Story Review Metareview: The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Petty · 11:05am Nov 2nd, 2015
Sometimes I like reading story reviews. Story reviews are great, you get to see what other people think about a story they've read. Sometimes a glowing review might prompt you to find a story and start reading it. It'll pique your curiosity and you want to go out and trial that story. When you see a story reviewer say:
You're compelled to find out why they said that.
Trouble is, story reviews give you preconceptions.
It's not a bad thing. Preconceptions can be good. Sometimes they're founded, they prevent you from wasting your time by aligning experiences with the current decision-making at hand. But are they good for stories? When I read story reviews, a lot of them tend to be feeling with a lot of touch and go. Some are ranked with a... shall we say fairly fair scale. They have a method to them.
Often, though, there's inevitably something that the reviewer wants to point out, something that may seem inconsequential, but it ends up being a deal-breaker for them. I'm inevitably talking about:
You're damn right, Cadance. Them Jimmies. Them rustled jimmies. incorrect Capitalisation,, poor punctuation; bad grammar.
You know, those kinds of things. The majority of which are valid. But! Oh man this is going to sound pathetic. Stories are hard, man. Grammar could be improved, prose can be tightened, plot could be more logical, character could be more... in character. It's all some delicate balancing act that only few people (least of which include me) could ever hope to master. The thing about reviews is that authors take them to heart. They really try and break it down. They want to make amends.
But here's the catch. How do you tell if criticism is valid?
The short answer is, as an author, it's not easy. It's hard to separate bias from objectivity, fact from opinion, yadda yadda. When you're putting yourself under the spotlight, there's an urge to appease, because why make it public in the first place if not to please?
I guess what makes me conflicted about reviews is the level of bias that needs to be separated. This isn't about asking reviewers and demanding they change, this is about recognising that as an author, there's a limitation to your perceptions and preconceptions. You can't always tell if a criticism of your story is valid or not, you just have to judge for yourself. I guess that's what frustrates me. I like a science, a methodology behind everything, but with this one issue I always feel like I'm shooting in the dark.
...and I think, I care a lot about what readers think.
Oh well, thanks for reading my nonsense. I wonder if any of you have the same experience?
I see this plight all the time with authors. And I feel the primary one to please has to be yourself. Whether it's the Mona Lisa, or a macaroni doodle of cat, you gotta own it for yourself first and foremost.
As for the objectivity vs bias thing, you can't really separate that well when the boundaries are so loosely defined. There is no single definition of in-character either especially. When I mean definition I mean no single person's character can be clearly enough defined to be something you consistently write.
But my idea was you take all the criticisms, put them in a strawpoll, and allow people to tick off all the ones they agree with, and see what the popular (if cheatable) opinions are.
If we wanted a more 'objective' way to see what is a single person bias versus an issue you might want to look into.
3515504 Exactly! I do create fics for myself. Unfortunately, I'm a really shallow person and I derive a ton of pleasure at seeing someone comment on or like my work. It's what drives me to update or write at all sometimes. I think that could steer me in the wrong direction as an author, because it makes me out as a popular writer rather than someone who genuinely conceives a unique piece of writing. Then again, when I start something, it's usually because I have a funny idea in my head, and I really want to share it!
I guess the conflict comes when I invest a good portion of myself in my writing. No matter how little the dislike bar is, it always feels just as bad to see it climb up by 1 than 10. I'm... kind of petty like that.
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Not only that, but also, if you have something of length to write you could get stopped before you had a chance to explore. And perhaps the entire story is more interesting than the single chapters they critique. Basically if you are stopped or abort the project too soon, you might miss out on potential positive feedback of the overall arc or the feeling of having something larger as a notch on your belt.
Don't stop something you believe in, or want to put out there, before it's done! And even when it is done, if it doesn't get all the praise you want, you should at least take what you do get to heart. If a single person liked your story, that made someone happier than if you didn't at all.
That's my soapbox for the day
3517677 Right on point. I do feel a little conflicted, but I do't think there's an easy solution to this, it's just one of the gripes that I deal with as an author. Get a comment that holds an opinion, but not know until there's a smattering of responses whether it is valid. When you get a pre-reader or an editor it's a little better since they're generally out for the technical aspects of writing, which can't really be quibbled over.
But then there's the polarised comments. When people dislike or like some stylistic or plot-focused part of your story. If you get a 75:25 split of perspective (or anything between that and even), you start doubting whether you've made the right choice at all.
On the issue of whether or not a piece of criticism is valid: How do you feel about someone who criticizes your stuff, and then vanishes like a caped thief in the night, ignoring your response, no matter how graceful it is?
3563879 I'd feel awful, but they're not under any obligation to reply. I'd still feel bad though.