Excuse me...
5 January 2004 01:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leethet...while I rant a bit.
I'm a copy editor for a living. I've had to say critical things about people's writing because it's my job. I've been doing it a long time, and I pull no punches. That said, I read a comment made in an MFU forum that, while by no means uncommon of late, seems to have been the last straw breaking the back of my silence. Humps to follow.
I sometimes don't like stories. Sometimes I think they suck. But you will never see me posting that view on a public list. "This story/writer sucks." Why? Because it is mean-spirited and -- worse and far more importantly -- useless. I've seen a little too much "So-and-so's stuff sucks. I want XYZ kinds of stories" floating around the MFU fandom and I'm irked. It's fine to say "It sucked" to yourself or your chums privately; that's venting, it's human, but in the long run it's just noise. It's OK to make noise in your own home. In a public forum, you're in a sense an invited guest. Try to bring something to the table. Don't just make noise. Make conversation. If your opinion is so harsh it cannot be offered up civilly and even constructively, perhaps it should be left at home -- unless being needlessly unpleasant in front of other people is a thrill for you. It's perfectly possible to say "I didn't care for this story because it was too action-oriented/relationship oriented/romantic/espionage-heavy/OOC in my view; I am looking for stories that are more romantic/action-oriented/hurt-comfort/fetish-oriented/whatever" -- specific criticism is useful to the writer and to the other readers on the list who might share your views, and negative comments do not have to be insulting. Mind you, a poster is not obligated to give lengthy critique (and some writers don't want it), but in that case, surely a courteous "I didn't care for it" reflects better on you than "Boy, that sucked."
A little thought, a little consideration, a little restraint. Courtesy does not have to stifle criticism. In fact it benefits it, because a clear and well-delivered criticism is invariably better received and made use of by a writer than such comments as "this sucked," "I don't like this scene," etc. -- those are reactions, not criticism.
And reactions are fine, but, really, if someone said to you "Your story sucked," but had nothing else to say about it, nothing else to offer ... wouldn't you prefer they'd kept it to themselves?
I'm a copy editor for a living. I've had to say critical things about people's writing because it's my job. I've been doing it a long time, and I pull no punches. That said, I read a comment made in an MFU forum that, while by no means uncommon of late, seems to have been the last straw breaking the back of my silence. Humps to follow.
I sometimes don't like stories. Sometimes I think they suck. But you will never see me posting that view on a public list. "This story/writer sucks." Why? Because it is mean-spirited and -- worse and far more importantly -- useless. I've seen a little too much "So-and-so's stuff sucks. I want XYZ kinds of stories" floating around the MFU fandom and I'm irked. It's fine to say "It sucked" to yourself or your chums privately; that's venting, it's human, but in the long run it's just noise. It's OK to make noise in your own home. In a public forum, you're in a sense an invited guest. Try to bring something to the table. Don't just make noise. Make conversation. If your opinion is so harsh it cannot be offered up civilly and even constructively, perhaps it should be left at home -- unless being needlessly unpleasant in front of other people is a thrill for you. It's perfectly possible to say "I didn't care for this story because it was too action-oriented/relationship oriented/romantic/espionage-heavy/OOC in my view; I am looking for stories that are more romantic/action-oriented/hurt-comfort/fetish-oriented/whatever" -- specific criticism is useful to the writer and to the other readers on the list who might share your views, and negative comments do not have to be insulting. Mind you, a poster is not obligated to give lengthy critique (and some writers don't want it), but in that case, surely a courteous "I didn't care for it" reflects better on you than "Boy, that sucked."
A little thought, a little consideration, a little restraint. Courtesy does not have to stifle criticism. In fact it benefits it, because a clear and well-delivered criticism is invariably better received and made use of by a writer than such comments as "this sucked," "I don't like this scene," etc. -- those are reactions, not criticism.
And reactions are fine, but, really, if someone said to you "Your story sucked," but had nothing else to say about it, nothing else to offer ... wouldn't you prefer they'd kept it to themselves?
no subject
Date: 5 January 2004 03:26 am (UTC)But at the same time, I'd argue that I am in no position to tell someone what they can and can't say about me or my work. People can and will say what they like. In an ideal world, everyone would be courteous and kind and helpful...but people ain't like that. Not all the time, anyway.
Fanfic commentary doesn't have to be useful, does it? We don't go around expecting fanfic to be specifically useful, as far as I'm aware. Why can't both coexist simply as forms of expression in their own right?
no subject
Date: 5 January 2004 07:52 am (UTC)Very true. But as Lee observes, a little civility would be nice and actually contributes to the possibility of real discussion. When one simply says, "It sucked" the discussion pretty much stops there.
no subject
Date: 5 January 2004 09:41 am (UTC)This is very sadly true, but in a civilised world there are manners and rules to prevent just such hurtful and pointless remarks. I just think that such spitefulness has no place on a listserve. Lists have been brought down over just such behaviour - why tolerate it?
no subject
Date: 5 January 2004 12:49 pm (UTC)It's not the opinion, it's the mode of expression, that I'm objecting to.
In an ideal world, everyone would be courteous and kind and helpful...but people ain't like that. Not all the time, anyway.
No, they aren't. But they could be, couldn't they? At least more often.
Fanfic commentary doesn't have to be useful, does it?
Nope; which I think I mentioned up there. :)
We don't go around expecting fanfic to be specifically useful, as far as I'm aware. Why can't both coexist simply as forms of expression in their own right?
They can and they do. I'm not asking for silence, I'm wishing for courtesy. In lieu of that, keeping the comments within one's private circle is as close to courtesy as one can hope for. However, a person who isn't interested in courtesy would perhaps by definition be neither civil in language nor discreet in distribution.