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You were *so* close.
Apr. 6th, 2005 03:52 pmSo, a drabble was posted on one of my lists today, and it was with no small trepidation that I opened the e-mail. I'm a massive bitch when it comes to drabbles. If they're more or less than 100 words I tend to grind my teeth to the gumline to keep from flaming someone with the correct definition of a drabble.
This one was a hundred words.
And it was funny. On an alien planet, Jack and Daniel come across the Smurfs. They are cursing Smurfs. [Think of the episode of "Family Guy" where they talk about the smurfin' Smurfs getting smurfed.]
And there were no grammatical errors that made me tear my hear. In fact, I don't recall there being *any* grammatical errors.
So, why is Perpet not a happy little reader today?
Because the girl started the post with something akin to this:
OMG, I was sooo talked into this, and my friend made me do it, and it's torture, so I thought I'd torture you guys, too...LOL!!!
And then she finished the post with this:
This is all [insert random friend's weird sceenname here] fault! You totally made me do it [random friend]!!!! If you guys didn't like it, blame her!!! LOL!!!
I utterly hate people who start a post by talking about what utter crap their work is. If you're unsure of it, just fucking say so:
I wrote this after a friend put an idea into my head, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Feedback would be great.
This is *why* there are Author's Notes allowed in fan fic. There is no need for three pounds of exclamation points and a pound and a half of LOL. LOL is fattening, haven't you heard? Cut back.
And also, don't blame someone else for something you wrote. At least, don't blame them forty-seven times in the post. If a friend put the idea in your head, give the name and leave it alone:
XYZ was the one who made me do it. Let me know what you think.
This girl is obviously looking for feedback, and I'd love to praise her for her drabble, since I did enjoy it, but the sheer amount of bullshitting she squeezed in *around* the drabble killed any well wishes I wanted to give her.
You want feedback? Ask politely for it.
You want to let people know that you weren't the one to come up with the basic story idea? Ask for it.
You want to tease your friend a little in your author's notes? Don't use netspeak and extra exclamation points. Fattening, remember?
Being a good writer is more than being able to put all your commas in the right place. Being a good writer is not making excuses for your work and giving it a bad rep before it even starts. State the facts that you feel need to be stated, and then leave it alone for the reader to enjoy. Otherwise some readers [me] get cranky and bitchy and take it out on their own innocent readers.
This one was a hundred words.
And it was funny. On an alien planet, Jack and Daniel come across the Smurfs. They are cursing Smurfs. [Think of the episode of "Family Guy" where they talk about the smurfin' Smurfs getting smurfed.]
And there were no grammatical errors that made me tear my hear. In fact, I don't recall there being *any* grammatical errors.
So, why is Perpet not a happy little reader today?
Because the girl started the post with something akin to this:
OMG, I was sooo talked into this, and my friend made me do it, and it's torture, so I thought I'd torture you guys, too...LOL!!!
And then she finished the post with this:
This is all [insert random friend's weird sceenname here] fault! You totally made me do it [random friend]!!!! If you guys didn't like it, blame her!!! LOL!!!
I utterly hate people who start a post by talking about what utter crap their work is. If you're unsure of it, just fucking say so:
I wrote this after a friend put an idea into my head, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Feedback would be great.
This is *why* there are Author's Notes allowed in fan fic. There is no need for three pounds of exclamation points and a pound and a half of LOL. LOL is fattening, haven't you heard? Cut back.
And also, don't blame someone else for something you wrote. At least, don't blame them forty-seven times in the post. If a friend put the idea in your head, give the name and leave it alone:
XYZ was the one who made me do it. Let me know what you think.
This girl is obviously looking for feedback, and I'd love to praise her for her drabble, since I did enjoy it, but the sheer amount of bullshitting she squeezed in *around* the drabble killed any well wishes I wanted to give her.
You want feedback? Ask politely for it.
You want to let people know that you weren't the one to come up with the basic story idea? Ask for it.
You want to tease your friend a little in your author's notes? Don't use netspeak and extra exclamation points. Fattening, remember?
Being a good writer is more than being able to put all your commas in the right place. Being a good writer is not making excuses for your work and giving it a bad rep before it even starts. State the facts that you feel need to be stated, and then leave it alone for the reader to enjoy. Otherwise some readers [me] get cranky and bitchy and take it out on their own innocent readers.
