So a friend of mine who's new to Lit...

[KeithD]

I suck at taking criticism. Why would I invite it?

I don't see where you should be guilted to do so by anyone else. This is a sharing site, with no one else having the right to dictate why you chose to post stories here or what your motivations or expectations for doing so should be. The understanding should be that if you want any degree of help with your writing, you'll ask for it, and if you don't, that's your business.

 

[windar]

My main beef with the AH (and by implication the Story Feedback forum) is how few authors try to use it to improve their writing. When I have a problem with something I write, I post it here to get help. Tad Overdon did that once. I can't really remember anyone else doing that.

I've only been here a few months and I can think of quite a few threads like that-somone searching for the right word for a situation, possible plot devices, grammar, British vs US usages. If those don't apply to your specific situation, you can certainly pose a question and I bet you'll get responses-whether they are helpful or not will depend.

IMO, "improving your writing" comes with practice. General tips on a board are of marginal utility. Even the Feedback section is limited. To truly dissect someone's writing requires an investment of time and effort that few are willing to commit to, and for good reason.

If there's a writer you are on good terms with, you can approach them and offer to trade stories. You may find someone who takes that bait, though I wouldn't count on that. And it's best done by PM/email, not in public.

 

[SimonDoom]

My main beef with the AH (and by implication the Story Feedback forum) is how few authors try to use it to improve their writing. When I have a problem with something I write, I post it here to get help. Tad Overdon did that once. I can't really remember anyone else doing that.

I don't entirely agree. I see many threads that address issues that help me think about my writing -- threads about word choice, point of view, characters, reference materials, etc.

I think the forum is of limited use for more specific and personal criticism of one's writing, for a number of reasons. One is that people are reluctant to open their work to criticism out of embarrassment. Another is that few of us have any professional experience. We're just amateurs. And the other reason is that we all do things differently. I find that much of the criticism I've seen of my work is often interesting, and often justified, but of little use to me because the critic is telling me to write a story I don't want to write. We all have different approaches.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My main beef with the AH (and by implication the Story Feedback forum) is how few authors try to use it to improve their writing. When I have a problem with something I write, I post it here to get help. Tad Overdon did that once. I can't really remember anyone else doing that.

In my case, I absorb the good counsel given here in the AH, and discard the bullshit; and it tucks itself into the back rooms of my mind.

But I don't think I've ever had a case of, "How do I do that?" such that I'd bother asking here. I can always figure it out for myself, and it's mostly subconscious anyway.

 

[SexualisPhantasia]

I grew up in the 80's and remember how Dungeons and Dragons was seen as Evil, and caused suicide. IN the later 80's it was the infamous Washington Wives led by Tipper Gore with the whole metal/rock music should be censored for a variety of reasons.

Matrix was blamed for Columbine. Let's go way back to the days of the "devil's lettuce" and everything else that has been blamed for 'corruption' or bad behavior.

Moralizing in the form of trying to say music, movies, video games etc has always been and always will be.

But its interesting its not universal. Has Thomas Harris ever been accused of promoting Cannibalism? They take the same topics, heavy music, porn in any form, and anything that doesn't conform to what at the end of the day does fall under out dated conservative type ideals hence my 50's comment because that's what it reminds me of.

If someone will commit an act because of a story or song or game, that person was on the edge of it already and maybe it was he final trigger, but isn't the reason.

If as you said hundreds of thousands of people can play a video game, and 10 people somehow thing its reality...then it's the game?

I write incest and have for years and I admit that when I get a particularly twisted feedback I have a moment of "am I fueling this?" then figure they obviously were like this way before me or any other author they read, and most of it(I hope) is smoke blowing.

All the things I mentioned fall under witch hunts, the mob loves them some self righteous judgement...just spend some time on Twitter for proof of that.

We're not responsible for the actions of people who read our stories, and on a personal level, I don't believe an American writing about Futanari is appropriating anything, that's just something the professionally outraged 'woke' concocted for something else to cry about.

To me, its a homage and have you looked into Japanese pop culture? They take everything from us. Are they appropriating? Of course not, they think its cool so they get into it. This was the case for everything before it became trendy to start yapping about how evil we all are.

We live in a free speech country(for now) which means we are free to write as we will, and people are free to think about it what they will. If someone reacts poorly to some story or song, or movie, that's too bad. That person needed help they either never sought or sadly weren't given and that's that.

There are also no rules about what you can write about in fiction (other than copyright type things or platform's personal rules) and there is far worse things written in mainstream fiction than what we come up with here.

We're not allowed to write underage here because the site worries who it might bring to the site. Asshat King wrote about a bunch of 12 year old boys running a train on a 12 year old girl.

Good times there, though, right?

Weinstein went to jail as he should have. Tarantino admits openly he knew what was happening, did nothing and kept letting women be raped. People flock to his movies.

Maybe when the morality police show conviction and go after everything uniformly I'll take it more seriously, until then they can piss off.

Very well said

 

[TadOverdon]

My main beef with the AH (and by implication the Story Feedback forum) is how few authors try to use it to improve their writing. When I have a problem with something I write, I post it here to get help. Tad Overdon did that once. I can't really remember anyone else doing that.

Necroing: I rethought and rewrote most of that material on the basis of the feedback I got here, and I still appreciate it all.

(returns to suspended animation)

 

[lilshymynx]

Necroing: I rethought and rewrote most of that material on the basis of the feedback I got here, and I still appreciate it all.

(returns to suspended animation)

The searing irony of that quote.