[ SECRET POST #2183 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2183 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Sorry for late, overslept.

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 067 secrets from Secret Submission Post #312.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - 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)]

Depends on the type of concrit, honestly. Someone pointing out grammatical errors or typos or asking a question about something that came across as unclear to them are one thing, but there are some people who also think it's their duty to pick apart an author's writing style, and that's something that's more dependent on personal preference. If I like writing in present tense, for example, and someone wants to tell me that the fic was great but they really don't like present tense... well, that's not that helpful. And I guess also not technically concrit, but there really seems to be this lack of understanding by both authors and readers as to what that actually means.

[citrinesunset]

This.

[stainless]

I agree with you about that example, and things similar to it. But, well, putting your work out there sometimes means hearing that. Hell, I had a beta who absolutely hated that I tend to write short paragraphs. She'd always comment on it, I'd always change one or two where I agreed it seemed choppy, and I'd leave the majority of the paragraph breaks right where they were. She didn't hate my writing or have an attitude; I didn't develop a complex. We both recognized we had a difference of opinion, and actually came to laugh about it later.

To me, presuming that concrit is some sort of attack or assault means not just making improving difficult for yourself, but also prevents situations like that one. Which was not only funny, but useful -- it forced me to acknowledge that I had a particular habit that some people might not like.

I learned a lot from it, even though I didn't change much.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree that it's in authors best interest to learn to accept constructive criticism for what it is rather than an attack, but that kind of thing does have a bit of a learning curve, and I think a lot of people forget that there are a lot of authors in fandom who are pretty young and/or pretty new to writing. I don't think it does them any favors to wrap them in cotton and only ever let them hear people giving their work unadultered praise, but I do think that there's a bit of a misunderstanding out there as to what concrit actually is, and there are some people out there who like to hide behind the excuse of concrit to be an asshole. And, honestly, all concrit is not going to be good or something that people can work with, and I think there are also a lot of authors out there who have yet to learn that you can politely disagree with someone when they offer it. There are also a lot of people who offer concrit who need to realize that the author is under no obligation to change things to meet their standards, either.

Honestly, it would just be kind of nice if fandom had some sort of bi-annual seminar on criticism and peer review so everyone on all sides understood what did and didn't constitute concrit and people could be a lot less wanky about it (people in general there - not aimed at you! Your comment was not wanky).

And the example you gave with your beta is good, and I think really shows how helpful having a good beta that you have a good relationship with can be. Even if you don't necessarily follow their suggestions to the letter, it still helps you learn overall. But unsolicited critique given by strangers isn't exactly the same thing. A lot of that can be wonderful, but it's not the same (in most cases) as what you'd have with a beta. A beta is often times someone you have a personal relationship with and they're generally pretty familiar with your style (or they get there in the end) and they're much more thorough when they go through things. Just because of the nature of beta-ing, there's usually more of a chance of back and forth and a lot of times it just feels more reciprocal. It's also a bit easier as an author, at least in my experience, to accept certain types of criticism from a beta because you know they're someone who usually has a bit of familiarity with your work or, at the very least, is experienced in editing. Not that people who offer concrit in comments aren't, but it's a bit harder to know.

This is getting really long and rambly, but basically I agree with you. I just think that there's misunderstanding on both sides of the issue, and that it's not really as cut and dry as "concrit is always good and people should just accept it and stop whining!" as some of the other commenters in this thread try to make it seem.