a ramble on critique and bad!fic and praise

[permetaform]

roo2 talks about critique which reminds me of heres_luck post on critique and praise which...

And I forgot who mentioned it first (speak up so I can give proper credit?) but I think huge ooodles of flamewars and kerfuffles might be due to how fandom's polar ends are people who love FANfiction and people who love fanFICTION; and there's a whole spectrum of people in between.

There's people who love the art for the art's sake and will improve the art if it kills them (and frequently do through critique), and there'e people who love the art for the creator's sake and for the collective squee and "OMG, OTP!"ness of it.

And. er.

I think I might be both, at least in the consumption of fanwork and somewhat less so in the production of fanwork.

I read bad!fic and mpreg fic and various and sundry "omg why the fuck was this ever written, this is SO twisted" fic, and I honestly like some of them. They are like puppy dogs, and young children. (refer to regarding bad!fic')

...then again, some people hate puppies and young children.

And some bad!fic puppies and snot-nosed-boys never grow up into good!fic.

And some people like kicking puppies.

And...the community-that-shall-not-be-acknowledged *still* takes much too much glee kicking puppies without properly explaining *why* the thing's getting kicked.

To grow, methinks a balance of criticism (presented tactfully) *and* praise (in the places where its merited) is best. Other forms of presentation is probably likely to lose your intended audience (ie. the author) 'cause they're possibly either in denial about your critique (out of defense) or they freeze up when writing anything else (thus not being authors anymore).

merg, such a tricky subject.

Comments

[fancyfox.livejournal.com]

I have issues with your use of the word "kerfluffles."

[permetaform]

oh hey! you're right, I misspelled it again! ::goes to change::

[fancyfox.livejournal.com]

euw euw euw

[permetaform]

?
huh? you mean the use of it at all?

[fancyfox.livejournal.com]

yeah. sorry. just someone was very condescending at me with it.

[fancyfox.livejournal.com]

y'know, i like it when you ramble. it gives me warm fuzzies.

[permetaform]

::huggleglomps::

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

Personally, I love the word kerfuffle and am always pleased when I see it. But, "kerfluffle" used in conjunction with a metaphor about the kicking of puppies for no good reason (as if there could be one) is absolutely perfect and adorable.

Put it back in!

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

To grow, methinks a balance of criticism (presented tactfully) *and* praise (in the places where its merited) is best.
Agreed. Alas, there are some people who will never take your criticism well, but at least you know you're tried.

It's also nice when people try to use their judgement and pull their punches back a little when they know they're dealing with a young or beginning author. I don't mind so much when The Community That Shall Not Be Named takes on an author that has a huge following (though the lack of 'whys' still bugs).

[rainjewel.livejournal.com]

Thank god you're mature enough to realize that there are numerous sides to the issue. I think some people forget that when reading bad!fic, it might in fact grow into something wonderful, and it might not. Also, one person's opinion on what makes up a "bad!fic" is not universal to the rest of the world.

Meh. To each his own, and all that...

[glockgal.livejournal.com]

Totally a tricky subject. It's easier to critique the technicalities of an artwork than the characterization in a fic. At least in art it's just, like, a technical thing? That can be improved on. In fic, it's like the critiquer is commenting on the writer's personal preferences, y'know? It's weird. But yeah a good blend of both is wonderful feedback for sure!

And thank you honey! It's been a great day. *G*