User blog comment:Widward/I'm Done/@comment-25052433-20180224205916

In my opinion the behavior that is likely holding you back is the fact that you aren't aware of how the things you post here are disenfranchising you from the community. Right now you're trying to grow yourself, and when you're at the phase of development you have to brand yourself in a very positive light. Even if your goal is to critique stories, you still have to walk before you can run.

Here is a short list of observations that I've made that, in my opinion, are causing you to have these barriers:

1. You're new--be humble! You came into this community and immediately began to post vitriolic opinions on stories that are currently posted on this site. The authors of some of those stories may still be very active on this site. There is nothing wrong with posting a negative review, but you have to do so from the angle of an opinion, not from the angle of a fact. One of your earliest blogs was a list of stories that you stated should be moved to Trollpasta. I pointed out to you in a talk page message that moving stories to another site in order to embarrass the author is not how we do business here. If a story should be deleted, that's exactly what will happen. It's up to the author as to where they want their story to appear. After that it's up to the admins of that site to determine if it fits the criteria.

2. You have to back it up! Negative critiques are fine so long as they are constructive, objective and do not target the author personally. However, going beyond negative into the realm of vitriol is a dangerous line to walk. If you're going to condemn the works of others in such a harsh manner, it's probably a good idea to have a respectable resume of your own work. If you don't, then you start looking a lot more like a troll than a member of the community. Think about it like this, before Gordon Ramsay began tearing down chefs, he paid his dues and worked in some of the toughest restaurants in Europe. When he tells someone that they can't cook, he does so from the place of an expert chef. He is actually capable of pointing out the errors instead of just saying 'this sucks.'

3. Pointing out errors means that you actually know how to fix them. Yep, that's the truth. If you're going to say a story is horrible, be prepared to articulate how you'd fix it. With critiques, more is more, and the better you can explain your thoughts on something, the more seriously you'll be taken. Saying that a story contains grammar errors automatically implies that you know the proper structure. After all, if you didn't, how could you tell it was an error?

With plot issues it's a bit different. Perhaps you can't produce a better ending, but if you're going to roast a story's conclusion (or beginning or middle for that matter) you should be able to objectively state why that plot concept didn't work for you. Furthermore, with plot complaints, it's almost ALWAYS opinion, and you should state it as such.

4. You should focus on networking right now! Networking is everything in this community. If you want to spread your content you'll need likes, shares, retweets... etc. You know who will do that stuff for you? People who like you! People you've bonded with, made a solid connection with, supported, assisted... blah blah blah. That's right, friends in the industry are golden if your goal is to gain expansion and relevance.

5. Quality over quantity! People have mentioned your abundance of blogs in the past. Many of the blogs that you write aren't even blogs and should just be left as comments on the story. You recently wrote one about Harbinger Experiment. You misspelled the name of the story that you're labeling as 'lazy' writing. Do you see the problem there? Let that sink in, you called someone's story 'lazy' and couldn't even take the time to double check the spelling of the story! That is ridiculous! One thing I learned from way back in the late 90's when AOL chat rooms were the thing to do, was that if you were going to criticize someone, you damn sure better make sure you aren't leaving yourself open. For you to post a blog ripping up a story and to not even take the time to check the spelling... Quality should be a chief focus of yours at this time in your development here. Set yourself apart from the pack by being that new guy with great potential.

In closing, if you try to take this same skill set over to Youtube you'll either be ignored or called out. Don't set yourself up for that kind of failure. That fact that I am taking this much time to hammer out real advice for you should be enough to demonstrate that you are welcomed in this community and that we are willing to work with you to get you to the next level. You have to work on some of your behaviors here before that can happen.

As always, if you need help or advice or anything in between, please feel free to reach out on my talk page.