Elsa Bibat wrote:
Third rule of C&C, knowing when to go public. I've noticed that
public C&C is on the down slope. Hell, the only people who
consistently do it anymore are D.B. Sommer and Gary Kleppe.
No offense, but if you think this then IMO you haven't been paying very
clse attention. What about (off the top of my head; I'm probably
forgetting and fatally offending someone who should be included, but oh
well...) Reid Carson, Alan Harnum, Ronny Hedin, David Johnston, Doug
MacDougall, Bert Miller, Phil, D. F. Roeder, Vince Seifert, Grayson
Towler? Don't any of these count? Okay, some of them are more regular
than others, but all of them post thoughtful public C&C from time to
time.
The halcyon days of public C&C were when the Fab Four: The
Eternal Lost Lurker, Chris "God-Boy" Angel, Andrew Huang and
Christian "Flashman" Rogers, MST'ed the fics that they liked.
Normally MSTs are thought to be derogatory in nature, but these
guys raised MST/C&C into an art form. They entertained while they
C&Ced the fic and praised it all the while. Well, most of the time.
That's one of the things I miss in the FFML.
As someone who was around then, I have to disagree with you. I remember
the MSTs from the "halcyon days," and they contained very little
substance as far as actual criticism of the fics. I hope the "Fab Four"
doesn't think I'm picking on them here -- it wasn't just them, it was
most everyone doing MSTs at the time. Very rarely if ever did any of
those MSTs tell an author, here's a serious problem with your fic, and
here's what I suggest you do about it. Mostly what they had to say
amounted to nothing more than "I liked the fic."
For my money, the golden age of C&C is right now. I doubt there's ever
been more thoughtful, high-quality responses -- both public and private.
Anyway, maybe I'll bring it back since I've got tons of free time.
Please do. But remember, as with the fics themselves, it's quality that
matters, not quantity.
Gary