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Juliette (juliette) wrote in 30_somethings,
@ 2007-06-21 01:37:00

Current mood:	anxious
Entry tags:	admin, community policies

[Admin Post] On Critiquing
Okay, I'll be honest, most of my responses to fics thus far have been based solely on the idea of giving encouragement, not critique. I've been in lots of communities where critiques can be a touchy subject. I know we all write for different reasons, and a person who writes just for the "fun" (or whatever) of it may not be inclined to want an actual critique of their work as much as someone who takes this even a bit seriously. Whatever reason you're here, that's fine. But I would just like to suggest, for those of us who wish for critiques on our work, it might be a good idea to mention that amongst the summary when posting your fic. Critiques also won't be mandatory for readers; if all you can come up with is 'good fic' then that's fine too :P And asking for a critique, as I'm sure everyone knows anyway, isn't the same thing as the author saying "Flame me!"

Thanks everyone for making this a great community so far.

love,
J--

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thrillkiller
2007-06-21 03:08 am UTC (link)

It's my instinctual response to give what I want. :p I *crave* in-depth critique. It stings a little sometimes but that just makes me feel the need for it even more intensely because it's obviously so needed. So if this is the official statement-point for it: critique the living shit out of me. I can figure out what I've done right for myself, usually. It's what I've done wrong I need help with. And that applies even though the only person I'm writing for is me. Still no reason to do it badly and make excuses for it.

I'll try to remember other people feel differently about it tho'. I don't wanna be a dick. :p

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juliette
2007-06-21 03:59 am UTC (link)

Hell yes, I know what you mean. I crave that kind of critique too. It's one of the meaningful ways to grow as a writer, and you can always just cast off the stuff where you can tell it's only a matter of the reader having different tastes than you. If a critique stings me I'll say "thanks" and then mull it over for a while, heh, then get what I can from it after I'm done licking my ego's wounds. :P

Anyway, I'd been meaning to post this for a day or two now, but when I saw your comment on lazuli's story (which I thought was a great critique incidentally) it reminded me. That community I mentioned in our brief conversation earlier, the one that somehow ended up with the fluff bunny fics? It was specifically set up for critiques, but one writer who joined got amazingly pissed off when someone critiqued one of their stories, and I had to play peacemaker between the writer and the reader. :/ It also happens over on places like zoetrope, where writers often email people who do critiques, basically saying "fuck you, don't shit on my art, man!" Then the person who went to all the effort of reading and sharing their thoughts just ends up thinking "Screw it, why should I bother?" And then no one posts, and no one responds. I don't want that to happen here.

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	lazuli 2007-06-21 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	The critique didn't bother me, in fact it's given me something to think about. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

thrillkiller
2007-06-21 10:03 pm UTC (link)

You know why people do that? They get emotionally involved in their own work. They identify with their work. Thus, any criticism of their *ideas* is a criticism of *them*, personally. They make all kinds of high-sounding noise about "pure art" and "art for art's sake" and all that bullshit, but I'm doing 'art for art's sake' too, yet that doesn't mean I have to be a lazy shit and pass off incompetence as 'my style'. They can't take the heat, not even from that distance.

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