Don Granberry wrote:
I came to the FFML in hopes of receiving some help with my writing. I
have indeed received what I must consider invaluable help in this
regard. In addition to that help, I have also been the recipient of
complaints which fell well outside the limits of what may rightly be
considered commentary and criticism. The overwhelming majority of the
latter were in private and more than one was vituperative. I have also
received much in the way of praise and encouragement from the FFML
membership, the majority of which was also sent to me in private. On
balance though, my experience with FFML has been negative.
I'm VERY sorry to hear that. I hate the way some new people are treated,
and I'll grant that I'm not very good at combating it. I'm more of a lurker
than anything else.
While I do not claim to have been mistreated, I have been witness to the
outright mistreatment of beginners other than myself here on the FFML.
Beginners make mistakes. That is why they come here, to get help in
correcting their mistakes. So here is my question, Ladies and Gentlemen:
How is it that a matter of plot choice constitutes a mistake?
It doesn't.
Self-Insertion? Who cares? You have seen too many of them you cry? So?
Does that not mean that you should know how to write a good,
self-insertion piece and be able to help a beginner with such a work?
I agree wholeheartedly. I happen to like self inserts, if done well.
If not done well, I just delete it. I DON'T write someone and say, "You
suck", "This is the worst piece of *O@#$(@&$ I've ever seen" , etc. In my
mind it takes a very small mind indeed to come up with something like that.
A Ranma1/2 story that "fixes" everything. So? Oh, you mean you have seen
too many of those as well? That means you should be able to help a new
author write a superbly entertaining one, right?
And there have been some very entertaining ones indeed.
Now I am informed that a story based upon the Ranma1/2 stories must fall
completely within the realm of "Martial Arts Sex Farce," for it to be of
any entertainment value or, by some other criterion unknown by me, to be
somehow acceptable to veteran members. "Martial Arts Sex Farce" strikes
me as being a rather narrowly specialized field of writing. Further, I
Agreed, I ended up deleting that post before finishing it, I just didn't
want to read any more of it.
must admit to being deeply puzzled by this emerging rule, inasmuch as
several of the more popular works based upon the Ranma1/2 stories are
nothing of the kind. Is this now the emerging consensus? Must we
indeed attempt to be self-made clones of Takahashi Rumiko before we can
expect help with works based upon these characters?
I certainly hope not. While I like the characters, I DIDN'T like the
story by the end. I have approximately 73 sub folders off of my Ranma folder.
All of them are for Ranma stories that I like, some finished... most not. All
of them I'm waiting for more of. Even that number doesn't count the oneshots
more the stories I haven't made a folder for yet. Getting back to the point, I
enjoy the stories that people come up with, and most of them don't go into
the go nowhere, get nothing done style that is typical of several of
Takahashi's works. I'm not slamming Takahashi's works, far from it, but I
don't think we have to become slaves of that mentality.
I have one last question and a request for you, my fellow FFML
Participants. Are we participating on this list to help each other, or
does this list have some other purpose? If there is a primary purpose
for the FFML other than giving and receiving help with the task of
writing fiction, would someone be good enough to explain to me what it
is? I would very much appreciate it. I hate to think that I may be
intruding where I am neither wanted nor welcome.
PLEASE PLEASE DON'T GO AWAY! I want to read more of your stories! I will
admit, I tried writing, but I gave up. While I will admit that there were
some very helpful individuals on the list, negativity is very hard to deal
with. I will have to admit, that even I didn't like what I wrote, except in
parts.
On a side not, sometimes, and I include myself in this a person will read
a story, like it, but not say it. From my personal experience, there is almost
nothing better than having someone say, "I like it, I would like to see more,"
whereas, "I hated it, I hope I don't see any more of this crap again!" is one of
the worst things someone can do to a new, or even experienced author.
Please people, if you don't like it that's fine, it's your prerogative. If
have something negative to say, don't. I don't mean negative as in, grammar, or
story flow comments, but I mean the "piece of sh*t" comments.
BTW Sorry for the rambling way of my writing, my mind tends to jump from
subject to subject so fast sometimes that is hard for my hands to keep up.
Thank you very kindly for your attention
Don Granberry.
Thank you for posting this Don, while I'm sure the way this reply flows
is sure to irritate some people, I just wanted to get this out while it was
still running through my mind.