Protect the newbies from...?

From the terrible bitter people who live only to criticize the newbies' work in public and therefore crush their burgeoning talent.

I'm being flip. It's one of the enduring arguments of fandom. Do people have the right to criticize publicly-posted stories, where they should do so, what rights the author should have, "if you can't say something nice...", etc, etc.

The first big fannish meltdown I ever saw was over this topic, way back in '98.

Ah. Gotcha. Thanks.

Sorta the whole, "This is my first fic. Pleez be nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" thing.

From the terrible bitter people who live only to criticize the newbies' work in public and therefore crush their burgeoning talent.

You know why I started and couldn't stop laughing? The twisty knickers person in this case, the one saying that CRIT IS BAD is the same mofo who suggested using the word "blackball".

I didn't say "please, may your rear end avoid the swinging portal as you exit". I was good.

I'm too NEW at this to feel like a BOFQ.

I'm tempted to subscribe at this late date just to watch the train wreck in action, but it seems like an awful lot of effort to catch up at this point.

It's like having the WWF or Joe Millionaire in my inbox. IFG.

The cool side effect has been that people have been rec'ing goofy ass shit, so lots of funny, funny NON Spuffy. Whee!

Ya know, if you don't want something criticized, there's a real simple solution: don't publish it.

Sheesh. I don't think we can have it both ways, saying that fanfic writers are just as good as original fiction writers, but also maintaining that they're too delicate to be publicly criticized.

It's like having the WWF or Joe Millionaire in my inbox.

Oh, okay. I'd always wondered why people watched those.

I don't think we can have it both ways, saying that fanfic writers are just as good as original fiction writers, but also maintaining that they're too delicate to be publicly criticized.

Well, don't conflate those two categories. If I were to make a broad sweeping generalization (i.e., speak out of my arse), I would say that the first group, those who are as good as professional writers (and many of whom are professional writers of one stamp or another) are not too delicate to be publicly criticized. They've been through the editing process and they are able to distinguish between themselves and their words.

It's the ones with no comprehension of what it takes to improve, who think they must be brilliant out of the box, who look upon every story as their baby, who are too delicate to be publicly criticized.

There's that study about incompetence, right? And the truly incompetent have no critical ability, so they can't tell they are incompetent; whereas the competent recognize gradations in quality and technique and can recognize where they need to improve.

I'm overstating it, of course. Also, there's not NEARLY as much vicious public criticism of newbies as people seem to think. Sure, there's the Badfic Hall of Shame and similar sites, but you really have to go looking for someone shredding newbie fic. Most people I know in the fic community simply don't have the sort of time it takes to be that kind of mean.

And as a reader, I'd appreciate(unless I'm a beta) not looking at something the way it came out of your head in study hall...I mean, I know stories start that way, mine too, but check it and think it over before posting. Of course, posting something like that online that's not a snippet for Bitchy Fic makes me quiver a little, so even as I say that, I admire their guts, sort of.