I’ve actually had the opposite experience with ffnet. I may just have incredibly thoughtful reviewers, but I find that when someone as an objection, not to how I’ve told a story, but to what I’ve chosen to say, they tend to do so through email or on my LJ rather than through a public review. If I put the wrong army in the Trojan Horse, someone will tell me so in a ffnet review. But I think many people see a difference between that kind of factual correction and objecting to or questioning: a) why I’ve interpreted the characters the way I have, b) my pairings, c) why I’m not writing genfic, d) why I’ve bothered included a plot in my romance, e) why I’m not writing about other characters entirely or, f) why I’m not writing for Naruto when Sasuke and Naruto are so obviously just like Kaiba and Yami only better. In the latter cases, they are much more likely to do so via email or on my LJ.
I think that this is because both email and LJ posts feel more informal; it’s certainly more private, and maybe it makes the exchanges feel more like a dialog. Now where I might differ from a lot of the debate around this issue, is that I think each reader is as entitled to their preferences in reading as I am to mine in writing. I don’t see why they shouldn’t feel free to talk about how my story matches up with the one they want to see in their head, or how my interpretation not just of how a character is, but what they might be capable of in the future matches theirs -- provided they can do so without acting as if I was somehow responsible for their expectations or disappointment. And honestly, these are conversations I’d rather have via email or on my LJ (if I want to have them at all, which depending on how polite/demanding/interesting the person is, can be at times a debatable point) because they really are about reading and writing in general or how we see the characters rather than about a specific story.
I think though, you can usually get an idea of what kinds of conversations someone’s open to on their LJ simply by reading it, and I think that it’s only polite to use that as a guide before butting in.
I know though, that it's easy to get defensive when someone disagrees with you -- especially if it's based on their interpretations or preferences. Sometimes I need to take a step back and consider that what feels in that first moment of reading like an attack is probably someone expressing themselves quickly or bluntly -- but who has no intention of insulting me, even if they're disagreeing with what I wrote or how I envision the characcters' futures.. After all, people are going to spend less time on their reviews than I spent writing and that needs to be factored in.
I tend not to offer concrit unless specifically requested simply because if I’m reading a story, I tend to focus on what I liked rather than what I didn’t. Also, I have the attention span of a flea, so I tend not to read stories I don’t like or that are poorly written. Also, if the problem I have with a story is that the person has interpreted the characters in a way that, although reasonable, isn’t the way I prefer to see them developing, I tend not to comment. Because if I can’t honestly say that their interpretation of how they might develop is implausible, then it seems unfair to criticize it because it simply isn’t the vewrsion of how they would act that I want to see. And if the character’s actions were totally implausible, I probably would have already abandoned the story, making the point moot.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2008-07-27 02:08 pm (UTC)I think that this is because both email and LJ posts feel more informal; it’s certainly more private, and maybe it makes the exchanges feel more like a dialog. Now where I might differ from a lot of the debate around this issue, is that I think each reader is as entitled to their preferences in reading as I am to mine in writing. I don’t see why they shouldn’t feel free to talk about how my story matches up with the one they want to see in their head, or how my interpretation not just of how a character is, but what they might be capable of in the future matches theirs -- provided they can do so without acting as if I was somehow responsible for their expectations or disappointment. And honestly, these are conversations I’d rather have via email or on my LJ (if I want to have them at all, which depending on how polite/demanding/interesting the person is, can be at times a debatable point) because they really are about reading and writing in general or how we see the characters rather than about a specific story.
I think though, you can usually get an idea of what kinds of conversations someone’s open to on their LJ simply by reading it, and I think that it’s only polite to use that as a guide before butting in.
I know though, that it's easy to get defensive when someone disagrees with you -- especially if it's based on their interpretations or preferences. Sometimes I need to take a step back and consider that what feels in that first moment of reading like an attack is probably someone expressing themselves quickly or bluntly -- but who has no intention of insulting me, even if they're disagreeing with what I wrote or how I envision the characcters' futures.. After all, people are going to spend less time on their reviews than I spent writing and that needs to be factored in.
I tend not to offer concrit unless specifically requested simply because if I’m reading a story, I tend to focus on what I liked rather than what I didn’t. Also, I have the attention span of a flea, so I tend not to read stories I don’t like or that are poorly written. Also, if the problem I have with a story is that the person has interpreted the characters in a way that, although reasonable, isn’t the way I prefer to see them developing, I tend not to comment. Because if I can’t honestly say that their interpretation of how they might develop is implausible, then it seems unfair to criticize it because it simply isn’t the vewrsion of how they would act that I want to see. And if the character’s actions were totally implausible, I probably would have already abandoned the story, making the point moot.