reenka | ~~ wank.

I 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*

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Threaded | Flat

From:

kerri

Hm. *waves* Friended you awhile ago, but I don't know if I've ever actually posted here. ^_~ I'm Kerri, and I've found alot of your posts interesting.

You've hit on one of the things that I've noticed come up among some people I know who write - while they adore all their reviews, they adore the ones who pick out certain elements that they love even more. It's always *nice* to see/hear someone going "OMG Your fic is so brilliant! I don't know why anyone would dislike it, I'm sure all my friends will like it!" - but after a time that just isn't as special. I always wonder about huge fics like the Draco Trilogy or any number of others - do the authors ever get sick of seeing pure squeeage on their review board, and nothing else? I think they must, even if they appreciate the general intent. Compliments are nice, but so is knowing exactly *what* you did that was so brilliant - and even what *wasn't* so brilliant.

So when I'm reviwing - more on FA than on here, I'm sad to admit - I try to pick out what I particularily enjoyed, or what I thought should be changed. I've got comments on it too, from the authors - they've written to me and said that they appreciated the time I took to go through and say that.

So, in other words - I totally agree with you, I couldn't have said it better myself.

From:

bookshop.livejournal.com

I am without question one of the 100% positive squee-filled reviewers, on occasion after occasion.

This is because I never ever have time to give critical thoughtful feedback anymore. I just *don't*. This is the same reason why it's rare for me to get involved in really at-length LJ debates; i just don't have the time to sit and compile and organize my thoughts into a clear argumentative framework. I like to state things once and then not come back to it. For me, reccing a fic is my way of saying to a writer that I really respect their work or what they did in this particular moment. If I don't have time to feedback your story, but I rec it, I consider it a fair trade-off, because even though I didn't leave you a review, maybe I'm sending you ten other people who will.

I console myself with the knowledge that out of twenty or thirty squee-only reviews/feedback that I give, I'll give one intelligent, substantive review. Eventually, if you're one of the people whose fics I like, whose writing I come back to again and again, you'll get one of the latter from me.

And of course, hypocritically, I crave thoughtful critique--even and always negative critique included--of my own writing.

From:

justapresence.livejournal.com

Mm. Respectively, I tend to think any review at all is a good thing. I mean, it can't be a bad thing, yes? When you're getting time as well as critism (on rare occasions, yes, if you're lucky)/ reviews, I tend to think of it as a good thing.

So, others tend to review differently from some others. They tend to say, 'oooh, I liked this soo much' and the like. At least you know that:
It was acceptable and some are reading it.

I used to review like that because I simply didn't have time. At least I reviewed, yes? I now know how to review, therefore my words and the like are different.

I can, of course, see from your POV about this and I, myself, love positive, Con Crit and lengthy paragraphs of reviews. Who wouldn't?

My 2 knuts <3.

From:

mark356.livejournal.com

Oh dear. I so see where you're coming from, and it feels like it's for me. (Most of the following will be about my weekly fanfic posts (http://www.livejournal.com/users/mark356/23477.html), because those are lists of fics I've read every week, some of which I actually like; I'm sorry!) I used to click the back button and say to myself, "This never happened, I did not just read that, I never heard about that ficlet," even when I was nearly at the end of a ficlet if I really wasn't enjoying it, because that way I wouldn't have to publicly diss an author on my weekly fanfic post. Especially when the author or recommender of the ficlet in question is reading it (which is a lot of the time now!), I don't want to put very much negativity into those posts, because I don't want them to feel insulted. And nowadays I'm only listing about 80% of the fanfic I read (about 60% this coming Wednesday, because I've read a fair amount of fic) so that I don't need to do the hit-the-back-button-and-tell-yourself-it-never-happened thing, which makes them more like plug lists than ever.

And I must say that I do like advertising. Many ads are amusing, balanced in composition or tone or color, well-put-together, convincing, even beautiful. A television ad is like a little movie; they develop settings, characters, and plots, and often have conflics and resolutions, as well as plugging the product or whatever it is. If I'm watching a taped show, speeding past the ads, and I come across an ad for a VW, I will watch that ad, often several times. I do not hate ads, and this probably comes through with my recs.

But I completely agree with your point that a good rec must be descriptive. My personal pet peeve is those endless recs lists where a person says, "Here's a list of fics I love." A list of links, often to very long fics, like the DT, with little or no description, follows. I never want to read anything from those lists; I want a reason to read something besides the fact that you love it! (In fact, I will rant about this in my own journal shortly.) Part of my weekly fanfic posts are a reaction against those; I should be able to at least summarize it and find some positive adjectives that fit the ficlet well, even if I can't give a true, in-depth review.

So most of my weekly fanfic posts describe fics, even recommended fics, like this: "an evocative mediation in the present tense from Remus, including thoughts on Sirius, Tonks, and silver." I took five minutes thinking of that! (That referred to this drabble (http://www.livejournal.com/users/rhoddlet/195875.html?mode=reply) by

rhoddlet, btw.) Most ficlets are not, or do not deserve the description "evocative meditation," but this one certainly does, and I hope that at least listing some of the things that go on in the ficlet as well would encourage anyone vaguely interested in them to click the link and at least give it a chance.

For fics that I really recommend, not just the ones I've read through each week, I still try to describe all of the positive aspects of them. Hopefully I can describe specific enough positive aspects so that people who will honestly be squicked won't read, and anyone else who might enjoy it will. But I hope that if something truly has a lot going for it, a lot of people should read it, and will enjoy it; the only reasons not to would be matters of taste. My whole family read and enjoyed

sociofemme's slash!Hogwarts Mary Sue parody (http://www.livejournal.com/users/mctabby/111418.html?mode=reply); it is a masterpiece of over-the-top language, stilted rhythm, and a Mary Sue in a blatantly slashy world that she doesn't comprehend. I don't know how to rec this in a way that doesn't describe it like that!

On your final notes, I wish I could follow your advice, and I should probably try it. It's hard enough to describe every ficlet I read, with a bit of a summary and a few well-chosen adjectives, even without being objective and critical! Yay for plugs that show that the one plugging has read the fic in question and thought about it.

From:

lasultrix.livejournal.com

I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE CALL EACH OTHER GODDESSES JESUS CHRIST IT'S A FIC, A PIECE OF FIC, AND HALF THE TIME IT SUCKS ANYWAY, AND YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'RE COMPLETELY BRAINDEAD, COMPLETELY PATHETIC AND TRYING TO GET THEM INTO BED INTO THE BARGAIN ARGH!

From:

sistermagpie.livejournal.com

Whenever I review something, even with just a line, I always feel like I need to say *something* specific about why I liked it, because I like all fics for such different reasons. If I like it I always want to say *why* because that's part of my enthusiasm.

Since I like to actually think about it, there's really just a few WIPs that I have set myself the task of remembering to review regularly. If I happen to discover the fic from the beginning I usually wait a bit to see where it's going before I decide whether I can trust it's something that I really want to devote time to reviewing.

I'm weird with negative feedback. On one hand, I think it's a great thing and I've certainly given it to people outside of the 'net on stories. Usually, though, I prefer to review fics I like and mostly expound on what I like about them, what worked for me, how I saw the fic working. I think that can be constructive criticism in itself because it's breaking down the story and saying, "this is how it seems like this is working, this scene made me think this, which led to this, etc." Or maybe I just like analyzing! Sometimes I probably do include negative feedback, but it's more of a question: "This part made me think X but later I was confused..." or whatever.

If I have a really negative reaction to a story I'll usually want to rant about it to myself. Like...I feel like if I read a fic I don't like because I disagree with the authors interpretation of canon I don't feel like it's necessarily constructive to go into that because that's like story-conferencing: Draco isn't like that, he's like this, so he should do that... I met one of the people on my friends list because I was literally ranting about her fic in another place, not knowing that somebody else on the thread who had loved the fic and recced it and gone to her and said, "We're talking about your fic! Come see!"

Man, I felt so stupid! Not because I denied anything I thought but because I was so ranting in a way I didn't intend for the author to hear for the above reasons. I was arguing with the whole point of the story. Luckily throughout my ranting I had been (imo) respectful of the author herself, who wrote very well, and made it clear this story just got under my skin because it said things I didn't like to hear...but it was still really embarassing! Luckily, too, she was somebody who didn't only want to hear rave reviews and could appreciate a strong reaction of any kind.

So in general I figure lj is a hobby, a place where I choose what I want to contribute and what I like doing is pointing to people I think are doing something special and saying how it effected me and encouraging them in concrete ways. One thing, too, is I know I'm always honest in what I'm saying. If somebody's saying everything is the best fic ever well, you pretty much know they don't really mean that literally!