![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaI have a very strange confession to make. I just need to get it off my chest so I never have to writhe in silent nameless discomfort ever again. Yeah, right.
Squeeing, 100%-positive and yet not really -descriptive- rave recs/reviews of fics make me cringe. No, I lie. I hate them. I REALLY HATE THEM A LOT. RAAAAGE. (Ok, no.)
EDIT - to clarify: by "review" I don't mean feedback, I mean it in the "movie review" sense.
Not only that, they make me violently dislike both the reviewer and the fic, even if I -adore- the fic in question. I have to really bite my lip and repeat to myself "I love this fic, I -love- this fic, remember I -love- this fic!" so that I don't just write an anti-rec right back detailing all the flaws I can possibly think of (there are always some! Jeez!). I realize this is easily seen as hypocritical, considering how excited I get over fics. Still, I could -swear- I've never given what I'd consider pat compliments: Oh, this is great, genius, wonderful, beautiful, amazing. I've never called anyone "extremely talented" or even talented. I've never raved about how worthy someone/something is of their popularity or thought any fic -should- be popular as a sign of its greatness. Of course, I'm sort of elitist and snobbish like that :>
I've never guarranteed anyone would have to like a fic. That just -really- pisses me off. How could anyone assume -any- piece of writing is soooo great, -everyone- has to love it? My god, what arrogance! Not only that, it just feels like advertising to me. I hate advertising, in case that isn't clear. I hate it with all the passion of a thousand burning hells. Nothing rubs me the wrong way like a rave review that could easily apply to -any- fic out of hundreds. Saying only nondescript, gushy things about a truly good, visceral piece of writing just... deadens it.
I actually can't stand reading most positive reviews, though I'm almost always highly entertained by negative ones (they're usually funny, at least). The words one uses in response should contain some tiny spark of inspiration, something that is reminiscent of the fic, otherwise the review is pointless because it doesn't actually -say- anything and all I get is "propaganda-propaganda-propaganda-propaganda". And as should be painfully obvious, I reallyreallyreallyreallyreally despise propaganda quite, quite a lot.
So I'm in this weird place where I'm semi-known for recs and reviews and yet I have very little respect for the practice of reccing & reviewing itself as is commonly practiced. In fact, 98% of all blurbs & mini-reviews and such annoy the living daylights out of me, especially if they're of fics I adore. First of all, if you act as if a fic is -perfect-, it takes away from its actual humanity, from its real worth. It's like, you're not using your brain, so why should I believe a word you say in response, and does that mean -I'm- not using my brain in loving it, too?
If I had time, I'd post a mini-list of all my favorite fics and say only critical things of them to show how much I love them. If one doesn't -think- or express one's feelings in any sort of creative manner, one is just a parrot, someone who likes the shiny thing without really being capable of seeing its true beauty. I think to an extent, the readers help define the fic-- that is to say, if brainless zombies like a fic, you wonder how good can it possibly be. On the other hand, if eloquent, thoughtful people like the fic, one feels the worth of the fic itself is thus elevated.
Because of this, I realized I have a creed-- a set of ethics as a reviewer:
- Never use hyperbole-- say how it affects you in the most direct yet descriptive way possible; pretend you're talking to a skeptic if it helps. Said skeptic will laugh every time you use more than one adjective per sentence.
- Never project your own response onto others-- confine yourself to detailing your own thoughts, leave others to form their own opinions; separate your kinks from those of others and keep it in mind when describing the merits of a fic.
- Never push a fic onto others as if it's a drug-- separate your own excitement and your actual full response to the work.
- Objectivity isn't just for dinner anymore: try it, it works! Don't do the writer or the work the disservice of pretending they've attained perfection: there is no need to be negative, but please refrain from overindulging in the "bestseller syndrome", where mass hysteria passes for literary worth. Treat the writer as "a writer", and the work as "a work", as best you can.
*wankwankwankwank*
Squeeing, 100%-positive and yet not really -descriptive- rave recs/reviews of fics make me cringe. No, I lie. I hate them. I REALLY HATE THEM A LOT. RAAAAGE. (Ok, no.)
EDIT - to clarify: by "review" I don't mean feedback, I mean it in the "movie review" sense.
Not only that, they make me violently dislike both the reviewer and the fic, even if I -adore- the fic in question. I have to really bite my lip and repeat to myself "I love this fic, I -love- this fic, remember I -love- this fic!" so that I don't just write an anti-rec right back detailing all the flaws I can possibly think of (there are always some! Jeez!). I realize this is easily seen as hypocritical, considering how excited I get over fics. Still, I could -swear- I've never given what I'd consider pat compliments: Oh, this is great, genius, wonderful, beautiful, amazing. I've never called anyone "extremely talented" or even talented. I've never raved about how worthy someone/something is of their popularity or thought any fic -should- be popular as a sign of its greatness. Of course, I'm sort of elitist and snobbish like that :>
I've never guarranteed anyone would have to like a fic. That just -really- pisses me off. How could anyone assume -any- piece of writing is soooo great, -everyone- has to love it? My god, what arrogance! Not only that, it just feels like advertising to me. I hate advertising, in case that isn't clear. I hate it with all the passion of a thousand burning hells. Nothing rubs me the wrong way like a rave review that could easily apply to -any- fic out of hundreds. Saying only nondescript, gushy things about a truly good, visceral piece of writing just... deadens it.
I actually can't stand reading most positive reviews, though I'm almost always highly entertained by negative ones (they're usually funny, at least). The words one uses in response should contain some tiny spark of inspiration, something that is reminiscent of the fic, otherwise the review is pointless because it doesn't actually -say- anything and all I get is "propaganda-propaganda-propaganda-propaganda". And as should be painfully obvious, I reallyreallyreallyreallyreally despise propaganda quite, quite a lot.
So I'm in this weird place where I'm semi-known for recs and reviews and yet I have very little respect for the practice of reccing & reviewing itself as is commonly practiced. In fact, 98% of all blurbs & mini-reviews and such annoy the living daylights out of me, especially if they're of fics I adore. First of all, if you act as if a fic is -perfect-, it takes away from its actual humanity, from its real worth. It's like, you're not using your brain, so why should I believe a word you say in response, and does that mean -I'm- not using my brain in loving it, too?
If I had time, I'd post a mini-list of all my favorite fics and say only critical things of them to show how much I love them. If one doesn't -think- or express one's feelings in any sort of creative manner, one is just a parrot, someone who likes the shiny thing without really being capable of seeing its true beauty. I think to an extent, the readers help define the fic-- that is to say, if brainless zombies like a fic, you wonder how good can it possibly be. On the other hand, if eloquent, thoughtful people like the fic, one feels the worth of the fic itself is thus elevated.
Because of this, I realized I have a creed-- a set of ethics as a reviewer:
- Never use hyperbole-- say how it affects you in the most direct yet descriptive way possible; pretend you're talking to a skeptic if it helps. Said skeptic will laugh every time you use more than one adjective per sentence.
- Never project your own response onto others-- confine yourself to detailing your own thoughts, leave others to form their own opinions; separate your kinks from those of others and keep it in mind when describing the merits of a fic.
- Never push a fic onto others as if it's a drug-- separate your own excitement and your actual full response to the work.
- Objectivity isn't just for dinner anymore: try it, it works! Don't do the writer or the work the disservice of pretending they've attained perfection: there is no need to be negative, but please refrain from overindulging in the "bestseller syndrome", where mass hysteria passes for literary worth. Treat the writer as "a writer", and the work as "a work", as best you can.
*wankwankwankwank*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: idea! (part two -- less long, but no less pretentious)
Date: 2003-09-30 03:27 pm (UTC)You don't have to write elaborate critiques. All you should do is write enough so that the person who reads your recs can go into the fic with the proper expectations, and give both authors a fair reading. Whether that be: "This is one of the most beautiful, original, and moving fics in the fandom" or "This is smutty and fun and while some people may have issues with the characterization, I find the premise so tasty that I'm fine with it."
That took me what, 10 seconds to write? It's not a big deal, honestly.
I mean, this is what I and what most people do, and if you want people to take your recs seriously (AND WHY SHOULDN'T THEY?), I think you should do that. One of the things I've always admired about you is that you use your LJ as a forum to pimp other people's work, and not just indulge in stroking your own ego, like nearly every other BNF I can think of. What you are doing is *important*. It is a sign of my rexspect for you and what I think you contribute to fandom that I wish you could just take a couple of extra minutes in putting together your rec lists, so that people can feel like they can rely on you to flag fics worth reading (and why you think they're worth reading) and by so doing give under-recognized authors more of the readership and feedback they deserve.
That's why I think this is important, and that's why all these issues about elitism or intelligence or being afraid of debate don't really make sense to me. Because reccing is not about the reccer. It's about the fics that the reccer recs. I don't see why you should be afraid to say, "Okay, I realize a number of you may not like this, and admittedly elements X, Y, and Z are a bit problematic, but I enjoyed it and if you like [insert kink], I think it's worth a look."
Because as long as you're specific, then other people can't get angry with you. If you say THIS FIC SUX that's as bad as saying THIS FIC ROX. Neither one of them tells the author anything. Whereas if you say, "I'm sorry, I had problems with your fic and here are my specific reasons," then the author can mull them over and decide whether or not this feedback is useful to her.
I mean, if somebody says my fics suck, that just makes me feel bad. Whereas if they say, "Look, I can't read Lucius/Draco, it upsets me, and the particular way you do it is so creepy that it really upsets me" (or: "Your writing style is too compact for me and it interfered with my enjoyment of the story"), then this is something I can think about for when I write my next fic. And I can ask myself if now, given what I know about this reviewer's likes and dislikes, if they are really my intended audience, anyway.
Re: idea! (part two -- less long, but no less pretentious)
Date: 2003-09-30 08:18 pm (UTC)No, honestly, I *don't* think I'm doing either fic a disservice when I rec them together. They're entirely different fics within *entirely* different genres of writing and NOBODY will think that I'm trying to say they possess an equal share of brilliance. It would be like me saying "I REALLY LOVE JOHNNY CASH!" and "I REALLY LOVE MOZART!" in the same breath. I think it's a perfectly legitimate expectation that I can love both of them equally without having to go into the whys and wherefores of *why* I love them, every single time I decide to talk about music. I mean, it's *just* fiction. I'm not making any pretenses to anything except saying "this is what i like, i think you'll like it too." whenever somebody gives me a horde of music recs and i go download them, i'm equally likely to come across something i detest as well as something i love, right? but yet i don't place any responsibility on the part of the music reccer to explain to me in advance *why* i was going to love one and not the other. so why is it such a big deal for fic reccing? i just am not seeing the connection.
I *totally* agree with your saying that reader feedback and critique is more helpful than saying "i just don't like this"--but again i think that should be left for the review and not the rec.
*holds head* am i making *any* sense?