TBH I'm exactly that kind of "writer"-I don't mean to offer up garbage, but I'm not a good writer by any means. And I am really not here for the writing but for the porn-mostly, so to me it's not about polishing a fic until I deem it nobel prize worthy. I simply don't like the mainstream porn that is out there for women so I create my own.
Like a lot of writers English isn't my first language. It's actually my third, after German, my mother tongue and Japanese, the language of my parents. A lot of writers are American I think, but not all-I know a lot of writers come from Asia, finding their way into fandom (at least I assume so) through mangas and animes.
Some writers are barely legal and some are sixty. Some haven't even read Harry Potter in English but in Japanese, Chinese or French. It's not a completely waterproof excuse but some of the names are different in every language. I believe Snape for example has a different name in Italian and French and in Japanese. If you read HP in Japanese all English names are spelled in Katakana, and translated from katakana again, it would read something like "Ha-ri Po-te-ru" or "Se-be-ru-su Su-ne-pu". I'd be glad if someone told me niely, so I can correct misspelled names. I know I'm always thankful when someone points out stuff to me, like when I mistakenly typed "cog instead of "cock". Awkward.
Of course writers should be more careful when writing in a second language, and they could have checked the internet, but still-to get the spelling of names right isn't as straight forward as one might think so a lot about this critique is slightly us-centric. A lot of people simply assume to write fanfic you have to speak perfect English. Or even that learning English is easy.
My education in English was limited to two hours a week so ...
I mostly work without betas because betas are hard to find. The few betas I do manage to find at occasion often need to be cajoled and begged and pleaded with to return beta'ed work. And more often than not, they stop responding. I don't begrudge them tbh-beta'ing is hard work, it's less satisfying than writing itself, beta'ing long fics can be a horror, esp when you realise you don't like the fic. RL can be a bitch too, so having a fic beta'ed is really a bit of a luxury. If one writes abt mainstream pairings for say, Draco/Harry, they'll get more beta-offers. I don't unfortunately know not many who are willing to beta a say Tobias Snape/Severus Snape fic or bestiality fics.
I write very specific kinks, my sentence structure is weird, I use the dictionary when writing, and with very long fics the writing does tend to get messy. I'm up to chapter 20 with one of my longest fics I've ever written and this one has eaten up more than 5 betas. I couldn't ask of any beta to stick with me through this so some chapters go up unbeta'ed.
Pointing out that spaces between paragraphs is pretty much needed to enjoy a fic, the correct spelling of Zabini or that "waste" should be "waist" isn't even critique in my eyes. (I know definitions vary from individual to individual) but I'll pretty much do the same especially if a fic is good. So to clarify this is not what I label anon hate.
I had one person pointing out why a certain plot twist in my Snarry wouldn't really work well. It was thoughtful and well worded-the commenter didn't mince words, but was honest-the plot twist basically distracted from the actual plot, the slow build of a relationship, and that critique was really helpful in many ways without being disrespectful.
Comments lamenting the fact you wrote a Snape bottom instead of Harry (ALTHOUGH THE FIC IS TAGGED AS A BOTTOM!SNAPE FIC) ... and even "can u write one next time where Harry bottoms because I just can't stomach Snape bottoming?" aren't exactly hateful but ... not desired nonetheless. I also don't see much room for improvement with comments like "I hope you suffer everything you put poor Tom [Hiddleston] through then u know real pain".
Comments firmly demanding you write a top!Draco because "everyone writes bottom!Draco and it gets so boring" or "WOW THAT SUCKED!" aren't exactly helpful. Pointing out the OOC-ness of a character-weirdly something that never happened to me, although I frequently even tag fics as "OOC" is also another point, where I assume the commenter must be very sure of themselves and their view of their character. Asians see Harry Potter differently than British readers, and I am pretty sure Russian readers have a different idea of Snape than many Americans. So if one points out the OOC-ness of a character they should bear that in mind. Fanfic is after all, about re-interpretation and more often than not about paths not taken.
Also, definitions of "helpful" or "constructive" might differ. I knew writers who are disabled and or sick and when struggling with disability it's not as easy to check continuity/spelling errors. Taking these people to task is a bit more challenging because you never know what means they have to improve their fics. Critique some people may find helpful might come across as trolling to others. It's not your definition of what is trolling and what isn't, that is valid alone-again you have to take cultural differences into account.
I have to admit, I try my best to be gracious about criticism but I hate it. In all honesty I hate it. I work very hard on my writing but I am dyslexic and must pore over every word to catch homophones and the like. Commas make my eyes cross. By the time I get a fic finished I have usually proof-read until I am sick of the story and just want it off my computer, and then I still usually have it proof-read multiple times by fresh eyes before I ask someone else to post it for me. That's how difficult this is for me, I have never been able to successfully format a story on my own.
When someone reads 30 or 40 pages of short story or chapter I WROTE FOR FREE only to fixate on a misplaced comma or homophone I grit my teeth and suppress my desire to be rude. I know people say they are trying to help but to me it feels like what they really have is a desire to feel superior and they meet that need by finding some superficial flaw to comment on.
The few times I have had someone take issue with something substantive it's always been more reflective of world view than anything else and while I think they're wrong I figure other people can have whatever world view they like. We're all entitled to be wrong sometimes, but commenting on a single word out of thousands gets straight up my nose.
I don't mind constructive criticism-i mean, people telling me about typos that might distract from the story, but I did get comments intended to be hurtful which didn't even contain suggestions for improvement-and I immediately could not help but see the giggly, mean girls in my mind who used to bully me in school for being short and for wearing old, unfashionable clothes.
I remember reading and liking your stories very much! They're lovely and rich and unique! I count myself lucky having been initiated into fandom by writers like you!
Like a lot of writers English isn't my first language. It's actually my third, after German, my mother tongue and Japanese, the language of my parents. A lot of writers are American I think, but not all-I know a lot of writers come from Asia, finding their way into fandom (at least I assume so) through mangas and animes.
Some writers are barely legal and some are sixty. Some haven't even read Harry Potter in English but in Japanese, Chinese or French. It's not a completely waterproof excuse but some of the names are different in every language. I believe Snape for example has a different name in Italian and French and in Japanese. If you read HP in Japanese all English names are spelled in Katakana, and translated from katakana again, it would read something like "Ha-ri Po-te-ru" or "Se-be-ru-su Su-ne-pu". I'd be glad if someone told me niely, so I can correct misspelled names. I know I'm always thankful when someone points out stuff to me, like when I mistakenly typed "cog instead of "cock". Awkward.
Of course writers should be more careful when writing in a second language, and they could have checked the internet, but still-to get the spelling of names right isn't as straight forward as one might think so a lot about this critique is slightly us-centric. A lot of people simply assume to write fanfic you have to speak perfect English. Or even that learning English is easy.
My education in English was limited to two hours a week so ...
I mostly work without betas because betas are hard to find. The few betas I do manage to find at occasion often need to be cajoled and begged and pleaded with to return beta'ed work. And more often than not, they stop responding. I don't begrudge them tbh-beta'ing is hard work, it's less satisfying than writing itself, beta'ing long fics can be a horror, esp when you realise you don't like the fic. RL can be a bitch too, so having a fic beta'ed is really a bit of a luxury. If one writes abt mainstream pairings for say, Draco/Harry, they'll get more beta-offers. I don't unfortunately know not many who are willing to beta a say Tobias Snape/Severus Snape fic or bestiality fics.
I write very specific kinks, my sentence structure is weird, I use the dictionary when writing, and with very long fics the writing does tend to get messy. I'm up to chapter 20 with one of my longest fics I've ever written and this one has eaten up more than 5 betas. I couldn't ask of any beta to stick with me through this so some chapters go up unbeta'ed.
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Pointing out that spaces between paragraphs is pretty much needed to enjoy a fic, the correct spelling of Zabini or that "waste" should be "waist" isn't even critique in my eyes. (I know definitions vary from individual to individual) but I'll pretty much do the same especially if a fic is good. So to clarify this is not what I label anon hate.
I had one person pointing out why a certain plot twist in my Snarry wouldn't really work well. It was thoughtful and well worded-the commenter didn't mince words, but was honest-the plot twist basically distracted from the actual plot, the slow build of a relationship, and that critique was really helpful in many ways without being disrespectful.
Comments lamenting the fact you wrote a Snape bottom instead of Harry (ALTHOUGH THE FIC IS TAGGED AS A BOTTOM!SNAPE FIC) ... and even "can u write one next time where Harry bottoms because I just can't stomach Snape bottoming?" aren't exactly hateful but ... not desired nonetheless. I also don't see much room for improvement with comments like "I hope you suffer everything you put poor Tom [Hiddleston] through then u know real pain".
Comments firmly demanding you write a top!Draco because "everyone writes bottom!Draco and it gets so boring" or "WOW THAT SUCKED!" aren't exactly helpful. Pointing out the OOC-ness of a character-weirdly something that never happened to me, although I frequently even tag fics as "OOC" is also another point, where I assume the commenter must be very sure of themselves and their view of their character. Asians see Harry Potter differently than British readers, and I am pretty sure Russian readers have a different idea of Snape than many Americans. So if one points out the OOC-ness of a character they should bear that in mind. Fanfic is after all, about re-interpretation and more often than not about paths not taken.
Also, definitions of "helpful" or "constructive" might differ. I knew writers who are disabled and or sick and when struggling with disability it's not as easy to check continuity/spelling errors. Taking these people to task is a bit more challenging because you never know what means they have to improve their fics. Critique some people may find helpful might come across as trolling to others. It's not your definition of what is trolling and what isn't, that is valid alone-again you have to take cultural differences into account.
Reply
When someone reads 30 or 40 pages of short story or chapter I WROTE FOR FREE only to fixate on a misplaced comma or homophone I grit my teeth and suppress my desire to be rude. I know people say they are trying to help but to me it feels like what they really have is a desire to feel superior and they meet that need by finding some superficial flaw to comment on.
The few times I have had someone take issue with something substantive it's always been more reflective of world view than anything else and while I think they're wrong I figure other people can have whatever world view they like. We're all entitled to be wrong sometimes, but commenting on a single word out of thousands gets straight up my nose.
Reply
I remember reading and liking your stories very much! They're lovely and rich and unique! I count myself lucky having been initiated into fandom by writers like you!
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