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Intermissin - Not Helpful
Jun. 28th, 2007 03:35 amTell me - Do you find people's pointing out of spelling/grammatical mistakes helpful, or annoying?
Personally, I find it rather annoying, especially the "there are one or two spelling mistakes" and people going into nit-picky details such as the use of there/their/they're as though I don't know the difference. I do! Spelling mistakes happen, people, especially because I don't use a beta. I usually go over a story twice before posting, sometimes even three times, and spelling mistakes still manage to slip through. But what really bugs me is that these "helpful suggestions" aren't really helpful. Okay, so there are grammatical mistakes. What are they? You can't just say there are grammar mistakes and not point out what they are. Spelling mistakes happen but grammar can be difficult stuff. For example - the proper use of colons and semi-colons. For a while I was using semi-colons willy-nilly until I finally figured out their proper use. Gee, wish someone had told me early on that I was using them wrong.
It frustrates me because I do try hard to clean up a story. I've read stories that are so chalked full of spelling and grammer errors that there's no way I can continue reading. But when I look at the reviews, I find no one has pointed out that this person needs to either utilize a beta or go over her story a second time. And yet people point stuff out on my stories as though spelling errors are everywhere.
I'm not saying pointing out mistakes and such shouldn't be done. Sometimes they are helpful, especially if we're looking to clean up a story. It's just that, sometimes, I get a little offended by some of the responses as they make me feel like the reviewer thinks I don't know how to spell or even write. I mean, if every one of my stories was chalked full of blatant mistakes I would understand that, but I always clean up my stories the best I can before posting. And I've read stories that, even when a beta is used, mistakes still abound.
Personally, I don't point out spelling mistakes unless there are so many it makes the story difficult to write. Same with grammer. Even professional writers need editors to help smooth a story out. But I can't deny editing-comments are needed. It's just all such a frustrating thing, because some comments do help while others make you feel like you're being patronized.
Of course, I think we're all in agreement that the "this story sucks. Why is anyone reading it? This story should go to hell" kind of comments are just plain immature, pointless, stupid, and should always be deleted. If you're not going to be intelligent in your critique, then don't critique.
Personally, I find it rather annoying, especially the "there are one or two spelling mistakes" and people going into nit-picky details such as the use of there/their/they're as though I don't know the difference. I do! Spelling mistakes happen, people, especially because I don't use a beta. I usually go over a story twice before posting, sometimes even three times, and spelling mistakes still manage to slip through. But what really bugs me is that these "helpful suggestions" aren't really helpful. Okay, so there are grammatical mistakes. What are they? You can't just say there are grammar mistakes and not point out what they are. Spelling mistakes happen but grammar can be difficult stuff. For example - the proper use of colons and semi-colons. For a while I was using semi-colons willy-nilly until I finally figured out their proper use. Gee, wish someone had told me early on that I was using them wrong.
It frustrates me because I do try hard to clean up a story. I've read stories that are so chalked full of spelling and grammer errors that there's no way I can continue reading. But when I look at the reviews, I find no one has pointed out that this person needs to either utilize a beta or go over her story a second time. And yet people point stuff out on my stories as though spelling errors are everywhere.
I'm not saying pointing out mistakes and such shouldn't be done. Sometimes they are helpful, especially if we're looking to clean up a story. It's just that, sometimes, I get a little offended by some of the responses as they make me feel like the reviewer thinks I don't know how to spell or even write. I mean, if every one of my stories was chalked full of blatant mistakes I would understand that, but I always clean up my stories the best I can before posting. And I've read stories that, even when a beta is used, mistakes still abound.
Personally, I don't point out spelling mistakes unless there are so many it makes the story difficult to write. Same with grammer. Even professional writers need editors to help smooth a story out. But I can't deny editing-comments are needed. It's just all such a frustrating thing, because some comments do help while others make you feel like you're being patronized.
Of course, I think we're all in agreement that the "this story sucks. Why is anyone reading it? This story should go to hell" kind of comments are just plain immature, pointless, stupid, and should always be deleted. If you're not going to be intelligent in your critique, then don't critique.
