Responding to comments, even the volatile ones. · 1:49am Nov 13th, 2016
I've seen a lot of people that drop off in their writing after getting called out for something that doesn't make sense. The most recent one I can think of was Bucking Nonsense, and while I was one of those that called him out for a decision (One that made little sense and was given a hand-wave of 'it's magic'), I really don't know why people let it get to them. Instead of either trying for a rewrite or continuing on regardless, he just stopped writing that story altogether.
Arachne is not the first, nor do I anticipate him being the last to come after me and to attack me personally. Exposure has positives and negatives, in all facets of life.
The important thing is how you respond to these comments. I'm not going to stop writing these steaming piles that a user sees my stories as. I'm not going to just wander over to my bed, pull my blanket over my head, and cry about how unfair the world is to me. Don't let that stop you. Staad, you told me your story didn't get past admins for lack of Pone, will you stop writing? I hope not! In fact if the story doesn't have enough pone even in the finished topic, post it on Fanfiction. This isn't the only site, after all.
Finally I ask all of you, even you, Arachne, even if you're reading this with a sneer on your face, to post something. Anything. A one-shot, a slapstick-comedy, Discord meeting Dr Strange(saw the movie, as a fan of the multiverse theory I loved it), I'll even take OCxTwilight or OCxRainbow Dash romance stories. Do something, get an idea of what it takes to write. Expand your horizons beyond that of a critic, that of someone looking in. There will be hate, there is always hate. But you'll also find criticism. Criticism that will help you write better, that will make you a better writer. And there will be compliments, people who tell you what you did right and how they liked it. If you don't get any positives, try a different approach. Writing is like parenting. There are books, guides, people who can give you advice, but you're never really prepared for the reality until you put pencil to paper. You're never going to be ready until you take the plunge.
The entire time I was doing my best to counter these questions about my story, I was looking back at what I've done so far. Believability, possibilities for mistakes on the part of the MC(some of that is on purpose. Unlike you guys, Ted and Max don't have google). Don't let comments drag you down. Instead look at them and use them. Reread your stories, find out where people are tripping and ask if the fault is yours. If you don't see any issues, continue as you did. If you think you made a mistake, seek to fix it. Just remember one thing.
The laws of your story are bound only by the rules you implement. Even gravity and time pass at the behest of the author.
Well said and quite true. The world sucks and then you die. If you give in every time someone says something harsh then you won't go anywhere. I actually don't mind those "Steaming Piles" of a story though. You always have some odd angle that keeps me interested and thinking.
But, but...WIRITING IS HARDZ!
And I got VERY few comments, even one the one serious story I WANTED a bit of feedback on, so...
Drabbling, posting my drabbles, I seriously gained a lot of newfound respect for the people who can churn out 10-20k chapters, which I'm not adverse to, but never realized just how MUCH time goes into one.
Get back to changeling Twilight, peasant!
SORRY sorry, had to do it.
ct.fra.bz/ol/fz/sw/i57/2/1/8/frabz-TARGET-ACQUIRED-LASERS-CHARGING-8ce6f2.jpg
...I kid of course, I'm just glad he didn't give up entirely. That would've sucked.
It also should be noticed, there is a difference between constructive criticism and being an asshole.
Ignore the assholes, but listen to the critics. They're making suggestions because they care about your work and wish to see it improve.
It takes a certain amount of personal fortitude to take criticism. And a whole 'nother level to take a personal attack and return with honest advice.
The patience to read, let alone actually respond to, those massive walls of petulant, self-indulgent garbage that arachne was posting goes beyond any reasonable measure.
You have my respect for keeping cool replies through the whole thing. And my incredulity for actually giving a point by point rebuttal.
Honestly, If someone is being a troll or an ass... I add them to my ignore list (if possible) and ignore them. I guess the best you could do here is to just delete their comments until they stop posting.
4299998 I don't like deleting comments. I really don't. As of now though I've added him to my block list. I just don't need someone riling me up like that. If he was calm about it, fine, if he was even robotic about it, i'd let it go, but bringing out the dick-related insults puts you on the list. Grats to him, because he's the first person on the site I've blocked.
4299926 I was disappointed in I'm Going to Save/Destroy Equestria. it started out great but after the celebratory party he made everything anthro, saying the MC did it because 'Magic'. No, no I can't go along with that. I need more than hand-waving after you've done so much to make this a fairly serious fic. It was a wonderful story and I really wish he'd continue it though. It would be a shame to see that one wither away.
4299975 As I was going down his list there were several times I had to reread it just to make sure I was understanding what he was saying and even then I'm still not clear on all that he was angry about. He also never got back to me, before I blocked him, about how he would explain to someone who has no understanding of electricity or science just how muscles work. Signals back then were either smoke, fire, or flags. Maybe flashing a mirror from somewhere if you had one.
Heh, it's all a matter of how you look at negative comments. Having comfortably come to accept I can't please everybody (or even myself half the time cause I'm a derp) with my stories, I know I'll get negative responses on occasion. Knowing some people will voice their displeasure, some of them even hoping to drag you into an argument, I instead look at every comment as a window into how they perceive the story.
Sometimes I get a negative comment that's illogical or otherwise not really saying anything about the story beyond made up attempts to insult me, and there are times I get insightful critics like Wlam giving me a clear view of how much I farked up the beginning in one instance. Each gives me an opportunity to learn and it's well worth shrugging off the insults to put that tiny bit of new outside perspective to use.
It can also be fun to respond to the less intelligent troll attempts with vicious truth of their own illogical statements, while capping it off with things like a bunny with a pancake on it's head to return their silly. Maybe it's just me, but it can be quite entertaining to do that when someone thinks they can tell your story better than you can. News flash, nobody but the story author knows what they're actually writing, and how the unique rules work in full.
Most of the time, I try to share the same general encouragement and perspective with authors I see now and then struggling with unpleasant feedback. Often helps to remind someone of their own story rating, which is far more telling about people's reception of the story than any comment ever can. Any comment given is limited to a single person's opinion. A lot of green on your rating says a lot more like what you're doing than not, after all.
Is it possible to encourage you to write faster? Never enough of your work to go around.
Keep being Mr Awesome-With-Changelings.
4300134 I'm hoping he'll continue both that one, and 'The King Is Dead, Long Live The Emperor!'. They're both awesome fics, and it would be a shame to see them die.
4300134
The issue with Bucking Nonsense is that the comments section was only a part of it. Apparently he was being harassed via PM by people to change things and they were quite persistent and only grew moreso after he caved-in in the Tirek story and the Sombra one (even if the change in the Sombra one was so-so). On each of their stories, for every plot point that was a major twist. It eventually was too much.
I really enjoy your works though, and I hope to see more of them. They aren't perfect, but they ooze a certain style and plot direction that I'm not getting from other stories, so you have my admiration for your work.
Bucking Nonsense is a Writing God...who would dare oppose him?!!!! WHO
I ran into some nasty comments about my story when I first posted it up. Made me quit my writing for quite a while. But I eventually said to screw the haters and went about writing my FIM Novel. It now has 75k words and is completed. Now I'm working on my second novel and people love both of my story's.
My point is this don't give up because of some dip stick with there hooves shoved up there plot. If you have to stop and take a look at your work. I did and I'm glad. My first story sucked. Now it's exactly the story I want to write.
Take the constructive criticism for what it is and discard the haters, naysayers, and trolls. Just push on and keep on going. You just might surprise not only yourself but everyone else as well.
Well said my friend, well said.
I concur with your point. When I'm writing though, I'm my own worst enemy. I've been working on a fic for about two years and have yet to be satisfied with chapter one and am constantly rewriting. I have another that is about halfway through chapter two and I have hit a slow patch.(I'm looking for proof/pre-readers to open a diolouge to get my brain going
).
The author is in charge of the world he makes. He should look to others for ideas that he likes. The only changes that should be pushed should be in improving the writing, not the story.
Excelsior!
I'm not entirely sure about the necessity of this blog post. The majority does not care (they just want you to write for their enjoyment), those that hate you will probably not change their minds, and it is entirely unnecessary for those that love you.
Though at least you got this out of your system.
4300192 I don't remember the changes with the others but I was actively looking for updates for IGTS/DE, so when the story went "suddenly, anthros" I was a bit upset. I've never been too big a fan of anthro stories and suddenly a pony story was an anthro story for no real reason other than "MC was drunk and is too awesome for you to understand"
4300181 I've got a ton written down on three different stories, including a one-shot/short story I started after too much time on derpibooru. I'll have something else posted soon, I hope.
4300191 that one was fun as well.
4300192 don't remember hearing about it, but it's been a while since I saw much of those stories. Still, liking his new one as much if not more so than IGTS/DE. All Glory has cracked me up quite a bit.
4300232 as I said, I take each comment in steps. Is there more than a "woohoo", first, or I like it there? Is there criticism? Is the issue in the story or with the individuals perception of the story, and if the latter is it because I've not been clear? Once dick-based insults start flying though, I'm done.
4300299 I still haven't posted the first story I started on this site. Hell, I have about ten I've started and not posted. Bat country, Thousand year itch, Fate's stand-in, Too Strong and others I can't think of at the moment. Sometimes the idea just isn't complete, the idea isn't as good as I thought, or I lose interest.
4300407 it was a flush, ill readily admit that. After that back and forth I needed to sit down and write something positive. I felt a lot better after this as well, and I'm happy with the writing/parenting analogy. I had no idea what I was getting into when I posted my first chapter. It can be frustrating, but by god there are few things greater than seeing that people are reading what you post. It's why I'm always telling people to write. Even if they think it's shit, even if it is shit, they should only take it as a reason to improve.
4300408
Yeah. That story went a bit over the top (before he stopped updating). I remember thinking "what the hell..." as it makes the MC extremely overpowered. Seriously, that last event made the main character an omnipotent GOD (I guess the usuall alicorn is just too weak). I mean, I've read stories that had such extreme power imbalances, and a few were entertaining in-spite of the main character being overpowered, but all of them would be much better if they hadn't given the MC an easy button.
4300659 I've read a few godlike MC's that were done well. I liked Consequences of Unoriginality and The Equestrian Wind Mage. Both had MC's that could belt death in the face and walk away without a hair out of place, but both still managed to keep an interesting story. I'd offer Consequences up as a redemption story for any and all Gary Stu story you've ever read.
Ah, Oskar Osaker was another. After one point in the story, the MC's become the strongest thing on the planet. It's an interesting idea when the character in question has lived the last x years in fear of those stronger than it. The MC has to take a long hard look at itself and say, "What now?"
4300955 Oh no doubt. There are stories that are good even with Godlike MC. But it is in spite of their power. Making an MC godlike just causes one of his/her central characteristics to be boring. The big thing is that making a godlike MC removes a powerful tool for storytelling... which is adversity.
I'm glad to hear the author told a good story of someone asking "What now?", but then again... you don't need to be godlike to ask that question.
Just by reading the description the author gets around the issue of overpowerd MC by making his powers the adversity he has to beat. (AKA, the... its ok to have a godlike MC if they are up against other godlikes, rule)
I mean, which sounds more interesting? A central plot of Zeus smiting a chicken or a chicken smiting Zeus?
Zeus smiting a chicken.... would require lots of extra side stories and/or humor to make it interesting.
A chicken defeating Zeus sounds like it could be a thrilling tale by itself.... and it can also have the same side stories and humor to make it even better.
4301043 For Oskar, it takes a good two stories for the character to reach that point actually. It was a good run in the meantime and I never did finish the last two parts of the story I saw the author post. I also haven't read many good Prototype stories, so there was that as well.
You know guys, am I the only one who didn't have any qualms with I'm Going to Save/Destroy Equestria? That "handwaving" was a cliffhanger, so it could've been explained in the next chapter, in more details. Also the MC was drunk off his butt and the story is like his memoirs. So lack of memory is understandable.