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Why is it I always get reviewers who want me to rush through my stories? Seriously, besides the usual "this is how you know the difference between your and you're", I always get people telling me to move the story along. And this time it was for a one-shot!
I'm not saying they didn't have a point. They might have, I don't know. I do know that, except for the escaped spelling errors here and there, every time I look the story over, I'm still happy with it. It just bugs me because I really can't say if they have a point, or if they were just being impatient. I've gotten impatient with stories, wanting them to hurry up to the whump or to get back to what's happening to this or that character. However, it's an attitude I don't listen to as I know that for the story to hurry along to the good stuff would make it cheap and flat. Some stories need time to build to make the climax more poignant. And the last time I got a review like that - being told to move things along - it was right before the chapter where I have things move along. Had they been patient, they wouldn't have had to make that comment.
Have any of you gotten reviews like that? Either ones that did have a point or ones that left you wondering if the reader was just being impatient, wasn't paying attention, or something else? Or was just plain unhelpful?
That's the problem with critique in fanfic. You love the praise, but would also like help in knowing how to make the story better. However, it's kind of hard to say if the "helpful" critique you got involves an actual flaw or is just that one person's opinion. We all vary, not just in our genre likes, but also in what we like in a writing style. I like a lot of details, some people like stories that get the point across in few words. Some like quiet stories that build slowly, others like stuff that's fast-paced.
I also, personally, think it rude that the only reason that someone leaves a comment is to point out what was wrong (we may have all been guilty of that at one point, though.) The best kind of critique is one that points out the strength and weaknesses, while also offering up - if possible - ideas of how to fix those weaknesses. That's what critiquing is all about - helping the author better themselves. When you leave a review that's nothing more than telling the author what's wrong without including what's right, it discourages. There's original stories that I've scrapped because everyone kept telling me what was wrong without helping me figure out how to fix it.
Okay, mild rant over.
I'm not saying they didn't have a point. They might have, I don't know. I do know that, except for the escaped spelling errors here and there, every time I look the story over, I'm still happy with it. It just bugs me because I really can't say if they have a point, or if they were just being impatient. I've gotten impatient with stories, wanting them to hurry up to the whump or to get back to what's happening to this or that character. However, it's an attitude I don't listen to as I know that for the story to hurry along to the good stuff would make it cheap and flat. Some stories need time to build to make the climax more poignant. And the last time I got a review like that - being told to move things along - it was right before the chapter where I have things move along. Had they been patient, they wouldn't have had to make that comment.
Have any of you gotten reviews like that? Either ones that did have a point or ones that left you wondering if the reader was just being impatient, wasn't paying attention, or something else? Or was just plain unhelpful?
That's the problem with critique in fanfic. You love the praise, but would also like help in knowing how to make the story better. However, it's kind of hard to say if the "helpful" critique you got involves an actual flaw or is just that one person's opinion. We all vary, not just in our genre likes, but also in what we like in a writing style. I like a lot of details, some people like stories that get the point across in few words. Some like quiet stories that build slowly, others like stuff that's fast-paced.
I also, personally, think it rude that the only reason that someone leaves a comment is to point out what was wrong (we may have all been guilty of that at one point, though.) The best kind of critique is one that points out the strength and weaknesses, while also offering up - if possible - ideas of how to fix those weaknesses. That's what critiquing is all about - helping the author better themselves. When you leave a review that's nothing more than telling the author what's wrong without including what's right, it discourages. There's original stories that I've scrapped because everyone kept telling me what was wrong without helping me figure out how to fix it.
Okay, mild rant over.
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Date: 2007-11-15 11:18 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2007-11-15 11:52 pm (UTC)From:Oh heavens, yes, I'm very much that way too! Usually I'm a lot more inclined to be nice if the author isn't actively soliciting reviews. But if they've got a terrible story and they're begging for reviews, I'm awfully inclined to oblige them ... and be quite honest when I do. *g*