When is a flame a flame and what's an immutable fact?
Just read an essay of a writer who recieved really nasty, over the top insulting 'feedback' about a simple mistake about blood type in her fic. Which puts me to thinking.
When is a flame, a flame? And what's an immutable fact?
I'm inclined to take negative feedback. I know I'm not technically perfect, hell I'm more likely to break every technical rule of writing and make up my own as I go along. My formal education in writing is abysmal, and yet I keep doing it with some amazing results. (I'm being egotistical for 1 microsecond, try not to smite me)
Negative feedback is one of the most valuble tools I have. If I don't get it, I don't know I've gone too far off track. But there's a difference that I hope people will notice between an FYI and flaming histrionics that say I have no idea what I'm doing and should stop, fucking stop! FYI one has swearing and isn't very constructive.
My point: When is it nit-picking and when is it about an honest desire to promote better work?
Personally I draw the line in various places.
Technical stuff is random. If it flows, if it's emotive, if it WORKS. Leave it alone. I adhere to the rules of poetry. If it sounds good, I'll forgive a hell of a lot.
But, if it's disruptive then it's comment worthy. If it detracts from the overall intent of the story ie inability to run spell check, wrong spelling of character names, places, truly horrible scene tone, story tone, story flow, inconsistencies in time line or information. Comment worthy? Ticky box, check.
Will I personally make those comments? No. Do I take the fic and download it into MSword to re-edit if the idea is awesome? Hell yes!
My biggest beef is with horrifically wrong characterisations. *head desk on repeat* On this one issue I am the biggest, most severe critic.
Take a lot of my fandoms. There are a LOT of emotionally retarted, military, and dare I say it MEN.
At what point did men become gushing teenage girls who declare love after the first gaze into another man's eyes??? Heaven help me!
If they're written or acted out like emotionally repressed MEN then they should be written in fan fic as such. The tone of the fic should follow in that vein. I'm not saying expressions of love should be avoided, cause DUH if we all wrote that, then doubtlessly there'd be less sex/romance. I'm not against either. I just want my men to be written as men and my emotionally retarted characters to be written without a sudden emotive dictionary shoved up their ass.
It's a sticking point for me, can yah tell?
I'm not asking for a lot, or am I?
My favourite author once said that the way she makes the fantastical story lines she writes more acceptable is by making sure all the details of the real world are perfect.
SO...how does this follow? With the immuatable fact.
If it's a stated fact of canon. Don't mess with it.
I can be flexible, if changing a few details 'for a reason' makes things work, then I'll get over it. Small honest mistakes are also ignorable. TV writers change stuff all the time. I don't expect my fanfic authors to be any better.
BUT! Getting the OBVIOUS wrong ie Getting Gibbs eye colour wrong, is more likely to make me hit delete. Unless it's just that ONE detail and the characterisation is so damn good and the story is brilliant and unique.
Alas, I'm not saying changes can't be made. Just the devils in the details.
Some of my favourite fics are AU. One of them wildly AU. Why do AU's work? Cause the author stuck to canon fact and/or true characterisations.
And now, to wish that I meet up to my own criteria.
When is a flame, a flame? And what's an immutable fact?
I'm inclined to take negative feedback. I know I'm not technically perfect, hell I'm more likely to break every technical rule of writing and make up my own as I go along. My formal education in writing is abysmal, and yet I keep doing it with some amazing results. (I'm being egotistical for 1 microsecond, try not to smite me)
Negative feedback is one of the most valuble tools I have. If I don't get it, I don't know I've gone too far off track. But there's a difference that I hope people will notice between an FYI and flaming histrionics that say I have no idea what I'm doing and should stop, fucking stop! FYI one has swearing and isn't very constructive.
My point: When is it nit-picking and when is it about an honest desire to promote better work?
Personally I draw the line in various places.
Technical stuff is random. If it flows, if it's emotive, if it WORKS. Leave it alone. I adhere to the rules of poetry. If it sounds good, I'll forgive a hell of a lot.
But, if it's disruptive then it's comment worthy. If it detracts from the overall intent of the story ie inability to run spell check, wrong spelling of character names, places, truly horrible scene tone, story tone, story flow, inconsistencies in time line or information. Comment worthy? Ticky box, check.
Will I personally make those comments? No. Do I take the fic and download it into MSword to re-edit if the idea is awesome? Hell yes!
My biggest beef is with horrifically wrong characterisations. *head desk on repeat* On this one issue I am the biggest, most severe critic.
Take a lot of my fandoms. There are a LOT of emotionally retarted, military, and dare I say it MEN.
At what point did men become gushing teenage girls who declare love after the first gaze into another man's eyes??? Heaven help me!
If they're written or acted out like emotionally repressed MEN then they should be written in fan fic as such. The tone of the fic should follow in that vein. I'm not saying expressions of love should be avoided, cause DUH if we all wrote that, then doubtlessly there'd be less sex/romance. I'm not against either. I just want my men to be written as men and my emotionally retarted characters to be written without a sudden emotive dictionary shoved up their ass.
It's a sticking point for me, can yah tell?
I'm not asking for a lot, or am I?
My favourite author once said that the way she makes the fantastical story lines she writes more acceptable is by making sure all the details of the real world are perfect.
SO...how does this follow? With the immuatable fact.
If it's a stated fact of canon. Don't mess with it.
I can be flexible, if changing a few details 'for a reason' makes things work, then I'll get over it. Small honest mistakes are also ignorable. TV writers change stuff all the time. I don't expect my fanfic authors to be any better.
BUT! Getting the OBVIOUS wrong ie Getting Gibbs eye colour wrong, is more likely to make me hit delete. Unless it's just that ONE detail and the characterisation is so damn good and the story is brilliant and unique.
Alas, I'm not saying changes can't be made. Just the devils in the details.
Some of my favourite fics are AU. One of them wildly AU. Why do AU's work? Cause the author stuck to canon fact and/or true characterisations.
And now, to wish that I meet up to my own criteria.