Six things, and then I'm done. I may very well be overstepping, and if you think I am, please email me. My address is in my profile.
-In my opinion, the respect here has been going downhill. It was one of the things that attracted me here; I'd hate to lose it. Happily, it's not gone yet...can we keep it? Please?
-You don't have to type everything that goes through your head into the boards. Sometimes it's better not to. Sometimes you just have to type what you think; it's therapeutic. In those cases, though, it's often best to delete it afterwards instead of posting it.
-Critiques should be constructive.
-You don't have to publicly defend your honor against critiques that you solicited.
-We don't have to run people off the boards; this place is big enough for everyone.
-If you don't want to hear exactly what people think of your work, don't post it and ask for critiques. If you don't like what you heard, deal. You asked for it.
I'm done.
My apologies.
I really do try to remember that the reason we're all here is to help and encourage each other in becoming better writers. I think it's a good rule for this forum, and even though I'm sometimes a bit snippy, I do want to help.
I hope that everyone can forgive me my bouts of snarkiness, and promise to try and be forgiving of others (this is easy for me to say because I have an incredibly short attention span and can't remember people's names from one moment to the next, but I'm trying to forgive, which is better than just forgetting).
I'd rather have Hatrackers tell me that my writing rambles, that my characters are insipid, that my dialogue is cliche, than have readers close my book and tell me nothing.
Encourage if you must; I neither want nor value your encouragement.
But please oh please stay snarky!
quote:
You don't have to publicly defend your honor against critiques that you solicited.
Whoops. I'm swearing off the snarkiness. . . really. At least as the one being reviewed
Be happy once more...
It may just be change of season.
Seriously though, you can't throw a hissy fit at a publisher or an editor. Well, you can, but try getting them to publish you afterwards. We're all here to learn, no matter what level we are at with our writing. Just remember the very simple guidelines which Jeraliey put so susinctly at the top of the topic. Perhaps try to put both the pluses and the minuses in a critique. And play nice...
R
I know with one non-critique posting on one site(no names) I had to bite my tongue. My thoughts were 'how arrogant'. After calming down, I decided to write a conceding follow up, one that wouldn't escalate.
It may be the conundrum of what is typed might have a reasonable tone for the typer, another tone altogether for the one reading it. Heck, that even happens when people speak.
I'm sure married folks have often had this kind of conversation:
>Why'd you snap at me?
<I didn't snap at you at all.
>Didn't you hear the tone of your voice?
<My tone was fine.
If I may be forgiven for saying so, even OSC sometimes sounds biting in some of his opinions. Perhaps his internal voice isn't in the tone I read it.
A good critique is very beneficial when it sinks in. Communicating in a tactful tone goes a long way in helping it sink in. An untactful tone will only raise defenses. Human nature may cause both sides to take extreme hardened viewpoints...
Snarks are often found with boojums.
Which brings me to the question: have you ever seen a boojum tree?
Aint psycholinguistics great?
[This message has been edited by Jeraliey (edited April 25, 2005).]
This site occasionally attracts a boojum or two. KDW slays them and we all get back to normal. Snarks just have to be tolerated, they are a bit annoying at times, and really should be kept under control, but as long as they don't prove to be boojums, you can deal with it.
As long as there aren't too many.
How to know if what you see is a snark: it
* tastes like a too-tight waistcoat;
* gets up late
* has trouble recognizing humor
* is fond of bathing-machines
* is ambitious
* MAY be a boojum
Except for the "bathing-machines" thing, it sounds like snarkiness is a very common thing.
[This message has been edited by wbriggs (edited April 26, 2005).]
heh. is it possible for a snarky person to become unsnarkified? somehow i think i'm actually starting to soften a little lately...
as for the link. what an impressive piece of epic poetry. does lewis caroll write mainly in epic poetry format? if so, i must start searching my local library for that writers work. i LOVE epic poetry (yeah, so i'm a queerdo)
EDIT: and then you go and edit it on me, erasing the excerpt. oh well. my above comments still stand.
[This message has been edited by dpatridge (edited April 26, 2005).]
And, uh, sorry if I come across snarky sometimes. But I think part of being a snark is that you can't tell you're being one. You just think you're right. And of course by "you" I mean "me".