Board Thread:General Wiki Discussion/@comment-4833240-20140301051701/@comment-10950063-20140303015233

In my rant, I forgot the other big reason I chose to criticize harshly: it's a test.

If someone takes a beating and comes back then it shows that they want to be a writer. Sure, it could show that they're just a stubborn idiot, but usually it shows determination. If you really want to do something, if you're not just here because you're doing something that's semi-popular on the internet, then you keep doing it.

They don't even have to come back. Maybe they realize they need more work and write in private.

There are a lot of people who come here who don't care about writing. Again, you can tell this because they don't know the basics. Maybe these people don't get scared off, maybe they realize how much work writing requires and they decide to do something else.

I'm not saying that everybody needs to be an ultra-harsh critic. I'm saying it's foolish and detrimental to the site to try to create an group-hug atmosphere. A lot of times when I was leaving critiques, I wouldn't say what the writer did well, because they didn't do anything well. I wasn't going to make something up or praise them for something patronizing like that they typed words my brain comprehend. Sometimes people don't do anything right. Balanced criticism is bullshit if the work being criticized is unbalanced.

Quick work can be done with a sharp knife. Pound for pound, I will always opt for the Rahm Emmanuel and the Gordon Ramsays (or, if we want to get fictional with it, the Eli Golds and the Malcolm Tuckers), because I know people like that aren't feeding me bullshit and I know they want to get me in shape as fast as they can.

Speaking of Gordon Ramsay and speaking of swearing, there's a great quote from him: "Swearing is industry language. For as long as we're alive it's not going to change. You've got to be boisterous to get results."

If I'm writing a story, I don't include swearing unless it's needed. That's the literature aspect of this site. If I'm telling you how your story made me feel, I'm going to type in whatever way I feel. Because that's what it is, it's emotional language. If I feel a "bullshit" or a "fuck," I'm going to put it in. It conveys my attitude, my feelings, provides emphasis and draws the eye. All this clucking over swearing is idiotic. As long as a review isn't: FUCK FUCK FUCK TITS SHIT BALLS FART themes pacing character development COCKS FUCK FUCK PISS FUCK SHIT BITCH FUCK PISS DICKSUCKER.

You know what the actual problem with criticism on this site is? Nobody fucking does it. Criticism usually only gets provided for stories that have been deleted. Maybe someone should come up with a proposal to foster more critique, instead of trying to prune the already small amount of reviewing that goes on like it's a bonsai tree. Then see if harsh criticism is an actual issue.

I genuinely meant for this to be, like, three grafs.