marked improvementz

I'll tell you what I do not want:
- Reading and going "WOW GOOD STORY". End comment.
- Reading and going "WOW I DON'T LIKE THIS STORY". End comment. Btw this is not that much worse than the previous comment, it's on the same level of uselessness.
- Saying "this bit is wrong" without actually like, saying why, or making a suggestion, or anything.


Here is what I do want:
- You read my work
- You comment wherever you don't follow. Instead of simply going "wtf", you can put a question like "what is the significance of the mirror?", or "why did he do that?", so that I actually know why you're confused.
- As said above, don't say "grammar wrong", and just stop. Tell me what it is! (For me that is usually tense, thanks Freya, if you are reading this)
- Do not put a specific comment at the end (eg "I didn't like how you used pronouns instead of people's names"). It is much more helpful to put a "who?" in red next to every confusing pronoun, or other such grammatical sinner.

So basically, I would rather see a document with lots of red, than no red. But constructive criticism is the key, and so it becomes obvious to me WHY I am being criticised.

Maybe some people are scared of offending people for being too harsh on their story. But as long as you keep all criticism constructive, then you will not be offending anyone. If anyone is offended to have someone help make their piece better, then they can go jump in a lake because you well and truly did help.

Don't forget to let the author know what they're doing right. If they had a good suspenseful paragraph, pray tell them. When I read stories I just comment with whatever I'm thinking. Like I sometimes go "nice, I like that symbol meaning freedom" or I go "damn that imagery is crazy" or "i like the suspense. WHO IS THIS PERSON". I don't know if people find that annoying :L

So yeah. When I send a document to you and you send it back with "Nice story/essay", I don't feel epic because I know my first revision is nowhere near perfect. I just feel gipped :L


Similarly in discussions, if I put forward an idea and you just go "Nahh gay idea." I will get annoyed. Because by not providing WHY it sucks, you're just being a douchebag. That's not even subjective.
Also, the manner in which you provide WHY it sucks should be constructive as well. It is as much for your own benefit as it is for mine. So phrasing the flaw into a question isn't too hard: "How can this work if [blah] is to happen?". Instead of "This sucks dick cos [blah] is going to happen."

In order of usefulness:
1) People who care enough to give suggestions
2) People who don't care at all and don't say anything
3) People who care enough to tell you you're doing it wrong. And then stop caring after that.


Woo most of this is really outdated but hopefully it's still read-able.