[ SECRET POST #2665 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2665 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 064 secrets from Secret Submission Post #381.
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

[caecilia]

I feel this way in my writing classes.

[blueonblue]

Aren't writing classes the place for public critique?

[(Anonymous)]

Public critique yes, depending on the class, but not openly mocking which is more what I interpreted with the secret.

[(Anonymous)]

Not in my experience. Every writing class I've taken has one of those coddling teachers who severely limits the critique you're actually allowed to give. One teacher I had made everyone write their comments down on a little comment card, and then he'd basically pick and choose which comments to share with the author. Bullshit, if you ask me.

[blueonblue]

That actually sounds kind of pleasant. I'm more used to the kind where the writer sits silently while everyone else discusses how much they suck.

[(Anonymous)]

It sucks when people actually need or want critique, though, because all comments have to go through the fluffy filter. It's very limiting.

[(Anonymous)]

It's much, much easier to find a space where you'll get as harsh a critique as you like - or to ask for critique to be more open - than it is to take back a blow to the self-confidence of someone who's not good at handling it yet.

No biggie.

[caecilia]

Sure, but saying "This was painful to read." isn't a critique. Sometimes I do have to say that (and more!) to someone because it's not healthy to keep your feelings bottled in! But I say it to a friend or to my journal. It wouldn't be helpful to the author and it would reflect badly on me as a critic. In my workshop (and I agree with this method) you have to say something positive about the story. A lot of people tend to go overboard with the praise, but I keep it short and to the point, and then I tell them in a professional way what wasn't done well and why.

[(Anonymous)]

This this this. "This was painful to read, and here's why I say that" is critique. "This was painful to read", with nothing following it up, is unhelpful and mean-spirited if you direct it at the author.

Unless you're not trying to be helpful and just want to make fun of fic you don't like, but I'm personally glad fandom's typically giving up that habit.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd argue that even then, it isn't necessarily useful critique, as "painful to read" is very much subjective opinion. Focusing on critiquing in terms of "this element did/didn't work, here's why" is often a lot more helpful, since it takes it out of the realm of pure personal opinion.