Charloft: Munday - Everyone's a Critic

Hi again guys,

charloft  cross-post and Yep, we can do them completely out of date order or on the wrong days.



Today we present to you a brief survey on critiquing. Answer as many or as few questions as you like.


1. How open are you to critique?
I’m open to critique, as long as it’s presented in a useful manner. “I hate it” does not constitute useful

2. Would you prefer to receive constructive feedback on your work, or solely praise?
Firstly, I like to receive any comment on my work, because it means somebody read it. It can be very disheartening when you post something then don’t get any comments. That said, I like praise, but I know I can always improve, so constructive criticism is always very welcome.  A comment that contained both is always most welcome, and while I won’t always implement suggestion, I always consider them.

3. How do you handle it when someone has a negative reaction to your character, roleplay, or story?
When you’ve put a lot of work into a piece it can hurt when somebody doesn’t like it, but at the same time that work that’s been put in is a backbone for me. it means I’ve decided this character is ding this thing you don’t like, but I know the background and the story, so I understand why even if it may not make sense to you or be apparent at that time

To take a very minor example I wrote a doctor who one shot a few months ago and people were divided on the last line. Some said they though it took a lot away from the story, others liked it. Had it been the vast majority against it I may have considered adapting it, but at the end of the day I had a reason for doing it. I will one day get around to writing a sequel that will hopefully explain my point of view, but for now I haven’t figured out how to play it.

4. How often do you offer critique to others? Do you feel comfortable doing so?
I admit I feel awkward giving critique on somebody’s work, but it’s something I’m working on. I do always at the very least try to remember to leave a comment even if it’s just a short “I liked it”,  or a reference to a character situation in it.

I’m more likely to leave constructive criticism if it’s an author I read regularly or if they state in their notes they are happy to receive it.  I’ve considered doing some form of role play group actually to hep me get comfortable with replying to people and such, but I haven’t made it beyond the idea yet.

I think my other issue with leave constructive criticism is that sometime’s I’ll know I wasn’t particularly affected by this bit or felt this was awkward, but I can’t figure out why, so I figure my comment wouldn’t be helpful, and more likely read as hurtful (even though I’d never intentionally leave a hurtful comment)

5. What do you feel constitutes constructive critique?
I think it has to say not just that you didn’t like this or you felt that was wrong, but why and maybe a way you felt it could have been better. After all, I don’t think there’s a writer in the world that wouldn’t want to improve, even the most famous authors are still learning and adapting throughout their career, so offering a way to improve can only be a good thing.

Sweetening it with a remark on something you particularly liked is also a good strategy.

 

So overall, leave me a comment on fic and I’ll love you whether it’s praise or constructive criticism!