[ SECRET POST #1959 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1959 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 085 secrets from Secret Submission Post #280.
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

[(Anonymous)]

I have taken English classes and writing classes, and every professor I've had has had a different idea of what's considered good. Including one who thought the sole purpose of any piece of writing was to make the readers care about the characters and what happened to them, and if that was achieved, then all the technical stuff was a matter of style and personal taste. I guess in your opinion that makes him wrong?

Again, you're not saying who, in your opinion, gets the final word on what's good and what's bad. English/writing professors? Not mine, obviously, since none of them could agree on what makes something good. English professors you've had? What makes them any more an authority on the subject than anyone else? No matter how many English classes or writing classes someone takes, the professor teaching the class is still one person with an opinion like anyone else. And I don't know, maybe you've taken several classes from the same professor who taught you based on his/her point of view, or maybe you had a few different professors that happened to see things the same way. But none of mine did, and I'm not going to say any of them are wrong because they saw things differently.

I agree that being popular doesn't make something good. Because there's no such thing as objectively good. The fact that those things are so popular proves that some people consider them good. I don't think Twilight is good, I don't like Toddlers and Tiaras or Jersey Shore or the Real Housewives of Wherever, and I think Fifty Shades of Grey is awful. Those are all things that are immensely popular, and a lot of the time, I think most of what's popular is total crap. But you know what? That's my opinion. To several thousands of other people, those things are good. I'm not arrogant enough to think I'm the arbiter of taste and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong.

I'm not sitting here saying "I don't understand how that can be true", and I don't appreciate your condescending comment that I should "study it and find out" or the implication that if I'd only take some English classes I'd know you were right. Like I said before, I have studied English and writing, and I was taught that the great thing about any form of art is that there are no right answers because it's all subjective. Language is constantly evolving, and as long as you've conveyed the message you set out to get across, you've succeeded. Whether any one person will consider it good or not depends on their personal opinion/point of view.

Yes, there are the basic ideas of spelling and grammar and punctuation that make things easier to read and convey the author's message more effectively, but even those aren't absolute. Take The Road by Cormac McCarthy for example. The book has next to no punctuation and breaks all kinds of grammtical and structural "rules", but clearly it resonates with people on an emotional level.

I'm really not sure where you got the idea that what makes a story good or bad "don't change" from person to person, because if that were the case we'd all like the same things. Everyone has their own upbringing, worldview, memories, core beliefs, etc., that influence the way they look at everything. For every book that exists, there are going to be people who think it's good, people who think it's good, and people who fall somewhere in between. Who gives anyone the right to say that one of those groups is just wrong?

And I'm arguing that they are subjective. A book being a classic essentially just means it was really popular for an extended period of time, and you yourself said that being popular doesn't make something good. Books win awards because the people giving out the awards think they're good, obviously, but again, what makes those people's opinions any more valuable than anyone else's?

It's just not that simple.

[(Anonymous)]

people who think it's good, people who think it's good, and people who fall somewhere in between

and that second good should've said "bad", obviously