Whatever happened to concrit?

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Are we here on the thread the only people who leave constructive critiques anymore? Or are the fandoms I frequent ones that more experienced and honest reviews have given up on? I used to be able to use reviews to judge whether or not a story was worth trying, but now all reviews are gushing even for some of the worse stories I've read. Perhaps people are easily distracted by smut...

[NightScribe]

I've noticed the abundance of gushing reviews, too, Pix. I think it's pretty prevalent no matter which fandom you hit and it's frustrating.

On a more positive note, for me personally, is that someone who liked my latest fic, went back to read some older ones and left real concrit. The crazy thing was that they removed one of the reviews (fortunately after I read it) because they were afraid of hurting my feelings! I e-mailed them back and said I'd never refuse receiving well intentioned, well written concrit. They put it back up, thankfully.

I think part of it is that people gravitate toward whatever they prefer; a specific pairing; WAFFy happy ending, dark, whatever. If they're getting what they need out of the story, they're probably less likely to criticize because they're happy. *shrug*

[Guest Yhitzak]

You know, Nightscribe, I think you hit it right on its head with this one: people flock to what they want and will review it positively if it has the elements they're looking for in a story.

Also, I've noticed that with the introduction and subsequent popularity of the forum, the fiction site sees relatively few updates (at least in comparison to the pre-forum site). On almost all of the boards I visit, there are very few updates or new posts. I really hate to sound like a writing Nazi, but I've also noticed that with the introduction of the forum, the amount of bad writing on the fiction site has greatly increased. (By bad, I mostly mean that stories are poorly written from a technical standpoint; bad grammar, punctuation, lack of paragraphs, etc.) It makes me wonder if this trend is because the better writers seem more interested in the forum, where react-and-respond seems to happen much more quickly than on the fiction site, or if I'm only seeing part of what's going on.

I've wondered for a long time about reviewing on various sites; just what do people think the system is there for? To the best of my understanding, the review system is in place so that we can be criticized, complimented, and discuss our works and various subjects with other writers and readers. The way I've always seen it, the review system is in place to help us become better writers. It may do everyone on board some good for someone such as the moderators to post a resource regarding reviews. Like a 'how-to' guide for lack of a better expression. It's not that I think we all need to be guided, here, it's just that I think that some people don't know how to review because they just don't. It's hard to know what a writer is looking for in a review or critique because we're not all after the same thing (many people like the gushing "this is SOOOO great" reviews and can't handle any kind of criticism just as there are those of us who delete the "this is SOOOO great" reviews because they say virtually nothing about the piece). Some people can't write summaries; same thing. This isn't a slam against anyone, but it's the way it is.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Also, I've noticed that with the introduction and subsequent popularity of the forum, the fiction site sees relatively few updates (at least in comparison to the pre-forum site). On almost all of the boards I visit, there are very few updates or new posts. I really hate to sound like a writing Nazi, but I've also noticed that with the introduction of the forum, the amount of bad writing on the fiction site has greatly increased. (By bad, I mostly mean that stories are poorly written from a technical standpoint; bad grammar, punctuation, lack of paragraphs, etc.) It makes me wonder if this trend is because the better writers seem more interested in the forum, where react-and-respond seems to happen much more quickly than on the fiction site, or if I'm only seeing part of what's going on.

Indeed, it does seem now that most of the writers here are too busy in, say, the Orgy to really go to the fiction site, or work on their own stories.

However, I think another part of it has to do with when the servers were being switched back and forth then the site was split and blah blah blah which caused massive lagging and crashing on the site and the forums both. As such, a lot of writers fled to other sites to post their work. When the site was finally back in working order, a lot of people had given up on the site, and other had newly discovered it...

...And fan fiction, apparently.

However, even though there was a long influx of crap for a while there, I'm starting to notice that not only the old good writers are coming back, but some new ones as well. In the Naruto section I once again have five or six new stories I love and am keeping up with. A couple of months ago, this wouldn't be so. Normally, you'd have to comb through PAGES of shite to get to ONE okay story. A couple of days ago I found a handful of read-worthy fics on the first 3 pages after having avoided the section nearly religiously for over 3 months beyond checking my own fics for reviews.

Of course, beyond all that, there's also a much more driven effort to keep underagers off the site. The Verifier itself has sent quite a few people packing, not to mention that the staff has been systematically deleting accounts by 12 year olds.

[Iggy_lovechild]

Hmm...I guess I don't feel a lack of concrit because I get good concrit from my beta and it's helped a lot.

As for reviewers...I think a lot of people have stopped leaving concrit because some authors take it all wrong and make a big deal about it. So there's a lot of readers who jut don't want to be misunderstood or anything like that. It's a shame that it has to be that way, but...

Blame it on all those bitchy twelve-year-olds.