Comments | isiscolo: too many things make a post

isiscolo

too many things make a post

May 21, 2009 11:38

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 ( Read more... )

meanderings, lj, unpopular fannish opinions, viewing, dreamwidth, reading, feedback

Comments 35

vulgarweed May 21 2009, 19:28:06 UTC

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 ( ... )

isiscolo May 21 2009, 20:54:32 UTC

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

ariadne83 May 22 2009, 01:12:26 UTC

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!!

elementalv May 21 2009, 19:46:36 UTC

I totally don't do anonymous feedback memes. I trust my betas to tell me what's the what with regard to my writing, and once the story is posted, I rely on regular feedback to tell me whether the story is flying or not.

isiscolo May 21 2009, 20:55:46 UTC

Yeah, I think that one important thing about concrit is that it is far better in the beta process - when a story is being actively considered and revised - than post-"publishing".

parthenia14 May 21 2009, 19:53:23 UTC

I like the idea of the DW snowmen...

Although I know a lot of people who are crossposting, I don'tknow many people on my flist who are Dreamwidth-only. I have a DW ID but no real friendslist as it just doesn't seem worth it right now. Quite a lot of this is down to the default site schemes, but more just a case of core friends not really going anywhere (although some definitely seeing DW as important to them).

Can't get into the concrit - I see the meme and fall asleep.

isiscolo May 21 2009, 21:04:58 UTC

They are so totally snowmen!

I have, hmm. About a dozen people who are either DW-only (or posting differing content to DW and LJ) or who are directing comments to DW so I might as well read them there. And additional people who have declared a preference, so I read them there. And then - and this is getting to my point #4 - there are the people on my DW flist who I didn't know on LJ, or whom I vaguely knew but didn't friend here for whatever reason, and that has made my flists somewhat different in feel.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want my flist to be. It's complicated.

sophinisba May 21 2009, 20:41:42 UTC

Hah, you have a bunch of comments that skip from 1 to 3, but I am also excited about remixthedrabble and glad to know you're having fun with it. Sorry again about that assignment e-mail! I think yours was the only one I screwed up like that. I've also written two out of my three and am especially excited about the one in a fandom that hasn't been in the fest before, because I always love adding new fandom tags. :) I've picked out what to remix for the third one but think I need to review a bit of canon before I write.

I hope you enjoy the Star Trek movie!

isiscolo May 21 2009, 21:08:05 UTC

Oh, other than a moment of HEART ATTACK PANIC it was no problem at all. And eee, oh, yes, I am having fun. And I suppose I should send you my finished assignments early so you can have less HEART ATTACK PANIC. Heh.

(I am pretty sure I have picked out the story I want to remix for my third one, but am still toying with Something Else.)

amanuensis1 May 21 2009, 21:10:18 UTC

The anon feedback meme--I can't do it because I'd feel as if I were saying, "Praise me, praise me!" even if I did state that I welcomed concrit.

And though I want to get better and better as a writer, opening myself up to that venue for concrit would be me pretending I have no sensitive soul at all and that's just not true, yanno? I would listen to that sort of thing. I would take it to heart. I would maybe even change and become better for it. But I can't pretend I'm eager to be savaged. Savaging's like cutting away the dead meat--the organism may get healthier but it's hella painful while it's happening.

*hides*

isiscolo May 22 2009, 03:27:15 UTC

I don't think anyone could possibly be eager to be savaged. But - you know, I was just looking through my journal to find the link to that post I made about you and Fab and telensar beta-reading my stories (http://isiscolo.livejournal.com/74986.html) and I think the point is that good and thoughtful concrit in the beta process is not savaging nor praising.