Subject: Then don't be mean, overcritical, and impolite.
Author:
Posted on: 2013-02-02 20:05:00 UTC
Cut down the snark and explain what's wrong with the things you found. I know it's going to be quite a list, but if there's many things wrong with it, so be it.
Like the subject line says, help!
I'm currently chatting (well, FFN PMing) with the author of 'The Last Queen of Fangorn' (I've copy-pasted the summary and so on from the Claimed Badfic list below, if you're curious/need to know what I'm on about). She's quite nice, and friendly, and has now read the books (hurray!). Unfortunately, her newest LotR work is full of issues (rather like her first one). I'm trying to politely point out a few of them, but two examples have already turned into four, and I can keep going for at least ten (and so far I haven't even touched on grammar). I really don't want to offend her or make her stop talking to me, (or ruin her day, for that matter) but there's a lot to cover, and I don't know how to cover it without ending up sounding mean, overcritical, and impolite.
In short, I don't know what to do. Help? Please?
~DawnFire
--
"The Last Queen of Fangorn" (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7932895/1/The-Last-Queen-of-Fangorn) - K+ rated. Claimed by DawnFire, January 22, 2013, pending permission
What if one of the Fellowship was a girl? How would they all act? Due to extensive research about ability, military position, romance Rosie and Arwen , and the appearance of female dwarves, there is only one option. Yes, I am turning Legolas into a girl
Answers the age-old question that no one asked or wanted to know (especially via Fanfic): What if Legolas was female? As it turns out: nothing, the people act the exact same way. The only difference is that Legolas has an 'a' at the end of his name. Extremely inaccurate in basic canon info, such as: Thranduil is not King Fangorn, and Thranduil is named Thranduil.
DawnFire's note: So many minis. So many misquoted lines. A 15-year-old Elf, for crying out loud. Oh yes, and this: '"Nine companions...and a horse," said Elrond. "So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the ring."' I think that says it all, really.
I think a lot of us - myself definitely included - get confused sometimes, about what the point of all this is. Why we do this "PPC" thing, these missions. The mocking, the snarking, the jokes, they're all to make ourselves laugh at something that would otherwise be annoying or angering.
The point of concrit is to help the author improve. Nobody spends hours writing a story if they don't want it to be read, enjoyed. Some authors can take criticism well, some cannot; some are good writers, some or not. But the thing is, if an author cares about their story, and is willing to take criticism, just make it very clear what your intentions are. You don't want to tear her down, you're not making fun of her, you want to help her make her story better.
Intent is not magic, of course. But if you make it clear, it does count for a whole lot with most people.
If she's willing to learn and improve, I'd start by making a list of the most egregious canon errors to discuss, especially things that can be altered fairly easily (eg if moving the fic to Mirkwood from Fangorn won't need any more changes than the name).
If she's not willing to learn and improve, give it up for a lost cause before you get too invested in her.
I had a problem similar to this on DeviantArt. She hasn't actually written anything, but she's drawn the characters and they are very Sue-y. I found out about them through this journal entry of hers. It gives a pretty good description of why the characters are Sue-y. Then, she posted pictures of her characters and asked for critique, which I gave. Since I don't think I offended her, here are the conversations I've had. Hope they help you have a civil conversation with "ShadowfaxRunner".
The first conversation, on the picture of the primary Sue's sister : http://ladydata.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d5qzbke
The second conversation, on the picture of the Sue's mother (if this was a fanfic she'd probably be recruitable) : http://ladydata.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d5qz9u8
And the last conversation, on her forum topic "What is your opinion about OCXCanon fan pairings?" : http://forum.deviantart.com/art/literature/1824241/
My sympathies. As I have found, communicating with Suethors (or possible Suethors) can be difficult.
Maybe you could ask if she's open to concrit, and make sure she's aware that's going to mean pointing out errors along with ways to fix them? Then maybe start with a general thing (e.g. "you've got some canon details mixed up") and see what the reaction is. If she goes "oh, I know, but it's my story and I can change things if I wanna," or otherwise doesn't care, then you're probably not going to get anywhere. If she's really interested in fixing things, though, then you can proceed to specific problems.
That's just my two cents, though; others might have other ideas.
~Neshomeh
Cut down the snark and explain what's wrong with the things you found. I know it's going to be quite a list, but if there's many things wrong with it, so be it.