Beyond the current 'should readers critique' and , which lead to the banning of the reader on her lj. I think it is the timing of reading something like this and the general discussion about critique of fanfiction (which I'm of two minds, because by nature I'm all about critiquing a piece of literature no matter whether the author wants it or not). Fandom-osmosis working over time.
The whole thing just doesn't sit well with me. I'm finding myself, hmm, questioning my respect for certain people (both writers and readers.) I know I get highly passionate (down-right rabid) about certain issues, but the way things have being paying out (people's reactions) are kind of hard to cope with.
*sighs* And this is why I sit and watch, getting involved in fandom is really quite draining. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/guede_mazaka/437624.html?thread=6596216#t6596216)
This debate frustrates me because the comm isn't trying to do intellectually respectable criticism. I mean, it's *not* trying to be scholarly, so I think it falls down to say that it's doomed to fail to be scholarly. On the other hand, this was coming because of the nature of fandom and the fact that all parties simply cannot get what they all want.
(Witness the debate on concrit. People who want concrit benefit tremendously by making it the social standard; in that they glorify concrit and make it the thing that all writers want, and then people automatically work hard to leave concrit as a thank you note to the writers. Now, most people, I suspect, really find concrit a chore, and really do it solely to show their appreciation. In other words, they don't do it at all, or very little, for themselves, and they don't get much public recognition for it, especially when it's in email and not public at all. This is not the way many other fandom activities work. That's why it's so much uphill work to get them to do it. Because they're not doing it for themselves, they totally fail and waste their time if the recipient doesn't appreciate the concrit, and thus a lot of encouragement is needed.)
Which shouldn't come as a surprise. I have been having conversations with the boy-friend about the nature of fandom (to be specific the nature of yaoi-fandom that sees m/m in shows such as 'Samurai Champloo,' which makes slightly irritated because he cannot see anything of the sort. The conclusion, we agreed to disagree,) and it really should be obvious that fandom is a diverse culture because people are different. What's worse is that we all take everything way too seriosuly *sighs*
(What irritate me about the whole discussion is not the fact that authors are expressing a view about the perception and treatment of their own work. What irritate me is that there appear to be a double standard now. So, if the author does not want my honest opinion, I should not comment? There are numerous works out there that I adore but I'm not blind to their faults, am I suppose to harp on about their wonderfulness but not comment on what I thought was not wonderful about their work? Many a-author ask, often rabidly, for feedback, c&c they say, and when an honest opinion is given they sees it as an attack on their work. I'm trying to put my thoughts/feelings into words. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that if they are not happy with the one-line SQUUE as a comment than maybe they shouldn't complain when they don't get comments. And this is probably another topic, but I honestly do feel as if the line between honest, thoughful opinion and rabid attack is becoming more and more murky. So, instead of c&c please, are we going to be getting something like 'dnc' (do not critique). I just don't know. *frustrated*)
Just tell him it's *fandom,* it mostly *makes no sense.* And that you can never really understand pr0n you don't go for. :D
No, I think writers should be perfectly free to disagree violently and at length at the substance of the criticisms or comments. They should feel perfectly free to say that the reader's interpretation is wrong.
I agree that dnc is helpful. Stops people from wasting their time as well. True, what most writers really want is glowing praise/recs, but what are writers really entitled to? Is it reasonable for them to expect that? These are two different things, I feel. The whole situation in truth interests me as one of whether compromise can be achieved. How can you deal with people who angrily demand that one liners be ceased, when you have others complaining that squee is just fine? Then you have others bitterly ranting that they receive none, others complaining that the concrit was insufficiently constructive, and even some people complaining about being recced where they couldn't see, even when comments were uniformly positive.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
The whole thing just doesn't sit well with me. I'm finding myself, hmm, questioning my respect for certain people (both writers and readers.) I know I get highly passionate (down-right rabid) about certain issues, but the way things have being paying out (people's reactions) are kind of hard to cope with.
*sighs* And this is why I sit and watch, getting involved in fandom is really quite draining. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/guede_mazaka/437624.html?thread=6596216#t6596216)
no subject
(Witness the debate on concrit. People who want concrit benefit tremendously by making it the social standard; in that they glorify concrit and make it the thing that all writers want, and then people automatically work hard to leave concrit as a thank you note to the writers. Now, most people, I suspect, really find concrit a chore, and really do it solely to show their appreciation. In other words, they don't do it at all, or very little, for themselves, and they don't get much public recognition for it, especially when it's in email and not public at all. This is not the way many other fandom activities work. That's why it's so much uphill work to get them to do it. Because they're not doing it for themselves, they totally fail and waste their time if the recipient doesn't appreciate the concrit, and thus a lot of encouragement is needed.)
no subject
(What irritate me about the whole discussion is not the fact that authors are expressing a view about the perception and treatment of their own work. What irritate me is that there appear to be a double standard now. So, if the author does not want my honest opinion, I should not comment? There are numerous works out there that I adore but I'm not blind to their faults, am I suppose to harp on about their wonderfulness but not comment on what I thought was not wonderful about their work? Many a-author ask, often rabidly, for feedback, c&c they say, and when an honest opinion is given they sees it as an attack on their work. I'm trying to put my thoughts/feelings into words. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that if they are not happy with the one-line SQUUE as a comment than maybe they shouldn't complain when they don't get comments. And this is probably another topic, but I honestly do feel as if the line between honest, thoughful opinion and rabid attack is becoming more and more murky. So, instead of c&c please, are we going to be getting something like 'dnc' (do not critique). I just don't know. *frustrated*)
no subject
No, I think writers should be perfectly free to disagree violently and at length at the substance of the criticisms or comments. They should feel perfectly free to say that the reader's interpretation is wrong.
I agree that dnc is helpful. Stops people from wasting their time as well. True, what most writers really want is glowing praise/recs, but what are writers really entitled to? Is it reasonable for them to expect that? These are two different things, I feel. The whole situation in truth interests me as one of whether compromise can be achieved. How can you deal with people who angrily demand that one liners be ceased, when you have others complaining that squee is just fine? Then you have others bitterly ranting that they receive none, others complaining that the concrit was insufficiently constructive, and even some people complaining about being recced where they couldn't see, even when comments were uniformly positive.