Quote by techgoddessQuote by Durrasch
Sharing one's work on this site should not be considered an invitation to be judged. Are you f**king serious? Have you looked at the layout of the pages? The emphasis placed upon rankings and ratings and comments? The signature-banners screaming out to read and vote? The frequency of posts related in some way to the issue of ranking and rating and feedback? The entire story posting section of this site is about being judged and rated.
It's not a lack of class or consideration to be harsh on someone's story if it's deserved. It's a sign of the absurd society in which we llive that praise may be heaped in public, but the criticism must be hidden from sight, lest the criticiser be deemed an inconsiderate ogre. And if you think that one typo makes me a shitty writer, you have every right to express that opinion publicly. The other readers can look at the rest of the words I have laid down in this forum and decide for themselves whether the omission of an "e" from "deserve" - or any other of the similar types of errors I occasionally make - impairs my ability to express myself in a coherent manner.
I am completely f**king serious. I never say what I don't mean. I just didn't realize that you were a professional literary critic. My sincere apologies if my pointing out a typo of yours touched a nerve. I never said that one shouldn't be free to express one's opinion of a story, regardless of politically correct standards of constraint on dissent. Do not for one moment try to interpret my humble opinion in such an inaccurate manner. I am merely suggesting that criticism need not take the form of rude commentary. I think feedback is a marvelous thing, provided it is meant for the purpose of providing feedback and not to pounce on a writer who was brave enough to post a story.
How can you honestly say that posting a story here is not an invitation to be judged? It's just to share... bullshit. If it were just to share, there would be no ratings system, no listing of the highest-rated authors for the month... none of that has anything to do with sharing.
Why is it "brave" to post a story? If the story is as poorly written as the one DB linked to above, it's not brave, it's just stupid. Whoever wrote that - and I hesitate to call him an author - is not brave for showing the rest of the site that he has no writing ability whatsoever. Nor is it out if place to tell him so.
I don't advocate just randomly pouncing on stories that you don't like. Not everybody likes everything. But if a story is just poorly done, then by all means, pounce away. There is not always a need to offer constructive criticism... you cannot construct something when there is no foundation upon which to base it.
And you need not apologise to me. Are you not simply attempting to treat me in the same manner that I advocate treating people whom you believe to be shit writers? By highlighting my typo the way you did, you were attempting to call into question the validity of my statements, the same way you did with your sarcastic statement about my literary criticism profession. I would like to thank you for doing so. In those actions, you demonstrated the very behaviour that you appear to be condemning - pouncing in an ad hominem attack rather than saying anything constructive about the substance of the work at hand.
As an aside, I don't know whether you care or not, but I actually do have a degree in critical literary theory, although I'm no longer pursuing that field. I am glad to see it's paid off for me, debating fuck-your-mother stories with people who are afraid to say what they really think, because someone's feelings might get hurt.
