BlackHeart Biohazards

xxlovelynovaxx:

zelamorre:

greenbergsays:

it’s like this, right

If you see a street musician, you have three options:

1. Walk past without saying anything
2. Stop and listen to the music, but don’t give them any money
3. Stop and listen to the music and if you have the money and liked what they played, you give them money

Nowhere in any of that is the option, “Stop and criticize them to ‘help them improve their performance.’”

If you do that, you are considered an asshole. That’s just how life works.

In the same manner, when you read a fanfiction, you have three options:

1. Read it, like and/or love it, leave without a word
2. Read it, dislike and/or hate it, leave without a word
3. Read it,

   like and/or love

   it, leave a comment

If you don’t like it? You don’t have to comment!

If you did like it but there was an element that wasn’t to your specific taste? Focus on the part you did like when you comment.

If you can’t do that, then walk away. Don’t say anything.

You’re right, you don’t have to leave a positive comment, but I’m not telling you that you have to leave a positive comment. I’m telling you that if you can’t leave one, then don’t leave a comment at all.

If the only way you’re willing to tell someone about the parts of their story that you liked is to also tell them the parts that you did not like and/or actively hate? Then don’t comment. Do. Not. Comment.

Because no matter how long each of those lists are–no matter if the good outweighs the bad or not–the only thing you’ve done is left a sour taste in someone’s mouth.

People do this for fun. It’s not fun if we give you something and the only thing we get back is that sour taste.

I’m seeing some comments about constructive criticism in this thread.

As somebody who has been writing fanfic for almost 20 years and has a master’s degree in change (this means I know a lot about concrit and how it’s actually not the best tool – though that’s another topic) I’d like to address this.

Firstly, the vast majority of negative or critical comments are not concrit. They’re these types of comments

1. I want statements. Where somebody complains that they wanted you to write a different story in some way. These are just whining complaints without any merit. They’re neither from an authority figure nor are they from a contracted customer.

2. You suck statements. These are just mindless complaints that tend to be personal in nature. They encompass everything from, “LOL. You suck at writing!” to “You’re an awful person and should go die!” They have no constructive component and are again not from a trusted authority nor from a contracted customer.

3. Corrective statements. These aren’t spiteful in nature like the first two, but they’re also not constructive criticism. They’re simple things like, “Hey, I think you’re missing a closing bracket for your italics because the whole chapter from paragraph 10 onward is all italicized.”

Now, you’ll notice that I mentioned authority and contracted customer a bit. This is because for concrit to be received at all (or in some stances for criticism to be considered constructive at all) you need to have a relationship with the writer such that they have any reason to accept your criticisms as valid. You need a relationship where they have any reason to trust either you or your opinion.

This typically comes in the form of an authority figure such as a teacher or supervisor or them bequeathing their authority to a classmate or contractor. In fanfic circles, it tends to be from mutual friends.

Or in business circles it comes from contracted customers – people who have paid for your goods or services through either cash or barter and therefore have a right to complain. This is not, “Imma customer because I read this!” because you’re not contracted.

You’re a customer if you’ve paid for a fanfic either directly or through a charity auction. Or if you’ve bartered such as through a gift exchange. (Although this one can be oblique as the writer still isn’t contracted with you directly but through the exchange, and your complaints should be directed to the exchange manager only when they clearly violate your “Do not wants.”)

Anyway, point is that you almost certainly don’t have the kind of relationship needed for your criticisms to become valid through a comment. If you did, you’d be able to contact the writer through other, non-public means. Or you’d be directly asked for your feedback.

If you want or need for your comment to be public, this means one of two things. The first is that you’re making it public in order to make sure others read it. This is because you personally want to gain position or power, and means your intent is not constructive at all. Or it means that your only method of contact to the author is through public statement. Which means you lack the sort of relationship necessary for your criticism to be valid as you’d have non-public means of comment if you did have such a relationship.

Finally, and this is a big one, criticism – constructive or not – should always be questioned. It should never be just accepted. In order for it to be constructive criticism, the person being criticized must have the ability to openly question and counter your comments and you be willing to fully explain OR recant your statements. This should not ever be seen as “bad” or cause the subject of your concrit to be viewed in a negative light such as being “stubborn” or “ungrateful because I was only trying to help!”

For one thing, being upset at your criticism being questioned makes you a flaming hypocrite.

For another, it means that you haven’t given constructive criticism at all. Because anyone giving concrit must have a relationship such that they are willing to have an open exchange and discussion instead of setting themselves up as an infallible judge who will whine and cry if somebody counters their critical opinions.

TL;DR: You’re probably not leaving concrit at all.

All of this!!!

And how quickly people (not those above) forget that “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” is a good rule of thumb still in the VAST majority of situations.