I just got a comment from another site, which really irked me. I had posted a fictional horror piece and the critter wrote and I quote: "there's nothing being written honestly here" and to top it off he wrote in his closing note: "it has been imagined wrongly" How can someone get away with saying my imagination is wrong? It was a FICTION piece. It wasn't written to be in an honest manner. And this is on a poet site rather then a writers site. Are poets that different than writers? Can't you be both? What if you are? How can anyone's imagination be wrong?
Sometimes you just have to brush off crits, take what you can find that's useful, and then move on. Sorry you had a bad experience.
The difference between a poet and a writer is that a poet focuses on poetry instead of stories or novels or essays; a writer works with multiple forms of writing, or with something other than poetry. Some critics will think differently about the world than you do. If you wrote about someone being evil and dark and sinister, and had characters who were all bitter and cynical, then a critic might very well say that your world was completely wrong and unrealistic if that critic tends to be an optimist. So if you wrote something which seemed contrived or cliche, a critic might disagree with your work. This doesn't mean necessarily that your work was contrived, it just seemed so to the one critic. Don't focus too much on the things that didn't make sense -- like "it has been imagined wrongly." Focus instead on the other things he wrote. Did he criticize your plot? Your characterization? Did you put in too few details? Work with the useful information the critique gave you, and ignore the things he said that don't seem sensible.
All poets are writers, but not all writers are poets. No matter where you post work, you will get unhelpful comments. Even here, that kind of response would not be prohibited, although it wouldn't be rewarded either. Some remarks you just have to ignore. Smile sweetly, and wait for someone with something substantive to contribute. Or you could ask for more specifics. I'd almost put money on it that he is just throwing out pretentious, meaningless phrases to obscure the fact that he hasn't a frakking clue.
That "honesty" line makes me laugh every time I read it. It means absolutely nothing, even less than "This is good." Honesty, in the way he intends it, simply means "my experience," as in "They way you express this is not how I imagine it, ergo it is wrong." Don't waste your time trying to read any meaning into criticisms like that; there isn't any. Just let it go, and only focus on the concrete criticism you get.
Well HE was obviously not a very good writer, if he crafted his words in such a way. All I can imagine that he meant by the first line, nothing being written honestly, might be that it didn't feel real to him. Maybe he felt it was forced, or he couldn't put himself into the poem / situation. Maybe it was his own imagination that faltered, and he is blaming you for it, as the writer. And by saying it has been imagined wrongly, could he have meant on his part? Or tying into the same thing - he felt that the response to whatever happened was forced, put on, rather than how he himself might have imagined reacting to such things? I have no idea, and it is hard to judge things out of context, but I feel your pain, and agree with the others. Don't take it to heart, let it pass, and focus on the constructive criticisms, or the ones that will help you. If it doesn't help you, don't let it hurt you. Keep writing, have fun with it.
There's alot of bullies in this world, and within every niche of existence. That includes poets, too. But if a bully's words actually hurt you, then you might learn something from asking yourself why. It can be turned around into something constructive, too. Maybe he touched a sensibilty or insecurity you have about your own work? He said it didn't seem "real". If this bothers you deeply, perhaps you could use it as a way to come closer to your true feelings about your own writing. I'm not suggesting that there must be anything wrong with it, but often when things hurt it's because they carry some grain of truth. If you can't brush it off, then it should always be used constructively.
Thanks everyone, I do feel better. You are all right and thank you Cog for saying that kinda comment wouldn't be allowed. I feel more secure on this site and I've only been here a few months then I do on the other and that's been 3 years. I used to write poems incessively and stories here and there. Now it's flip-flopped. I write stories much more than poetry. Someone said this critter probably thinks because of his own experience what I wrote didn't seem honest or real. But that doesn't make it wrong, the way he put it. Just because he didn't experience that way, doesn't make it sound unrealistic. I got that from the beginning. I just wanted validation of it and you guys proof my point, so thank you. And someone said, I think it was Cog, "All poets are writers, but not all writers are poets." That I got too. That sounds more understandable than anything. And Hein mentioned just focus on what made sense. Well unfortunately nothing made sense in what he said and that in itself says something right there. The only thing that really hurt me was the "my imagination is wrong" sorta thing comment. Ok, so I have a vivid imagination and it could be really out there sometimes, be that doesn't make it wrong. Well anyway, thank you for letting me vent. I think I'm over it. You guys really helped and No, I certainly will NOT take it to heart...at least not any longer. You guys are the greatest, thanks again.
i think cog has nailed it... the jerk hasn't a clue and is trying to sound 'smart' but failing miserably... ignore it! 'true' poets [as in full-time, serious ones] are, to some extent, if by 'writers' you mean writers of prose [poets write, thus are also 'writers']... the mind and soul of a poet usually take a different view toward wordswork than do writers of prose... and their purpose is a bit different, as well... i'm both and have been all my writing life [which probably makes me schizoid! ;-)], gaining paid credits in both areas, so i don't get the 'what if you are?' question... what are you really asking?... the imagination itself can't be wrong, of course... and what is imagined can't be, either, as far as the imaginer is concerned... however, the things that are imagined can be seen as 'wrong' by others... which doesn't make them wrong...
