Criticism

I think it's a good thing.

It also fun to wreck people with criticism espically if their work has no effort put into it.

If you're using it to "wreck" people, that's beyond criticism. That's insults.

edited 13th Oct '11 5:41:19 PM by TotemicHero

Like everything else, it's good if done well, and bad if done poorly. No, that is not intended to be Shaped Like Itself, either.

If we're talking literary criticism, I love to get it. Personal criticism... less so.

Hero@The only people I would do that to is Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer because their movies are obviously a lack of effort to make something good.

I highly suspect their definition of "good" leans heavily on "profitable", and as such is very different from your definition of "good".

Literary criticism can be fun to give and useful to receive. Talking about the more constructive and analytical varieties, not just bashing.

Personal criticism should, I think, be used to help people, not to upset them. Of course, sometimes there's not really a nice way of putting it.

Actually, this thread gives me a great place to ask a question I needed to:

I have a friend who is writing a novel. He had written 25000 words since he told me, and has sent me the first chapter to "look over and criticize".

It's pretty bad. I mean it's pretty bad. However, I know he put a ton of work into it, and don't want to be mean. What sort of things can I say?

...Tell him what you didn't like, explain why, and suggest changes for how you'd try to do it better?

Define bad. Is it a poor plot? Is it lackluster? Is it a genre you don't like? Grammar?

I mean I put a lot of work into my book. If something was bad, I'd rather them tell me. If they sound like an ass, then I just won't take their "criticisms" in, and if they're polite and actually give me suggestions on what to do, I'll listen.

Should TV Tropes have a critque section? Yes because that's what is missing. There's only praise around but where's the criticism?

Reviews.

Also Writer's Block.

edited 13th Oct '11 8:34:05 PM by BobbyG

Thanks!

It's just that there is so much I could talk about, because I have seen so much good stuff, that now I feel like I have to apply the same analysis I do to great stuff as to his.

I don't though, and will try not to.

I think it helps to give the positives with the negatives. Look for things that are good and don't forget to compliment those; it's equally important to know what you're doing well as it is to know what you're doing badly, and it might soften the sting a little.

If there's nothing that's particularly great, single out the bits that are the best and suggest how they can be improved.

@thread name: Oh yes, this sure won't invite flame wars or get locked or anything like that.

Seriously, shouldn't we avoid these kinds of threads?

@ Jimmyman: Well, you don't have to say how bad it is. Instead of saying, for example "Your sentence structure is consistently terrible", you could say "Your sentence structure could use some work. You have a tendency to do X Y Z". And definitly point out examples of when they've done it right.

At least... that's what I used to do when looking over stuff for my little sister (who I knew would give up on whatever it was if I was too harsh).

Oh, look, I found a thread started by bunnypop, who is also rosemaryblood. What were the odds?