A Hypocritical Situation

[Elvy]

Have any of you ever read reviews on fics and come across the kind that I consider to be the bane of existence? These reviews encompass commenting on a writer's spelling / grammar mistakes. Sounds harmless enough except when they're written like this:

"i think u need to work on ur spelling & grammar skillz. i cant read wut ur writing."

It's like the pot calling the kettle black in a sense. I may just be anal about this, but I feel that reviews, in some cases, are a "lead by example" scenario. When it comes to spelling and grammar comments, as a writer I would be insulted by a reviewer who lectures me about the technicalities of my writing when they can't even take two minutes to type out a complete sentence in proper format.

I've been going around and reading fics of various kinds, and I read the reviews that go with them and have found this to be an irksome trait among certain critics. I'm not so anal that I get all butt-hurt by someone making this type of comment and they happen to misspell a word during the process. Hey, it happens to the best of us. It's just the ones who intentionally type like the example above that make my eyebrow twitch from time to time.

Anyone else run into these types of hypocritical reviewers?

[TerraBreaker]

heh, they're always good for a laugh. I do think that people tend to get a little... overexcited when it comes to reviewing a fic, and in their haste to type out the usual "teh fic r0xx pls upd8 soon" they (understandably) forgot the basics of the english language.

I agree with you completely, it's difficult to accept criticism (concrit or otherwise) from someone who writes like that.

If it's any consolation I've read some of your work (not had time to review sadly) and I don't think you have any problems in that area.

[Elvy]

Oh! LOL! Thank you for the compliment! *bows profusely*

I was just reading a lot of other people's works and tend to catch certain reviewers that do this when commenting about their spelling or grammar. I just feel bad for the writers because here they are being critiqued on their technical work by someone who's too lazy to type a sentence properly. If I were in their shoes I'd be like "What right do you have to say that to me?"

You're right, though, in regards to people getting excited over a story and just going ZOMG that wuz da r0xx0rz !!!!111! mor plz!

I'm not an English major of any kind, but man how I dislike Internet speak sometimes. I can probably count on one hand how many types of acronyms I use online: LOL, ROFLOL, OMG, WTF....and that's about it.

And holy crap, you've written a few of the Disgaea fics! I need to read those by you (Is a Nippon Ichi Software freak). I still have to finish my D2 fic, I got stuck and now the conference I'm in charge of has sucked up all my writing time so I won't be able to finish it until this October. I will make sure to read some of your stuff!

[Guest Agaib]

These reviewers you speak of, they're called trolls. Few human beings are capable of such a unbelievably high level of stupidity (though SOME exist). The people you reference, while dumb, mainly do this to provoke a response. The world could do with less trolls *sigh.*

[Elvy]

But don't forget that trolls taste great roasted over an open fire with a nice seasoning of Mrs. Dash!

[EveKnight75]

I sit back and laugh.

It's stupid, but why on earth should you let it bother you? Leave it up so that others can point and laugh. The example you've just stated is a definite troll and lives to feed off your ire. Some of these reviewers aren't trolls - they're just not careful when checking their own reviews before posting. That gives you the right to dismiss them because if they can't bother to proofread a review, they don't have the right to criticize you for not thoroughly proofreading a chapter.

If a review is going to criticize something like grammar or spelling, the reviewer can't afford to make the same mistakes or do even worse. Spelling and grammar is universal; it's not limited to writers.

Some people find it irksome if a non-writer criticizes something like character or repetition in writing style. They ask, "What the hell do you know? You don't write stories." I think that's a different situation. Even "non-writers" are entitled to their opinions and one shouldn't dismiss their suggestions immediately as long as the reviewer is being respectful.