BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Fan Fiction Addicts General Round Table Discusion - ADULT CONTENT

**Posted by besleybean** February 4, 2018 8:43 am

Not really my area: but in my opinion, I would always be true to how you feel.
Any decent author would also take on valid criticism.

**Posted by ewige** February 4, 2018 11:28 am

Are you talking about a recommendation or a comment?

I'd put concrit into a comment only when asked. A private message is a good option too. Sometimes if I really love a story but there is something that bugs me about it, I put it into my review too - among other things and keeping in mind that a lot of these things are a matter of taste.

When recommending a story elsewhere (also if the writer can see my rec), I point out all the reasons to read it as well as my personal warnings like OOC or poor grammar. Some people won't mind a bit of OOC, others will rush to read the story since it's SO good despite its shortcomings... You provide information and people decide what to do with it.

I think you're fine either way as long as you come across as a friendly person sharing your opinion.

**Posted by Vhanja** February 4, 2018 12:22 pm

Yeah, I was talking about when doing a recommandation. When I want to recommend it, because I feel it's well worth reading, but that I did find some issues with the story.

**Posted by besleybean** February 4, 2018 12:49 pm

Well I knew what you meant and my point stands the same!
Just make your comment as accurate as you can, you are not being rude- just giving your honest opinion.
For example: on the one hand I would recommend this fic because I enjoyed the story, however it could possibly have been tidier in its presentation...something like that.

**Posted by ewige** February 4, 2018 2:03 pm

I wasn't quite sure what Vhanja meant because I wouldn't be bothered by such considerations in a rec at all (no matter whether the author can stumble upon it or not). A recommendation is for potential readers and concrit (like a lengthy advice for the author to think about characterization) would be out of place there. Doesn't mean that you can't list your dislikes, but I'd be less considerate about them in a rec (just listing them, really) than in a review for the author (I'd probably provide examples and canon references to support my opinion on OOC characters in a review, rather than stating plainly "I think the characters were OOC" in a rec).

Same information, different approach...

**Posted by Vhanja** February 4, 2018 6:30 pm

Yeah, I agree that you should be more careful in a review, and should always point out the positive things about a story,not just criticism. However, I wasn't sure if it was ok to mention issued with the fic in a rec.

**Posted by besleybean** February 4, 2018 7:49 pm

I don't see why not.

**Posted by Yitzock** February 4, 2018 8:23 pm

I have just caught up on this conversation, and I have to agree that if it's what your writing in a recommendation to someone else who is looking to read it, then it's OK to mention both what you liked and what you didn't like.
As for comments, I never thought there was an "unwritten rule" about not giving constructive criticism. It's OK to say something like "I really like your story, especially the part where character X does thing Y. I thought the dialogue seemed a bit stiff at times, but overall I liked it." Something like that is still overall positive, I think, and I don't think a writer would be hurt by it. Just commenting "I hated this, you suck," is just mean and not useful at all, but that's not what you're thinking of doing, so I don't think you should worry about talking about what you think is a story's weakness if you still liked it overall.