bookworm51485

Definitely, yeah. Yes. Yup. All the time. Today in fact :-)

I'm of a mind that a writer doesn't improve unless they receive positive AND negative criticism. No story is perfect, no writer is perfect and if no one ever points out things that need to improve, how will you? I know that it's possible to self-critique, but often it just doesn't work well. Myself, for instance, I've been known to write a completely nonsensical sentence and when reading it back, consistently read it the way I intended to write it instead of the way it was actually written. This is something that someone else reading it back would spot in a second, but my eyes missed it. So negative criticism is to be embraced, I know I seek it out because I prefer for my final products to be as high quality as possible. And I agree, even after that final product has been put out and completed, there's no reason why you can't go back and change something. I will admit that frustrates me with some authors. They'll spell a character's name incorrectly, a location incorrectly, make a canon mistake or even a mistake within their own established universe, acknowledge it when you mention it (sometimes even say that someone else already mentioned it, in a snide tone), yet refuse to go back and fix it... I don't get that.

But yeah, I've had some pretty negative responses to constructive criticism. I think one of the funniest was this one author who had maybe... 20 or so profiles. Yes, it was pretty clear that this was the same person. All from Canada, all using the same format for creating story summaries, and all stories the same basic variation of the others (even using identical phrasing at points). And when you'd send criticism, the response would consistently be NASTY and if you mention the other profiles, yeah... Somehow on one of the Yahoo fanfiction groups a couple of us came together and started collecting a list of all the profiles this one person had... It was pretty interesting and it makes you wonder what they do all day, that they have time to put up all these stories, even if they were all pretty identical.

I had another author once sic her readership on me for pointing out that rape is not a plot device leading to neverending love. Got nasty emails for awhile until they quit.
I had an author tell me that I had mental issues because I made a play on words joke about one of the characters that she, as an author within the fandom should have picked up on, and pointed out a few negatives. In this case, I actually included several positives before hand, but I guess those negatives were too much for her, and she went off. Tried to report it to the site (AO3) and the Abuse reporter was even more ridiculous (i.e. she essentially said that if you dare to leave negative critique for an author, constructive though it may be, you better bend over and take it if they decide to get nasty)
And just today, I had an author take offense when I pointed out that her Mary Sue was a Mary Sue and defend her refusal to label her OC character on her story, even though her OC was the main character. Something she neglected to mention in the summary or the warnings and that a reader doesn't figure out until a few chapters in because of how she chose to write the character's introduction. As if fooling you into wasting your time reading a story about an OC when you know you have no interest in reading stories about OCs (I specifically filter against them on ff.net because I'm not interested) will make you a reader for life.

So yeah, it happens. And often you can't do anything about it. It's frustrating as hell, but you just have to ignore it.... and post their story title and url on various forums so other like-minded individuals know to avoid like the plague.

Definitely, yeah. Yes. Yup. All the time. Today in fact :-)

I'm of a mind that a writer doesn't improve unless they receive positive AND negative criticism. No story is perfect, no writer is perfect and if no one ever points out things that need to improve, how will you? I know that it's possible to self-critique, but often it just doesn't work well. Myself, for instance, I've been known to write a completely nonsensical sentence and when reading it back, consistently read it the way I intended to write it instead of the way it was actually written. This is something that someone else reading it back would spot in a second, but my eyes missed it. So negative criticism is to be embraced, I know I seek it out because I prefer for my final products to be as high quality as possible. And I agree, even after that final product has been put out and completed, there's no reason why you can't go back and change something. I will admit that frustrates me with some authors. They'll spell a character's name incorrectly, a location incorrectly, make a canon mistake or even a mistake within their own established universe, acknowledge it when you mention it (sometimes even say that someone else already mentioned it, in a snide tone), yet refuse to go back and fix it... I don't get that.

But yeah, I've had some pretty negative responses to constructive criticism. I think one of the funniest was this one author who had maybe... 20 or so profiles. Yes, it was pretty clear that this was the same person. All from Canada, all using the same format for creating story summaries, and all stories the same basic variation of the others (even using identical phrasing at points). And when you'd send criticism, the response would consistently be NASTY and if you mention the other profiles, yeah... Somehow on one of the Yahoo fanfiction groups a couple of us came together and started collecting a list of all the profiles this one person had... It was pretty interesting and it makes you wonder what they do all day, that they have time to put up all these stories, even if they were all pretty identical.

I had another author once sic her readership on me for pointing out that rape is not a plot device leading to neverending love. Got nasty emails for awhile until they quit.
I had an author tell me that I had mental issues because I made a play on words joke about one of the characters that she, as an author within the fandom should have picked up on, and pointed out a few negatives. In this case, I actually included several positives before hand, but I guess those negatives were too much for her, and she went off. Tried to report it to the site (AO3) and the Abuse reporter was even more ridiculous (i.e. she essentially said that if you dare to leave negative critique for an author, constructive though it may be, you better bend over and take it if they decide to get nasty)
And just today, I had an author take offense when I pointed out that her Mary Sue was a Mary Sue and defend her refusal to label her OC character on her story, even though her OC was the main character. Something she neglected to mention in the summary or the warnings and that a reader doesn't figure out until a few chapters in because of how she chose to write the character's introduction. As if fooling you into wasting your time reading a story about an OC when you know you have no interest in reading stories about OCs (I specifically filter against them on ff.net because I'm not interested) will make you a reader for life.

So yeah, it happens. And often you can't do anything about it. It's frustrating as hell, but you just have to ignore it.... and post their story title and url on various forums so other like-minded individuals know to avoid like the plague.

Definitely, yeah. Yes. Yup. All the time. Today in fact :-)

I'm of a mind that a writer doesn't improve unless they receive positive AND negative criticism. No story is perfect, no writer is perfect and if no one ever points out things that need to improve, how will you? I know that it's possible to self-critique, but often it just doesn't work well. Myself, for instance, I've been known to write a completely nonsensical sentence and when reading it back, consistently read it the way I intended to write it instead of the way it was actually written. This is something that someone else reading it back would spot in a second, but my eyes missed it. So negative criticism is to be embraced, I know I seek it out because I prefer for my final products to be as high quality as possible. And I agree, even after that final product has been put out and completed, there's no reason why you can't go back and change something. I will admit that frustrates me with some authors. They'll spell a character's name incorrectly, a location incorrectly, make a canon mistake or even a mistake within their own established universe, acknowledge it when you mention it (sometimes even say that someone else already mentioned it, in a snide tone), yet refuse to go back and fix it... I don't get that.

But yeah, I've had some pretty negative responses to constructive criticism. I think one of the funniest was this one author who had maybe... 20 or so profiles. Yes, it was pretty clear that this was the same person. All from Canada, all using the same format for creating story summaries, and all stories the same basic variation of the others (even using identical phrasing at points). And when you'd send criticism, the response would consistently be NASTY and if you mention the other profiles, yeah... Somehow on one of the Yahoo fanfiction groups a couple of us came together and started collecting a list of all the profiles this one person had... It was pretty interesting and it makes you wonder what they do all day, that they have time to put up all these stories, even if they were all pretty identical.

I had another author once sic her readership on me for pointing out that rape is not a plot device leading to neverending love. Got nasty emails for awhile until they quit.
I had an author tell me that I had mental issues because I made a play on words joke about one of the characters that she, as an author within the fandom should have picked up on, and pointed out a few negatives. In this case, I actually included several positives before hand, but I guess those negatives were too much for her, and she went off. Tried to report it to the site (AO3) and the Abuse reporter was even more ridiculous (i.e. she essentially said that if you dare to leave negative critique for an author, constructive though it may be, you better bend over and take it if they decide to get nasty)
And just today, I had an author take offense when I pointed out that her Mary Sue was a Mary Sue and defend her refusal to label her OC character on her story, even though her OC was the main character. Something she neglected to mention in the summary or the warnings and that a reader doesn't figure out until a few chapters in because of how she chose to write the character's introduction. As if fooling you into wasting your time reading a story about an OC when you know you have no interest in reading stories about OCs (I specifically filter against them on ff.net because I'm not interested) will make you a reader for life.

So yeah, it happens. And often you can't do anything about it. It's frustrating as hell, but you just have to ignore it.... and post their story title and url on various forums so other like-minded individuals know to avoid like the plague.

Assholes on Parade by Timbuk 3
It’s an asshole celebration and they’re all out on the street
See them on the sidewalk, oh hear those shufflin’ feet
As twenty thousand assholes do an asshole promenade
Step aside good people it’s the assholes on parade
We got the assholes for freedom, the assholes for fun
The assholes for Jesus and the assholes for guns
The assholes for justice, the assholes for crime
And the assholes for assholes, the assholes of all time
Assholes makin money, they’re makin all the rules
Takin all our jobs and they’re fillin up our schools
Assholes in the water, assholes in the sky
Sign that says help wanted only assholes need apply
Oh teacher won’t you tell me,
Have I really made the grade
Am I the head of the class
Or just another asshole on parade
Assholes give the orders and assholes row the boat
Assholes get elected ‘cause assholes get to vote
I once heard it said that old asshole never die
They just lay in bed and multiply
Assholes in the morning, assholes every night
Assholes to the left and assholes to the right
As twenty thousand assholes do an asshole promenade
Step aside good people, it’s the assholes on parade

No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying

I was reading a story the other day, an Avengers semi-AU where Loki is a hermaphrodite (as are all jotuns) and he's paired with Steve. It had over 20 chapters when I started, so every so often on my way through the story, I'd stop and make a random comment in response to a question asked by the author or something she said within the chapter. Then when I got to the final chapter, I left a bit of criticism. Loosely stated, but it was legitimate criticism. Then I received this response:
"okay, I was reading over your rantings and was all set to come up with a response to the constructive criticism part...what little there was...when I began to read further. You sound fucking insane. Ranting to me about wanting to see women's faces smashed on the floor and walls and going on about your dislike of women and the charm of little boys....Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? I mean, I get it...fans can get a little manic...but c'mon, was all this necessary? Seriously...seek help, Bookworm. You obviously have some serious issues.
As for the story...meh...you can leave it where it is and go find something more suitable for your women destroying, little boy loving tastes. Seriously...I think we can both survive you not bothering with me and my little work of humble fanfiction. In fact...I'd prefer it. This is so not about the writing as it is about you being an odious human being, and I dont even know you."
My offensive reviews:
"Or instead of girl, it could be a jotun and be both :-P Personally, I don't think women are that interesting, I think women are frickin' nuts most of the time. I much prefer boys. I think there's an appeal to little boys that girls just don't have. A lot of it having to do with this pressure to be masculine that we put on men and that preciousness of that brief time when they're young when they don't worry about it and they're sweet and affectionate and cuddly. That, I think, is far more interesting, but that's me. I still vote for both :-/ That would be a first.
As for Thor, can someone smack him?"
*This was in response to the author asking about gender in the ANs and a monologue from one of her characters in which she expressed how fascinating she finds women. I, personally, find the psychology of boys and men more interesting because of the pressure to be masculine and how it affects their transition from boyhood to toddlerhood to childhood to adolescence and then adulthood. If you don't agree, that's fine but I don't think that really warranted the implication that I'm a pedophile. And the comment about women being fricking nuts most of the time was a joke. I usually figure when I say something really out there that people would realize that it's obviously a joke, but I guess some people need it blatantly pointed out to them*
"I think it would be quite enjoyable to see Hulk Smash their faces all over the floor and walls. And considering how handily he took down Loki in Avengers, I can't imagine he'd have too much trouble with them, especially with backup."
*In response to some very nasty characters within her story and for anyone who knows this universe, a blatantly obvious play on words based on Hulk's catchphrase (which I attempted to make even more obvious by capitalizing the word 'smash'. I guess she still missed it).*
No, the Hulk can't be knocked out that easily. Booo, the Hulk is like the ultimate in badasses. That was just a sad showing. Sad, sad, sad.
*In response to her directly asking the readers if it was that easy to knock the Hulk unconscious. And you want to know how she did it? By throwing him through a wall. A regular wall. Not a wall made of Adamantium lined with Adamantium with a core of Adamantium braced with Adamantium with an extra layer of a substance created one the core of a dying star. Just a normal wall. I can't see how anyone who is even remotely a fan of the series wouldn't have responded similarly to a direct question.*
"Oy. I was enjoying this story up until you did that thing that too many authors are guilty of. You have some seriously powerful players in your story, but you want the plot to go a certain way. So your powerful players all of a sudden become inexplicably weak and stupid and disorganized. It's frustrating. Frigga, Queen of Asgard? Won't take more than 2 minutes to take her down. The Hulk? Oh, all I have to do is throw him into a simple wall and he'll be out to the way. BUT we'll get taken down by Captain America, who subsequently won't be able to break out of the cell he was put in because it was built for the Hulk. The same Hulk that we took down by throwing him into a wall... Oy vey"
*I think this one is self-explanatory*
Now while I didn't expect that she'd be thrilled with the criticism, I didn't expect the degree of nasty I got in response. So I reported her to the site, which honestly has absolutely nothing in their TOS to address this situation. The closest category they had was harassment and this doesn't quite fit. But I figured since I wasn't asking for anything serious to be done in response, just a warning that that kind of response to criticism (that is not a flame) is not okay, I figured they might be receptive. Well, no. I got this response:
" Thank you for your report. However, we have determined that the comments in question do not constitute harassment. As per our TOS: When judging whether a specific incident constitutes harassment, the abuse team will consider factors such as whether the behavior was repeated, whether it was repeated after the offender was asked to stop, whether the behavior was targeted at a specific person, whether that target could have easily avoided encountering the behavior, whether the behavior would be considered unacceptable according to normal community standards, etc.
Your comments were repeated, but the authors were not. In addition, you could have easily avoided encountering the behavior. When you comment negatively on a work (especially by criticizing an entire gender as uninteresting and frickin nuts most of the time), you should be prepared to receive a negative reaction. If you are not prepared to receive that reaction, then it may be easier not to comment."
So essentially, don't ever give constructive criticism because then an author can react any which way they want and we won't do a thing. Oh, and this behavior is perfectly acceptable according to normal community standards. And it's my own fault for having the nerve to comment on a story once for every few chapters I read and to include something negative in those reviews.
No wonder people are afraid to review anymore. Because you can be abused in response and no one is willing to do anything, not even a simple warning. This was AO3 btw, the site which is supposed to 'save' us from ff.net, but as far as I can see, they have the potential to be just as bad. Just with porn not being against the rules.
I started a petition on the matter, asking AO3 to recognize their importance of their readers/reviewers and include protection for them against abusive authors who don't want/can't take Constructive criticism in the TOS, so if anyone might be interested in signing it, I'll post the link. Even if you don't think this applies, I know we've all encountered authors whose behavior easily qualifies.

Come to the Dark Side... we have accessories...

XD That actually makes me think of Darth Vader running around with a pink, frilly purse and smacking people with it.

This topic has probably been done few times already, but as I am new and this is the place for rants, here we go:
Ok, I've been reading fanfiction for a few years now. Every time I try to quit, after few days/weeks/months I come back to it. I don't write it, because I don't have the strength/ambition/tenacity or whatever else to do it. Every attempt ended at few hundred words. So I gave up and having done that I don't really get why some other people won't.
Sometimes you can find great fics, but sometimes, it's just a waste of time and disk space and bandwidth and, yeah, it's gets really bad.
What I absolutely hate in fanfiction (based on HP fics):
1. incorrect spelling of names - how many times it's been Luscious, Grimold, Arthuor. There's no excuse! Dont's say that you don't have anywhere to look it up. If you can post the story on the internet - it means you have internet access -> use the freaking Google!
2. grammar and spelling errors, bad formatting - can forgive some minor mistakes, but major ones give me a headache and no matter if the plot is great, i won't read it. There's no excuse for bad spelling if english is not your native language than welcome to the club. You are on the internet, so use it wisely. There are online spell checkers, communities dedicated to writers, websites describing most common errors and so on. Use them! If you don't want to, then find a beta-reader or an editor, a good one. If you don't know how, then ask. A hint: a beta-reader who allows you to spell: Ascher, prad, Netheniel (in AB fandom) or Grimald, Poter (in HP) is not a good one. Find another one! Quickly!
I think that it's all about respect, if you respect your work and respect your readers, then you want to do write the best story possible. Saying that you(author) are doing your part by writing the story and if your readers don't like your atrocious spelling, it's their problem means that you are basically telling your readers to kiss your behind. After few chapters, all your fans will leave. Nobody likes to be disrespected. If you spent few days writing a story, spend few more minutes to read it again and check it. Spell checker is not enough!
And it's 'might have', 'would have', 'could have' and not 'might of', 'could of', 'would of'!
3. bad summaries - writing in summary: 'summary is bad, but the story is good' - no, it's not.
4. ignoring reviews and ignoring advice - if you're asking for reviews and somebody tells you that there is something wrong with your story (most often bad spelling), it's their right. You can answer them, change the bad bits and go on. It's not a flame when somebody tells you the words are a jumbled mess and asks you to correct your spelling and find a beta reader. This is how a flame looks like:'You will burn in hell for pairing Harry with Hermione' or 'If you write one more slash story, I will find you and...'. You can't expect that every review will be extremely positive. If you want that, then say so, so that people who want to help you become a better writer won't bother and you'll be left with a bunch of sycophants. Besides, many authors say that they want to be published in the future. If you are one of them, then take serious reviews seriously.
5. unfinished and abandoned stories - you build a fanbase, abandon the fic, then after few months come back and promise to update it soon and then leave it completely. Come on! Have a decency to at least put a note in your profile that you won't finish it.
6. alternate universe - if you take HP universe, but take the magic away and add few OC characters and the canon characters that are left are acting diffrently then in the original books, some of them change their names, their appearance and the pairings are all diffrent -> it's not a fanfic anymore, it's an original story and you should say so in the summary and place it in a diffrent archive. You can't take away everything the original story consists of and still call it a fanfic.
7. pretend crossover - where you take one character from a fandom, change everything about them, make them forget about the past and you put that character in a diffrent universe. It's not a crossover, it's just adding an OC character to your story. Don't lie to your readers.
8. everyone is gay - I like slash stories, but what's with making everyone gay? Suddenly there are no women at all or the ones that are there are stupid and not worth writing about. What's up with that?
9. undeserved bashing - if you don't like a character, that's okay, but continuously calling him/her a useless cow makes no sense, especially that there usually is no reason for it. You want to add bashing, that's okay, but don't do it just because someone else did so. And if you're doing it, than don't go calling other characters names that were used so many times, that they lost all their appeal: Dumbledork, Bumblebee, Bumbledork, Voldie-pants, order of the dead/headless/flaming chicken.
10. tattoes, piercings - hate it when Harry or other character shows his independence by doing a make-over. There's no logic in that: Dumbledore is bad and manipulative. I'll show him, I'll get my tongue pierced. Yeah, that'll teach him.
11. describing layout of every room and the colour of every outfit - it doesn't bring anything new to the story, why do it so often in such detail? Few times in a multi-chaptered fic is okay, but few times in a single chapter is not.
12. beautyfing the characters - according to canon, they are all average: Harry is a scrawny kid with messy hair and glasses, Hermione has bushy hair and big teeth and Snape has a crooked nose and greasy hair, don't keep saying that they look completely diffrent and keep describing their petal rose lips and silky hair and so on, there are still some ugly people in the world. And besides you don't have to be gorgeous to be sexy.
13. inheritance fics where characters change overnight - they go to sleep 5'2 and wake up 6'2 with hair that reaches the middle of their backs and glowing skin and if they change sex, they are the most beautiful specimen ever, if the character was malnourished and scrawny why say that he now has a sixpack and superhuman muscles, or when changig gender he has very big breasts and small waist and all the right curves. Makes no sense.
14. name changing - don't keep changing names. Even if Harry turns out to be someone else's son, let him stay 'Harry'. Call him Harry Riddle, Harry Snape or what not. Don't start calling him Kian, Raven, Amadeus, Damien, Devlin or whatever else. It's just silly, especially that after that you go on with this: 'Kian(Harry) stood up and then Kian(Harry) sat down' for at least few chapters. He changed his name, we get it! Changing names makes sense only if he is going into hiding, but even then don't you think that people looking for him would have some common sense and could figure out such a clever ruse as the name: 'Evan Black', 'James Evans' or a combination of those?
15. extreme abuse - you want to describe abuse, then go for it, but please have some common sense. There's only so much a human body and mind can take. Most abuse victims have serious scars: physical and psychological. You don't just get over it in a singe night. The 'rescue' is only the first step in a long road to recovery. A good meal, few bandages and a pat on the back can sometimes do more harm than good. As to graphical description, first check how much blood can a person loose and survive before you start describing pools of it all around the room. And don't forget the smell. In a clean neighborhood, where there are no factories around, the stench from a 'torture room' would be unbelievable during summer. Has any of you ever been in a fight or at least seen one? Hitting something tires you out, very fast. That's why boxers go only few rounds few minutes each, and they are in excellent shape. So let's now take Vernon, an obese man who suddenly has the stamina to hit Harry for a few hours everyday for the whole summer. Come on! He would have a heart attack after only one day. And as to 'torture devices': bullwhips cost a lot of money, so do all the other 'appliances'. That's why most criminals use simple tools: knives or gardening tools, they get the job done just as well.
16. names for the children - it's usually something like: Lilliana Draconisa Luciana Rosalinda Henrietta Potter-Snape-Malfoy. Those poor children, they will be the laughing stock of all their school. Simple is better, choose no more than two first names and one last name and stick to it.
17. mpreg and preg fics - I get the mpreg, don't have anythig against it in fiction, but remember that a pregnant person is not sick, don't go on describing that they are 'waddling' or have a 'bulging stomach' at 2 months, morning sickness is dependent on the person and some don't have it at all, and not always in the morning, some don't have any weird food cravings, especially that strong smelling foods make many pregnant women sick. Hormones don't make you a completely diffrent person, sure than can be a tantrum from time to time, but otherwise it's still the same person. And in mpreg what's with trying to explain exactly where the womb is located and how male pregnancy is possible and than just making a whole mess of everything. Just say that it's magic and don't go inventing some scientific mumbo-jumbo. And remember if you were not pregnant or never lived with a pregnant person, first read a leaflet about pregnancy and then write m/preg.
18. unnatural birth and babies - have the feeling that many authors never saw a real newborn, only the tv-version. Newborns usually don't open their eyes, so there is simply no way to know what colour their eyes are. They are ugly, smelly and all they do is cry, poop and sleep, but we love them anyway. A natural birth takes a really long time and then there is the umbilical cord and the placenta, but in most fanfics you get the feeling that it's just about 15 minutes from the first contraction and than you have a beautiful toddler. When writing mpreg, you're not giving birth, you're not filming it than what's the harm in at least keeping it truth-adjacent.
19. unrealistic sex and having sex all the time - if it's a pwp, it's okay, but otherwise, remember that after few times during a single night, it simply hurts, body is oversensitive and any kind of stimulation designed to make you feel good has a completely diffrent effect. Also don't go writing that somebody has an erection for a few hours and they just keep pounding all that time, possibly in diffrent positions, because after some time it's not pleasant for either party, not to mention that such an erection may be caused by a serious medical condition.
Okay, there are few more things that I don't like, but I think that I vented enough for now.

I agree with JayDee, can't see why you would be so mad about it, especially after two years. It is a bit harsh, but truth is better than 'I liked it, update soon'. If you are asking for reviews, there is a possibility that not all of them will be nice or next time, just state: 'Only people who liked my story may review'.
As to Carrie, the book was published in 1970's, movie adaptation few years later. There were many works 'inspired' by that story. So I think that it is reasonable to assume that anyone who is older than 15 would know at least parts of that story. If I were you and someone wrote 'its like carrie without the awesome parts', I would read that book, see the movie or at least google it. If you don't know Stephen King's book, how can you know if your reviewer isn't right about this?
As to silver hair, Raea and all that - I would have to read the story to judge who is right. Even in the craziest universes there are some rules and some introductions or explanations should be made, especially if it was a fanfic we are talking about and not an original story.
There is no justification for bad spelling, but understandable that everybody makes some mistakes. If people are pointing them out, you should make corrections and not put blame on your spell-checker. Still, based on your post, I would have to agree with your reviewer: "Its Gotham", "for all intensive purposes", "be able too".
And besides, I'm sure that your reviewer didn't mean to offend you. He just had strong feelings about your story and he cared enough to try to make your fic Iin his opinion) better, which you should be proud of. Not every author can provoke such feelings.