The thing is, if I'm venting about something in my journal, it's my journal, which is all about me; other people's feelings are not particularly... relevant in that context. I generally try to append disclaimers to stuff I post publicly that I know might be inflammatory, plus people who have been around my LJ for a few minutes know I'm contrary and sarcastic by nature.
I just don't think a review posted in a personal journal that doesn't belong to the author is any of the author's business. If someone posts a review in their journal, they are not "inflicting" their personal taste and negativity on someone. They are posting in their journal. Inflicting is only when you give the person no opportunity to avoid your comments -- as is the case with direct feedback. Someone who doesn't want to read the crit can avoid an LJ post easily, and if they're offended, they can defriend.
Reading a fic is a time investment: if I was reading a fic that looked okay hoping it'd get better, and it never did, I think I have pretty good reason to talk about why it didn't work for me: I just lost time out of my life, and I'm not getting that time back. To the author that time may be negligible in comparison to the time she spent writing the fic, but then we're getting into a discussion of whose time is more valuable, and that way lies madness. My time is valuable to me, and if I feel like an author wasted it by failing to deliver on what was a promising fic, yeah, I do get to complain about it whether the author likes it or not.
To offset the frustration, I don't see whom a post about it can possibly harm if there's a clear disclaimer that I'm about to be negative about someone's work. If someone is hyper-sensitive to crit, they should take a little responsibility for themselves and not seek out crit of their work. I have never liked fandom's tendency to ficcer-worship and I still don't like it: readers' time is valuable, too. If a reader needs to cope with having wasted her time by criticising the fic in her journal, that's her prerogative. Time-wasting is not the only thing; sometimes a fic will trigger, and that is reasonable cause to vent and work through those feelings. There are perfectly valid reasons to dislike a fic and want to talk about it other than "puffing ourselves up", is what I'm trying to say.
I do not think readers should be silenced just because ficcers don't want to even by accident stumble across any negativity about their precious internet pornography.
We always talk about being nice to the writers, but nobody ever seems to want to be nice to the readers, you know? Sure, as long as they're properly squeeful, authors love their readers, but the minute a reader steps out of the adoring line, it's back to the Cult of Nice vs Cult of Mean arguments, which accomplish nothing. If someone is posting in their journal, it's her journal, and she posts what she wants. If people don't like it and if she's being hugely inappropriate/flamey, people will draw their own conclusions about her character and behave accordingly, but to say "no, you're not allowed to speak up about this ever because this other person's contribution to fandom is more valuable than yours" is not the right approach IMO.
YES BUT YOU ARE A BIG MEAN MEANYPANTS, F. SO MEEEN.
As usual, I agree with this, mostly. The few times I have ranted about one fic or another in my own journal, I haven't actually linked to the fic itself, because I'm not really interested in arguing with the author, nor am I interested in truly hurting someone's feelings. As we've said before, telling someone that their story was pants is rather akin to telling someone their baby is ugly. (Also, the one time I ranted about being forced to coo over photos of an extremely ugly baby, I named no names. Hee.) Also, I think I tend to give enough details that people will know what I'm talking about.
But yes, as a fandom we have become so hypersensitive to Playing Nice no matter what we really believe. I don't like being made to feel that because my opinion of something is not all hugs and puppies, then it's somehow invalid. This isn't grammar school; we're all alleged adults here and life is not always people telling you how great you are. (THE GENERAL "YOU" NOT THE YOU YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE GREAT AND I AM SAYING SO LOUDLY AND CLEARLY BECAUSE ILU OK BIE.)
I agree that discussing fic in my own journal is all about my perceptions and how it affected me, or how I even translate what I read into things I need to work on in my own writing. I usually try to be polite and not insulting and take a more technical road. I also don't usually name the fic so that people who might not have read it (or even have read but don't recognize) can discuss in more general terms.
HOWEVER... in anon fest it can bite you on the ass, because the author can end up seeing it and will without fail take it personally rather than as a discussion about writing technical aspects. So while I agree, it's a definite risk to take when the author is anonymous and you (as the journaler/reader) need to decide if you would still make the same post if you knew who the author was.
For me, it wouldn't make a difference, but I suspect for a lot of folks, it just might.
I just don't think a review posted in a personal journal that doesn't belong to the author is any of the author's business. If someone posts a review in their journal, they are not "inflicting" their personal taste and negativity on someone. They are posting in their journal. Inflicting is only when you give the person no opportunity to avoid your comments -- as is the case with direct feedback. Someone who doesn't want to read the crit can avoid an LJ post easily, and if they're offended, they can defriend.
Reading a fic is a time investment: if I was reading a fic that looked okay hoping it'd get better, and it never did, I think I have pretty good reason to talk about why it didn't work for me: I just lost time out of my life, and I'm not getting that time back. To the author that time may be negligible in comparison to the time she spent writing the fic, but then we're getting into a discussion of whose time is more valuable, and that way lies madness. My time is valuable to me, and if I feel like an author wasted it by failing to deliver on what was a promising fic, yeah, I do get to complain about it whether the author likes it or not.
To offset the frustration, I don't see whom a post about it can possibly harm if there's a clear disclaimer that I'm about to be negative about someone's work. If someone is hyper-sensitive to crit, they should take a little responsibility for themselves and not seek out crit of their work. I have never liked fandom's tendency to ficcer-worship and I still don't like it: readers' time is valuable, too. If a reader needs to cope with having wasted her time by criticising the fic in her journal, that's her prerogative. Time-wasting is not the only thing; sometimes a fic will trigger, and that is reasonable cause to vent and work through those feelings. There are perfectly valid reasons to dislike a fic and want to talk about it other than "puffing ourselves up", is what I'm trying to say.
I do not think readers should be silenced just because ficcers don't want to even by accident stumble across any negativity about their precious internet pornography.
We always talk about being nice to the writers, but nobody ever seems to want to be nice to the readers, you know? Sure, as long as they're properly squeeful, authors love their readers, but the minute a reader steps out of the adoring line, it's back to the Cult of Nice vs Cult of Mean arguments, which accomplish nothing. If someone is posting in their journal, it's her journal, and she posts what she wants. If people don't like it and if she's being hugely inappropriate/flamey, people will draw their own conclusions about her character and behave accordingly, but to say "no, you're not allowed to speak up about this ever because this other person's contribution to fandom is more valuable than yours" is not the right approach IMO.
That's my opinion on it, anyway. :) ♥♥
Reply
As usual, I agree with this, mostly. The few times I have ranted about one fic or another in my own journal, I haven't actually linked to the fic itself, because I'm not really interested in arguing with the author, nor am I interested in truly hurting someone's feelings. As we've said before, telling someone that their story was pants is rather akin to telling someone their baby is ugly. (Also, the one time I ranted about being forced to coo over photos of an extremely ugly baby, I named no names. Hee.) Also, I think I tend to give enough details that people will know what I'm talking about.
But yes, as a fandom we have become so hypersensitive to Playing Nice no matter what we really believe. I don't like being made to feel that because my opinion of something is not all hugs and puppies, then it's somehow invalid. This isn't grammar school; we're all alleged adults here and life is not always people telling you how great you are. (THE GENERAL "YOU" NOT THE YOU YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE GREAT AND I AM SAYING SO LOUDLY AND CLEARLY BECAUSE ILU OK BIE.)
Reply
HOWEVER... in anon fest it can bite you on the ass, because the author can end up seeing it and will without fail take it personally rather than as a discussion about writing technical aspects. So while I agree, it's a definite risk to take when the author is anonymous and you (as the journaler/reader) need to decide if you would still make the same post if you knew who the author was.
For me, it wouldn't make a difference, but I suspect for a lot of folks, it just might.
Reply
Leave a comment