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The Difference Between Critiquing and Bullying
Sometimes, the difference from being seen as right or wrong is just merely how you present yourself. This is one thing I've learned in my four years of high school.
Now, I'd like to think I am someone who knows the difference between good and bad writing. After all, I have been critiquing my own stuff for quite awhile now. Then I have been critiquing television shows.
I think one problem a writer may have is picking favorites. It may be obvious what character is an author's favorite, or it may only be revealed by the author themselves in an interview. Sometimes, a writer's favorite can literally be based off of themselves.
Many, many flaws can be made with a self-insert.
This blog post was inspired by a very badly-written story I was sent earlier in the week. I don't particularly care for the author, (for many personal reasons including the fact the author is quite creepy and has sexually harassed me multiple times over the course of two years) but I really did not care for the story.
Comparing this story to, say, 50 Shades of Grey, would be like comparing Milli Vanilli to Beyonce. Guys, I'm serious.
If you want a basic summary of the story, it was about a girl (who was an obvious self-insert- even the writer said it himself that all the main characters were based off of him) who had lived a tragic life, and then a so-called 'nice' guy came in and married her. She got pregnant and got a side hoe (based off of me because yeah, that totally sounds like me) and apparently the story ends with everyone dying.
Oh yeah, then there's the fact that it's written in the first person point of view. In a diary format.
Then, we are supposed to buy that a 17-year old is going to write in
It was very obviously written by someone who doesn't know the inner workings of a teenage girl's mind, someone who doesn't even know how sex actually works, and someone who, at the end of the day, wants attention.
There were so many flaws in the execution of the story it made me want to gag.
There is also a difference between me saying that a very creepy guy wrote this entire story because nobody else on the Internet would make right hand material perfectly tailored towards himself, and saying that this guy should never, ever pick up a pen and paper again. Or... keyboard, in this situation. Whatever.
For many years, I think that there has been a large group of Too-Sensitive-To-Go-Outside types who have claimed that critics are nothing more than bullies who want to rip apart any happiness or pride the author has. Now, most of the time, my reply is, "Go eat a flower and shove it!" However, I guess after being flipped out on, I have to say one thing about this:
Most critics are people who are very passionate about art.
Crazy, right? We don't actually hate a majority of artists or writers. We might even be artists or writers ourselves! We are people, too! We have interests outside of hating on things. And most of the time, we aren't even hating on things.
We know how things can be improved on. Why? Because we've exposed ourselves to a lot of works over the years. We know how bad things can be better.
Yes, my own humor might be a bit dry while critiquing. Do not mistake this for bullying. When I say that The Riches had worse pacing than me during a 5k run, that is me saying something about the series. That is not me bullying. I am not insulting anyone on the cast or anyone who ever worked on the show.
I think many times when people are too focused on the bright stuff in the world, they immediately seem to clash with anyone with a darker side of thought.
Taking negativity towards your work personally? Then don't publish your work. End of.
I think that one of the most beautiful roads we can take ourselves on in our mind (not a shallow drug reference btw) is realizing that each and every person has a different train of thought than everyone else. We should be allowed to express our feelings about works without being flipped out on by someone who can't present themselves in a half-decent manner. It's good to react calmly, and if I have to tell you that, we have a problem. Because I am one of the most anxious people on the entire planet.
Too much conflict has happened over critics saying their honest opinion. I mean, come on, if we sugarcoated it, what fun would that be?
I think that a majority of society sees critics as nothing more than trolls looking to start flame wars. Really, we're not. Never do we ever watch a movie and think, "Oh, this thing on the movie sucks. Let me point it out so I get a bunch of people to laugh with me and then also some people who say they want to fight me."
Really, if I can't point out that the one guy's laugh in The Room is hilariously awful, then what's the point?
I get it. You spent hours on it. You spent months planning it. Then you wrote it for a year. That doesn't mean it couldn't be improved on. Everything can be improved on.
It can still be your metaphorical baby and still have flaws. Hell, real babies are like that, too. Just ask my grandmother about my alcoholic uncle's flaws.
I get so tired of hearing critiques about critics. It's so, so annoying. Imply I have home problems one more time, I dare you. That's totally not something I've ever heard before. 2edgy4u. I'm glad I take very little of what people say to me seriously, because if I did, I could never be a critic.
No, critics aren't critics because they have home problems. Just because you watched a Pixar movie when you were young that presented critics in a bad light doesn't mean that they are never helpful. It doesn't mean that we are bad people. It doesn't mean anything about our character if we're critics.
You may have your Gawker articles about how critics are worthless.
Just remember one of America's most beloved people is a critic, and you seem to love him.
(seriously go follow them)
you may have flowers on your side (and you may as well go eat them) but we have gordon f'ing ramsay.
Critics are just as useful as the editors who help you make your stories better. I mean, technically, your editor who tells you to cut out an entire chapter because it's not adding anything to the story is also a critic, but whatever.
If you want to blindly hate on critics, you can do so. Just don't pretend like you're a better person for it. Especially when you're reading something and you get so tired of reading because us critics aren't around to give pointers to writers or artists.
No, I am not a failed artist or writer. I just enjoy writing and divulging myself in the arts so much I made it a hobby. Which, in turn, helps me as an artist.
But hey, go around flipping out on every critic you see. It totally doesn't make you look crazy or anything.
It totally makes you look like a well-educated person on the subject, too. You know, "You're all bullies!" reads so much better compared to, "Personally, I think this work could have been improved on if you would have perhaps explained the characters' motivations better. It made no sense why the main character would cheat on her boyfriend after only a month even though we were told that she loved him to the moon and back. If you stuck to your original characterization and showed development, it would have made for a more interesting story that would not leave the readers either confused or getting the wrong impression from the character."
But hey, the next time you insert me into your smutty story, please make me more than the useless side hoe who touches that one guy who is totally not based off of you. I am much more than that, believe it or not. I know your mind is focused on trying to sleep with every single one of my friends if you can't sleep with me, but I promise your work would be much better if you just left that entire thing out and saved it for those late nights you're alone. Because with your attention-seeking personality, there's going to be a lot of those. Also, that doesn't taste like strawberries. Try again.
All criticism is constructive. Once a guy told me on DeviantART that my art sucked because I made it in MS Paint. I was upset. The difference is that I was 12. You know, not 18+.
And of course, I got over it. I still use MS Paint for my blog entries, though.
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