Taking it on the Chin
The benefits of criticism...25 total reviews
Comment from Earl Corp
As someone who has taken it on the chin from you several times I totally agree with your two basic reactions. The first time I was resistant. After that I withered. Thanks for sharing your thought process behind this.
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As someone who has taken it on the chin from you several times I totally agree with your two basic reactions. The first time I was resistant. After that I withered. Thanks for sharing your thought process behind this.
Comment Written 04-Aug-2023
Comment from Pearl Edwards
In my early years on fan story I was guilty of withering, but I'm sure a lot of us are when we first start writing. Some more good advice in this one G, especially No 2 for me. I can relate. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us all.
cheers,
valda
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In my early years on fan story I was guilty of withering, but I'm sure a lot of us are when we first start writing. Some more good advice in this one G, especially No 2 for me. I can relate. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us all.
cheers,
valda
Comment Written 03-Aug-2023
Comment from estory
Super well constructed, informative and concise essay, and chocked full of great advice. I think the key here is details, in these reviews. Giving details in what you thought the writer could handle better, how the piece missed its goals, or offering alternatives that make the writer think of how the piece could be better constructed is the way to go. estory
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Super well constructed, informative and concise essay, and chocked full of great advice. I think the key here is details, in these reviews. Giving details in what you thought the writer could handle better, how the piece missed its goals, or offering alternatives that make the writer think of how the piece could be better constructed is the way to go. estory
Comment Written 03-Aug-2023
Comment from lancellot
Ah, very good. I think you could also suggest, taking at least day before responding, if you wish to respond at all, to reviews. This is something I do and have found beneficial. Also, you alluded to it, but on FanStory, getting negative reviews to far less likely than getting fluff praise. Writers should also be careful of taking those to heart. Nine glowing five-star fluff reviews form top ranked writers, makes it more difficult to trust and accept that one four-star honest critique.
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Ah, very good. I think you could also suggest, taking at least day before responding, if you wish to respond at all, to reviews. This is something I do and have found beneficial. Also, you alluded to it, but on FanStory, getting negative reviews to far less likely than getting fluff praise. Writers should also be careful of taking those to heart. Nine glowing five-star fluff reviews form top ranked writers, makes it more difficult to trust and accept that one four-star honest critique.
Comment Written 02-Aug-2023
Comment from Jay Squires
I enjoyed reading this and I have to agree with all your points, as I understood them. I ran into one of your sentences in particular whose meaning I'm afraid went over my head. It's the second point, below.
to push past that instinctiveness to get defensive [Consider instinctive defensiveness]
"It's worth pointing out here that we should never view our work in these negative terms either." [I'm sorry, G, but I've read this sentence countless times, and its intended meaning evades me. Are you saying that the recipient of the criticism shouldn't view his own work in light of the negative criticism of the reviewer? I know that isn't what you're telling us. Since it was only one small paragraph and it immediately followed the four examples of the areas the reviewer felt needed work, your suggestion appears to apply to those examples.]
Above all, though, your general thesis I couldn't agree more about. (And you could reasonably critique the syntax of this, my last sentence!)
Jay
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I enjoyed reading this and I have to agree with all your points, as I understood them. I ran into one of your sentences in particular whose meaning I'm afraid went over my head. It's the second point, below.
to push past that instinctiveness to get defensive [Consider instinctive defensiveness]
"It's worth pointing out here that we should never view our work in these negative terms either." [I'm sorry, G, but I've read this sentence countless times, and its intended meaning evades me. Are you saying that the recipient of the criticism shouldn't view his own work in light of the negative criticism of the reviewer? I know that isn't what you're telling us. Since it was only one small paragraph and it immediately followed the four examples of the areas the reviewer felt needed work, your suggestion appears to apply to those examples.]
Above all, though, your general thesis I couldn't agree more about. (And you could reasonably critique the syntax of this, my last sentence!)
Jay
Comment Written 02-Aug-2023
Comment from Pam Lonsdale
Wow, I have thankfully never received any such ridiculous critiques as you mention in #1! I have found the criticisms I've received here to be 100 percent fair. And I love that!
Always nice to have someone explain how reviews work, especially to the newbies on this site.
Pam
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Wow, I have thankfully never received any such ridiculous critiques as you mention in #1! I have found the criticisms I've received here to be 100 percent fair. And I love that!
Always nice to have someone explain how reviews work, especially to the newbies on this site.
Pam
Comment Written 02-Aug-2023
Comment from Wayne Fowler
This piece is wonderful. Oops - bland platitude category.
(smiley face here)
I don't think I've been guilty of these, but who knows how I've been received. At least I know that I haven't argued with anyone critical of my stuff. (hurt a little, maybe. But once I'm done bawlin'...)
Thank you for some very constructive advice.
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This piece is wonderful. Oops - bland platitude category.
(smiley face here)
I don't think I've been guilty of these, but who knows how I've been received. At least I know that I haven't argued with anyone critical of my stuff. (hurt a little, maybe. But once I'm done bawlin'...)
Thank you for some very constructive advice.
Comment Written 02-Aug-2023
Comment from LJbutterfly
Some reviews include observances, rather than criticism. You once pointed out I had one too many spaces between two particular words. I did. I corrected it. That was an observation. I've gotten some really good advice on this site. One reviewer, early on, told me I didn't need to say things twice. If I said it once, that was enough. Another reviewer once said I used the word "and" too many times. I was once told the use of the word "that" was a sign of an armature writer. I realized I needed writing courses and took them. I still study writing. Thank you for this informative piece.
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Some reviews include observances, rather than criticism. You once pointed out I had one too many spaces between two particular words. I did. I corrected it. That was an observation. I've gotten some really good advice on this site. One reviewer, early on, told me I didn't need to say things twice. If I said it once, that was enough. Another reviewer once said I used the word "and" too many times. I was once told the use of the word "that" was a sign of an armature writer. I realized I needed writing courses and took them. I still study writing. Thank you for this informative piece.
Comment Written 02-Aug-2023
Comment from Katherine M. (k-11)
When I read the subtitle of this post, I was looking forward to my read ever so much. Overall I was not disappointed, but three points struck me as I read:
1) general pacing. In some places I found this slightly slow, either because of a pedantic style, or
2) redundancies. I have learned from constructive criticism that no matter how important a point is, it only needs saying once. Here I came across several repetitions that seemed to add nothing to the argument.
3) I was expecting (maybe hoping) to read that the critique is not infallible, and not all points should be taken into account.
Thanks for a great read even so. I especially liked the 'In Conclusion'. kay
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When I read the subtitle of this post, I was looking forward to my read ever so much. Overall I was not disappointed, but three points struck me as I read:
1) general pacing. In some places I found this slightly slow, either because of a pedantic style, or
2) redundancies. I have learned from constructive criticism that no matter how important a point is, it only needs saying once. Here I came across several repetitions that seemed to add nothing to the argument.
3) I was expecting (maybe hoping) to read that the critique is not infallible, and not all points should be taken into account.
Thanks for a great read even so. I especially liked the 'In Conclusion'. kay
Comment Written 02-Aug-2023
Comment from royowen
The critiques that I received that were useful, were the pointed ione, tenses are wrong, there is a lack of flow,, but mostly they were terrible, ones, like, 'I don't like the theme' non specifics, I guess it takes a seasoned, thoughtful writer to be able to diagnose, even writers reviewing without experience is a learning process, on a site like this, earning money from reviewing has its drawbacks, too, beautifully written G, thank God for you G, learning to be merciful is good too, blessings, Roy
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The critiques that I received that were useful, were the pointed ione, tenses are wrong, there is a lack of flow,, but mostly they were terrible, ones, like, 'I don't like the theme' non specifics, I guess it takes a seasoned, thoughtful writer to be able to diagnose, even writers reviewing without experience is a learning process, on a site like this, earning money from reviewing has its drawbacks, too, beautifully written G, thank God for you G, learning to be merciful is good too, blessings, Roy
Comment Written 02-Aug-2023