If I didn't want reader-writer interaction, I'd be writing profic.

I don't *not* want it, I just find it isn't my primary motivation anymore.

I think it was once. Well, sort of. My original primary motivation was, in fact, "Gosh, these Buffistas keep writing things and I keep enjoying them, so I must give them things, and maybe they will enjoy them!" Which is related, I think? But not the same?

I have no desire to write profic, because those aren't the stories I want to tell: I'm pretty firmly a fan of playing in someone else's garden, and expanding and spinning off our existing sources, filling in world-building blanks. I just started doing it for me when I was unable to write and post because of my brain being horrible to me and me being fannish about a text without a critical mass of cofans (nothing's ever gonna be like SPN was for that shining time, ever), and then I never stopped, even when I was hitting a point where I was ready to post outside of Yuletide again.

Which... probably explains the novel-length obscure fandom crap, plus the "if you don't talk me out of it, I think I am going to write it!" Fright Night 2011 threesome WIP, plus my inability to let go of bad ideas.

I'm a lot more interested talking about the writing parts than the story parts, because it's so neat to me to see how a story morphs and grows, and how other people's stories morph and grow.

I'm a kudoser, mostly because I'm usually reading AO3 on my tablet, and typing on that thing is more headache than it's worth. If I'm on my phone or computer, I try to leave a comment if I liked the story enough to word about it, even if it's just "I really liked this" (which, honestly, it usually is).

Comments and kudos aren't my motivation, I'd write and post anyway, but I'd focus more on arenas that give better feedback if I weren't getting anything back.

The last story I intensely commented on was one that was being written & posted in sections to LJ. (And I'm pretty sure it was never migrated to AO3, which is a shame, as it's one of the best bandom fics out there.)

I leave kudos. I occasionally leave comments if something really grabs me. For example, I think the last fic I left a comment on was an Addams Family/Bandom AU.

I just private bookmarked something I've read... umm... four times? and have still not left a comment on or maybe even kudosed, because I'm still in Not Wanting to Admit I Liked a Thing That's Usually a Massive Squick. (Verbal humiliation, BTW and for the record.)

I just don't want to be that guy, the one who leaves the, "WOW. THIS IS A SQUICK LIKE WHOA, AND YET!"

Maybe just a, "damn, this is powerful and remains so on multiple re-reads."

::facepalm::

(It's not in one of my regular fandoms, okay?)

I don't really write that much fic anymore, to concentrate on my own stuff, but there have been times when unexpected Kudos have made a big difference in how I feel about writing.

"damn, this is powerful and remains so on multiple re-reads."

Yes, this. Even anon. Somebody sweated over those words, and pushed through their trepidation to post the fic. If it provoked thought or emotion in a reader, it's manna to a writer to hear that, that it was worth doing for at least that reader.

Kudos is more like, "read it. didn't hate it." And honestly, I'd still rather have that comment than a kudo. I'm totally gobsmacked that people who leave comments *don't* leave kudos, too. If I can't make words to leave a comment, or if the fic didn't provoke strong feeling or reaction but I didn't actively hate it, I always leave kudos. It's not like you're handed a limited number of kudos to hand out, after all, why not sprinkle them where maybe they'll spread encouragement? Leave a little blue star along with your comment.

I get not wanting to engage. I get (you) not wanting to know how or if what you wrote affected somebody. But I am interested in what and how something I wrote affected a reader. I want to know if I got my point across. My day is made if somebody tells me my fic might have nudged their opinion a click or two, or cracked their awareness a notch wider. Kudos are nice, but I love comments--even wacky ones complaining I didn't write the thing the way they wanted to read the thing.

I want to know if I got my point across

Yes, yes, yes. And then the one person who says "That didn't make any sense, why did X do that?" or "It was a little long."

Another thing that annoys me is you can only give kudos once in Ao3. If they don't leave comments, you can't know if they're still enjoying a multi-chapter story.