Question Hug a writer topic.

Recently I have seen some rather negative comments directed at several of our wonderful writers, and I think it is very unfair.
These are people that are taking up their precious time to create for us, criticism and sniping them is uncalled for. Remember, they are not getting paid for this, on he contrary, they are paying FOR the sustaining of the Whateley site. If you don't like the stories or characters, please don't be dickish about it. I know the name that one of them is using, seeing as I read many stories from them on BigCloset (assuming it's the same person, and not just a name-grabber).

As an author, I thought that you would be one of the LAST people to criticize. If we all tore into your works, how would you feel? This negativity drove some of the writers away, causing the loss of first person stories from several of the Kimba members. New writers have stepped up, new characters have filled the spotlight. We might not like every storyline or character, but PLEASE remember to be grateful. Acknowledge that these people take pride in their creations, and are creating for themselves AND FOR US.

I know Elrod could say, "fsk it", and concentrate on rehab, or E.E. could put down the scripts and pick up a game controller. Don't harass these generous people that are giving us so much.

You might not like everything they've done, (I know Chaka's personality grates on me like nails on a blackboard sometimes), but don't be snippy or rude or mean.

Hugs and courtesy paper fans to all the writers and behind the scenes people that give us this wonderful sandbox to play in. So stop pooping in it.

Thank you! I agree whole-heartedly.

I will add this point: while there is such a thing as constructive criticism, it does not need to be, and usually shouldn't be, confrontational. I know how hard it is to say something that points out flaws without coming across as angry or belittling, but it is important to at least try to express things in a positive, or at least helpful, light.

Drill Sargent Nasty can get away with being harsh, demanding and cruel, but only because getting the tactics and procedures right is a matter of life and death, and because those treated to it don't have a choice. Neither of these is true here.

The Gordon Ramsay approach only really works if the person involved signed up for some Tough Love and is on-board with getting called a fucking donkey as a way of fixing a problem or improving their skills; an unwilling victim of 'brutal honesty' (or anyone hit with 'brutal honesty' that is really just an excuse for brutality) will just walk away, and rightly so.

And apparently, I just demonstrated here how careful that balance needs to be, as that itself was far more confrontational than it ought to have been. Sorry.

Having gotten that out of my system, I want to thank all of you, and especially J.G. for his wonderful (if rather sadistic) work on the Outcasts.

Have to agree. There are story styles I'm not fond of, and situations I'd rather see sometimes. But I never forget that the story is someone's baby and they are doing this for no other reason than to bring the story in their head out and present it to the public.

I have seen some truly awful trash produced by pro writers who have a contract for so many books in a series. They lost interest and to merely fulfill their obligations they just dashed off a book with no heart and no care for the characters they had created to that point. totally destroyed what had been a very enjoyable read up to then.

No matter what I'll always know that our authors here are passionate about what they are doing and their characters.

It makes a difference.

I would like to add to this with the point that some of the prevoius authors who quit did so due to the constant negative comments they were recieving on the previous forum.

I was not present for those instances (before my time) but they were brought up several times on,the old forum.

Rose Bunny wrote: As an author, I thought that you would be one of the LAST people to criticize. If we all tore into your works, how would you feel?

I know you're not addressing this to me, but as a published nonfiction author, how would I feel? As if I were back at work, except I wouldn't be getting paid for it. Trust me on this, there's only so much downward-rolling muck a person can take before something's got to give way.

Rose Bunny wrote: You might not like everything they've done, (I know Chaka's personality grates on me like nails on a blackboard sometimes), but don't be snippy or rude or mean.

To put it bluntly, you (as Readers) shouldn't like everything. Everything suiting one or two people just shows a lack of a true diversity in approaches, points of view, style, even personality. Nor should every reader (including the beleaguered author) be getting the same things from a given story... There was a recent story published with an off-by-one error that not even Schol-R-LEA made note of.

That said, one cannot effectively mandate that all criticism be constructive and kind. For one thing, if the readers had the writing skill to ensure that what they wrote will be taken as intended or even mean what was intended, wouldn't they be writers? The same can be said for emotional stability, biases, and reading comprehension. For another, even saints have bad days, so expecting authors not to bite back at what feels like an attack is a bit unrealistic. (I can almost guarantee that someone out there reads the above paragraph as a personal attack on Rose Bunny or themselves, whether they respond or not.)

[sarcasm]Null, you attacked me, now go say 10 Hail Marys, and go plaster my story topics with positive comments. [/sarcasm]

At least for one group of complaints, could we please keep in mind that Gen 2 is for the most part, in week 2?

Yeah, there's a lot of events I'm anticipating. Question is? Why am I anticipating them? Because the Gen 2 group has been building up a ton of foreshadowing (obvious and not obvious) for speculation, misleads, and callbacks.

I am fully prepared to fangirl like crazy when these start paying off. Given that I've seen what the Gen 2 authors do in their other universes, I know that they will come back.

And we'll probably miss them. Then JG, MageOhki, and Nagrij will tease the shit out of us for forgetting.

Constructive criticism should be, uhmm... constructive! Which is the opposite of destructive. Tearing down another's work is not just crass but is guaranteed to cause the author to ignore any valid points a reader may have to say. Instead of saying, 'This or that was wrong!' - try 'I think it could be better if...'...

The authors on this site are producing truly prodigious amounts of stories for readers to enjoy... for free! It's a labor of love and the joy of turning loose their imaginations. On the one hand they could take pride that they are generating passionate responses to their work (even negative ones), but they are sharing the products and pieces of themselves as put down in written form. They don't have to do this, and I have actually worried a bit at the pace some of the authors are maintaining with concern towards possible burn out. (Morpheus with their wonderful and plentiful stories being published faster than I have time to read them comes to mind...)

So to be anything other than thankful? Is ridiculously rude.

Thing is, the writing found here reaches professional levels. Not every piece, especially without professional editors who can examine every phrase and paragraph in excruciating detail, but enough have that I wonder if that could be part of any issues readers may have - an inflated sense of expectation. Hopefully that made sense...

I would offer a hug, but right now i need a shower first. Damn heatwave.

There should be a 'hug a writer' day, I'll be honest. There's not enough credit given at times.

I've told this story before, but before I came to this forum, I used to be on a forum RP group. And when I posted, I asked for feedback. I hoped I'd given the right impact, the right emotions with my entry. I can't always gauge everything from my side and to hear the excitement in someone talk about what you wrote is such a great feeling. It's part of why one would want to write, to share the dreams, visions and stories to people...

But all I got was criticism. Spelling mistakes, what I could edit... it's constructive, yes, but after a while, I never got any emotions back. It felt like all I could do was mistakes, and it was hard to stay motivated. Like the only thing keeping me going was my own imagination and determination.

Until I sneaked in secret into the chat, and caught a conversation on how powerful I could write. How good I could set a strong emotional moment, and that simply lifted me off the ground. Kept me going.

It's after looking back at that, that I told myself if I'm going to enjoy something, comment on it, share your enjoyment of it. Explain why, what you feel. Even if there are bad parts, explain why it reached that point. There might be a reason, a goal you might not notice, or maybe you're playing in the writer's hand. They might also miss something, and it'll help someone improve their tales, letting their potential out.

Just saying someone's story just sucks without an explanation... I can't help but feel that is just wasteful. The commentator just gets short-term gratification, and the writer gets an emotional wound that can last a long time, without knowing why. It can drive a writer to ignore comments, be abrasive or even stop writing forever. No one gets better, everyone feels bad, and it feels like it goes downhill.

If you want to criticize, ask 'why', and go from there. See how you feel, and see why you reached that point. Don't just give the end result, give the whole equation. It'll give the writer a better idea what needs fixing. They might respond and explain what's the plan. You might even learn a few things out of it yourself.

And if you do explain the bad, also show the good part. Praise is hard to give, I know, pointing it out, and why is even harder, but it makes a biiiiiiig difference. Nothing makes a writer feel better in those moments they get to share. And that way you may get more of what you love. Everyone wins.

So go for it. Hug a writer.

this topic makes me feel good. that's a good change from my ongoing discomfort-to-pain from shoulder surgery. got 4+ weeks in the sling (full time) so typing is hard. pain is fatiguing. meds are a bit mind-fogging, so i'm having some difficulty writing, even with dragon dictate. typing? tough to do one-handed. but i am making slow progress on a character's story that should be fun. lots of fun.

outdoor christmas decorations should only be put up under a court-order with a ton of safety equipment. that's what did me in. wife loves them, i hate them. guess who wins? this year, it'll be different. "no bleeping way am i going near that ladder. ain't doing surgery again"

so while it's frustrating, it's nice to see an outpouring of support for us authors.

Everyone be careful when hugging Elrod, the rest you can name them George, and hug them and pet them and squeeze them...

*gives Elrod a careful hug and a gift certificate to Buffalo Wild Wings to give to Kayda*

Rose Bunny wrote: *gives Elrod a careful hug and a gift certificate to Buffalo Wild Wings to give to Kayda*

Tatanka: Kayda.... why have you not taken me to this "Buffalo Wild Wings"? It seems like a place I could socialize with other Bovids like myself. I've never seen the ones with wings before.

Elrod, come December you tell your wife to hire Aquerna to hang the darn Christmas lights.

Found this little thing on Tumbrl, I just thought it was too fitting for this thread.

kunfetti.tumblr.com/post/163112252488/ca...how-to-love-a-writer

Polk Kitsune wrote: Found this little thing on Tumbrl ,

I assume that's a typo. However, I can certainly think of several instances where that would be an appropriate pejorative for Tumblr, or most other social media - regardless of their social, political, or interpersonal atmosphere, when the (un)favorable conditions arise, relatively calm groups can be quick to falling into mob mentality and set up out the social equivalent of revolutionary guillotines.

Schol-R-LEA wrote:

Polk Kitsune wrote: Found this little thing on Tumbrl ,

I assume that's a typo. However, I can certainly think of several instances where that would be an appropriate pejorative for Tumblr, or most other social media - regardless of their social, political, or interpersonal atmosphere, when the (un)favorable conditions arise, relatively calm groups can be quick to falling into mob mentality and set up out the social equivalent of revolutionary guillotines.

Including various forums indeed. But I'd rather not think on the negatives, thankyouverymuch. Neither the time, or the thread.

But indeed, that was a typo. Apologies.

Fair enough. Let's get back to appreciation of authors.

I think Elrod needs a hug. Everyone hug Elrod very carefully.

I'm sleeping after graveyard shift, here is my replacement hugger.

Domoviye wrote: I'm sleeping after graveyard shift, here is my replacement hugger.

at least it's not a face-hugger.

Is the Abominable Snowman named Lennie, by any chance?

You can never tell about something like that.

As good a place as any, and sort of fitting, as I'm in dire need of a significant in flux of hugs.

Or 'state of the author' would have worked.

Short summary, about 8 months ago I fell off a ladder while putting up Christmas lights. (Yeah, i HATE doing that, but we have to 'ensure domestic tranquility, etc, ad nauseum' so I did it. Injured shoulder - and specifically, tore my rotator cuff. Then on vacation at wife's family, I had to try to fasten wife's seat belt (in rear seat) from the front passenger seat, which really put torque and strain on my arm (she's a bit heavy because of her immuno-suppressants - more on that later), and did NOT help my shoulder. I wanted to scream, but managed to keep it to a muffled "ow!"

The radiologist couldn't see a tear in the MRI - which I had to do an open MRI because stress, age, and crap were causing anxiety and I'm getting claustrophobic as I get older. (Going in the tube was a near panic attack. Even the Open MRI machine was very, very dfficult to deal with!) So the surgeon went with cortisone shot and PT - which wasn't fun, and didn't work. two rounds of that, no improvement, so he said it's time to operate. I agreed, so at the end of June, I went under the knife.

The doc had some unpleasant things to say about the radiologist's skill, training, and probable ancestry - there was a clear and HUGE tear in the rotator cuff. So that got repaired, plus removing bone spurs, decompressing the clavicle, and removing the highly-inflamed bursa. Then on to rehab, which involves more PT.

The only good thing I have to say about PT is my therapist is a babe, and she's quite a charmer. (Should I mention she invited me to go out with her and her friends one weekend? Or to come to a 'small' housewarming party after she moved? Did I mention she's hot? as in HAWT!!! Alas, with the pain meds I'm taking and being loyal and faithful to my wife, I couldn't and wouldn't do anything - but it's still nice to feel that someone finds me sexy.) So I go to PT, come home in severe pain, take strong (STRONG1!!) pain meds, then can't write much because I'm sleepy from the meds. As such, my story output is languishing.

One item that doesn't help - with my wife's compromised immune system, she's paranoid about germs, which means hugs and other signs of affection are almost non-existent. (Maybe I DO need to have a fling with my phys therapist to get my backed-up sexual tension released!) So I'm frustrated, bordering on depression because of lack of affection at home, stupid shit at work, inability to write to release my tension, and near-constant pain for over 8 months.

On the plus side, I have a 'Shine story about 50% written and totally outlined, and I have a surprise Gen 2 story about halfway done. And I got something stuck in my brain that it wouldn't let go of until I wrote the outline - it's an indie, and it has potential to be hyper-steamy and quite surprising in the twists and turns. But - I need to have a clear head, which means pain has to be down, which means shoulder has to have healed, which it's not doing very quickly.

Hence the need for hugs.

Elrodw, if you were near me I'd offer you a drink, as it sounds like you need something stronger than a hug. Hopefully everything will work out for you, and I'll throw in a virtual hug at no extra charge.

elrodw wrote: As good a place as any....

*hug*

*Hug!*

*Hugs*

We're always here if you need a friendly ear.

Take your time, get well. It's a little presumptuous of me, but it sounds to me that your wife doesn't want to get risk getting sick and make your worry more.

And there's always the microscenes if you just want to write some nonsense to get the writing itch out of your system.

My arms won't fit through my coax cable, but you are valued.

This seems like it might be obvious and I don't know that it would offer sufficient protection, but on the off chance you haven't considered it, maybe a morale improvement could be made by keeping a stack of clean sheets around. When one of you wants to hug the other, you could take the top sheet and use it as a barrier through which to apply the hug, then toss it in the laundry when finished.