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intothewood and analect.
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Have questions or want to discuss something? Fire away! Want some feedback on a piece of writing you're working on? Post it! Stuck with research, or found a fabulously useful resource others might benefit from? Step up and share!
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Date: 2011-06-28 09:32 pm (UTC)I know why I tend to not critique sucky work. (Many) Writers get furious and scream at me for telling them that they're not perfect. Not all, but a good percentage. *shrugs* Plus, better writers tend to give better critiques so...as a critiquer I'm both 1) more inclined to critique stuff that's good as it's more fun for me, 2) better/more experienced writers are less likely to attack me for trying to help so I prefer working with them and 3) I am more likely to get a reciprocal critique from someone who knows what he/she is doing if I stick to critiquing better stories.
That said, I became a better writer when someone better than I was (probably still am...) took pity on me and gave me a thorough critique that I listened to. So I think that it's kind when someone will give honest feedback (even if it's a bit outside their purview - a lot of the issues really are mechanics). Just...I can see why they don't want to waste their time.
I don't like the nasty and vicious, either. But there's a really thin line. I give the same sorts of critiques to everyone. (In fact, I'm meaner to my critique partners than to strangers, as they know me!) But I've had some people claim that I'm the meanest meanie in the world (usually using stronger language...), and others thank me for "saving" their story. I don't see myself as being "nasty", but some writers see everything as an attack, while others are grateful for honest feedback even if it stings a little.
(Let me also throw in that if you have to critique something for one reason or another - it does happen - it can be really frustrating to run into the same problem again and again and again in a single manuscript. I had one writer who begged me to critique his stuff...and after the first ten pages or so, I found that the manuscript was riddled with misogyny, fail!science, continuity errors, etc. I tried to be nice for the first 10 pages or so, but by page 90 had gotten pissy. Admittedly, I could have stopped...but that would have caused a lot of problems, so I continued and wasn't quite as gentle as I otherwise might have been.)
(That said, people do give grudge critiques...but I think they're fairly rare, and reflect more on the reviewer's sanity than much else...)