Criticism and Stories

[Elfy]

This is a post to make something clear to both writers and people commenting on stories since an incident a while ago muddied the waters and I think it should be cleared up:

Constructive criticism of stories is fine.

A while ago I took the side of a writer who felt their stories were being unfairly criticised. I have since regretted that position and want to make it clear that criticising stories is fine as long as it is constructive.

Please keep in mind that not everyone is here to try and write the best story ever and many will have far from the best spelling or grammar. Picking apart each and every mistake might be overkill but giving general advice is fine.

If someone says they don't want to have critical comments please respect their wishes so as to avoid conflict.

Finally, "This sux lol" is not constructive criticism...

[Eagle0769]

Hi Elfi,

I agree with you this happened to me a number of times

that's why I stopped submitting and writing stories. 

We are not professional writers we just write and submit

stories to share.

I would love to submit my stories but the fear of my

stories being torn apart.

You on the other hand must be a 

professional writer because your writing

is great. Please keep sharing with us.

[sonofninasayers]

I also agree we're not professional writers. All of us on here write because we love and enjoy writing as well as doing our own stuff and sharing them with others . I find each and every story that I've read on here to be a joy and a pleasure to read 

[Drownedinp]

I had a person about 2 years ago that shredded my stories. I was mad. I know im not the best writer. I write because for me its theraputic. I find when I have an outlet I'm not as angry as i normally am.  Thats why i write.

I hate to admit it I should of listened better in high school english class, i was to busy trying to be a Semi Jock. I played Baseball, Wrestled, and was on the Track and Field team. I didn't play football because we didn't have a team, school was to small just a 1A school we had about 212 kids inthe school grades 7-12.

[Jennynappy]

I someholw get more positive reviews here than on ABDL Story Forum - which unjustly stoppped me from posting - or ADISC. So thanks here.

[Jennynappy]

Idiots on ADISC. They will be treated terribly in my stories.

[Sir Stinkypants]

You know, I have difficulty understanding why anyone would want to expend their time and effort writing negative criticisms of people’s stories, other than the simple and utterly ignoble desire to be mean.

Personally, the only reasons I can see for ever bothering myself to comment on someone’s story at all would be either to encourage the author or to suggest improvement(s). I cannot conceive of why I would do either if I did not enjoy the story.

It is entirely possible to dislike someone’s tale, they come in many flavors as do we ABDL’s, but why would anyone waste their time reading a story he or she did not like, let alone taking yet more time to spew vitriol upon it?
 

Why not simply find another more to one’s liking?

[PeculiarChangeling]

On 1/4/2021 at 8:33 AM, Sir Stinkypants said:

You know, I have difficulty understanding why anyone would want to expend their time and effort writing negative criticisms of people’s stories, other than the simple and utterly ignoble desire to be mean.

Personally, the only reasons I can see for ever bothering myself to comment on someone’s story at all would be either to encourage the author or to suggest improvement(s). I cannot conceive of why I would do either if I did not enjoy the story.

It is entirely possible to dislike someone’s tale, they come in many flavors as do we ABDL’s, but why would anyone waste their time reading a story he or she did not like, let alone taking yet more time to spew vitriol upon it?
 

Why not simply find another more to one’s liking?

Nowadays I personally only offer criticism if it was explicitly asked for, but I think you're missing the possibility that someone enjoyed a story partially while still finding fault.

Since there's no examples I can't really say with certainty, but there is a lot of merit to offering negative criticism if a story gets some things right and other things wrong. A story with a fun plot concept but very poor prose, or where the author doesn't seem to have a grasp on the story they're telling, could often benefit from criticism pointing out the flaws and places it could be improved. Personally, I'm always open to criticism - I might disregard some of it if I disagree, but I like to hear it anyways because it often contains useful suggestions. 

This isn't an excuse to be a dick or to be harsh for the sake of being harsh, but I think there's a lot of room between 'Being an asshole and just hating on a story' and 'Never providing any negative criticism'. 

[Sir Stinkypants]

On 1/12/2021 at 4:18 AM, PeculiarChangeling said:

Nowadays I personally only offer criticism if it was explicitly asked for, but I think you're missing the possibility that someone enjoyed a story partially while still finding fault.

Since there's no examples I can't really say with certainty, but there is a lot of merit to offering negative criticism if a story gets some things right and other things wrong. A story with a fun plot concept but very poor prose, or where the author doesn't seem to have a grasp on the story they're telling, could often benefit from criticism pointing out the flaws and places it could be improved. Personally, I'm always open to criticism - I might disregard some of it if I disagree, but I like to hear it anyways because it often contains useful suggestions. 

This isn't an excuse to be a dick or to be harsh for the sake of being harsh, but I think there's a lot of room between 'Being an asshole and just hating on a story' and 'Never providing any negative criticism'. 

Point well taken. I am currently authoring my first DD story, and personally I am all ears for anyone’s criticisms, good, bad, or indifferent. Perhaps it’s a question of definitions: I do not consider constructive criticism, i.e. suggestions for improvement, to be negative per se. I suppose it depends somewhat on how it’s phrased.

However, it is a bit difficult to effectively counsel someone to improve his or her prose or overall grasp of the subject matter. Bad spelling and grammar are easier, but unless I were offering to edit this for someone, or their prose for that matter (I might do either or both given the right story), I would be unlikely to make comment upon it. Perhaps one or two specific details if the author’s meaning is unclear or might be misunderstood by some readers. A good story can carry me past many technical details of this sort...

[Ohmo]

Perhaps using more specific terms would be helpful?

Criticism and critique have similar roots and meanings (to judge), but what they imply are worlds apart.  A criticism is, primarily, a negative judgement and often includes commentary on the author of the piece being criticized.   Critique, on the other hand, is still a judgement, but includes positive as well as negative comments - i.e. "The story contains too many commas for a casual reader (-), but most of them boost clarity of the piece (+)."

If you've ever worked through a creative writing class, a journalism course, or any other formal classwork for just about any art form, you probably never want to see/hear another critique of your work, but they really can be helpful for any level of experience.

Public critique(s) of a story:

1. Can help the writer improve it and point out stumbling blocks, best avoided, to other authors.
2. Should avoid personal pronouns. 
3. Critique the story and not the author.
4. Do not use comments similar to, "...check out the AP Style Guide..." or other reference material - see #3. & #5.
5. When pointing out technical errors/problems, it is always good to supply a reference (i.e. ...only one space should be between sentences and after colons... The Chicago Manual of Style para. 2.9) This is one of my greatest failings because it was how I was taught to write in 7th & 8th grades by Miss Kerstetter.
6. Not all references agree one with another, but give what you have or know - one never knows what might help someone else.
7. Don't nitpick - that is what Beta readers and editors are for.
8. Don't repeat what someone else said.

 

 

 

 

[ABDLinTX]

On 10/23/2018 at 11:46 AM, Elfy said:

This is a post to make something clear to both writers and people commenting on stories since an incident a while ago muddied the waters and I think it should be cleared up:

Constructive criticism of stories is fine.

A while ago I took the side of a writer who felt their stories were being unfairly criticised. I have since regretted that position and want to make it clear that criticising stories is fine as long as it is constructive.

Please keep in mind that not everyone is here to try and write the best story ever and many will have far from the best spelling or grammar. Picking apart each and every mistake might be overkill but giving general advice is fine.

If someone says they don't want to have critical comments please respect their wishes so as to avoid conflict.

Finally, "This sux lol" is not constructive criticism...

Couldn’t agree more with you - but the one real bummer is when a writer produces a really promising storyline (which, sadly, is rare these days) but their grammar is severely lacking (sadly common). The amount of run-on sentences and absent commas I see is discouraging. 
 

In instances like these, I’ll reach out and attempt a conversation. I commend them on their storyline/originality. I also gauge whether they even want to achieve any degree of quality beyond what they’ve already created. It’s only then that I will politely offer to proof their material. 
 

Always ends the same. No response or a simple, “Thanks” (but no thanks). 
 

Thus, constructive criticism is great for those that want it. So I commend you on that, Elfy. 

[diaperme2017]

On 10/25/2018 at 1:04 PM, Eagle0769 said:

Hi Elfi,

I agree with you this happened to me a number of times

that's why I stopped submitting and writing stories. 

We are not professional writers we just write and submit

stories to share.

I would love to submit my stories but the fear of my

stories being torn apart.

You on the other hand must be a 

professional writer because your writing

is great. Please keep sharing with us.

Ur stories are the best. 

[Ishigreensa]

On 5/27/2021 at 3:03 AM, Ohmo said:

When pointing out technical errors/problems, it is always good to supply a reference (i.e. ...only one space should be between sentences and after colons... The Chicago Manual of Style para. 2.9) This is one of my greatest failings because it was how I was taught to write in 7th & 8th grades by Miss Kerstetter.

This may have actually changed in the recent years.  When I was in school, when you typed a period to end a sentence, it was two spaces and if used to abbreviate, only, then it was 1 space as well as with a comma.  A semicolon was always a single space because technically, you normally used a conjuntion like however which means it really was just one sentence (two made into one like when you use and between sentences.  You used to need a comma before and if it was separating sentences but not if separating two things... if it became a list, three or more, then you had to have a comma.  However, the comma rule was changing while I was in Junior high, high and into college, so that one was not really nailed down, however, people rarely marked it wrong if you included the comma.  A colon would depend on the purpose.  When following a list, normally one space because it was connected to he list.  When setting off a topic of subjects, it was put on its own line.  So, yeah, punctuation over the years has actually changed, and I still use two spaces when I end sentences, and I'm not going to change.  I've tried, but the one just makes it look too blocky and chunky to me, where as two, and I can clearly see the sentences are two different parts of the same thought.