[ SECRET POST #2988 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2988 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 050 secrets from Secret Submission Post #427.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

But it still operates on the assumption that these writers even cared about that criticism or wanted it.

Not everyone is writing fanfic with dreams of going pro. Not everyone is writing fanfic even out of the love of writing. Some people write fanfic because they find it a satisfying way of connecting with a community about a thing they love. If they're happy doing that without exquisite grammar then it's not some random college student's place to decide otherwise.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, that's kinda arrogant, isn't it? It's not their "place" to comment? If the author is "happy doing it without exquisite grammar", why not just ignore the random review going 'hey, your grammar needs work'? Why is it necessary to stamp your foot and yell "How dare you tell me my grammar is bad, don't you know I don't care?!"

[(Anonymous)]

I agree. A lot of fanfic writers are kids or ESL. It's great they're improving their English writing skills through fanfic.

If a college level student reviews those fics and holds them to the same levels of spelling and grammar as they should be at it's just unfair and unhelpful.

Never mind putting off potential new entrants to fandom. What about those who have already made the effort and are taking part in it?

[(Anonymous)]

Just one question... how exactly does improvement happen if no one ever tells them what's wrong? It's not magic; writing a lot without knowing where the errors are just generates a lot of writing with errors in it.

There are polite ways to offer correction. One of the reviews left was not polite. But I don't think offering correction in and of itself is rude or unfair.

[(Anonymous)]

you do realize improvement happens without criticism if you practice, right?

[(Anonymous)]

... it really doesn't. Experience helps somewhat in terms of telling a story, but if you're making a mistake in grammar or language usage, chances are you don't know the rule, and that's not going to get better until you learn the rule. Usually you learn it because someone tells you, though reading helps a lot.

[(Anonymous)]

No, it doesn't. You don't just magically learn how to be good at something just via practice if you aren't instructed in the proper methods to begin with. You can hem a million pairs of pants, but you aren't going to get better at it if you're doing it wrong every time.

[(Anonymous)]

Last I checked critique and practice combined provide the best chances of improvement in writing for any writer.

[(Anonymous)]

If you keep doing the same mistake over and over againt because you don't know it's a mistake, no, you don't improve.

[(Anonymous)]

It's not like people are machines who write the exact same thing over and over unless an external force corrects them, though. I mean I'm sure there are some people like that, but most humans grow and change constantly, even the most defensive, closed-minded, and seemingly static of them.

[(Anonymous)]

That's true, but it's also true it's easy to pick bad habits specially when it comes to writing and doubly so with grammar/spelling.

If not one bothers to point "In this part did you mean "bought" instead of "brought"? Because as it is, it doesn't makes sense" then the author (me, in this example, since no one bothered to point me that and I noticed it years later. I'm still embarrassed at the mix up) could keep making the same mistake.

[(Anonymous)]

Unless someone watches your every move like a hawk and smacks your hands with a ruler every time you misspell something or abuse commas, you're going to have bad habits of some sort, regardless of whether or not some stranger on the internet occasionally leaves a critical review on your fanfiction. I just don't think that criticism on fanfiction is that vital.

(Though I wouldn't consider pointing out (what I assume to be) a typo to be criticism. It's like correcting someone's botched html. Doesn't say anything about their skill as a writer.)

[(Anonymous)]

And being aware that something is a mistake makes easier to stop repeating it. And how can anyone be aware if they don't better and no one bother to tell them? That's my point.

(I don't think pointing grammar/spelling mistakes is the same as pointing typos (or html problems). The first counts (imo) as (mild and basic) concrit, the second is more of a heads-up.)

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, just practicing can go a long way. The right piece of advice can help a lot, but it has to be the right advice at the right time, and even then you have to practice to put it to use anyways. When I was young I got a lot of writing advice, but a lot of it either went over my head or was so generic as to be useless. I think people overstate the necessity of concrit tbh. Good concrit can take you a long way, but it's a lot rarer than its proponents would like to think.

[chardmonster]

Not everyone is writing fanfic even out of the love of writing.

Well that's obvious

[othellia]

I love you.