And I kind of shrugged at some of the crits. I felt part of
Apology's strength lay in the fact that it could be any couple fighting about anything. I guess some people like things spelled out for them.
I've just read it and left a comment there. I liked it a lot. It was a nice moment that showed how they relate to each other. The description was really vivid, too. (I want something on a nest of sauteed onions like right now.)
The thing I really dislike about Every Day Fiction is this: I think most if not all of the audience are people who also submit there. And so instead of just general comments that people who only read might make, some act like it's a workshop and they criticize what they don't like.
Some of it is just clearly subjective. Some people don't "get" things, some don't really read carefully at all and some skim and comment on what they thought they read. Some read carefully and just give an honest opinion, good or bad. Some may even have good points. Those people generally know how to deliver those points while still praising what they like and not coming off as weenies.
Then there are the few who are just bitchy about it. Those are pretty easily ignored. And those are the ones who should have followed the "if you don't have something nice to say" rule.
I'm not saying anything anybody doesn't know, I realize. BUT.
While I think there's nothing wrong with saying that a story didn't work for you, I would never do it unless I was being asked to critique something in a workshop or peer-to-peer situation.
I see absolutely no point in critiquing a story that's been
published. I mean, it's up and done. It's presented online, for free, for your
entertainment. You don't like it? Well, it took 3 minutes to read, move on. I've read a ton of shit I don't like online. Because I don't like it doesn't mean it's not good, so I would never then point out to the writer in what ways I disliked it. How does that benefit anyone? I don't go to EDF unless I'm there to read a specific story like yours, Madeline's and others' who have been published from here, mostly because if I read every day I wouldn't be able to resist the comments and then I'd spend a good hour pissed on someone else's behalf.
Too many people try to inflate their own egos by trying to step on someone else's, and EDF seems to have some regulars who hang around for that reason.
/rant
Anyway. Congrats, again.
Shelley