[ SECRET POST #3209 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3209 ⌋

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

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04. [WARNING for incest]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 054 secrets from Secret Submission Post #459.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[naemi.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I used you to think that using epithets was like the best way to avoid pronoun confusion or name repetitions—but I was young at that time, and I didn't know much about writing or the English language (let alone grammar rules of any kind).

After years of learning and improving, and even making a living out of editing, I still see why some people might prefer epithets over repetitions. (Hell, repetitions bug me like nothing else.) But that makes the advice none the better. Either the person giving this advice is inexperienced, or s/he is a person of dubious style (without meaning to be rude or disrespectful here), or—and that's something I encountered before—the writer in question creates so much pronoun confusion that the easiest way out is using epithets whenever possible. (Of course, that doesn't tackle the real issue.)

Either way. Most likely, epithets are out of character voice. If not handled with extreme care, they can make a story (or a character) sound and seem ridiculous. They can be helpful; they can make sense. But if you don't know what you're doing, by all means, don't ever sell it as a rule set in stone.


As for the "authors never want concrit these days" part—I find that to be true and not true. My main contribution to fanfic is beta'ing, and I'm harsh; some say I'm brutal. No excuse, but my own beta is brutal, too, so that I effing learn my shit (kinda her own words). Maybe it's because I make clear how picky I can be right away, but I never met an author who was offended or taken aback by my level of concrit. And, I have to add, only one of the authors ever asking me to beta for them was a friend of mine. The others were strangers who became friends later. However, I hear you, OP. A lot of authors out there seem to give a damn about improving, but want someone to hold their hand and tell them how fantastic they are. That's totally not my cup of tea, but … I guess it's okay if you don't have ambitions to be a pro writer.

Wow. Long comment is long. Forgive me, y'all; I'm tipsy :o)