Disclaimer of sorts: Okay so believe me when I say this I'm telling the truth: I do not want to start any wank. This place is wank free and I want it to remain that way but I do have a serious question
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To quote Eduardo: "That's difficult for me, because I'm--"slasher48May 16 2011, 14:24:31 UTC
-- a huge proponent of that, but possibly too much of one.
I have always been the type to give constructive criticism: both mechanic- and content- related (though more the former than the latter). But being that type cost me my best friend (and fellow slasher) right before I joined this community, and trying to implement policies on a community I moderate that mandated accepting and utilizing constructive criticism very swiftly divided the readers/writers on the issue.
The fact is, as kissoffools mentioned above, it's difficult to tell how it's going to be taken.
My friend, the one I lost, was really adept at writing but had no confidence in her writing and, despite her natural gifts for it, did not put as much pride in it as I did/do. She also did not consider herself a writer (though, again, she was a natural). These kind of attitudes predispose somebody to being offended by con-crit, and can cause a lot of wank over whether or not it should even be used.
I am the type of person that believes a writer never stops improving, and that if they put their work out to the public (of whom fanfiction readers do make up a fraction), they should give it a good spit-shine (metaphorically) and make sure it's the best form of the piece they can offer -- the type that enjoys constructive criticism and takes all critique with a grain of salt, understanding that it's meant well (for the most part; you can usually tell when it's blatantly not) but knowing that, at last pass, my opinion takes precedence.
Also, I would consider myself the type of person that can recognize quality when I see it and knows how to respond to it, but doesn't quite understand how to effectively, diplomatically criticize (because I am too honest; I always have been) when something is not, so I leave things blank. Terrible grammar or mixed up words or awful spelling or overuse or under-use of punctuation; colored text that makes it easy to be thrown out of the story; spacing that strains the eyes and makes it easy to miss things (or lack thereof); I have a problem with these things, but something that has worthy content can make me forget about them. And then there is the content with perfect mechanics that does nothing for me (though that's less common, I'll admit; in general one is accompanied by the other).
Either way, I tend to purposefully bite my tongue (/not post) or over-share (/correct things enough to make people feel like they're inferior or inept or something). I usually positively reinforce rather than critique nowadays, or throw critiques of mechanics in with gushing praise over the content that is more than worth bearing the errors for.
Yeah, so, basically this long ramble is just trying to communicate that I do not know when to, so I just don't. I comment when I want to and don't when I don't, and when I feel like I can, I leave critical insights with my praise. When I am unsure, I skip it. Experience has made me wary of ever doing it when I don't know for sure, and I definitely don't want to repeat the results in this community, not at all.
Re: To quote Eduardo: "That's difficult for me, because I'm--"casey_smsMay 17 2011, 11:13:26 UTC
I comment when I want to and don't when I don't, and when I feel like I can, I leave critical insights with my praise.
I love your comments and I love you so um...I don't see anything wrong with this? The latter is probably not exactly relevant but um IT IS TRUE TO ME.
Also, for the record, you DO give good con crit. When I've asked for your opinion, you've been really helpful. I would have never finished/posted some of my fics without your cheerleading.
That said, I love love love your all caps encouraging comments. It's such a wonderful gift to receive.
something that has worthy content can make me forget about them.
THIS IS SO TRUE.
That and sometimes I'll read something because you told me it's good xD I wouldn't say there's no author bias in things either. But it's fan fic and people do it for fun and I read for fun so I don't feel like there needs to be a hard and fast rule on this.
So this is to say I care about you and what you have to say <3 and please proceed with whatever you choose and don't worry about it?
----
On con crit, I have nothing more to add to this very interesting discussion that hasn't already been said. I find that many people leave nothing at all when you look at things like hits (and I understand because people are often busy and maybe I'm not that great - there are heaps of reasons) so I'm just grateful for whatever I get.
Con crit is helpful and a wonderful gift to have but to be fair my comments are often 'this is awesome, thanks' now. Sometimes maybe after a long day of work, I don't want to analyze what I read - just sit and enjoy the good parts. And as I spend all day writing, I don't really like writing much anymore to be honest. So I just like to leave some love and tell them I enjoyed it but sometimes I don't have that much to add. I like to think and I hope that's okay.
I have always been the type to give constructive criticism: both mechanic- and content- related (though more the former than the latter). But being that type cost me my best friend (and fellow slasher) right before I joined this community, and trying to implement policies on a community I moderate that mandated accepting and utilizing constructive criticism very swiftly divided the readers/writers on the issue.
The fact is, as kissoffools mentioned above, it's difficult to tell how it's going to be taken.
My friend, the one I lost, was really adept at writing but had no confidence in her writing and, despite her natural gifts for it, did not put as much pride in it as I did/do. She also did not consider herself a writer (though, again, she was a natural). These kind of attitudes predispose somebody to being offended by con-crit, and can cause a lot of wank over whether or not it should even be used.
I am the type of person that believes a writer never stops improving, and that if they put their work out to the public (of whom fanfiction readers do make up a fraction), they should give it a good spit-shine (metaphorically) and make sure it's the best form of the piece they can offer -- the type that enjoys constructive criticism and takes all critique with a grain of salt, understanding that it's meant well (for the most part; you can usually tell when it's blatantly not) but knowing that, at last pass, my opinion takes precedence.
Also, I would consider myself the type of person that can recognize quality when I see it and knows how to respond to it, but doesn't quite understand how to effectively, diplomatically criticize (because I am too honest; I always have been) when something is not, so I leave things blank. Terrible grammar or mixed up words or awful spelling or overuse or under-use of punctuation; colored text that makes it easy to be thrown out of the story; spacing that strains the eyes and makes it easy to miss things (or lack thereof); I have a problem with these things, but something that has worthy content can make me forget about them. And then there is the content with perfect mechanics that does nothing for me (though that's less common, I'll admit; in general one is accompanied by the other).
Either way, I tend to purposefully bite my tongue (/not post) or over-share (/correct things enough to make people feel like they're inferior or inept or something). I usually positively reinforce rather than critique nowadays, or throw critiques of mechanics in with gushing praise over the content that is more than worth bearing the errors for.
Yeah, so, basically this long ramble is just trying to communicate that I do not know when to, so I just don't. I comment when I want to and don't when I don't, and when I feel like I can, I leave critical insights with my praise. When I am unsure, I skip it. Experience has made me wary of ever doing it when I don't know for sure, and I definitely don't want to repeat the results in this community, not at all.
/long babbling response nobody cares about. ♥
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I love your comments and I love you so um...I don't see anything wrong with this? The latter is probably not exactly relevant but um IT IS TRUE TO ME.
Also, for the record, you DO give good con crit. When I've asked for your opinion, you've been really helpful. I would have never finished/posted some of my fics without your cheerleading.
That said, I love love love your all caps encouraging comments. It's such a wonderful gift to receive.
something that has worthy content can make me forget about them.
THIS IS SO TRUE.
That and sometimes I'll read something because you told me it's good xD I wouldn't say there's no author bias in things either. But it's fan fic and people do it for fun and I read for fun so I don't feel like there needs to be a hard and fast rule on this.
So this is to say I care about you and what you have to say <3 and please proceed with whatever you choose and don't worry about it?
----
On con crit, I have nothing more to add to this very interesting discussion that hasn't already been said. I find that many people leave nothing at all when you look at things like hits (and I understand because people are often busy and maybe I'm not that great - there are heaps of reasons) so I'm just grateful for whatever I get.
Con crit is helpful and a wonderful gift to have but to be fair my comments are often 'this is awesome, thanks' now. Sometimes maybe after a long day of work, I don't want to analyze what I read - just sit and enjoy the good parts. And as I spend all day writing, I don't really like writing much anymore to be honest. So I just like to leave some love and tell them I enjoyed it but sometimes I don't have that much to add. I like to think and I hope that's okay.
Reply
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