That old song again

[kianspo]

I’ve seen several discussions on the nature of concrit in fandom and, to be honest, I mostly rolled my eyes and thought ‘oh my God, here we go again.’ Then things kept piling up. I saw a post on tumblr where a girl swears she’d punch the next person who dares to say that Arthur and Merlin are maybe more than just friends. To me, it translates

Comments

[white_sin]

Hello kianspo. What you write here is for me very intresting.
I really rarely write a comment as reading fanfiction is for enjoyment in my free time and I have so very vew free time as is, I can't even publish my own fics anymore.
Unfortunatly sometimes I come a cross a fic the has so much potential that it is stagering but the author "fucks up" I can't write it any other way. And sometimes I can't resist to comment on what bugs me. I try to give concrit as even handed as possible but sometimes its not easy. Normally I stop reading the fics bevore they get on my nerves but sometomes it to late.
How do you give concrit "when" you give it?

love
sin

[kianspo]

You know, I think the best way would be to say, 'I really like your fic, you have great ideas, but there are a few things that bug me, would you mind if I bring them up? It's okay if you do, I enjoyed reading it anyway, I just think there's some unrealized potential. Let me know if you're up for a conversation.'

I don't remember it word for word, but it's what someone said to me when I posted my first ever fic. That person later became my beta and more. See, for an author who wants to improve it's really hard to resist a detailed discussion of their work. But you should always offer it as an option and only go through if they say it's okay.

In my opinion.

[jouissant]

I won’t speak for everyone, but I think for most of us, it’s because even when we don’t like something in the story, or notice a weak spot, or a plot hole, we tend to think back to our own writing. Sure, when I read I can tell when the author got tired and stopped trying. Where things didn’t quite add up. Where the characters stopped sounding quite right. We tend to not say anything because we’ve all been there.

THIS, exactly this. And to be honest, it's why I don't often give concrit unless I'm reading a story as part of the beta process, when giving concrit is my job. Because, in all likelihood, the author knows certain spots are weaker than others, knows where they stopped trying, and so your concrit is not news to them. I'm more likely to give concrit if it's a really easy fix, like "Get a SPAG beta, because your ideas are awesome but right now all I can see are your grammar errors."

[anonymous]

Уже два часа ночи, и потому я лишь быстренько прочла пост по диагонали. Увидела слова jerks never create anything, и мне стало стыдно своих жадных читательских мыслей, потому что, едва дочитав вторую главу Come Alive, я сразу же заныла: а как же 2-я глава The Marriage Bargain? (и всё это при том, что последний фильм из "Людей Икс" с этой их кубинской историей сумел отвратить меня от ранее любимой истории) И я честно старалась довыдумывать самостоятельно, что же там у Чарльза с Эриком приключится дальше, но дальше уровня "Санта-Барбары" я творить не умею :(
И я знаю, что это некрасиво, и что я - жадный и ленивый читатель, но зато я никогда не стану говорить гадости автору, потому что на каждого автора всегда найдётся свой читатель, и потому, что никто не имеет права осуждать других... но об этом наверняка написано в данном посте (сорри, поздняя ночь и диагональ))) В общем, я начинаю бредить. Моя мысль в том, что, пожалуйста, порадуйте нас новой главой TMB, и я буду и дальше преданно ждать оставшиеся две, сколько ни потребуется!

[lulabel]

In my mind concrit is appropriate in a teaching/learning context - for someone taking a course or workshop on writing for example. Or by someone who acts as an editor or beta for a writer - it's part of their job, right?

As a consumer/reader of fanfic, I never ever give criticisms. I if don't like something much, I stop reading. If it's an interesting read which has some stuff that makes me roll my eyes and I just keep moving through. If it's something I really enjoyed then I try to leave specific comments about what exactly I really thought was good - constructive praise. I think constructive, specific praise can be very helpful to a writer because it lets them know what's working.

[wanderlust48]

You're so right. I used to think it was obvious, then I realised it wasn't. We have to assume that if writers could have fixed it, they would have, it's really not so easy. :(

I agree with lulabel and jouissant's comments.

As someone who does adult education for a living, even when in a teaching context, telling someone what's wrong is important, but even more so is helping them to do it better. Doing one without another leaves the learner ( or in this case, the writer) discouraged and doesn't help their work to improve any more. I'll talk about the problems in the work to my peers ( other educators) as it helps us understand what our learners need, but not to the learner if I don't think it she/he is ready to hear it.