User blog:GreyOwl/Constructive Criticism

I've noticed lately on the wiki that a lot of people have been awfully harsh in the comments of other people's work. Now, I know tough love is a thing, and I know it generally works, but in my experience, in order for people to actually hear you out with this method, you must be someone they actually know.

Now, when I first started writing creepypastas, I was fresh into the horror genre. I didn't know much about what truly scared people, didn't know what to expect really, but I pushed through my fear and released a story of mine to the public for the first time. Of course it was ripped to shreds, completely shatted on... but the people that did give me feedback provided advice which in turn improved my writing within the horror genre. Mind you, I started writing novels at the age of 11. Even with my experience and comfort with writing, I didn't exactly have the courage to allow someone else to read my work in fear of them completely hating it and insulting what I spent so many hours working on. Lets just say my first pasta release was nervewrecking and a bit of a let down.

So to get back on track with the point of this blog, I've noticed the rise of complete and utter rude feedback on multiples people's pastas while editing them. Most people don't understand the very delicate state new writers are in when they introduce to us their work because it's been so long since they were the "new writer". I understand if you think a pasta is shit, and you want to just say," hey, this is shit" but that's not exactly going to help the writer improve. Isn't that the point of leaving feedback? To help someone grow, not to tear them down?

Some people will say,"oh you're just a pacifist" but I'm quite the opposite. "In real life" I'm as blunt as they come. People call me the ice queen and my nickname with most is "robot" so that's not the case at all. I had to learn after many years of being so brutal that I've lost friends and even family due to me just not caring about what I said or how it effected the people I was speaking to. It's not wise to go through life not caring about how your actions or, in my case, words effect others. I honestly do not like to see someone torn down because of this revelation that took years to be had.

Basically, I want to say that if you don't have any advice on what the person could improve upon, what's the point of commenting? If you hate the concept, that's okay... explain why you do so they can understand. If their grammar is awful, point that out and give some tips and pointers. I know it's convenient to say," you're a bad writer" or "you aren't good enough to be on this wiki" or "this is garbage" but how exactly is that going to benefit you or the writer by saying such things? It doesn't. By the way, every writer needs improvement. Just because you feel you are some master writer, doesn't mean you are. Writing is a field of constant growth. No one is perfect and no one will ever be.

P.s. To the new writers on this wiki, just know that even well known and veterans on this site get hate comments. Hell, a few days ago I was insulted on a story so old I forgot I wrote it. Don't let it get you down. Keep writing and keep improving. I know you want to quit and give up, which I did last year, but don't let someone else steal an opportunity to grow from you.