There's been too much rudeness and belittling going on in the Fanfiction world lately, and I'm sure it's not just affecting the members of the Cookie League. This page is for all authors to vent out their frustrations over reviews that are rude, crude, and just plain mean. That's right! We are calling out the Rude Reviewers! They have no concept of treating people as they would like to be treated and should be called out for that.
If you would like to submit a review to the wall, please email it to me: ebarules@gmail.com.
Not every person who views the stories on Fanfiction will like every story. That's a given. We all have different tastes, different ideals, different morals - Twilight is often our one commonality.
Constructive Criticism is always welcome, and can often be very helpful to an author. The "constructive" part means that your review or PM talks about an error in grammar, punctuation, or in regards to a certain aspect of the story. Maybe the author put a city in the wrong state. Or maybe a hotel picked is not as nice as the website said it was. A constructive review is factual, concise, polite, and seeks to inform and help, not to trash an author or his/her story.
If you can't constructively criticize, stop reading the story and do not review it. These stories are a privilege, not a right. You are not forced to read them, nor are you forced to reply. Remember, it is the discretion of every author on Fanfiction what does and does not go into their story - and the same applies to you if you are writing.
Before you hit that send button, take a moment to read your review. Is it constructive? Is it clear? Would you want someone to send it to you? Just a little forethought and discretion is all that's needed.
The offending review:
ARE YOU SERIOUS?? Who puts ** like that in a fanfic. WTF. If you actually think that then you are a small minded idiot and even if you only put it in for narrative purposes... what the hell is wrong with you. Great message to send to young girls. God I really fricken hope you don't actually think that. Can't read this story now, that ruined it.
My thoughts:
And the constructive criticism in there is where? Just because someone has a different opinion than you do, it doesn't make them small minded or an idiot. By being so rude in a review, this person showed that they were the small minded idiot in this situation.
The offending review:
It's actually too horrible to repost, but the gist was that LLC was porn and should not be allowed on Fanfiction. And that I should die for my immoral behavior.
My thoughts:
Every person has a bad day and this review hit on a very bad one. I actually considered taking down my stories and quitting Fanfiction after this one. At the time, LLC was only the third story I had written and it was an All Human story - the toughest to get readers to love on Fanfiction. I was still nervous of my writing skills and to get a review like this on a day when I was already feeling blue, it just hit all the wrong cords and I never wanted to feel like that again. The only reason I stayed was because as awful as the review was, it couldn't compare to the number of wonderful people who wrote in to say why they loved LLC.
1) "Your last chapter felt incredibly lame to me.You ever see someone trying to learn to drive a stick for the
first time? That's what your attempts sound like."
2) "You really need to stop being so vain. We get it, you're big. We don't care. Just stop writing. You and DLC (daddy's little cannibal) think you're the shit and are so important, but it's not like you have a life. You sit there on a computer all day because you're pathetic."
3) "I'm so tired of all the problems they face. It's bad enough Edward has a past, but now this comes along. I just can't take all the heartbreak this will cause. Can't you just make them happy? Does your life really suck so much that you have to take it out on us?"
4) "i really wanna smack you right now, no lie. can't they have even one WEEK without drama? we finally think everythings going great, then BAM you want Bella to chose between her future and Edward. and god KNOWS that if she were to tell him, he'd say go, b/c Edwards a ***damned self-depreciative person and will want her to leave b/c her *potential* job is more important than him...sdfghjkl. Can you just...not? Seriously. Write a good story, or just don't write one at all."
5) "You're stupid. Your ideas are so cliche, and that's really disappointing. I expected more from you. If you can't give us entertainment, go home."
6) "you put Esme instead of Elizabeth when talking about who introduced Victoria to Bella. change that. now. I mean, honestly, how stupid can you be. Do you not realize how much that effects people? It does. So get your goddamn story right."
My thoughts:
First of all, if you're going to be a jerk, be brave enough to Put Your Name On It!! Secondly, please spell correctly. It's sort of hard to take your rip seriously when you can't spell and punctuate correctly. And third, come on! If you feel the story is that awful, why did you waste your time reading the whole chapter and THEN spent more of your time giving a nasty, rude review??
Two reasons this person will not be named: (1) she already got the negative attention she was begging for - and - (2) By not putting her real name or anyway other than a PM to contact her, she showed she was a coward. If you're going to be negative, have the cojones to put your name on it.
What this person did: We lost a fanfic author and it was a ripple that we felt throughout our community, whether we knew her personally or not. The Unnamed posted a vile review on every story this lost soul worked on.
How we handled it as a community: We reported the review as abuse and emailed Fanfiction support to have the account and reviews deleted. This was accomplished in a single day and all those who were involved to help remove this trash should be proud. We have a voice and we can do so much good with it when we work together. We can keep Fanfiction a safe place for budding authors and keep our favorite authors writing.
The offending review:
Tell your Beta to shoot herself for the stupid commentary in parentheses. Those should have been omitted. You really have no idea how ridiculous they sound, do you?
My thoughts:
I'll say it once again ... Degrading people who are trying to learn how to write will not get you or the author anywhere. Yes, internal thoughts are not supposed to be in parenthesis. But instead of giving the author ideas on how to correct her error, you rip her Beta. Beta's check for grammar, punctuation, and flow, and make suggestions on how to improve the story. The author is free to listen to, or not listen to, any of those suggestions. And no one should ever tell anyone else to shoot herself. It's rude and ignorant behavior. Maybe the real reason this person didn't give examples of how to handle internal dialogue is because they don't know the answer either. And rather than just admit that, this reviewer chose to tear down someone else. She has proved she's not much of a lady at all.
The offending review:
This is beyong terrible, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Next time you try to right anything take a moment to think if you can produce anything worthwhile, besides a badly written and spelled story.
My thoughts:
Apparently, this cannot be said enough ... Degrading people who are trying to learn how to write will not get you or the author anywhere. And really, how awful could the story have been to you, Lucy-Fer, if you read all SEVENTEEN chapters before deciding to bash the author?? Sure, it's a story that needs work, and proper formatting is definitely lacking. But that's what makes it a BEGINNER story! Had Lucy-Fer sent a review to explain about formatting and to offer suggestions about how to improve the story, that would have been Constructive and Helpful. Instead, she sent the above and made herself look like a giant arse.
The internet has always been used for a variety of reasons and we are starting to see more sad souls who are using it to expel the hate they harbor inside. And unfortunately, these people are finding their way to Fanfiction. The best we can do is report the review for abuse and/or politely ask them not to contact us further because doing anything more will give them the attention they are seeking and encourage them to keep sending messages and nasty reviews. To take the time to create an account and login just to bash someone because you don't like what they like ... that's a sign of a special kind of sickness. We can only hope they get the help they so obviously need.
If you didn't write it, don't take credit for it. It really is that simple. Understand that whoever wrote that spent time, energy, heart, and soul to create it. Yes, we do not own the Twilight characters - they are Stephenie's and will always be hers. But if we put them in a new city with new relationships, new pasts, new futures, that plot idea is ours. If we create brand new characters, then those are ours.
If you are copying a story, or any part of a story, directly from Fanfiction in any way, shape, or form without the author's consent and/or without giving the author credit, you are stealing and being disrespectful. If you take the plot of a story and only change a few events or names, and do not give credit to the original author, you are stealing and being disrespectful. And if you copy every chapter of a story, including chapter titles, and answer reviews as if they belong to you...Well, I just have to wonder how you look yourself in the mirror in the morning. I wonder how you can possibly feel any satisfaction for taking something that isn't yours instead of trying to write your own story.
Let's all treat each other with respect and follow that golden rule of treating others as we would like to be treated.
