Mike!  Glad to see you're still alive and kicking.  ^_^  ::glomp::

I'm going to unlurk for the first time in years to respectfully differ
with Krista. (Hey kids! Remember me?) This isn't specifically addressed to
her, or anyone else for that matter.

You can differ with me all you want.... except that you're not.  I agree
with pretty much everything you said.

My personal rule of thumb when it comes to taking C&C to heart:  If one or
two people want you to change something about a specific aspect of your plot
or characterization, it's safe to ignore.  However, if you hear the same
criticism from several independent  and respectable sources, then it's time
to give it some close examination, and take a scalple to it.  Pride and/or
ego should not enter into the picture, or your fic will suffer for it.

I figure that's just common sense, but, being the huge lurker that I am, I
guess I'm a bit out of touch.

Personally, as I've already discussed with DB in private, I responded to his
post because I was unaware of any previous discussions about this on the
FFML, and I've had one too many well-intentioned C&Cers (*not* members of
the FFML) send me complete plot overhauls of Hearts of Ice that are not only
*not* helpful, but often look like they've been written by illiterate seven
year olds who are just trying to push their own agenda.  I usually write
back and politely tell them that the fic they have in mind doesn't actually
bear any resemblance to my own, and that if they want that story told, they
should give it a try themselves.  In this way, I suppose I have *often*
ignored plot and characterization C&C -- which is why I leapt to defending
doing so.  But I certainly did not intend to imply that plot and
characterization should *always* be ignored.  It's just important to
consider the source when receiving plot and characterization C&C.

Hell, the reason I'm still on the FFML is because it's the one place I can
be sure to at the very *least* get a decent grammar and spelling check, and
often *much* more.  Taking a scalple to fics may sting a bit in the short
term, but in the long run, I've yet to see a fic that isn't better because
of it.

-Krista
Utukki:  Babylonian Mythology Was Never So Bishounen.
http://www.utukki.com


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