Board Thread:General Wiki Discussion/@comment-4833240-20140301051701/@comment-4833240-20140303010249

ImGonnaBeThatGuy wrote: I still get a ton of notifications about stuff on this site, so I still check around a bit. I just wanted to stop by to say, as eloquently as possible:

Fuck this pussy bullshit.

Critic is 100% right and it's the most frustrating thing in the world. A lot of people will post a story with no effort put into it and think it's great. Handling people like that with kid gloves doesn't do anything for anybody. Yeah, troll comments aren't helpful, but this whole concept of hand-holding criticism is worthless.

My approach to criticism was always this: criticize harshly and then if they're in denial, or they come out of the box acting like they're the world's greatest, criticize to destroy. Always constructive, but in phase two I would drop the already (usually) thin pretense of civility. Why? Because one of two things needs to happen: they either need to realize that what they're doing needs work and the only way to reach them is to shake them OR they need to realize that if they don't want to try then they won't just get away with it.

More than that:

FIRST TIME WRITERS SHOULDN'T BE CODDLED

This entire sentiment makes me rage. Once you're past the age of, let's say. . .10 you no longer get a free pass just because it's your first time doing something. There is no excuse, not a single one, for someone who wants to write a story to not know basic grammar or the basics of storytelling. There isn't. It's ridiculous how many people come to this site not knowing those things. Why should they be treated gently when they can't be bothered to know the bare minimum?

And how does it make it better if the writer DOES know what they did was bad? That makes it worse. Why are they sharing it? That's the other issue with this whole protecting first-timers nonsense. Not everything somebody writes has to be made public. That seems to be something that people forget. The writer has to take some personal responsibility. As terrible as it may sound, shame is a good learning tool. You write something bad, someone calls you out on it, you SHOULD want to get better to avoid that. If instead your response is to mope and pout, then that's your business.

If you can't take harsh criticism, then don't share your stories in public. It's that simple. The internet isn't your grandmother, it's not going to love everything you do just because you did it. On a personal note, glad to see you didn't leave the site. Anyway, onto addressing your well-communioned points.

Contrary to your argument, there is such a thing as a happy medium. I'm not asking you (or anyone else) to coddle an author or sugarcoat your complaint (especially just because it's their first time; I never asked for special treatment with my first submission.) I am, however, asking for you not to shame or downplay someone's efforts. If they truly put absolutely no effort into what they did, simply tell them you didn't see any effort. No need for extra profanity or insults. Personally, I let my criticism build me up. I'm sure others do as well, but we can't make the general assumption that everyone has that mindset.

Like yin and yang, you need equal amounts of critical remarks and helpful advice. If you're going to tell someone what they did wrong and nothing else, you're not servicing them. On the same note, you're also not servicing them if you only say what they did right. Balance of negative and positive reinforcement is the only way to make a difference in someone's writing skills; shaming and snarkiness on your part will only bring you vitrol and fear from the users. Do you want that? I know I wouldn't. I always try to find the best of both sides and incorporate it into my critique.

Swearing doesn't get you anywhere, either. It's just excessive and something I wouldn't expect on a literature site, of all places.