Hi,
some people just seem to LIKE being nasty. <sigh>
I'm glad you found a friendly place. (ummmm it might
have helped some of the people you were writing for
if you posted the URL or address for the "other"
mailing list)
A very nice, IMO, Op-ed piece.
And, again IMO, "quality" of writing is _very_
subjective. James Joyce is considered a literary
giant. Personally I've never been able to get beyond
the introduction. ^_^
-<snip>
I've been flamed
by the best, from
RpM to Eternal Lost Lurker,
##Don't know RpM. ELL has left the cyber-building.
I've had my first
official work MSTed in
the most demeaning matter; billions of jokes about
penises and having
sex with Colonge (even in a MST, that's just
wrong!)
##Ahhhh, I _wondered_ what that was an MST of. I
haven't finished it yet. (if it's the recent MST from
FFIRC that is)I'm sorry it upset you. IMO an MST is a
complement. They're not easy to do. I say this never
having had anything of mine MSTed (but still hoping)
, and as of late,
I've
discovered that around December '98, Jeff Hosmer
included me in a poem
about bad writers, and even featured me before the
likes of Oscar and
Dr.Thinker. So believe me, I've had it all.
##:(
IMO it is very poor taste to do such a thing w/o
asking the authors permission.
OTOH at least someone is reading what you write. The
saddest thing is to post to FFML and have it just
dissapear into nothingness.
I must admit that I have been very fortunate to have
found very supportive pre-readers and C&Cers (Thanks
all)
Unfortunately poor manners drive out good manners
(sort of like a Greshams law for social interactions)
and people do and say things on-line they would NEVER
do or say in person.
And of course with out visual and other cues it's easy
to mistake someone's meaning on-line. It's also hard
for an author (at least for me) to easily accept any
criticsm of his "baby". (and of course some people are
just _wrong_ ) ^_~
Did I develop the "thick skin" from all this
character building junk
that
threw me into depression during the entire time I
was on the FFMl during
'98?
No. In fact, it all scared me away from the
"nasty bad-bad" list and
I turned
to a pre-readers ML full of friendly guys who never
insulted my
intelligence.
##Good for you. ^_^
I've never met a writer with a thick skin. There may
be some but most writers (professional {those that
make a living from writing} and otherwise) are NOT
thick skinned. And it's rather hard to develop a skin
thick enough to protect yourself from some of the
C&Cer's that react to "newbies" like sharks to chum.
IMO the advice to "develop a thick skin" is rubbish.
Perhaps well meaning, perhaps only an excuse to allow
people to be abusive or ill mannered but still
rubbish. A thick skin has no relation to artistic
ability. IMO it's more important to nurture _good_
writers. NOT to select for those writers so
insensitive to pain they can survive having their guts
ripped out.
There _is_ a difference between honest and
constructive criticism and plain mean-spirited abuse.
Both may be found on the FFML (and elsewhere).
<snip>
But what I don't want to accept is that some
people act like they're
god just
because they have a well reconised fic.
##No, they're just nasty for the heck of it. ^_^
Now you're probably asking, how's this supposed
to help? Well I just
wanted
to tell all of you poor little writers that I've
been there, I'm still
there, but I'm hanging
on because I love this, and I write for only myself
and those who like
it. You don't
have to please the demographics of the FFML to write
a good fic, you
have to use
you creativity and have fun with whatever you do, be
it a Xover, Comedy,
or even
Darkfic!
##VERY well said.
I only C&C stories I like. For one thing if I don't
like the story I don't feel I can do a good job of
C&C. It's VERY easy to do a _bad_ job of C&C simply
because I don't like the story rather than do C&C
based on the merits of the writing. IMO a great deal
of "flaming" is simply because the C&Cer doesn't like
the story. And if he/she doesn't like the story it's
easy to take it out on the author rather than give due
consideration to the story.
And if they keep flaming you... Just do what those
who ignore your
stories do:
DELETE THOSE SUCKERS!
##[delete] and mail filters ^_O
Wonderful things.
Nice Op-Ed. Thanks.
<snip>
=====
"When I get a little money, I buy books;
And, if any is left, I buy food and clothes."-Erasmus
"A man is a small thing, and the night is large
and full of wonders." -Lord Dunsany
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