unless there is a glaring reason to read them. Most people, however, will read a footnote when they reach the end of the chapter. Perhaps it would be more effective to add something there? Especially if you add it to the most current chapter - it is a forced stop and the eye will naturally gravitate to it.

I admit I ran into the same problem when trying to write in Italian and Spanish. I don't have much difficulty with French but I received a lot of negative comments with the other two. I used the aforementioned technique to advise readers I didn't know the language very well and was using an online translator - and the comments trickled off.

It's just a thought...

My first language is German. I'd have a look on your sentences, if you like to. I would have to read a few paragraphs of your story, though. How to say a thing, depends on the context often. PM me, if interested. I won't be around this weekend, though. And I'm away from April 17 to May 3.

Dolores