A Friendly Reminder About Taking Criticism on the Forums

Welcome to the Forums! Guides
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Hi @Announcements! I think we need to make a few of the rules on the Forums a little clearer. One of them in particular is the rule on criticism.

So, the Forums are a safe space for critics and writers who genuinely want to grow and improve as writers. If you would like to learn and hone in your craft, I encourage you to use the Forums freely!

However, I do not accept time wasters. If you ask for honest feedback or opinions, you better be damn ready to accept the feedback and opinions that you get, even if you don’t like what people have to say. You don’t have to agree with all of the feedback. However, do not get defensive on the thread. If you do, I will close it down. It’s wasting our time.

There are many people out there who would love the kind of feedback that we give out here for free. You might find it harsh or savage, but do not tone police the people who take the time to read your work and explain to you what they think needs work. As long as they’re following the rules, they are in their right to say what they want about your story. If you then go off on a tangent about how mean they’re being or emotionally blackmail people, you will be breaking the rules.

It is a flaggable offense and will definitely get your thread closed.

If you can’t take criticism, maybe ask for a thread asking to help you find good qualities in your story? Otherwise, frankly, we don’t want your false requests for help here. We’d rather spend our time on people who value the time we put in trying to make their work better. For free.

And you certainly don’t have to accept all of the feedback. You don’t have to put it all in your work. People have their opinions and you’re not always going to agree. But don’t go around breaking the rules because you don’t like what you heard.

I hope I have made myself clear.

Please feel free to comment below.

(@ForumStaff I don’t know if this should go in #welcome-to-the-forums:guides or #announcements:forum-announcements, so have fun!)

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I’m going to anticipate people saying “but you asked people to stop messaging feedback to you” and say I want people to comment on the threads where I ask for feedback, not bombard my PMs, Discord and notifications for feedback I didn’t ask for. If you start a thread asking for feedback, you better accept the feedback you get, whether you think it’s productive or not.

If you disagree, just explain why you think they’re wrong.

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Moved to guides, added tag

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If people are coming in your inbox giving you story feedback you didn’t ask for, then they’re harassing you when you ask them to stop. That’s completely different from creating a thread and asking for it

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Would a person be allowed to ask for their thread to be closed if they can’t handle the criticism? Or would that be similar to a person simply telling people to shut up on their thread? :eyes::sparkles:

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Of course! As long as they don’t blame others or get defensive, simply saying “thank you all for your feedback, but I don’t think I’m ready for it” or something and then tagging the staff is more than fine. In fact, I think it deserves a lot of respect. Knowing when something is too much for you is something I’m still working out now!

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I suggest for those who feel a little icky about criticism like I do, reading it bit by bit. I struggle with it, too, so I take the time to read them maybe one or two a day. It means it takes me a while to get back to them, but I can be sure I’m being level-headed!

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Maybe make a friendly reminder on tone-policing as well? :smiley:
I think we should give more of an in-depth explanation on what it is and what it’s not. If you decide to post about it again and need more examples or help, feel free to PM me. :eyes:

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I believe we may have one of those somewhere unless I’m imagining things. @ForumStaff?

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I’m not sure if there’s a thread, but I think the rules explained it pretty clearly :eyes:

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my only deed before bed time, I sleep now

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I was saying another post that goes more in depth because when I read that thread before, you’ve even stated it’s difficult to see the fine line.

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Yeah, I don’t like people who can’t take criticism - especially when they ask for it.

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Like looking back on older literature there are a lot of great and amazing authors out there that got criticism! It doesn’t mean their work was bad but yeah. If you don’t get criticism- at least like some, I might be kinda suspicious lol. Criticism as long as it’s not hate (there’s a difference) kinda promotes a more well rounded view of the novel and allows people to interpret it more.

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We could always make a doc about it on the website. Plus, Shani has suggested another idea for me to create within the next week. HEHE

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What do you mean?

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Is it Shani or Shannii? :weary:

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It’s like a blog but it’s how we’'re setting up the forum rules at the moment.

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The site is Shannii but in real life her name is Shani. I keep switching between the two subconsciously, sorry about that.