the logic...
16 Dec 2004 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaigouI 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:
(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*
*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*
no subject
Date: 16 Dec 2004 08:46 pm (UTC)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 must suffer from the same affliction, because I never respond to fics that I don't like at all. (There's not enough hours in the day for that anyway.)
no subject
Date: 16 Dec 2004 09:38 pm (UTC)Sometimes I get this whole 'thing' and will crit a writer's chapter from top to bottom, but I try to put in as many good things as concrit. If I can't find as much that pleases me about the story - the style, the description, the characterization, the plot - as I can find wrong, then it's not a good idea to crit. At least, not without the huge risk of the person taking it very personally, and I would rather let a person muddle on their own, than slam them down so hard they just quit writing altogether.
I know there's this whole thing about 'if a crit gets you so down you quit writing, you weren't meant to do it anyway' but that's really bullshit. IMO. Sometimes - as a regular thing, or for some of us, just a bad day - a crit hits you too hard and you can only recoil in shock and pain. And the less confident among us will flee, and I can't blame them for needing time to regroup. Taking crit is as hard as giving it, and not everyone is a stubborn, hardheaded, thickskinned bastard like me.
Hey. Ever use the phrase 'rinse and repeat'? Fess up, and hand over the CASH, buddy!
;P~~
no subject
Date: 17 Dec 2004 12:39 am (UTC)Aw, shucks. #^_^# That's the nicest thing anyone's said about me in years.
Most of what I read is posted on websites, so I don't feel comfortable emailing the authors out of the blue with anything other than praise, and I rarely find anything that inspires me to do that. I'll post commentary in people's livejournals sometimes, but most of the time I just don't have anything constructive to say anyway.
I'll confess to using "Lather, rinse, repeat," but I stole that from Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. No money for you! Bwa ha!