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A thought on creative criticism
5 years ago
General
I just read an abhorrent fanfic that ended with the clause of not wanting to be criticized. I’ve been writing for over a quarter of a century and I can tell you one thing. The inability to accept criticism in any of its forms closes the door on growth.
Now, that’s not to say that all criticism is useful or even pleasant, but if a writer or any artist for that matter, cannot discern the importance reflecting on their past mistakes, how will they ever evolve?
If you don’t want your work to receive any form of criticism, don’t publish it on a public art site. Better yet, don’t write it down, unless you intend to lock it up in a secret vault, but there is the chance someone might crack it open. So, you’d better set it ablaze and release the ashes to the four winds, that way no one will ever witness your secret shame.
Or disable comments...
Now, that’s not to say that all criticism is useful or even pleasant, but if a writer or any artist for that matter, cannot discern the importance reflecting on their past mistakes, how will they ever evolve?
If you don’t want your work to receive any form of criticism, don’t publish it on a public art site. Better yet, don’t write it down, unless you intend to lock it up in a secret vault, but there is the chance someone might crack it open. So, you’d better set it ablaze and release the ashes to the four winds, that way no one will ever witness your secret shame.
Or disable comments...
*giggles madly...
V.
V.
A few years ago, I submitted a story for a furry anthology. It didn't make it through the second selection process, and I published it here, in four parts. One of the other Thursday Prompt participants asked if he could critique it, and he proceeded to (politely) tear it apart. Everything he said was true, and someday I need to get off my duff and implement his suggestions -- all of them.
In my latest story, one of my relatives critiqued another story of mine, ending up telling a tale of his own. More of that later.
Sometimes the truth is a bitter pill to swallow and sugar coating it only makes it stick in your throat, but never taking it only leaves you sick in the end...
Now, in the case of sites like this, plopping down an entire laundry list of corrections, which I don't consider criticisms, just clogs up the conversation.
Editing and criticism are certainly two different things.
I had someone do that after I said I was open to any potential corrections on one of the longer articles. While I thanked them for it, the damn thing took several painfully long swipes on the phone to get to the bottom, which isn't really fair to anyone else that wanted to comment on the article. So, I hide it, but I also made a note that they helped improve the article.
Considering it was mostly minor punctuation errors, having written a 10+ page article in a couple of hours, I really didn't mind. What I did take issue with was the fact that some of their corrections were incorrect. Specifically, a sequence of events within the context of the movie. The line referenced wouldn't make any sense, if the kid shot the guy instead of his father...
I'm looking forward to hearing it
A few months ago, I used (on a different venue) the word tankōbon to describe a certain Japanese manga. Some weaboo called me a f***ing idiot and insisted it was ONLY ever spelled T-A-N-K-U-B-O-N. I couldn't let that one pass. "Which romanization protocol are you using? I used Hepburn, but you also have your choice of Nippon-shiki Rōmaji or Kunreisiki rômazi. For that matter, which logograph are you referencing, Kanji, Hiragana or Katakana?" To call the moron's reply 'vile invective' would be an understatement of the first water.
Oh, yeah, I do research. One of my side jobs is writing term papers and the like for st00pid st00dents -- those kids whose parents bribed the colleges to admit them, but didn't have the chops to write a simple declarative sentence. Right now I'm working on one about the Jonestown mass suicide and similarities to current events. I have to touch and go carefully, since if my client gets expelled I don't get paid. Anyway, I always ask my clients for samples of their previous work, to make it as believable as possible. Twice they have politely refused and I've had to wing it; one got a B+ and I got a bonus. You used the word 'abhorrent ' in your Journal, and I have to say that's appropriate for some of the kr@p I've seen.
Even with a citation, if said citation is wrong it really doesn't matter. I am just finishing up an article on ginger beer, which has several citations claiming that it wasn't until the 1750s or so (I used a ' the last time and got chewed out for it, lol), yet I found a book written in 1702, second edition that clearly states the use of ginger root in making beer.
The use of excessive cursing when responding usually is a sign of ignornace and the internet...
I always wonder why people think that they won't get caught in the end when it comes to submitting someone else's work. I mean, I wish life weren't like the British comedy The IT crowd, but it rarely seems like these people ever get caught...
Considering the fact that I just searched both forms of the spelling on the internet for the word Japanese word with both the o and the u and in one case both, they all came up with the same definition... It's almost as dumb as someone one that points out the use of u in words like colour (British) or the lack there of with color (American)
more importantly languages can change, I mean just look at a book written in English from 300+ years ago, there are plenty of words and phrases we no longer use