(no subject)
This is something I've been seeing lately. I'm not involved with any of it, but see it pop up on my flist.
The problem with a fic review site - any fic review site (positive or negative) - is that it's not intended to help the author at all. Oh, it may give the lofty purpose of helping the author, but reviews are entertainment, pure and simple. If Roger Ebert reviews a film, he's not sitting there trying to help the film become better, he's writing/speaking to an audience of people who have nothing to do with the film. A fic review is exactly the same. It speaks to readers, telling them the good, the bad and the ugly. A reviewer wants as many people to read the review as possible to warn them from or nudge them in the direction of the fic. Anyone who claims "it's for the author's sake" is, quite frankly, full of it.
Concrit can be a beautiful beautiful thing. Hopefully your betas will get everything before the fic is released to the world, but stuff slips by. And on the rare occasions when you get someone who wants to go over style and structure with your fic, that can be a real learning experience. However, if that concrit is done in a public manner - especially in a "review" style - it stops being wanting to help the author, and becomes all about "look how smart this review/concrit is for being able to point all this stuff out - this review/concrit deserves its own kudos for being so brilliant." So if someone wants to give concrit, but they have to have to have to have people other than the author see it, I'm really going to question their concrit motives. A LOT.
People can obviously say/do whatever they want, including review the hell out of fanfics. For as long as there's been fandom, there've been people around to give praises and/or beatings. But all that freedom and stuff means I can also call bullshit on the "it's all for the author" logic of fic reviews.
The problem with a fic review site - any fic review site (positive or negative) - is that it's not intended to help the author at all. Oh, it may give the lofty purpose of helping the author, but reviews are entertainment, pure and simple. If Roger Ebert reviews a film, he's not sitting there trying to help the film become better, he's writing/speaking to an audience of people who have nothing to do with the film. A fic review is exactly the same. It speaks to readers, telling them the good, the bad and the ugly. A reviewer wants as many people to read the review as possible to warn them from or nudge them in the direction of the fic. Anyone who claims "it's for the author's sake" is, quite frankly, full of it.
Concrit can be a beautiful beautiful thing. Hopefully your betas will get everything before the fic is released to the world, but stuff slips by. And on the rare occasions when you get someone who wants to go over style and structure with your fic, that can be a real learning experience. However, if that concrit is done in a public manner - especially in a "review" style - it stops being wanting to help the author, and becomes all about "look how smart this review/concrit is for being able to point all this stuff out - this review/concrit deserves its own kudos for being so brilliant." So if someone wants to give concrit, but they have to have to have to have people other than the author see it, I'm really going to question their concrit motives. A LOT.
People can obviously say/do whatever they want, including review the hell out of fanfics. For as long as there's been fandom, there've been people around to give praises and/or beatings. But all that freedom and stuff means I can also call bullshit on the "it's all for the author" logic of fic reviews.