too many things make a post

[isiscolo]

You know how it is. You have nothing to say for a couple of days, or a week, and suddenly: you have too many things to say, and you are probably not going to remember them all. And by you, I of course mean me

Comments

[vulgarweed]

One thing I keep seeing in rant communities and anonymeme defenders is the idea that concrit is always worthwhile and always valid and should always be welcomed from any source at any time, or else the writer is an entitled twit with a pwecious widdle ego.

Well, no. The ability to read critically and give really astute concrit is a skill, and it's one not everybody has, and even those who have it can't necessarily apply it to any story at any time. That's why really good editors are worth their weight in platinum - they're rare.

Good concrit is hard work, which is why I don't offer to beta lightly, and why I only offer it unsolicited to people I at least sort of know and to stories and writers I at least sort of like. And I'm not going to fly into a rage if the writer says something to the effect of, "Thank you, but that's not really relevant to the story I'm trying to write." Because I know perfectly well that when I beta or critique, my own biases and tastes come into the picture, and I have to ask myself constantly things like "Am I not liking this bit because I want to the writer to be more like me?" "Do I want to see this changed because I suspect the writer is going for a kind of story that I personally don't care for?" If so, that's MY problem, not the writer's. As a reader, of course it's my right to say, this ain't my cuppa, and leave it alone. But as a feedback-giver, it's not appropriate for me to try to get the writer to change it to something that IS my cuppa.

While no doubt useful and thought-provoking things do pop up in anonymous memes occasionally, it takes away the ability to Consider the Source, which I consider a pretty damn valuable asset in communicating about almost anything online. And frankly, most of the time it degenerates into mean-spirited sniping. So, to sum up all this tl;dr, if you can't say it to my face, then I'm really not interested in hearing it, because it's probably pointlessly mean and/or coming from someone who's a class-a chickenshit.

I do love anonymous kink memes, though. That's the best use of anonymity in fandom, IMO - they're like textual glory holes!

[isiscolo]

I think it is really difficult to divorce "what I think is good" from "what is good" and in fact in many cases this is impossible. Like you, I won't beta just anyone - but it's a lot easier for me to beta-read a story which has a lot of flaws than one which is just Not My Thing. On the other hand, if specifically asked to give concrit on a story that is Not My Thing I don't have a problem saying just that - "I don't like this because of X, but that is me, not the story, and you are the one telling the story." (Which feeds into my musing on negative feedback, because this is the sort of thing I'm wondering on. Is it ever appropriate to say this, rather than to just remain silent? And I think my answer is essentially - when you are expected to say something.)

I totally agree with your executive summary there. With the caveat that I understand that occasionally people feel intimidated by me, and if they would feel more comfortable saying something anonymously, they are welcome to - but I will respect the comment more with a name attached.

[ariadne83]

Haha I was reading through your comment, nodding along with everything you say, and then I got to the "textual glory holes" and... that is a fantastic turn of phrase. Hee!!