On criticism (constructive, literary and otherwise)

Sherman Fairchild, on the Feast of Ste. Rose of Lima

I've been reading through posts on the discussion on criticism going around LJ and wanted to ramble about it myself. Not that I actually have anything new or concrete to say. Of course, I've never written anything long enough to be subject to the type of analysis that rageprufrock experienced. Nor have I ever bothered to ask for a beta reader--except for that one time when tryogeru and I were attempting to write a fic together, and she ended up beta-ing rather than writing her part. (I still have that fic sitting unfinished on my computer.) Although if I ever do attempt a fic of significant length, I think I would ask for a beta simply because the one and only multichapter fic I ever wrote causes me physical pain whenever I look at it, and I wish someone had told me when I was writing it how ridiculous it sounded.

I think concrit is always easier to swallow if it comes from someone you know and respect. Critical comments from people I don't know on FF.net usually irritate me. But it's surprisingly pleasant to receive suggestions and feedback from friends on LJ; they're usually very perceptive in picking out the weaknesses in my writing. It gives you a pleasant glow to be taken seriously by such people. I remember I always had a curious double standard in English class (oh, those peer editing sessions): I got rather annoyed at comments from people who (to be brutally honest) were bad writers themselves, but I ended up respecting people who knew how to give thoughtful criticism and took their writing more seriously as a result. Actually the whole reason why I never really felt all that much affection for my expository writing preceptor was her lack of comments on my writing. (What, I'm not worth the effort?! We pay ungodly sums of money to attend this uni and take your course! Expository writing being required of all freshmen.) I am such an egotist.

Of course, feedback on essay writing is a completely different issue than the sort of literary criticism that is the actual topic of discussion. The problem with litcrit for fanfiction (at least, what I've seen of it so far) is that it all revolves around fundamentally different interpretations of character and series, and while one can argue from whatever canon material one possesses, in the end, no one's going to convince anyone else if they started off with such a disagreement in perspective. Of course, I have a rather utilitarian approach to debate in the first place. That whole "debate for the sake of debate" doesn't appeal to me. Debate to persuade, debate to learn Socratic-style, debate to inform, debate to let opinion be known to the world at large...but debate in order to debate? I know many people do enjoy that, but I get tired of the circumlocutions. After a certain point, everyone starts to talk at rather than to one another. (Exactly why I dread having to take Moral Reasoning.)

I also think that litcrit for fanfiction isn't at all analogous to litcrit for actual published works because the substance of the debate is different. Fanfiction litcrit occurs in reference to a separate source material created by a different author, while criticism for established literature remains within that author's playing field, so to speak. Okay, that's not entirely true, but nonetheless, I think the essence of the point is valid...

In short, I don't really know what I'm talking about. ::shuts up::

Yours &c.

Post-script: Oops, I forgot to provide links for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about. issen4 has links up to several posts here. I also forgot to add that most of what I was saying above w/r/t debate needing purpose was meant in support of koimistress' point that the author should be allowed to join the discussion. Because without the author's input, the exercise seems largely pointless to me. In a sense, litcrit of fanfiction is really a discussion of the original material itself where the work of fanfiction is a form of commentary and the resulting criticism a response to that statement of opinion. Except the opinion is being stated in fictional rather than expository form. Hence, just as someone who posts an essay about a character or series on LJ should have free rein to reply to the comments on her post, the author should be equally allowed to respond to the reactions to her position. (And isn't it odd that we automatically assume the feminine pronoun for everything that refers to fandom? At least I do. O_O)

31 days: August 23, "Rose of memory, rose of forgetfulness"

DeWolfe Apts., on the Feast of Ste. Rose of Lima

How appropriate that on the very day I post a long rambling entry on concrit, I end up writing a fic that really needs it. Uh yes, please feel free to make suggestions. I feel like I had no idea what I was trying to do. Probably because I attempted to write plot.

The fic is based on the anime series, not the OAVs. I actually never watched the last eight episodes, and now I sort of regret it.

Edit: Some changes made thanks to tryogeru, who really ought to be my beta reader.

( Vampire Princess Miyu, 31 days, Eleven White Roses )

Yours &c.