16 April 2001
"Feedback, the good, the bad, and why fucking bother?"
* WARNING - real rant ahead * My inner uberbitch wanted out today ... so this is a real rant. If you don't like it, bummer dude, this is how I feel about shit, suck it up and deal. Or tell me about it.
Feedback ... it's a good thing, right? WRONG!
It used to be a good thing, it used to be a way to tell a writer 'i loved your fic because ...' and then *wow* a reason OR 'i hated your fic, because ...' *ah yup* a reason. But lately feedback has become so banal, so trite I wonder why people even send it or ask for it any longer.
Is it because of all the anti-flame backlash and rules on lists? Are people afraid to be honest? I think so. Why can't people be honest and just say "Gods, that was the worst piece of fic I have ever read." Because it might hurt the writer's feelings? Booo fucking hooo if they can't handle real honesty they shouldn't be posting their fanfic for all to read.
*Now, now uberbitch, I do understand why and how that statement could hurt. There isn't any *meat* to it. It just says it sucks (and not in the good way) without a reason for it's suck. Is there nothing we can do?*
No, there is something we can do ... we can give *real* *honest* feedback. Not just "great fic, i loved it" but rather "great fic, i loved it because ... and a REASON" and vice versa for bad fics. I know personally I would rather get 20 emails telling me that my fic is bad ... and *WHY* it is bad, over 500 emails saying "great fic, i loved it" I want to know what is wrong with it so I can fix it.
I mean I get an email saying 'great fic, i loved it' and I think WTF? What did you love? Why was it great? Explain it to me.
Case in point ... I was part of a writer's group list and one of the things that the list did was feedback each other's work ... and I mean honest bare bone, nothing held back feedback. Once I submitted an O.C. fic, and when I got the feedback on it I was slightly pissed about some of it ... because they were trying to tell me how to write *my* character. But then I reread the fic and the feedback and I realized that they weren't telling me how to write the character ... but rather were helping me write the character *better*. That I needed to make some slight changes to her to make her more "real". And you know what they worked. The character and the fic both turned out to be something that I am really proud of.
I guess I'm just so pissy about this subject because I see so many horrid, brain cell killing, vomit inducing fics getting *praise* Sure it's just "great fic, I loved it." But still come on people lets be honest here. Are people praising ifcs just to praise them? So that the writer's don't feel bad because they didn't get any praise? Half the time I wonder, "Gods did that person read the same fic I did?" when I see praise for bad fic. I honestly don't think thay do a lot of the time.
I mean I can not count how many truly horrid fics I have read where Cordeila is lusting for Angelus. Not Angel, but Angelus. Makes me want to smack the person upside the head and say "Hello? Are you even watching the same show I am?" I mean talk about a Mary Sue. *gag*
So I guess this whole rant boils down to this . . . why don't people give honest feedback anymore? And why does brain cell killing bad fic get praise?
I think in both cases it's because people are scared. Scared to speak their mind, and scared they will get kicked off of fanfic lists for *gasp* have a thought in their head.
But that's just my opinion . .. I could be wrong.
::colt pixy:: - 16 april, 2001