Karen van Kriedt wrote:Something I’ve noticed -- something I’ve been guilty of -- telling someone they’ve done a “Good job!”, or patting them on the back with “Good work!”, especially after you’ve torn their work to shreds, is patronizing. I for one won’t be using either phrase again.
For one thing, I have never, ever, torn somebody else’s work “to shreds”. I don’t think it’s the spirit of this site.
It’s my belief that people post their work here for one, or several, of the following reasons: a) they want to improve (in several ways) the novel/short story/poem posted; b) through other people’s comments, they want to learn and improve their writing; c) they want to test the reader’s reaction to a particular story.
Whilst many times you get your story edited for free--and I agree there’s people who come here to obtain such a service--IMHO, the actual benefit is not the savings, but the learning. After one person, or several people, correct your story in terms of grammar, punctuation, and construction, you end up learning. Just like you learn when a professional editor turns back your story dully corrected. Unless you’re plainly stupid--and I don’t believe that’s the case here--each correction implies a learning, and a mistake that, potentially, you might not make again.
At the same time, reviewers provide literary advice. I.e., they comment on the plot, on the world building, on whether the characters are uni-, bi-, or tri-dimensional, etc. As a writer, I also learn each time somebody hands me literary advice on my stories. Contrary to what I stated in the above paragraph, I find that literary comments, whilst proving me with some learning, are valuable not because of the said learning, but because of their contribution to the story itself. I.e., they help me to improve my story.
A tragedy takes place when somebody “tears to shreds” your story. Why would anybody want to do so? To show-off how good a writer they are? Tsk, tsk.
Let’s assume you are a new writer, and the story you’ve just posted sucks, in every possible way. It’s full of grammatical and punctuation mistakes. The voice is poor. The plot is aiming nowhere. A total mess.
An ethical reviewer must not point out to each and every of your mistakes and even gloat over her deed (“Ha! I turned X’s work into shreds, but told her she’d done a good job”). On the contrary, if she really wants to help you, she must go step by step, pointing at the element that is affecting your story the most. If it is the grammar, then the accent must be on the grammatical mistakes, if it’s the voice, then on the voice, etc. It’s valid to start marking word after word on the in-line reviewing tool, indicating “delete” as long as, in the final comment, an explanation is provided. E.g., “I marked a number of words that, from my standpoint, are not necessary. It’s my feeling you are using too many words to explain yourself. A lighter prose is always preferred by readers.” Or something of the sort. The idea is that the writer doesn’t end up feeling her work was torn into shreds by a merciless, heartless, and cruel fellow author, but that useful advice was provided on behalf of the aspiring author herself.
If you have torn somebody’s work into shreds, and you openly recognise it, a “Good job!” or “Good work!” closing comment is not only misplaced but results offensive. Of course it’s patronising! My question would be, why did you tear somebody else’s work into shreds in the first place? He won’t appreciate your comments. He won’t learn from them. He’ll feel raped and will hate you. In due time, he’ll come back and will try to charge you back for what he feels was an insult. In the first opportunity, in the first available forum thread, he will post how mean you’ve been. Or she will stop trusting your reviewing skills--after she asked the site administrator to delete your comments.
So, if we all want to make the most of this site, let’s forget about tearing into shreds somebody else’s work. Let’s talk about teaching, about providing constructive comments, about supporting our points of view with facts, and about being objective rather than subjective.
Closing comment: one reviewer left the following closing comment to an in-line review:
“I don’t think I have reviewed your work before, so just to let you know, if you are one of those folks that feels compelled to comment back on inline comments, don’t waste your time. I never read them.”
How arrogant! How positively arrogant! The idea is to communicate, to discuss, to learn from each other. Not to drop our comments as if we were know-it-alls. “Don’t waste your time. I never read them” = I’m neither interested in your feedback nor in your reactions. I don’t care for your story and whether my comments are useful. I only care for the points, and for sharing with you a token of my never-ending knowledge.
God! That’s the kind of people who shouldn’t sign up on TNBW! And that’s the kind of attitude we must never foster.
Kiss,
Gacela
