I'm learning, don't do it. In several threads I see posters use little snippets to illustrate their advice or help explain what they mean, however, I see a lot of focus spent discrediting the snippet itself. I view a snippet as a sketch (my primary artistic median is drawing). I find it odd that so much attention is given to what I view as little more than a scribble on a piece of paper used to show general form. Sketches are not usually very good, they're done quickly and lack a lot of detail. If I'm going to sketch out placement for a few characters on my canvas, I'm not going to sketch in eyes, draw in fingers or worry too much about proportions. I would give you quite a look if you were to tell me "those don't look like people therefore I can't tell where they're standing." It might not be something that is related to the writer archetype but more of a problem with internet posters. While the other forums I frequent deal with different subject matter and lack snippets to accompany their opinions there is still a general antagonistic attitude.
I think this is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure what you mean, exactly. Could you post an example?
I think I see what you're getting at. Context is important, and a snippet to illustrate one's point isn't always a good idea because it's simply a passage that sits there by itself. Really, what gives a passage its full impact is everything around it. Or maybe I misunderstood you, and my post has nothing to do with your post.
If I understood your post correctly then... So what? It's like a little writing prompt -- "now how could I show them what I mean?" Sure, it can be terrible if people start discrediting or even bashing your example, but it's not such a big deal in the end. It's just a snippet you didn't spend two years crafting just for the sole purpose of showing how you would use, say, the first person PoV. Those who criticize it out of malice or general dickheadedness only make an ass out of themselves, not the one who tried to illustrate their point with an example. The snippets don't always have to be amazingly perfect, anyway. Besides, sometimes you might even learn from the feedback.
There's a couple very popular posters that were using their own snippets to illustrate an example of "breaking the rules". Instead of attempting to work with the examples given, it seemed they sought to tear each other examples apart. There's a lot of instances of this, that one being the most recent. I'd use a snippet, but you know...
