:But he never says exactly what it is that irks him!

May I put forth two ideas?  First of all, he is not going
to write your fanfic for you.  If he says "Akane way too
sluttish in this fanfic!" he's not going to tell you exactly
where and how.  That's not his job, it's YOUR job to weigh
his criticism, pick the spots, and fix things up.

   Mmmm... Nope.  It _is_ his job.  He has taken it upon himself to 
provide criticism of a story.  In doing so, he should either; a) give 
specific examples of the sort of thing he is complaining about, or; b) 
be prepared to be blown off and derided as an ineffective critic.  
Curiously, just as you posted your defense, GUTB began responding to 
this backlash by providing more details in his "OOC" complaints.

Secondly, he is only one commentator of hopefully many.
If his criticism seems to be useless...don't use it!
Based on what you are saying, people who drop you a line
saying "great fic!" and nothing more are also a waste
of your time.  I don't think that's true.

   Actually, there is a difference between saying, "It sucks!" and 
saying, "Great fic!".  The former is an argument, and thus requires a 
logical rationale behind it.  The latter is usually meant as simple 
encouragement (and, IMNSHO, should probably be accompanied by a 
statement to the effect of, "I especially liked..." or, "I was really 
moved by...").  Even without supporting statements, though, it conveys 
the message that the reader would like to see more of the author's work.  
"It sucks!" accomplishes nothing, and unsupported complaints amount to 
little more than that.

   Oh, and earlier, you suggested that GUTB has a problem with tact, but 
that that should be viewed as irrelevant to his criticism.  I cannot 
disagree more strongly.  A person's writing ability is a core element of 
their worth as a critic of writing (in a similar vein, that's why most 
sports announcers are retired athletes).  One of the definitions of 
"good" art is, "Does the reader/listener/viewer respond in the way the 
artist intends?"  If the answer is "No", then the work has failed, at 
least for that audience member.  C&C has an audience of one--the writer.  
Therefore, if your C&C cannot prduce the desired effect (an evaluation, 
if not an actual revision, of the story by the writer), then what's the 
point of sending it?

   If a writer of C&C cannot use sufficient logic and tact to get 
his/her point across, what does that say about their qualifications to 
write feedback.

--Freemage

signed, pnt

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