The thing that always strikes me is that people come into fandoms and fanfiction from different places. We’re all looking for different things and have different expectations – and these things sort of play out around and occasionally bump into each other with reviews/concrit often at the flashpoint.
Not every fanfiction author is an aspiring original fiction writer looking to hone her craft. Not every reader is looking for the next great epic novel, and most are certainly not looking to engage in a spot of literary criticism when they review. And that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with a 13 year old writing fanfic for her friends as a social, not a literary, activity. (And before anyone thinks I’m picking on 13 year olds let me say write off the bat that adults can write badfic with the best of them – we’re just more likely to go in for cheesy smut than falling out of our TV sets into Middle Earth.)
But then you get someone reading it who's looking for a well written story, not a social gathering, and they're judging it by those criteria, which is, from their point of view, equally reasonable. Then they review, and you can see they've set up a teacher/pupil dynamic in their own minds -- and don't realize that the person they're addressing is under no obligation to buy into their scenario. With a published story, you can assume that the writer (hopefully) tried to tell the best story they could, or at least was concerned with writing a polished, finished piece of work. You simply can't make the same assumption, basic as it seems with fanfic. And if someone's purpose is to have fun with their friends, what's the point in telling them they spelled a word (or a lot of words)wrong?
I think a lot of people look at reviews like they’re supposed to be some kind of peer review – and then get mad when they don’t measure up. I think a lot of people think they are being objective when they're expressing their personal opinions and preferences instead.
It's a shame that more people don't acknowledge how big a part their own tastes play in determining their opinions. Because I think what reviews do is more unique than objectivity. They give you an idea of what your story looks like inside of someone else’s head, and how well it fits in with or clashes with the stuff that’s already there. And I think in the long run the lack of rules as to what should be in a review (beyond basic politeness) works to most writers' advantage because you end up getting much more interesting comments when people are saying their instinctive reactions.
For me, the key isn’t what someone has to say, but how civilly they say it. Because while people have a right to their own opinions and interpretations, no one has a right to use those to deliberately hurt someone else. And when I read a review that seems designed to do nothing as effectively as hurt the writer's feelings, I wonder why this person seems to feel that being cruel is a good hobby to have.
no subject
Not every fanfiction author is an aspiring original fiction writer looking to hone her craft. Not every reader is looking for the next great epic novel, and most are certainly not looking to engage in a spot of literary criticism when they review. And that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with a 13 year old writing fanfic for her friends as a social, not a literary, activity. (And before anyone thinks I’m picking on 13 year olds let me say write off the bat that adults can write badfic with the best of them – we’re just more likely to go in for cheesy smut than falling out of our TV sets into Middle Earth.)
But then you get someone reading it who's looking for a well written story, not a social gathering, and they're judging it by those criteria, which is, from their point of view, equally reasonable. Then they review, and you can see they've set up a teacher/pupil dynamic in their own minds -- and don't realize that the person they're addressing is under no obligation to buy into their scenario. With a published story, you can assume that the writer (hopefully) tried to tell the best story they could, or at least was concerned with writing a polished, finished piece of work. You simply can't make the same assumption, basic as it seems with fanfic. And if someone's purpose is to have fun with their friends, what's the point in telling them they spelled a word (or a lot of words)wrong?
I think a lot of people look at reviews like they’re supposed to be some kind of peer review – and then get mad when they don’t measure up. I think a lot of people think they are being objective when they're expressing their personal opinions and preferences instead.
It's a shame that more people don't acknowledge how big a part their own tastes play in determining their opinions. Because I think what reviews do is more unique than objectivity. They give you an idea of what your story looks like inside of someone else’s head, and how well it fits in with or clashes with the stuff that’s already there. And I think in the long run the lack of rules as to what should be in a review (beyond basic politeness) works to most writers' advantage because you end up getting much more interesting comments when people are saying their instinctive reactions.
For me, the key isn’t what someone has to say, but how civilly they say it. Because while people have a right to their own opinions and interpretations, no one has a right to use those to deliberately hurt someone else. And when I read a review that seems designed to do nothing as effectively as hurt the writer's feelings, I wonder why this person seems to feel that being cruel is a good hobby to have.