Reviewing stories and sockpuppets
Jul. 16th, 2006 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_kareliaI've written 600 words today, so don't give me glares, okay?
Lately, whenever I've felt the need to procrastinate and couldn't find a story to get sucked into, I took to reading reviews of stories by new authors. And I noticed that those who leave a not so positive review are usually the ones who don't have stories on either Ashwinder or The Petulant Poetess. And I'm not talking about constructive criticism here, either. I mean basically bitch arse highly subjective opinions often written in a rather patronising way. Something like "The subject matter is far too complex for a one-shot, you really need to elaborate on the backstory" or "I really don't like song fics" or "This is way too angsty!" I mean, never mind that I thought the first accusation was utterly ridiculous, the second story stated right at the beginning that the inspiration for the story came from a song, and the third one was in the category of angst. What really gets me is that some people seem to wait for a new author and then they lash out.
I know that one of this kind of reviewers has been known to be the bane of some archive admins. Are they just vindictive? As in "Well if I can't get into the archive, I'll simply foulmouth anyone who can" kind of thing. It's a well enough known fact that fanfic authors and new authors don't have the linguistic freedom that a lot of authors do. We don't get away with omitting a comma just to keep the flow going. We don't get away with spelling 'headmaster' once uncapsed and the next time capsed. With a good beta, we don't even get away with screwing up the timeline of our stories. We are required to fanatically follow the rules of the English language, and I'm not even talking about those archives who beta-read instead of simply admin'ing a story before validating it. It is a generally accepted standard that if your story does not follow the general rules of the English language it won't be validated. And I think that's a good thing. For me at least, it taught me one hell of a lot about writing. Just reading stories on the afore-mentioned archives has improved my vocabulary, writing, grammar, punctuation, you name it. Very often these days, I find that books don't do that any more. Have you read a fiction lately? How many typos, non-sentences, lacking commas, superfluous commas have you found? I do not believe in rules in general. I do believe in communication, though. And in order to be able to communicate, we all need to agree on a form of communication that is universally comprehended. Because otherwise, that communication goes down the route of the panda who eats, shots, and leaves. And that would be a damn shame.
Another related issue that comes to mind is the sockpuppet in archives. I read one author's profile who actually proclaimed that she has a different ID that she uses to review for whatever reason. Now, I can't quite understand it because to me, it would be way too much effort and a waste of time if I have to keep switching my ID according to whether I read or submit, but that's me. And besides, I have no reason to hide my real identity because I'm not a nasty person, I'm merely blunt. But it left me wondering if it's a common trend to have another ID under which one leaves reviews so if one leaves a not so benign review it won't backfire. Or whatever other reason.
Thoughts?
Lately, whenever I've felt the need to procrastinate and couldn't find a story to get sucked into, I took to reading reviews of stories by new authors. And I noticed that those who leave a not so positive review are usually the ones who don't have stories on either Ashwinder or The Petulant Poetess. And I'm not talking about constructive criticism here, either. I mean basically bitch arse highly subjective opinions often written in a rather patronising way. Something like "The subject matter is far too complex for a one-shot, you really need to elaborate on the backstory" or "I really don't like song fics" or "This is way too angsty!" I mean, never mind that I thought the first accusation was utterly ridiculous, the second story stated right at the beginning that the inspiration for the story came from a song, and the third one was in the category of angst. What really gets me is that some people seem to wait for a new author and then they lash out.
I know that one of this kind of reviewers has been known to be the bane of some archive admins. Are they just vindictive? As in "Well if I can't get into the archive, I'll simply foulmouth anyone who can" kind of thing. It's a well enough known fact that fanfic authors and new authors don't have the linguistic freedom that a lot of authors do. We don't get away with omitting a comma just to keep the flow going. We don't get away with spelling 'headmaster' once uncapsed and the next time capsed. With a good beta, we don't even get away with screwing up the timeline of our stories. We are required to fanatically follow the rules of the English language, and I'm not even talking about those archives who beta-read instead of simply admin'ing a story before validating it. It is a generally accepted standard that if your story does not follow the general rules of the English language it won't be validated. And I think that's a good thing. For me at least, it taught me one hell of a lot about writing. Just reading stories on the afore-mentioned archives has improved my vocabulary, writing, grammar, punctuation, you name it. Very often these days, I find that books don't do that any more. Have you read a fiction lately? How many typos, non-sentences, lacking commas, superfluous commas have you found? I do not believe in rules in general. I do believe in communication, though. And in order to be able to communicate, we all need to agree on a form of communication that is universally comprehended. Because otherwise, that communication goes down the route of the panda who eats, shots, and leaves. And that would be a damn shame.
Another related issue that comes to mind is the sockpuppet in archives. I read one author's profile who actually proclaimed that she has a different ID that she uses to review for whatever reason. Now, I can't quite understand it because to me, it would be way too much effort and a waste of time if I have to keep switching my ID according to whether I read or submit, but that's me. And besides, I have no reason to hide my real identity because I'm not a nasty person, I'm merely blunt. But it left me wondering if it's a common trend to have another ID under which one leaves reviews so if one leaves a not so benign review it won't backfire. Or whatever other reason.
Thoughts?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-16 06:50 pm (UTC)The same for me. Two years ago, I barely spoke English (I did use online translator to read a story (at least to help me) my reviews were what I read before (just a copy) (eg lovely story; keep up the good work etc). I really hated English in high school, at university, I only chose German and so on. Then many years later, I had problems. Now, I'm better, I even write drabbles from time to time, my English is better (I do not use online translators anymore *giggles* I read quickly books and fanfictions in English etc. It's really nice! And I also made great friends here!
. I read one author's profile who actually proclaimed that she has a different ID that she uses to review for whatever reason.
I know that acadia elle has a different ID. I don't know why, when I found out, I thought it was ridiculous. Especially the way she explains her joice in her profile (ash).
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-16 07:10 pm (UTC)Your English has grown in leaps and bounds if you only started two years ago! I didn't exactly hate English in high school, I just got bored with a very boring teacher. So I ended up moving to England to learn it, LOL. I have also made great friends here, and I'm really happy about that. Which is probably why I get so annoyed when I see a pattern of annoyance, such as the infamous fandom wanks, and the same names of reviewers when it comes to poor reviews. *sigh*
*nods* There might be more than one on Ash. I don't remember whose profile I looked at who said that, it might have been the same or maybe a different one. I just couldn't understand it. I love the 'permanent log-in' feature on both Ash and TPP, and I couldn't ever be bothered to log out and then log in under a different name, then log out again and log in again *yawn*. I could write at least 20 words during that time, that's a fifth of a grangersnape100 drabble, you know... LOL
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-16 08:23 pm (UTC)Well, I did study English for 8 years in school, so I wasn't completely a newbie, I just hated the language because I had a bad trip in England (weird host family and such when I was 13, then the next 5 years weren't really productive). I was just barely average with 6 hours of English per week:)
Anyway, my English has never been that good, even when I was in school.
As for fics, well, it's so ridiculous. This author said she did review with another nickname so people wouldn't fee obliged to review her stories *shakes head*
I could write at least 20 words during that time, that's a fifth of a grangersnape100 drabble, you know... LOL
*smile* maybe, but sometimes it's not easy to get ideas. This week's challenge is really hard (7 sins, one for each drabbles).
Though, I'm the new spy, I think Droxy doesn't like it, but oh well. It's more fun to be able to write angsty stuff from time to time.