Is honesty the best policy?

In fact, I believe we're city mates.

 

Thank you! That is precisely what I meant!!

 

But why must you say how "a reader" would react? What credentials does anyone on an amateur writing forum have to make that assessment? Even professional critics make it clear it's only their opinion.

 

Oh yes, I remember that. The mentor wielded their political bias to trash the author because they did not like the ending, which was politically neutral. They suggested that the flash fiction, "sadly, wasn't flash fiction." They then went on to use a number of profanities with no warnings to express their own political opinion.

Fortunately, the author later published the story and won an award!

 

That was a Grammarly suggestion! I think I initially said "should," but I stand by my original opinion:

Even if you think you are being "honest," it doesn't mean you are "right," so you should consider this when offering advice.

I'll add that you shouldn't be offended if an author doesn't like your advice. Complaining online about people not taking your advice is not good form, in my opinion.

 

That's better language, for sure! And now you are talking about the target audience, which is quite different from what I have often seen, where people splice and dice other people's work merely for personal preference and suggest they know what "the reader" wants.

Do you need to even say as a reader? Isn't that assumed? What else would you be doing with it?

 

I'm in agreement with moose when he says that authors are generally smart enough to realise that critiques are offering an opinion, and one which they are free to agree or disagree with as they please.

Please don't assume that when someone says "the reader", they are ALWAYS demanding that their opinion be taken as correct. Regardless of what someone may have done somewhere, not everyone offering critique is like that.

It sounds like you may have had a bad experience with one or more critiquers, but you shouldn't project that experience on to the people offering critiques in good faith.

 

I’d say it’s a fair expectation on the critting side that the feedback will be considered (if not wholeheartedly embraced). In their defense, this is the baseline standard. Somebody offers to help, you acknowledge and take it under advisement - especially if you-the-writer is getting the same echoes from multiple quarters.

That being said:

The writer is well within their rights to request feedback on specific aspects of the work. Recognizing this is the flipside of the coin.

I tend towards long, complex sentences. I do this as a stylistic choice, knowing it knocks me out of certain markets and readerships. Same token, I favor story elements that likely aren’t mainstream for artists on average.

Theoretically, if I were to post a snippet explicitly to get a read on the content of a scene, a response based strictly on mechanical or cultural preferences isn’t going to be of much use; I’ll say thank you and move on, but I’m not ripping out the walls and flooring to satisfy a reader who has neither made the effort to meet the work on its own terms, nor bothered to help with what was highlighted as a possible weakness.

Long way of saying the key to the whole thing is both parties frankly assessing whether they’re a good fit or not. Not every writer will appeal to every reader. Not every reader will click with every story.

Nothing insulting or judgmental in realizing as much.

 

Thanks, big soft moose! I agree. I wasn't the one who brought it up, and I was disappointed to see one of your members did!

 

Your assessment is wrong. I've had primarily fantastic critiques. I've learned a ton from other members. But one person hounded other writers and publicly complained if they didn't take their advice. And this thread suggested that they couldn't handle "honesty," which is incorrect. That's what I was referring to.

I stand by my original opinion that just because you're honest, it doesn't mean you are right!

 

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what your point is. If the caveat is this is my opinion, what does that have to do with "the reader?" (collective) I'm not sure why guns are blaring. I think, that when a critique uses "the reader," it's arrogant.

 

I never imagined anyone would've spent more than 5 seconds analyzing why someone offering a critique wrote, "the reader," and coming to the conclusion that whoever says this must be arrogant. And yet.

It's not too far off from a thread on Twitter where people are arguing about whether or not owning a bookcase is ableist. Definitely adding this to the notebook for satire bits regarding the chronically online.