I used to be such a nice person.

[hackthis_archive]

K pointed out that there's an anonymous meme going around where you can tell writers what you *really* think of their writing, which you know, hey, go ahead. Personally, I'm always getting abused anyway whether it's anonymous, or in sekrit (which really not sekrit at all), or to my face, so if you're feeling that need, knock yourself out. I didn't actually think anyone needed a *day* or some shit, but hey, I'll even start.

[Name here] is not a very good writer. Actually, she fucking sucks. Same stories, same characters, same characterization. I mean, damn, what happened to all the mass murder? Can you just get a new story or something? Also, you are so not all that. I don't know why people like your stories. Are you famous for sucking someone's cock or something? I could totally do better. And I spell better than you too. And, I make less typos. So there. Also, where the fuck is my chai latte? You are fucking fired.
-Ari

ETA: I adore you all madly for rushing to my aid, but I think what I just don't get about this exercise is the simple idea of if you don't like something, why the fuck are you reading it? Is someone holding a gun to your head and forcing you to? I highly doubt that, so why go around being needlessly rude and cruel? That's just fucked up.

Comments

[estrella30.livejournal.com]

its so funny, z. on my computer? I have this nifty thing called a BACK BUTTON. weird how others dont have it.

*kisses you to bits*

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

If only IM didn't make me break out in hives, but yes, I think if your people met my people, we'd both be like, "Oh, no they di'nt!"

Ari is my god. He helps keep me sane. Are you watching Entourage, you should?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

LOL. More? You want *more*? There are 500+ memories in my LJ. Of those 400+ are my writing. And yet you want more, priceless.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Your card made me smile like a crazy person -- which, okay, I am, but that's digressing. Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much. I didn't mean to sound defeatest, it's just that some days it's like, OMGWTFMAN?! I love this; I enjoy it immensely, but sometimes it drives me mental. I never understood that need to tear someone else down to build yourself up. If you don't like something, don't read it! If someone has wronged you, okay, be angry, but don't just hate just to hate. I mean seriously, how messed up is that?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

June is entirely too far away, I have NEEDS! These people just keep fucking with me though, it's very hard. I mean, really, ARI. And Drama. And Turtle. And Lloyd. Ari loves Lloyd, in his own way.

*Of course she's denying it! Because she knows they're dating each other!

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

I have this nifty thing called a BACK BUTTON

OMGWTFBBQ!! I have one too. We are speshul. I bet nobody else in the entire world has these. We should put them on ebay, but then nobody'd prolly use them.

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Oooooooooooh, coffee cake. I lurve coffee cake. With tea :D

[antheia.livejournal.com]

It's the real irony of coffee cake, though: it's best with tea. The flavours complement each other perfectly. And frankly, you haven't had coffee cake until you've had my coffee cake.

It's not bragging if it's true, right?

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

*makes whimpering noise*

That's just cruel, man. Do you have the really good crumble on top that's so sugary that your teeth hurt and you just don't care?

[estrella30.livejournal.com]

I love you like lovin, baby.

[antheia.livejournal.com]

It's sacrilege to make it any other way. It's dead easy to make the topping, though: 2 tbsps flour, 5 tbsps of sugar and 2 tbsps of butter. Then you finger it to crumbling and add some cinammon and crumble the stuff lightly over the top. So simple it's sinful.

I swear, it's the reason I get asked to brunch, sometimes.

[onthehillside.livejournal.com]

(Also: I met George, briefly on the set of his movie Michael Clayton, on Saturday. I've been bragging about it to everyone, but I suppose one more person won't hurt.)

Sadly, Ari wasn't there. Because Ari isn't actually real. I have to remind myself this a lot.

[oxoniensis.livejournal.com]

The way I look at this meme is that the people whose opinion I really want and who I respect most already tell me what they genuinely think of my writing - I trust them (and that includes you, obviously) to do that. And why would we want to pay any attention to the opinion of someone anonymous? Considering the quality (i.e lack of quality) of some recs pages/communities, there are a lot of people whose opinions about fan fiction I would emphatically disagree with. So I'm not going to bother wondering if it's someone like that, someone's whose opinion just isn't worth anything to me, or someone whose opinion I value critiquing my writing.

And if you did the meme, you'd probably just get pestered to write more, like you're a writing machine!

[oxoniensis.livejournal.com]

Also, before I go to bed -

{{{{hugs}}}}

- because even if you don't need them right this second, they never really go amiss.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

I getting to the point where I see the word "meme" and I want to smash things. It used to be fun and games and a way to reach out and tickle the anonymity that characterizes the internet. It has now seems to be a way to skewer people.

Look, I adore your writing and I've said so many times. However, if I didn't, I would not friend you. I wouldn't read you. I'd ignore all references to you. In short, there wouldn't be any dialogue between us because clearly enough people appreciate your writing and if I don't that's just between me and, well, me.

I have yet to understand why adopting an LJ name has become synomymous with "hey, I've got a ton of anger I have no place to unload, let's just trash other people for the sheer hell of it."

I do not understand wank. I do not understand this need by people to trash others, to their face or behind their back. There are arrow keys, people. Use them.

[gene-lee.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't sweat it. I love your stuff. Looks like a lot of people do.

:-)

[rageprufrock.livejournal.com]

Dude, I'd totally be watching Entourage if I had access to it. I'm trying to find somebody with a Netflix account to hook me up with the first season, if only because I (a) love Jeremy Piven unnaturally and still secretly want to write like, an epic Cupid fic and (b) love Adrian Greniere unnaturally ever since I saw him and that girl who was in Sabrina in that horrible teen flick for which Britney Spears provided the theme song. I bet I still have it on tape somewhere.

Man, sucks about the AIM hives, or whatevs. But then again--it's probably for the best that you're not subjected to the hissing vitriol I sometimes suffer. There is, I think, at least for me, a tipping point, and once you go over that waterfall you never really crawl back.

[resmin.livejournal.com]

Utterfly off-topic, but Tom Ford Fluffs Jake (http://towleroad.typepad.com/towleroad/2006/02/tom_ford_fluffs.html).

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Erm. I was not actually asking you to write more, I was merely searching for an amusing way to show appreciation for the work you've done. Apparently it fell flat, but the sentiment is still there.

This anonymous meme thing is, in a word, useless -- "Hey, kids! Let's start a flame war and really hurt some feelings! But don't worry about retribution, you're anonymous!" No one should be surprised at the results. Conversely, when you do see praise, it often comes off as if the writer has won a popularity contest, or it sounds like the writer's friends have rushed in to save the writer's precious feelings.

why go around being needlessly rude and cruel? That's just fucked up.

You've hit the nail on the head.

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

I highly doubt that, so why go around being needlessly rude and cruel?

Is there a difference, in your estimation, between sheer nastiness and criticism? I'm not even thinking concrit, necessarily, but the kind of "x didn't really work for me, because a, b, and c weren't really established in this story" kind of things. I've read many a story that I enjoyed for the most part, but had certain reservations about, be they character or plot or sensibility. Whether or not I tell the author about those reservations depend on a lot of things. If I don't find anything to like, I won't leave a word of feedback and probably won't finish the story. If I really liked it, I'll try to say why. But as an author, I find those who point out flaws to be very valuable, even if I don't always agree with them. If nothing else, I might have tried to gloss over something because I ddin't want to deal with it - if someone's honest enough to tell me they noticed, it gives me strategies for the next time.

There will always be haters. Learning when to ignore them and when to listen to them teaches me something else, about my own sense of self-worth and my acknowledgement of my failings.

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

your minions are gonna FUCK SOME SHIT UP.

omg, ari, really. Drama is your middle name. I have some eye crack for ya.

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

I think the lack of concrit is really due to fb being almost exclusively lj based now. People just don't take that time to send email fb where you *can* offer insight that's slightly critical (like, for instance, if someone were to tall me to read over for typoes before posting as an example) or that goes to a more extreme form of criticism (I think you would be a much better writer if you didn't let yourself get so bogged down with this fixation with beer). I used to get email fb like that ALL the time, but people just look like assholes doing it in public in a comment thread. I think that's what's caused this whole trend to anon threads.

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

oh my god, she's such a hack! shut up your mouth!

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

oops, that was supposed to be anonymous.

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about the public nature of feedback on LJ driving people towards adoration instead of even the slightest criticism. When I post stories, I try to make it clear that I welcome all types of comments (I've yet to be flamed, though! I suspect a bad flame would get a "thank you for sharing" and a quick use of the ban function from me). I even have it in my "read this first" post linked from my profile page. It's disenheartening, if you like to discuss stories as either a reader or an author, to find such pressure not to say *anything* negative about stories in public. I say negative things about shows and movies and books all the time, so I want to extend the same privilege to fanfiction as well.