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5 Critical Comments About Critical Commenters

Lately I've been learning a lot of things that I can add to this book, but rarely have the time any more to write about it. This is one thing I've been thinking about lately that I thought deserves a bit of attention. Because I'm me, it naturally needs to be a topic of controversy and one that may genuinely piss off some of my readers.

What could I talk about that sends my readers into an epileptic rage? Usually, the touchiest of subjects is telling readers how they should comment. I can tell you I've received more anger and vitriol in chapters where I tried to encourage readers to comment nicely than anything else.

I didn't think this would be a matter of contention. It seems almost moronically obvious that if you WANT content to continue, a positive, encouraging comment would achieve that, where a cutting, criticism filled nitpick would not. This isn't a matter of what's best for improving the writer's journey, and except for the other writers on here who are working together to improve each other, I'm not sure why a generic reader should care about enhancing their favorite author's abilities.

It almost takes a certain level of arrogance to think that you as random reader X should be responsible for single-handedly making someone else a better writer. Even if you have all the best intentions in the world, you're probably not a professional critic with years of experience under your belt. Who is to say that your advice would even offer an improvement? As a writer "gets better", there is no saying that their more-adult writing would even give the readers who originally liked their work what they wanted.

Anna Todd, the writer of After, was so terrified that correcting her work would accidentally remove that thing that made people like it so much in the first place that she refused to edit her work for the longest time.

Point being, there are two roles for a reader when it comes to commenting. You have the corrector who is trying to help the author improve their work, and the cheerleader who is there to encourage the author to continue writing. The corrector, no matter how much you honey your words, is never going to encourage the writer to keep writing, and may even decrease their level of enthusiasm.

When it comes to most readers, presuming you already enjoy a work and want to read all of it, why would you do anything less than being a cheerleader? Turning corrector is like biting the hand that feeds you. You're literally choosing to act against your own self interest just to criticize someone else. Isn't that weird?

Anyway, today's talk isn't about being an effective cheerleader, but rather a reflection on the critical commenters. I wanted to explore the complicated relationship between a corrector and a writer. They exist in a strange world where they can both be your greatest supporter, and your greatest bane. I know that I personally have probably served as someone's headache as I took the mantle of corrector for them.

Since I frame so many things as lists, let's keep it up! We'll call it Five Critical Comments About Critical Commenters.

You're not doing it for the writer, just accept that.

There was once an episode of Friends, that's right, we're going full 90-00s on this. In one episode, Joey tells Phoebe that he doesn't believe in good deeds. Ultimately, every decision someone makes is inherently selfish. There is an entire book, The Selfish Gene, that claims this behavior is genetic, and even things like loving and taking care of a child is inherently an act of selfishness (a means of continuing the genes). In the episode, Phoebe tries, and fails, to do a single selfless act. The very act of being helpful filled her with happiness, thus making any help she provided self-motivated.

What point am I trying to get at? You rarely chose to do something unless you get something out of it. I've been using the argument that you should be a cheerleader, because what you get is more of the story you like and are reading. However, that's not how things work in practice. In practice, you end up with people who will savagely complain and rip apart your story, eating up every detail.