the logic...

[kaigou]

I just discovered that on a certain ranty little LJ comm, several folks drew a curious conclusion. Being a community full of anonymice, people can post as they please (and damn if it don't get confusing - who are you talking to? they're all anonymous!). So someone rec'd me, and used the phrase 'rinse and repeat'. Apparently, because I've used this phrase myself, the conclusion was drawn that I was praising myself as a sockpuppet.

*pauses to consider that for a moment*

Yes! I must have coined the phrase, and therefore all its royalties for use come back to me! Pay up, all you shampoo companies. You OWE me.

*runs off to trademark office*

In the same thread, I was utterly delighted (if bemused) to read this, too:

She achieved her notoriety by sucking up to and praising almost every writer in the fandom. I've seen the personal emails to prove it. What makes her popular is not her fantastic writing style but her gift of gab. She knows how to flatter and stroke egos. We all know the gundam Wing fandom is full of over blown egos. Her being embraced is merely further testament to that.

I'm starting to think that giving concrit - where you compliment a person's work, while trying to diplomatically point out where things could be improved - must be a rare art. Or maybe it is for the anonymous person who wrote that. Or maybe the person isn't a writer and doesn't realize how painful it is for some writers to post their stuff, and how cruel it would be to not have something nice to say in with any constructive critcism. Maybe I'm too Southern, having this silly notion that if I can't say something nice when critting, why say anything at all? I just never thought I'd be put down for doing something that I consider nothing less than principled, and an expression of treating others how I'd want to be treated - with "this is what I liked" mixed in with "this is what (I think) needs work". I mean, really. A good concrit should leave you with suggestions for how to get better (which hopefully prompts your own ideas), and a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling that someone liked your story.

(And I do not agree that the statement, "well, I took the time to review" should be considered enough, in and of itself, to compliment a writer. People will take the time to write some really nasty stuff, and that's not a compliment in the least. Well, unless you're one of those people who says, "hey! the story did provoke a response in someone, so that's good, right?" Well...I guess.)

Although it's always funny to read people's criticisms of my stories and think, "uh, I won't post on a dead thread, but actually, I agree with you."

*snerk*

Comments

[i-paint-the-sky.livejournal.com]

I wish I had coined "rinse and repeat" =P

Anyway, I certainly am one fan who wasn't won over by praise. I'd never heard of you until neekabe recced "The Worst Thing", when it still was "The Worst Thing". I don't think the GW fandom is full of overblown egos either...certainly not the parts I like to wander around in. And those parts also are godly enough to merit egos anyway.

At least you are getting revenge flamed by people who don't understand the concept of "parody".

[i-paint-the-sky.livejournal.com]

Though I have to admit, I have a morbid fascination to go look at this comm.

[solitude1056.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you had, you could be RICH LIKE ME!

Uh, yeeeeeeah.. So NOT. Unfortunately. But I'm working on it.

Truth is, I think the idea that a fan can be "won over by praise from the author" - well, taken as a whole, a fandom may seem like a rather twit-like organism, but each individual reader? No. Not even close, if ever. There's a hidden insult in there, that fandom-readers (including the anonymous posters complaining) are so bubble-headed that all it takes is one writer saying nice things and they're a Minion o' Doom, forevah. (It's also just as possible that the poster was pissed that s/he didn't get a nice letter and thus thinks it's 'elitest' that I was nice to one person and not another.)

Most people have their declared preferences, and no amount of publicizing or ego stroking will make a difference. The only thing that will change (hopefully) is their likelihood of flaming me - in theory, if I treated them with respect, they'll do the same to me.

Err, that's the hope.