Okay, so I've discovered some new fics that need recognition along with their authors.
LionLad: I haven't been so excited by a potential new author and a fic in a while. The author of Falling: The Fate of Ahsoka Tano, this guy totally rocks with his story chronicling Ahsoka from the time she becomes Anakin's padawan as she slowly but surely falls in love with him and starts down a dark path. It's seriously not getting the recognition it deserves and I think that's only because this is his first story and it's M rated. But this guy doesn't have the marks of a newbie author. It is awesome and with skill like this I looked at his profile to find more stories and was shocked to find none! This is a rare jewel in the archive and I welcome him. Check out his story.
wickedjedi13: Today has to be the day of one fic wonders as this author also has one story, but it's totally awesome. It's called Upward Over the Mountain and it chronicles what would have happened if Anakin stopped Padme from falling off the transport on the way to fight Dooku at the end of Attack of the Clones. It's not your typical Anakin and Padme romance so don't brush it off. I wouldn't recommend it if it weren't worthy of recognition.
Yesac: I tell you, I used to dismiss this guy, but the writing of his stories can't be denied. A lot of them focus on Anakin and Obi-wan's relationship (as brothers!) and he just finished a story called The Finer Shades of Why in which Dooku betrays Sidious long before Sidious draws Anakin back to couruscant to turn him. But instead of trying to get Anakin to be his apprentice who Dooku thinks is took wild to be a great apprentice, he wants Obi-wan. It gets really in-depth and this guy hits Dooku on the nail! An awesome read and he has other fics so he's a veteran.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Pet Peeve: The Angry,Annoyed, and Arrogant Author
You know, I was going through my old fanfiction.net account and found all the old authors that I had on my favorites who I was absolutely smitten with but lost interest in writing on the website for one reason or another... It's their choice. Whatever, but one of the authors left a reason in her profile when she told everyone and one of the reasons were, and I'm only paraphrasing here, that she was getting 'retarded feedback' in her pm's and reviews. Naturally, I kind of reared my head back at that because I'm like "retarded feedback?"
So I thought about it and I wanted to address that while it's nice to get those in-depth critical reviews where readers point out what they like and didn't like, point out inaccuracies and stuff, as an author, we should appreciate the reviews that are simple from the ones begging to update to the ones where they simply say 'cool chapter' and move on. Sure it's not that in-depth feedback we all crave but for the love of god everyone who reads isn't going to be some professional critic and give complete analysis of the chapters. I mean come on! These are readers looking for great reads and it's our job as the author to give it to them. In return we get encouragement in the form of reviews to keep writing. If you want a critic and in-depth feedback, get a beta reader!
I mean really, I'm pretty sure the more popular you are as an author the more 'feedback' you get and most of it is the simple 'update' and 'nice work' stuff. But guess what? I love to see it. I love to know that I brought someone joy with my writing and I'm just as equally excited whether it's critical feedback or just a one word review. I'm sure J.K Rowling, Stephanie Meyers and countless other authors get all kind of fan mail, some that probably wasn't worth the postage the reader used to send. But as the author we owe it to the writer to have gratitude because they read the story (whether you make money from it or not). That's why brings an author joy.
Since I'm on this subject though, let me also address those authors who can't take feedback. Now one of my favorite authors, who is not listed in my favorite authors might I add so don't go looking, got mad at a reviewer for giving him a critical review! The writer was only saying that his writing had become stagnant and there was room for some improvement in areas. But he/she mistook it for a flame. So I read it and saw that the tone of the review wasn't a flame. He was just telling the writer that he thought the story was rushed and to be honest, it might have been even though it was still a good story. Then he proceeded to say that he enjoyed the authors other stories but the particular one he was reviewing he just wasn't feeling.
Now when a reader says they liked your other stories but isn't feel one and points out reason why, that's not a flame. It was a critical review with honest feedback that was apparently meant as nothing personal. But the author had the gall to get angry and say it was a flame in the guise of critical feedback and then wrote a long post in their profile on it saying they don't need anyone telling him how to write because he had a degree and a book published with a less than credible publisher.
I must say it nearly turned me off from the writer completely because no one writes perfect and if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen.
Yes, ultimately an author is just that. The author meaning he can make the ultimate decision about where the story goes (even thought the reviewer was only trying to help improve the idea not change it) and the style of the writing, but one can't be so arrogant as to accuse someone of flaming when they point out something and give valid reason and then go as far as to say they enjoyed you other work. I had to stop myself from pming that person and giving them a piece of my mind and telling him that I don't care what degrees he has and that formal writing is different from creative writing and that his stories can sometimes lack creativity! Not to mention I know people with degrees who can't write an essay to save their live and makes me wonder how they got through school and that his so-called published work is published by a vanity press with no real credibility in the publishing world if he did his research... But that would have been a flame and so I refrained from doing so.
My point is as authors we must take much from the reader, from flames, to critiques, to not getting enough in-depth feedback. But that's the fun of it all and just because it may annoy you, that's no reason to just stop writing all together or to attack your readers and be arrogant about your writing like you know it all and there's not room for improvement from someone who may not have the credentials but brings up valid points.
Yeah, I know. This rant went longer than I wanted it too. But that just frustrated me so.
So I thought about it and I wanted to address that while it's nice to get those in-depth critical reviews where readers point out what they like and didn't like, point out inaccuracies and stuff, as an author, we should appreciate the reviews that are simple from the ones begging to update to the ones where they simply say 'cool chapter' and move on. Sure it's not that in-depth feedback we all crave but for the love of god everyone who reads isn't going to be some professional critic and give complete analysis of the chapters. I mean come on! These are readers looking for great reads and it's our job as the author to give it to them. In return we get encouragement in the form of reviews to keep writing. If you want a critic and in-depth feedback, get a beta reader!
I mean really, I'm pretty sure the more popular you are as an author the more 'feedback' you get and most of it is the simple 'update' and 'nice work' stuff. But guess what? I love to see it. I love to know that I brought someone joy with my writing and I'm just as equally excited whether it's critical feedback or just a one word review. I'm sure J.K Rowling, Stephanie Meyers and countless other authors get all kind of fan mail, some that probably wasn't worth the postage the reader used to send. But as the author we owe it to the writer to have gratitude because they read the story (whether you make money from it or not). That's why brings an author joy.
Since I'm on this subject though, let me also address those authors who can't take feedback. Now one of my favorite authors, who is not listed in my favorite authors might I add so don't go looking, got mad at a reviewer for giving him a critical review! The writer was only saying that his writing had become stagnant and there was room for some improvement in areas. But he/she mistook it for a flame. So I read it and saw that the tone of the review wasn't a flame. He was just telling the writer that he thought the story was rushed and to be honest, it might have been even though it was still a good story. Then he proceeded to say that he enjoyed the authors other stories but the particular one he was reviewing he just wasn't feeling.
Now when a reader says they liked your other stories but isn't feel one and points out reason why, that's not a flame. It was a critical review with honest feedback that was apparently meant as nothing personal. But the author had the gall to get angry and say it was a flame in the guise of critical feedback and then wrote a long post in their profile on it saying they don't need anyone telling him how to write because he had a degree and a book published with a less than credible publisher.
I must say it nearly turned me off from the writer completely because no one writes perfect and if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen.
Yes, ultimately an author is just that. The author meaning he can make the ultimate decision about where the story goes (even thought the reviewer was only trying to help improve the idea not change it) and the style of the writing, but one can't be so arrogant as to accuse someone of flaming when they point out something and give valid reason and then go as far as to say they enjoyed you other work. I had to stop myself from pming that person and giving them a piece of my mind and telling him that I don't care what degrees he has and that formal writing is different from creative writing and that his stories can sometimes lack creativity! Not to mention I know people with degrees who can't write an essay to save their live and makes me wonder how they got through school and that his so-called published work is published by a vanity press with no real credibility in the publishing world if he did his research... But that would have been a flame and so I refrained from doing so.
My point is as authors we must take much from the reader, from flames, to critiques, to not getting enough in-depth feedback. But that's the fun of it all and just because it may annoy you, that's no reason to just stop writing all together or to attack your readers and be arrogant about your writing like you know it all and there's not room for improvement from someone who may not have the credentials but brings up valid points.
Yeah, I know. This rant went longer than I wanted it too. But that just frustrated me so.
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