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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*
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Re: idea! (part two -- less long, but no less pretentious)
Date: 2003-09-30 03:57 pm (UTC)*hughughug*
i'm sorry to have brought this up now. i didn't mean -you-, like at -all- with this post. i trust you even if and when you rec things i don't like, simply because often enough -i- rec things people i respect don't like, (as in, `lustre' and penguin's work and i mean, there are people who don't like everything and anything). i myself empathize, because i've loved and linked to plenty of fics at one point that make me shake my head now, looking back. i link to a number of happy-fuzzy harry-wuvs-drako-and-they-fuck fics... though not as much these days. but i dig it, y'know. i'm part of the audience for your recs, even though a number of them whizz by me.
but then....
dude. you must realize this-- the h/d section of the fandom doesn't -have- an intelligentsia, not really an h/d intelligentsia. we have people -associated- with the h/d-ers who have -at one point- read/written h/d, but most of them are -really- not into it now. most people who'd consider themselves discerning and are elitist are into h/s and weasleycest and deatheater orgies or whatever. there is simply no -way- to pander to them and link more than 3 h/d fics a year, dude. *hugs*
it's not your fault, in other words.
most people who write h/d -now- are plebes. the selection isn't that -wide-. and since some of us still -want- to read new fics, there's really nothing one can do -but- read with one's "elite alarms" lowered. if you're unable to lower your standards, you simply wouldn't survive as an active h/d fan in practice, i think. now, anyway.
i never meant to imply that only "long, articulate reviews" are valid or needed. and again, i think you're fine, personally, even though your recs don't always hit the spot, you rec -so much-, naturally a number of them do merely by statistical likelihoood. heh. i was mostly ranting at people who rec one thing at a time, obviously -mean- to pimp this particular fic, and they manage to make it sound completely bland and devoid of personality and fire and -meaning-. this is really almost an unrelated issue. almost.
when you -have- given commentary or critique, i've always found it very intelligent and competent and balanced. and i do trust my own opinion, so i hope you believe me, heh.
your enthusiasm and romanticism is naturally going to turn off some of them more jaded, skeptical part of the population, and there's no way to avoid that. there's that "can't really have your cake and eat it too" thing here. there isn't really any inherent -superiority- in being jaded & postmodern, you know. this is -fun-, this is -fanfic-. your fic & recs make a lot of people happy, and the people it doesn't cut it for aren't really in the market anyway.
i think your writing -does- speak for itself, and is often objectively brilliant, as far as fiction can be called objectively anything. you're a wonderful writer and you have an instinctual grasp of the dynamics of the characters. even so, you can't necessarily attract the people who want something else entirely from what you're offering. *sigh*
their loss, y'know~:)
Re: idea! (part two -- less long, but no less pretentious)
Date: 2003-09-30 08:09 pm (UTC)does that make any sense at all?
gah. am so brain dead. livejournal has KILLED me tonight with its slow load times. KILLED ME LIKE A BUG.
Re: idea! (part two -- less long, but no less pretentious)
Date: 2003-09-30 08:34 pm (UTC)nah, i wasn't saying you -should- do anything, was i? i wasn't ranting about you, and tried to reassure you of that from the start, but er... i'll just say it again-- don't worry, be happy, just keep on truckin'. or something like that. without the trucks. i don't like trucks.
*pats*
here, i'll try to (finally!) post my review :D :D
eheheheh.
Re: idea! (part two -- less long, but no less pretentious)
Date: 2003-09-30 08:48 pm (UTC)