wordage and more review musing
May. 12th, 2006 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julesjonesYesterday's word count - about 700 words added to the travel tale's file (some of which was plot outline for later sections), and 1200 words on the shapeshifter m/m/m.
Reorganised the book review section on my website yesterday, and added some of my Amazon reviews for books read in February and March (also posted to my Livejournal). Added my essay on the writing of reviews to the essays section on the site (first posted to my LiveJournal last week).
More musings on writing book reviews... Barbarienne was asking recently why people write Amazon reviews that start with plot summaries (or consist entirely of same) when the publisher's plot summary is right there on the Amazon page. Guilty as charged, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why at the time. My reviews tend to be constructed as follows: thumbnail plot summary, whether I liked it or not, why I did, why other people might have a different view to mine, whether you need to read something else first. I'm quite happy to leave the plot summary in, as it's useful for when I copy the review to other websites, but why was I constructing my reviews that way in the first place? The answer's obvious after writing my recent rant. It's because I started with fanfic zine reviews, where quite often the plot summary was the most important part of the review for many readers. It might have been the only information available about what was actually in the zine. Even where flyers were available, for anthology zines they often mentioned only the headline stories by the big name writers.
And there's discussion elsewhere about whether fanfic recs should mention any reservations about the story. This is back to the problem of it being possible to like a story while recognising that it is not perfect in every way. Unfortunately there's also an attitude in some quarters that you should not hurt the author's feelings by criticising fanfic in any way at all, which leaves the would-be reccer of a 7/10 story in something of a quandary - do you a) rec it without mentioning your reservations, allowing others to waste their time reading a story with flaws that they have a different tolerance level for (and leaving *you* open to comments about your reliability as a reccer); b) rec it with reservations, and cause distress to the author; c) not rec it at all, and thus not bring the story to the attention of those who would have happily enjoyed it even with its flaws.
It's a tricky one, because when all's said and done fanfic is a hobby. People do it for fun, and it hurts when it's not appreciated. I certainly don't like having people pick holes in my fiction, fan or pro. But by putting your fanfic on the net in an unlocked file, you are inviting other people to read it. That costs them time, even if they don't have to pay actual money. I don't think it's fair to ask other people to spend their time reading your work, and then stroke your ego even if your work was in fact a waste of that time. It's _understandable_, but it's not fair, and the handing out of unqualified praise regardless of actual merit is behaviour more appropriate to kindergarten teachers and doting parents. If I waste my time reading enough of a story to ascertain that its author did not see the need for spellchecker, beta-readers, plot, or characters that are recognisable to me, that's time I could have spent on reading on something written by an author who has a little more respect for me as a reader. It's time I'll never get back. That time might be more valuable to me than money...
Reorganised the book review section on my website yesterday, and added some of my Amazon reviews for books read in February and March (also posted to my Livejournal). Added my essay on the writing of reviews to the essays section on the site (first posted to my LiveJournal last week).
More musings on writing book reviews... Barbarienne was asking recently why people write Amazon reviews that start with plot summaries (or consist entirely of same) when the publisher's plot summary is right there on the Amazon page. Guilty as charged, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why at the time. My reviews tend to be constructed as follows: thumbnail plot summary, whether I liked it or not, why I did, why other people might have a different view to mine, whether you need to read something else first. I'm quite happy to leave the plot summary in, as it's useful for when I copy the review to other websites, but why was I constructing my reviews that way in the first place? The answer's obvious after writing my recent rant. It's because I started with fanfic zine reviews, where quite often the plot summary was the most important part of the review for many readers. It might have been the only information available about what was actually in the zine. Even where flyers were available, for anthology zines they often mentioned only the headline stories by the big name writers.
And there's discussion elsewhere about whether fanfic recs should mention any reservations about the story. This is back to the problem of it being possible to like a story while recognising that it is not perfect in every way. Unfortunately there's also an attitude in some quarters that you should not hurt the author's feelings by criticising fanfic in any way at all, which leaves the would-be reccer of a 7/10 story in something of a quandary - do you a) rec it without mentioning your reservations, allowing others to waste their time reading a story with flaws that they have a different tolerance level for (and leaving *you* open to comments about your reliability as a reccer); b) rec it with reservations, and cause distress to the author; c) not rec it at all, and thus not bring the story to the attention of those who would have happily enjoyed it even with its flaws.
It's a tricky one, because when all's said and done fanfic is a hobby. People do it for fun, and it hurts when it's not appreciated. I certainly don't like having people pick holes in my fiction, fan or pro. But by putting your fanfic on the net in an unlocked file, you are inviting other people to read it. That costs them time, even if they don't have to pay actual money. I don't think it's fair to ask other people to spend their time reading your work, and then stroke your ego even if your work was in fact a waste of that time. It's _understandable_, but it's not fair, and the handing out of unqualified praise regardless of actual merit is behaviour more appropriate to kindergarten teachers and doting parents. If I waste my time reading enough of a story to ascertain that its author did not see the need for spellchecker, beta-readers, plot, or characters that are recognisable to me, that's time I could have spent on reading on something written by an author who has a little more respect for me as a reader. It's time I'll never get back. That time might be more valuable to me than money...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-12 12:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-12 01:30 pm (UTC)I can understand that with the occasional story knocked out quickly because it was fun and it's not really worth the effort of polishing it. But I have no sympathy for those who make a career out of doing this, while complaining if anyone dares to say that the story could have done with more work.
As I think a couple of people mentioned in the thread elsewhere that prompted my post, one of the knock-on effects of this sort of behaviour is that it becomes ever more difficult for those who do want constructive criticism to find it. Too many of those who used to give crit have been burned by people who said that they wanted real crit, and then got upset when they received it. The other thing is that praise becomes meaningless--how can I value "I loved your story" from someone who says that about *any* story, no matter how poor it is?
Eh. Must go and take some anti-snark pills...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-13 06:30 am (UTC)LOL -
great review pages!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-13 08:50 am (UTC)And thank you. :-)