Of storms and witches
Deslea R. Judd
and I toddled along to their coven (http://www.geocities.com/wickedxwitches)
to see what the story was.
It was an awful experience. Lists of peeves of which I was guilty.
Reminders of old writing sins still sitting there in the archives. The
shame, the shame. And I'm not even on their hit list.
What a pity.
You see, folks, I think I'm a pretty good writer. I also think I've been
guilty, over the course of five years and half a million words of fanfic, of
every single sin under discussion. And as much as I'm proud of my "good"
awards, I think there's definitely room for giving me a couple of "evil"
ones, too. I can see the sins myself - some intentional for whatever
reason, many not - and I can cringe and laugh at them in turn. They won't
stop me writing as best I can, because I write my fic for the love of it,
and for my fans (who, by the way, are the ones MOST likely to point out my
many gratuitous abuses). So, witches one and all, go ahead - pull it to
bits. It's at http://home.primus.com.au/drjudd/fun.html. I'll laugh, and
I'll probably cry when you find my ill-advised Melissa Samantha Skinner
baby-naming in Offspring, and I'll take it all under advisement.
Hell, I'll even help you with the HTML.
None of us are such great writers that we're above being satirised (and it
is satirised in my part of the world :-). I understand that criticism is
hard to take - I'm not so good at it myself - but I also think that this
sort of criticism is less painful precisely because it's less personal. It
feels less like an attack and more like exaggerated ribbing. It's like the
friend who reads our work aloud, over-dramatising, mimicking. We laugh, we
get the point, we move on.
I think the witches have a good thing going. I like the collection of
resources and the beta program - they're real services to fic writers. I
admit that I might feel a lot less laid-back about the whole thing if I were
a bit younger and my very first story was being publicly critiqued...but I
don't think this site is the malicious, evil thing some are making out.
Just my 2.2c (GST applied)
Deslea
penelopody
I agree with you, Deslea, that pretty much everyone here could do with
some criticism of his or her writing. It's often a Good Thing - helps
you learn and also allows you the realisation that everyone has
different taste - one person's ambrosia or whatever. So I'm all for
criticism.
And I have read a couple of the WXW reviews. (oh the shame)
Unfortunately I think these crazy kids seem to lack that special subtle
edge that makes parody most amusing. The reviews I read switched
uncomfortably between attacking some of the straw men of some young
writers' works to inventing problems in the work just to allow more red
or green or whatever commentaries. It's a pretty cheap way to
insult/critique things. Regular bouts of vomiting or 'ah gee... this
is just so bad' and the like are kinda poor. A person who was
generally concerned for the community (awww... hearts and flowers and
bunny rabbits) would write to the person personally with input and
suggestions and critique.
So I can't agree that these guys are serving anyone.
My 5 cents (I'm trying to get rid of my pennies)
Pen.
In article <39b8...@news.iprimus.com.au>,
--
Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
While I meditated on that theme
Day dawned.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Kim
>
>I agree with you, Deslea, that pretty much everyone here could do with
>some criticism of his or her writing.
I don't think anyone who undertakes any writing, fiction or non, will disagree
with that. By interacting with trusted betas, every writer's work improves
immeasurably.
There is, however, a quantum difference between what the Witches do and
constructive criticism.
Constructive criticism is based on helpfulness, encouragement, and respect.
Nothing the witches do is meant to be helpful to another writer, their
boilerplate disclaimers aside. It's meant to give the little witches some
orgasms over how smart they think they are, and how stupid they think another
person is. It goes without saying that this is inherently cruel and
contemptuous, and anything but respectful.
Nothing the witches do is actually encouraging good writing. What they do is
akin to shaming, sneering and mocking those they deem unworthy. Their 'advice'
is unwanted and their methodology meant only to be amusing in the Joan Rivers
sense of 'amusing.'
The Witches are not trusted betas or the invited critics of the writers they
mock. (At least I hope not!) A beta or critic should approach a writer with
respect for his or her vision and make suggestions as to improving the
expression of that vision, whether it be through improving grammar, spelling,
characterization, plot or theme. The Witches are not doing that.
There will be excellent, fair, good, mediocre and bad writers among us. Nothing
the witches are doing can change the fact that some people really do well with
writing XF fanfic, and others do not. It seems to offend the Witches on a
cellular level that some writers are not good enough for them. Too fucking bad.
Close the story and move on. OR, if they can get off their ego trip, they could
offer some constructive criticism - that is, of course - REAL constructive
criticism.
Or they could just fuck off and die. That's always a good option. They have
hurt feelings, created suspicion, pain and confusion among groups of friends,
and all the while, they're cackling and getting off on attention and fear and
pain. There offer nothing except misery and as the song goes, I haven't got
time for the pain.
Recent events in my life have really put things into a different, and in some
ways, better perspective. Be assured I'm not claiming my loss has transformed
me into a philosopher, or a saint, or anything other than a widow. It has,
however, made me think that aside from the inherent wrong done to another,
which is bad enough, that time spent on such bullshit nonsense is time wasted
and I'm beginning to think that time wasted is a sin.
And that's all I have to say.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kim
Journ...@aol.com
http://journeytox.simplenet.com
"I'm in your hands." Skinner, The X-Files, SR819
"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." Rudyard Kipling
DBKate
>cellular level that some writers are not good enough for them. Too fucking
>bad.
*nodding and laughing* I like the succinctness of this truth. Sums it up
quite nicely, especially the last sentence.
The site is an ego trip, plain and simple, with pointless cruelty directed at
truly hapless targets while masquerading as some sort of fanfic "help desk."
Yeah, right ... two guesses who are the ones who *really* need the help.
It's strikes me as funny at how the need for anonymity must war so greatly
within these "ladies" with their desperate need to show off. What good is it
to be so darned clever when "you" can't get the credit for it, is what I'd like
to know. (Not that the latest "reviews" have been particularly clever, they're
all actually getting pretty repetitive, which is no surprise. How many ways
are there to say "Me funny, you dumb -- ha, ha! Look Ma! Me funny!" Not many,
that's becoming clear -- which is probably why they've moved onto E-mails.)
Must be scary living on the edge like that, especially when you're obviously
angry at the XFFanfic arena and the need to strike back and yet still be loved
by those you mock is so overwhelming. Is there some fanfic Dr. Freud we can
call? I think we have a few patients for him. ;-)
My advice to the Witches? Get a new fandom, or better yet, try another, less
stressful hobby all together, like gardening. That way you can "weed" out the
things you don't like to your heart's content. You can even do a stand-up
routine while doing it, just so the tomato plants know that you still "got it."
Right?
DBKate
WickdZoot
zoot
"Scully has sex" is a sentence, not a plot. - Justin
WickdZoot
>angry at the XFFanfic arena and the need to strike back and yet still be
>loved
>by those you mock is so overwhelming. Is there some fanfic Dr. Freud we can
>call? I think we have a few patients for him. ;-)
At least five, isn't it? <g>
Okay, to redeem this silly discussion, I have to tell you all that I just read
the best bit of black comedy last night via Rachel Anton's recs page.
Bread Pudding by, I hope I'm getting it right, Madeline Paxon.
Find it. Read it. Man, it was deft.
WickdZoot
Comfortably Numb, by Paige Caldwell.
Yes, I do, and you know how I am about most MSR.
Great mythology involvement, great overcontrolled Scully coming to a breaking
point.
trajan
"Deslea R. Judd" wrote:
> Well, I finally got sick of hearing about those blessed (or cursed) witches,
> and I toddled along to their coven (http://www.geocities.com/wickedxwitches)
> to see what the story was.
>
> It was an awful experience. Lists of peeves of which I was guilty.
> Reminders of old writing sins still sitting there in the archives. The
> shame, the shame. And I'm not even on their hit list.
>
> What a pity.
>
Yeah, I got a kick out of the site when I visited it a number of months ago. I
even sent them a test story to "beta." Not bad. Not bad at all. It's all
wickedly funny and quite harmless, IMHO.
Trajan
(Who's been raked over the coals by real editors with real red pencils with real
money at stake)