Additional points to Gazing into the Ocean of the Sky, and Public Apology · 10:49pm Oct 5th, 2016
…I did a great injustice to David Silver's fic, Gazing into the Ocean of the Sky. When I made my initial review of it, all I did was trash it, leading out with my clear dislike for it before I even started, counteracting each positive point I gave it with a negative, and just overall gave off the impression that this fic has no redemptive qualities, which I should not have done. There are qualities in this fic that led to it being popular, and I’m going to point them out now.
Fast updating
While many followers of a story have to wait anywhere from a week to a whole year to see another chapter of a story be released, David Silver was updating this story daily. He posted another chapter for Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky every day until he finished it September 28th, 2016. That is incredible and shows that David Silver possessed another quality for this fic that led to its success.
Vision
It was very clear from the beginning that David Silver knew exactly where he wanted this fic to go. There was never any kind of filler used to keep his followers satisfied while they waited for the plot to continue. Every chapter, every word, served a purpose in reaching an end goal. While I still stand by my original comments about the plot, the clear vision present in directing this story is an asset that puts it leagues ahead of many fics.
Clear Character Purpose
There were no wasted characters in this story. Every character served the story and the plot in some fashion. No characters were shoved aside, and everyone had a purpose. While many authors may be tempted to throw in a character just because it sounds cool, making sure that only those that are necessary are present is a sign of an author that knows how to utilize his characters.
My Public Apology
I did David Silver a great injustice with this fic. Sure, I’m not the most followed or popular of blogs (I only have five followers), but that doesn’t matter. When I reviewed his story, I should have done so with the intent of making sure that my viewers would see what made this fic good, and what the author could have done to make it better. Instead, my intent when writing my review was very clearly to just highlight what I felt made it imperfect.
I failed as a critic when I originally wrote this review. If there were no redemptive qualities to this fic like I gave the impression of, I should have just ignored it. The alternative point of this blog is to provide authors with a library of stories they can analyze to see what works well, and what can be done better. But with this review, all I did was trash it. I was basically hating on it.
Sure I stated what could have been done better, and I still do feel that everything I said about it was true, but that was all under the tone of spite and disdain. I should not have presented the story that way. I should have presented it in a way that encouraged the reader to view the fic both to enjoy the story as well as learn from its implementation.
So for all the injustice that I did in writing my original review of Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky, I apologize. I apologize to you, my viewers, for misleading and misguiding you about this story.
Most of all, however, I apologize to David Silver. I tarnished your good name with my review, and I tarnished your story unfairly. I’ll keep the review up as a reminder of not to do, but hope you can forgive me for treating your story, and you by extension, so poorly.
This is Little Voice saying “Read the best, write the best, and improve the rest”, and that no matter who you are, whether you’re famous among your group/fandom or just a lowly little voice, you are never exempt from offering an apology for your misdeeds.
So, here I am, 5 years in the future and I notice this. Apology accepted, glad you found some parts you liked.