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 06:38 pm (UTC)However, I've seen countless others like it, and I had to say that I *love* the way you articulated your position. I agree with you 100 percent.
Personally, I don't see the point of saying anything negative about a story to the writer's face in public. The author might or might not be writing to my taste, but I'm not entitled to have people write to my taste. If you have to say it, say it in email and/or with some courtesy.
That said, I can understand
/talking about something I didn't witness first hand.
no subject
Date: 5 January 2004 11:37 pm (UTC)There are places and times when it's perfectly appropriate, even expected. We do have crit lists, and many writers, myself included, invite and genuinely want commentary, including the "er, this scene...POV all over the place!" kind. But even I don't see the value of getting an email from someone saying "Your story sucks." A negative opinion can have positive effects, if expressed usefully. "Your story sucks" is simply unpleasant (and unpleasantness is not its fatal flaw -- uselessness is).
And even on the non-critiquing lists there is NOTHING wrong with offering a dissenting or negative opinion about a story or a writer -- but it should be done with courtesy.
There's also nothing at all wrong, of course, with NOT offering an opinion -- if you don't want to or don't have one or any reason at all.
I don't want to stifle debate at all; I only ask that people remember there are other humans at the other ends of the opinions. And, really, most people in MFU are courteous. It's only a very few who are not.