Honk If You Like Concrit!

[nindulgence]

When I first started out in online fandom, lurking about and trying to learn the rules, I read a myriad of posts that described lengthy, thoughtful, balanced, constructively-critical feedback as the rare but much-sought-after Holy Grail for fanfic authors--so that's what I did my best to send.

Comments

[dastier]

please count me in. imho, it's not the matter of liking/disliking criticism, it's the value of finding out what has, or hasn't, worked in your fic for the reader/ and that's invaluable.

[nindulgence]

Thanks for your response--your fic is so historically informed that I feel quite ill-qualified to offer critique on it...but if this idea is about challenging ourselves as readers as well as writers, then that's a very worthy challenge!

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[bantha_fodder]

I've been thinking about this anonymous/non-anonymous criticism thing, which is why I offered to host a non-anonymous concrit meme in my lj, which, not surprisingly, very few people took me up on.

But I'll take you up on it.

[nindulgence]

The thing is, memes that invite gazillions of comments on an individual post strike me as rather unwieldy...which is what prompted me to try to come up with an alternative approach that would foster that kind of discussion in a more long-term manner.

Whether this ultimately proves a more "wieldy" approach, I suppose only time will tell--thanks for participating!

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[nindulgence]

Yes, no matter how receptive to and appreciative of advice one may be on a more intellectual level, there's something in the old, instinctive lizard-brain that can't help getting hurt and defensive when it's actually offered.

That's where I think the time-delay inherent in online communication can be really useful: one has the option of taking a day or so to get past that initial defensive response before posting a reply...at which point, one is much more capable of being objective about the value of the advice offered, and of replying politely even if one disagrees with it.

Thanks for your comments, and for participating!

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[sjkasabi]

Please do give me the full-flavoured, balanced, negative-inclusive concrit. On anything I write, which for the next few months at least isn't actually likely to be much :(.

But seriously, I'd respect and value your complete opinion on my work, precisely because I respect and value yours. And I come from a family in which concrit is a way of showing love, so I won't take it the wrong way (which isn't to say I won't sometimes say "but hang on, what makes you say that?").

[nindulgence]

the full-flavoured, balanced, negative-inclusive concrit.

I wish I could think of a better word for that part of concrit than "negative"--since the aim of it is, after all, positive in intent--but the thesaurus isn't helping so far. Perhaps something will come up on A Word a Day...

And I come from a family in which concrit is a way of showing love, so I won't take it the wrong way (which isn't to say I won't sometimes say "but hang on, what makes you say that?").Hee! Am now imagining a "Concrit is love" version of one of those ubiquitous LJ banners. And responding with further clarification and discussion would be great actually: one of the things that really struck me in Pouncer's post was her pointing-out of the contrast between the kind of discussion we feel comfortable engaging in with regard to our fannish source material itself (in which we freely acknowledge weaknesses in plot, characterization, etc.--or disagree at length over what those are--in addition to squeeing over positive things) and the kind of discussion we feel

[luthien]

I don't appreciate driveby concrit from random strangers. However, you're not a random stranger, so sure, if you're in the mood, feel free. And if you're not in the mood, that's cool, too.

Actually, I'm working on a novel-length story that I think might be just your thing. You're one of the people whose response I'd be very interested in, anyway. *g* None of it is going to see the light of day for months yet, but eventually I'll be posting it as a WIP.

[nindulgence]

Ooh, now my interest is all piqued... :-)

Thanks for participating!

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