I must admit that a lot of these lists/sites/forums offering 'constructive criticism' make me cringe.
So I think there's a place in the fan fiction community for serious criticism.
I think that it very much depends on what your definition of criticism is. I’ve been directed to quite a few of these ‘bad fic’ lists over the years, and on practically every single occasion what I’ve read on list wasn’t constructive criticism at all. Rather, it was a group of people actively hunting out ’bad fic’ and then gleefully tearing both it and the authors apart.
According to the Merriam/Webster dictionary, criticism is...
the art of evaluating or analyzing works of art or literature
From what I recall, there was very little evaluating or analyzing going on - pieces of fiction were openly and repeatedly mocked and quite often disparaging remarks made about the author.
Whether or not the fiction was bad or not, isn't really the point. Last time I checked, everyone and his or her dog had the right to post fiction on the 'net if they so chose to do so.
However, the fact that the fiction is bad doesn't give other people the right to hurl ridicule and on some occasions abuse. And I must also point out that *some* of the people hurling said abuse, weren't exactly accomplished authors themselves, although they appeared to be laboring under the misconception that they are.
I've always thought that if you treat others in the manner in which *you'd* like to be treated, you can't go wrong. If you feel strongly that you need to criticize, fine - it's your right to do so. But ridicule and cruelty should certainly not be confused with, nor should it be passed off as constructive criticism. I see nothing constructive in insulting or hurting someone so badly that they feel they cannot post.
Most fic writers want to be good writers. More importantly, they want to become better writers.
True. But not everyone is capable of doing so. Does that give other people the right to drive them from their chosen fandom, though? Simply because in their opinion they aren't good enough?
Criticism helps.
I'm well aware that there are those who neither heed nor want criticism and are quite content to go on their merry way. That is their right to do so. However, I know quite a few authors personally who would rather someone would have mailed them with suggestions or genuine criticism, instead of finding that they were the source of ridicule on a site/list/forum/whatever.
BTW, I'm not suggesting for a second that all of the people on these bad fic lists are guilty of the behavior that I've described above, but there is no doubt that there is a certain element that thrives on it.
I don't think that pointing out bad writing is mean - it's the manner in which it's done that's important. I have on occasion mailed authors with criticism privately. My opinion is no more important than theirs is, at the end of the day - and even if I didn’t like their story, other people on the lists appreciated it. And I doubt very much that *any* of us would want to be the butt of other people's joke on a public forum.
no subject
So I think there's a place in the fan fiction community for serious criticism.
I think that it very much depends on what your definition of criticism is. I’ve been directed to quite a few of these ‘bad fic’ lists over the years, and on practically every single occasion what I’ve read on list wasn’t constructive criticism at all. Rather, it was a group of people actively hunting out ’bad fic’ and then gleefully tearing both it and the authors apart.
According to the Merriam/Webster dictionary, criticism is...
the art of evaluating or analyzing works of art or literature
From what I recall, there was very little evaluating or analyzing going on - pieces of fiction were openly and repeatedly mocked and quite often disparaging remarks made about the author.
Whether or not the fiction was bad or not, isn't really the point. Last time I checked, everyone and his or her dog had the right to post fiction on the 'net if they so chose to do so.
However, the fact that the fiction is bad doesn't give other people the right to hurl ridicule and on some occasions abuse. And I must also point out that *some* of the people hurling said abuse, weren't exactly accomplished authors themselves, although they appeared to be laboring under the misconception that they are.
I've always thought that if you treat others in the manner in which *you'd* like to be treated, you can't go wrong. If you feel strongly that you need to criticize, fine - it's your right to do so. But ridicule and cruelty should certainly not be confused with, nor should it be passed off as constructive criticism. I see nothing constructive in insulting or hurting someone so badly that they feel they cannot post.
Most fic writers want to be good writers. More importantly, they want to become better writers.
True. But not everyone is capable of doing so. Does that give other people the right to drive them from their chosen fandom, though? Simply because in their opinion they aren't good enough?
Criticism helps.
I'm well aware that there are those who neither heed nor want criticism and are quite content to go on their merry way. That is their right to do so. However, I know quite a few authors personally who would rather someone would have mailed them with suggestions or genuine criticism, instead of finding that they were the source of ridicule on a site/list/forum/whatever.
BTW, I'm not suggesting for a second that all of the people on these bad fic lists are guilty of the behavior that I've described above, but there is no doubt that there is a certain element that thrives on it.
I don't think that pointing out bad writing is mean - it's the manner in which it's done that's important. I have on occasion mailed authors with criticism privately. My opinion is no more important than theirs is, at the end of the day - and even if I didn’t like their story, other people on the lists appreciated it. And I doubt very much that *any* of us would want to be the butt of other people's joke on a public forum.
I mean to offend no one, btw. This is purely MHO.