Don't Call it “Crap”

Don't Call it “Crap”



By Myles L. Edmundson

AKA: Katana70065



Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this editorial commentary, I want to establish who I am, so at least you know I'm not just some nut sitting around spouting BS just to hear myself type. (Can't say “talk” given that this is a type-written document). My name is Myles L. Edmundson (don't worry about what my middle initial is, as that is irrelevant). I work at my local Target Store in Wilson, North Carolina, in the United States (Mostly for those of you who might be reading this, but live outside the U.S.). In my spare time (what little I get from my job), I write. I have never taken formal classes in writing, thus all my writing skills are self taught. My ambition is to eventually finish some of my original works (of which I have several writing projects in the works) and get them published. I turned to www.writing.com as a means of getting some of my works (mostly fan fiction as of the writing of this editorial commentary; 21 July, 2011), so that when I ACTUALLY get something published, people will have already read some of my works and be more willing to read a published work of mine. I am happily married to a wonderful woman named Sandra (Sandy to her friends), and as of the writing of this editorial commentary (21 July, 2011) we have no children (but that may have changed since I posted this on my portfolio [http://writing.com/authors/katana70065]).

I have been writing various works of fiction (mostly fan fiction until relatively recently), and had a number of people read my works. Now while most people who read my work have stated that they like my work and consider me to be a good writer (some even eagerly anticipate more works in the various story series that I have written; such as one friend to whom I gave copy of two Sailor Moon/Ranma ½ crossover scripts I wrote), I have encountered more than one Critic who has given me what I like to call “Useless and Unnecessarily Abrasive Criticism”. Though these criticisms range from carefully worded, yet negative reviews to utterly abusive flaming insults, they pretty much all say the same thing, “IT'S CRAP! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY BUSINESS WRITING!” I know I'm not the only writer to get these sorts of criticisms, which is why I am writing this editorial commentary.

When I write something, I do so using what little I understand about the ancient Japanese Bushido Code, which in this case means I acknowledge that my skills in my chosen craft (writing in this case), can always be better, and that I should always strive to perfect them (which should be a never ending quest to better my writing skills; as any writer should do). Also I acknowledge that (as of the writing of this editorial; 21 July, 2011) I have very little experience as a writer who posts his work for the viewing of the general public. I admit I don't know much about posting stuff on www.writing.com, and have blundered more than once, which has earned me flaming feedback. One critic stated that a chapter I posted of a fan fiction was “so badly formated” that he or she could not read it and would not give me a review of any sort, and to that person I would say that I don't appreciate their flaming me in so abrasive a way.

What new writers like myself need is constructive criticism. The “It's crap” critics seem to skim through the document without actually reading it, or just read the first sentence or two and deem it “crap” (or whatever other insulting and/or flaming expletive they choose to employ). They don't offer any advice or helpful hints to improve the document, they just call it “crap” and proverbially toss it aside to make room for works by “REAL WRITERS.” Now as a self taught writer, I'm sure I make mistakes that might mark me as a “would-be writer” or a “rank amateur”, but that does not give other people the right to insult me. I'm sure I speak for many new and/or inexperienced writers when I ask the “It's crap” critics to give us useful criticisms, not flames and insults. Telling me that my story is “crap” doesn't help. Tell me what you think is the problem, and I will reread the story and see to correcting and improving it. I want to make my story better and more entertaining for the reader. I know there are thousands of writers out in the world, tens of thousands of “Would-Be” writers, and hundreds of thousands of potential writers, and of those “Would-Be” and potential writers, I wonder how many of them simply gave up writing and never truly lived up to their potential because some rude critic said “It's Crap!” to one of their stories. If it weren't for my wife, I would be among the many potential writers who gave up writing because of a few rude “It's Crap” critics.

I have not reviewed other people's work on www.writing.com before, and I have not often reviewed other people's work in real life, but when I have...first I read the document thoroughly. I say this because my grandmother was a school librarian AND an English/Grammar Teacher. I learned how to write a comprehensible and coherent document from her. I admit when reviewing someone else's work I read it as much for grammatical errors as I do for the plot. And if I find that the document does not live up to my expectations and/or standards, instead of telling the author that it's “Crap”, I instead tell them what I think is wrong with it, and offer my opinions as to how they can improve the document to make it even better. No book, document, story, or article ever gets printed in its original form. Novels, in fact, go through many revisions, rewrites, and drafts before they are published and pop up on bookstore shelves. As a writer, I am not afraid to rewrite my work, I do it all the time. I'll write something, finish it, and later read through it, and absolutely HATE some passage that I wrote, and rework it, sometimes scrapping the entire document and rewrite it again from scratch. However, I don't respond kindly to people who tell me “It's Crap” and go no further than that. I consider such people as showing their immaturity, lack of refinement, and lack of professionalism. You don't have to be a professional book critic in order to give a professional critique of a writer's work. The process is simple. First, read the document THOROUGHLY, even if their format and sentence structure makes it difficult. You can feel free to make notes on the writer's technique as you are doing this. Then once you have finished the read, if the document does NOT live up to your standards...draw up a list of problems with the document and offer suggestions as to how the author can improve the document. Avoid flames and harsh insults, because they do more harm than good, and ultimately tend to mark your critique as essentially saying, “IT'S CRAP! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY BUSINESS WRITING!” Inexperienced don't need to hear this. If you are an experienced writer, it is your obligation and duty to help a less experienced writer, not to insult them, or throw flaming comments at them that will only make them give up, and never realize their potential as writers. I have actually met people who were good writers that had given up because someone told them , “IT'S CRAP! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY BUSINESS WRITING!”

So in conclusion, don't tell a writer that their document is “crap”. It doesn't matter if you're critiquing a rank amateur who never published a story in his or her life, or Stephen King (Who has published more books than I have fingers and toes). A writer does not need to hear “It's Crap”. They need to hear “it's not as good as it could be, but here's how you can make it better.”



Thank you for reading this.

Myles L. Edmundson, 21 July, 2011

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