Ugh. Ponychan · 8:00pm Jul 7th, 2012
Man, my latest story just got RIPPED APART by the reviewers on Ponychan. That is probably for the best, though. I like my story, and while some of their criticism is quite valid, quite a bit of it shows that they don't understand storytelling.
I mean, I got knocked because Fluttershy gave somepony a mischievous poke. Their response: Fluttershy is not mischievous!
So, I guess in every day of her life, in every living second, Fluttershy is exactly who you see on screen. She's never so comfortable with her friends that she gets a little wacky.
Or when I have Rarity full of dispair in the first chapter, I get: This is not how Rarity acts. She is full of class. This is completely out of character.
Well, the whole point is that she is so upset that she is NOT ACTING LIKE HERSELF! That's why everypony is worried! Geez!
I'm not a great writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to say that things like this make it almost impossible to care about getting better. On the other hand, it is freeing. I had the goal of getting on EQD one day, but I can see that we just don't have the same tastes.
I remember reading a story there about how Silver Spoon was reflecting on how she really wanted to be nice to the CMC but Diamond Tiara always made her be mean to them, and I kept thinking, "Man, this story blows."
If that can get on, but my story both have been rejected, it means I just really think about things differently. This is fine. Ponychan and EQD have their particular tastes and I have mine. Now I'm sure where we stand.
So now I feel free to write the way that I write and not get hung up trying to meet their rather nebulous standards. I'd rather write an interesting, grammatically flawed story than a cookie-cutter, by the books boring story. If even one other person likes my story, I'm very happy, but the point is that I have to like my story. Trying to follow their rules makes me dislike my own stuff. I'm happy to have that behind me.
So what I'm trying to say, fellow writers, is this. Just write what is in your head and so that you love your story. You can't please everyone, and the more stories that people read, the harder it is to please them. You can give a food critic the state's best hamburger, but he probably won't be impressed because he's had a trillion others.
My stories are more like those from your really good cook of a neighbor. I know mine aren't world class, but they have a certain quality, and I love them because they are all mine.
Any review that doles out commands more than it posits questions is a bad review...that is of course only if the story is incomplete.
218092 Yeah, mine is incomplete. I hate to feel this way, but I felt that it was really elitist. I'm sure everyone who gets a bad review feels like the review is elitist and doesn't understand them, but it is undeniably how I felt about a lot of what they had to say.
Their advice at the end was basically to trash the whole thing and re-write all of it. That is just borderline trolling to me. Maybe it is a bad story, and when I post it here, I'll see people hating it. If so, then I'll have some thinking to do. But quality-wise, I think it's pretty close to my other story that was well-received here. I guess we will have to see.
I personally am with you my friend. I've never submitted a story to Equestria Daily, and probably won't even submit any of my one shots I have juggling in my head, because their system of submitting is not only dishearteningly elitist, to any novice writer it looks like a sure death trap to their story. Don't get me wrong, it works for them, and they usually give out top notch stories. But their system also leaves many a great author and his story in the dust, because they felt they didn't like either one or a few aspects of his story.
It's awesome you now know where you stand with yourself, mate. More than some of us can do.
And, also, I don't know HOW they thought Rarity was out of character from what I pre-read. That seems the typical reaction I'd expect of her with CFIS.
218157 How the hell do you use Ponychan, anyways?...
218197 It's really weird to use. You have to open up their list of review threads. There is a link at the beginning of the /fic section. Then pick a thread. Each thread has its own rules, so you have to read them and abide by their standard. Then you have to submit your story in whatever way they have requested in their rules. Some threads open and close their queue when they get too busy, so you have to check and see of the queues are open. Usually this means making a request that has the name, genres, synopsis, word count, etc. They often request that you attach your EQD rejection letter if you have one. The Training Day thread has an additional form to fill out. Then they put you in a queue and you wait until your time comes. It can take a week or more if it's a busy thread.
218192 I don't know how they thought Rarity was so off either. I mean, she's not acting like her normal self, but she's not wildly off of her normal behavior either.
I won't pretend that part of me isn't pretty hurt by the review, but I am also happy about it. I know where to put my effort now.
I think a lot of times reviewers can't see the forest for the trees. They get really caught up in protocol and standards. So much so that they begin to lose the ability to see a good deviation from a bad one. I mean, I got a small tirade for making a their/there/they're mistake. Like, a tirade explaining the differences to me. As if I don't know the difference. But that's the mindset that the reviewers get into. It couldn't possibly be a typo that I missed. I must just be a troglodyte. I also got a tirade about a misplaced comma.
If a spelling error or grammatical mistake is enough to make you want to put a story down, I think it's time to stop reviewing. You are too jaded. There is a tipping point, of course. I don't want to read a story where every other word is misspelled or there are no indents, but a mistake here and there is not a reason to get upset.
What it really makes me want to do is open up a fic site that is more brony in nature. I love the brony crowd, but I have found many in the literary subset to be pretty obnoxious. I'd love to see a site where people could post their fics up in categories. Something like 'Novice - Please be Gentle' and 'Novice - Let Me Have It'. A place where you could put up a story and say "Ignore the grammar, how is my story" or the exact opposite. Way too often I see authors here and elsewhere that are clearly first time writers who sound like they are about 12 years old getting totally raked across the coals and it makes me mad.
218287
i.imgur.com/zcxTg.png
218317 Yeah, I'm pretty relieved that I'm not planning to post there again. It's a big pain in the ass.
You'll still be here with us, right?... Right?.. RIGHT?!!?
218405 Oh, yeah. More so, in fact. I have two chapters ready to go for you guys whenever my artist gets the picture done for the story. This one is going to be much longer. Six chapters or so, and that will be something like 14,000 to 18,000 words.
218311 Exactly. That is what I think exactly of what the reviewers seem like from all I've heard of them. And yea, that website does sound like a good idea, especially for novice writers. It would be sweet if it would have a section of reviewers, but instead of going after people about how their story is bad because of how they missed one comma or period, or deciding if a story should be posted or not, they were instead merely writers with a bit more experience and were simply wanting to pass off tips, give their thoughts, and teach the novice's different ways of writing the story. So, generally like a bunch of tutors, or councilors.
If only I knew how to make a free website, I'd do it right here and now. Perhaps I should look into a tutorial...
218518 I have some web developer friends. I think I will ask around and see about the process.
218567 That'd be amazing!
Yay! We're starting a movement!