Answer a poll on what I should write (I will completely ignore the results)

[inverarity]

So, I have been sitting for a few days on the critiques I received on early chapters of my SF novel.

One of the confounding issues here is that, it turns out, even in purportedly professional-aspiring writer's circles, you get fandom-style wank and drama. For example, I subsequently learned (by means I won't go into, but it's not just my supposition, there were actually site moderators involved) that several of the really negative critiques I received were in response to a harsh critique I left of someone else's chapter.

Now, I have mentioned before that when I first got into fan fiction, I went cruising through fan fiction sites, was appalled and shocked at how badly written most of it was, and left some pretty... unkind reviews. So you may be thinking, "Oh, Inverarity was an asshole to other writers and got the same thing served back to him."

Well, no, because when I do online critiquing, I'm not just saying "This sucks." (In fact, I've never said "this sucks" to a writer, not even when reviewing fan fiction.) And I try to be genuinely helpful in the critiques I leave, even when I do think what I am critiquing does, in fact, suck. I moderate my tone. I am polite. I try to leaven the brutal deconstruction with some positive comments, even if it's just "I think your main character will really appeal to many readers" or something equally faffing meaningless.

(This is alternately referred to as the "Oreo approach" or the "shit sandwich" in critiquing circles: basically, you try to wrap the hard criticism in more palatable layers to cushion the blow.)

But yeah, sometimes I can be pretty harsh and I may make some wry observations about, for example, misused words or a character saying something that directly contradicts what she said three paragraphs earlier in a way that comes off as snarky. I am working on it, because a lot of writers have paper-thin egos and don't appreciate even a comment as direct as "This does not make sense, and you're using the wrong word." I am working on the language of gentle criticism softened with frequent uses of "In my opinion" and "I think" and "I feel that" (which goes against my direct nature because I assume it to be a given that everything I say is just my opinion unless I'm, like, stating something that is a provable objective truth with Wikipedia links and everything*).

* That's a joke. Sheesh.

So ANYWAY... I had been getting pretty positive critiques on my own story, and then I left a lengthy, detailed critique of someone else's chapter which was... not very positive, and next thing I know I am getting all these critiques that are telling me my writing is way sub-par, the story is boring, the characters are unbelievable and inhuman and the dialog is stiff, and lectures about showing not telling and how to construct scenes as if this is the first fiction I've ever written, etc.

And. The thing is, there were a lot of really valid observations in those critiques. Including places where I was doing way too much telling, and places where the dialog was stiff, etc. It's not like I just suddenly got a bunch of "You suck you big fat meanie!" crits in retaliation. (Actually, I did get one that was pretty much like that, expressed more elegantly.) So even after I found out that, yes, I was getting slammed in part for pissing off a Special Snowflake who had friends, I couldn't just dismiss their comments as retaliatory bullshit. The problem is, separating the specifics that were actually true and helpful, even if motivated in part by spite, from the more general condemnation is a lot harder. Would they have said the same things if not in a spirit of "giving me a taste of my own medicine"? I dunno. I can compare some of what they are saying to what more objective critiquers are saying, and when I see them saying similar things, that's a pretty good clue.

But anyway, at this point I am stuck on the question of whether I really need to rewrite the first part of the book (if not the entire book) or just revise it a bit.

Meanwhile, my original plan was to wait until I was more or less finished revising the SF novel and then start writing Alexandra Quick Book Five. But I keep flipping back and forth from my SF novel and trying to figure out how to rewrite the beginning, to my mostly empty outline of AQATWA, and thinking maybe I need to let the SF novel sit a bit and write something else.

So while I dither and distract myself and procrastinate (like by writing kvetching blog posts) here's a poll purely for entertainment purposes. (I am not actually going to decide what to do based on a poll. :P)

[Poll #1864141]

Comments

[klaelman23.livejournal.com]

As much as I (and probably many others) want you to shelve it and work on AQ5 until it's done, that's not really a sensible approach. I worked with a friend of his on his OF story, and after he finished it, it was /ok/, but really not that great. He stepped back for a month or two, came back, and knew exactly what he needed to do to make it better. I think that the time away from it helped separate himself from it and really see it for what it was, how it was flawed, and how to fix those flaws. I think the same would be a good idea for you.

[avsno26rocks.livejournal.com]

Hmm, speshul snowflakes... snowflakes vexes, snowflake woes. So, one of my more tricky jobs on MNFF is training people to review helpfully and positively, because we basically have to treat most authors like special snowflakes unless we know them to be made of sterner stuff. Some people truly cannot take critique like adults. I don't personally give two shits who likes me and who doesn't, but as a mod, other people are my priority. I get nasty reviews here and there from my queue rejectees, so it is just proof that people are vindictive little douches when they don't get their way. Don't let their douchebaggery ruin the experience of writing your novel. Keep trucking. It might help to do your outline for AQ and then work on revision, but don't scrap it until someone who actually matters tells you it isn't worth saving.


EDIT** Jfc, my phone needs to learn to spell simple words. I refuse to blame myself. My IQ just lowered ten points reading what I typed on my phone. >.>

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

I wrote my post about useless critique (http://alicethewriter.blogspot.com/2012/09/thinking-critically-about-critique.html) already, in case you want to read it. Feel free to poke about on the editing tag, see if I stumble across anything useful in my rambling.

[inverarity.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know I should take critiques with a grain of salt. At the same time, I'm trying very hard to give every comment due consideration. (Okay, I know "You suck and should feel bad" doesn't deserve serious consideration.) When you can see that there are some nuggets of truth even in a shit sandwich, the problem becomes sorting the nuggets from the shit.

I'm not thin-skinned, honest, or at least I am not normally. But in trying to be receptive to all comments and not be that Special Snowflake author who's all "Noooo! You don't know what you're talking about! All I have to do is one more round of spellchecking and this baby is ready to go!" I seem to have invited more self-doubt than I'm accustomed to.

[alicetheowl.livejournal.com]

There is a huge chasm between theory and practice. I know I should be devoting more time to writing than I am, and that I should make it a bigger priority. And yet, here it is, 10:40 at night, and I've pissed the entire day away on internet and Disgaea. (Well, and laundry, cats, exercise, and straightening up, but whatever.)

My advice? Look for patterns. If a lot of people are fixating on a particular scene or the outcome for that scene (and by "a lot," 3 or more should suffice), or on a particular word choice, or they're confused about the same thing, that's a pattern.

I don't know if you're allowed to respond to critique feedback, but, if you can, I would urge you to ask them questions, get them to clarify, dig deeper into their comments. Definitely don't argue with them, but ask something like, "You said this part confused you. Is it because you don't know what the scene should look like, or because you don't know who's doing what?"

If they can't clarify or be more specific, or if they're the only one obsessing on one tiny detail that doesn't even matter, their comments aren't worth the pixels they're taking up on your screen.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_silverfox/]

Well, for myself I want to say finish AQ5 first, but for yourself I don't think you should give up on the SF, yet. So I'll say work on AQ5 a while - maybe finish the first draft, or write until you get stuck at a plot hole - then go and revise the SF when you no longer feel so tempted to work on AQ instead.

And remember that no story is perfect, nor will it ever please everybody. There'll always be people that find your writing not to their taste no matter how good you are and you'll never get published if you keep letting them discourage you and starting a new project. Revise this one, try to get it published and if it gets rejected by all the publishers, then it will be time to start another original novel.

[indigo-mouse.livejournal.com]

Look, Snowflake - your my writing hero. Don't obsess (I feel that you are kind of obsessing a little tiny bit. Just a bit. In my opinion. I think).

I agree with Alice's wise advice - look for the patterns. I've pretty much given up reviewing AQ because it just makes me sqee like a little girl so I'm not terribly objective, but I never thought your dialog was stiff.

Suck it up, finish the thing and then AQ5.

My biggest question is how the hell am I going to which one is your book when its published??

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of AQ--and when I say that, I do not mean I don't like it, I mean I haven't had a chance to read it despite intending to do so--however, my suggestion would be to step away from the OF novel for awhile, and use the time to work on AQ5, if that's what you feel like doing.

I find in my own writing that backing off from one project and working on something else for awhile kind of clears your mind, so that when you're ready you can come back to the first project with fresh eyes.

That's my experience, anyway. It might not work for everybody.

You know, for a long time I've wished I could find someone--other than my family members--to review my OF. I hadn't heard about these online critique groups before. From what you've said about them, though, I'd be a bit hesitant to check them out.

Online critiquing

[inverarity.livejournal.com]

Don't let my griping discourage you. There are actually a number of places where you can find betas and get your stuff critiqued. And a lot of the feedback I've been getting is helpful. PM me if you want details about where I have been hanging out for writerly assistance.

[madyak2.livejournal.com]

I realize this is a few days late, but I felt it important enough to respond since I think it'd be a travesty for you not to write. Hopefully you see it.

You're an excellent writer and you should have faith in your own convictions. If someone gives you a piece of advice, review your work to see if you agree. If you do, change it; if you don't, change nothing. Twilight is a good example: it's insanely popular, but plenty of people think it is literary garbage, including myself. So you'll never make everyone happy, whether professionally publishing a novel or not. Most people I know personally find me ridiculously critical of movies and books and hard to satisfy, yet I like your work. Got to count for something.

Also, while getting other writers' opinions is probably an excellent tool for understanding writing method's effects, it's probably not the best source for if your story is a good one. The vast majority of your readers in fandom or the professional sphere are not going to be writers, are they?