At 14:01 2/8/2002 -0500, you wrote:
 >There is a huge difference between writing what you want for yourself and
 >what Chris has done.

*piku*

I may be feeding a troll, but I feel like Kenneth is genuinely upset about 
my comments in the author's notes of newRanma. This is not written to 
'flame him back', but in an attempt to clarify what I meant for him and 
anyone else who was upset by those comments.
Admins, please tell me if this is innapropriate and I'll stop it.

 >He mentions alienation of people, I don't thinks it
 >from disregarding or disagreeing with given C&C or for telling people he
 >doesn't want pre-readers.  Like Peter said in an e-mail yesterday, Chris
 >should have said it more prominently.  Also, why post a story to a forum,
 >the FFML, that you don't want criticisms or comments on.

What I wrote in the author's notes that has probably caused this was the line:

"Most of the rest of the commentary I
got was in the nature of trying to convince me to change the story...
or telling me that I was ruining the story... or complaining one way
or the other that the story wasn't going the way a certain reader
wanted it to go."

And

"My process went like so: I scripted a chapter,
fleshed it in with dialogue and descriptive prose, proofed it for
errors, and then spell checked. Once done, that was it. The story was
in the can."

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word 'edit' earlier in the notes , since 
it's so vague and can imply anything from basic proofing to detailed story 
and characterization analysis to actual story changes. Maybe I also 
shouldn't have made the description of the editing process so terse. What I 
was trying to relay, and what you have so thoroughly missed, Kenneth, is 
that there is a difference between C&C... even negative C&C... and comments 
that amount to 'I don't like this. You should change it.'

Do I ignore C&C? No. The C&C I have received on newRanma from the FFML has 
been invaluable. I've had people write me with proofing. I've had people 
write with continuity problems. I've had people write who say that they 
can't understand what I've written and that I should change it. I've even 
had people who have corrected me on the details of the original source 
material. I value all these highly!

For example, I got an email last night from a guy who lives in Nerima 
district and made some comments on the amount of money I had Genma and 
Nodoka earning in comparison to what they planned to do with it. He also 
gave me detailed information on train schedules, and explained that I could 
not have the Saotome's riding across Tokyo in less than half day or so. I 
told him that I planned to change descriptions for my RAAC post based on 
his accurate information.

What I have had to discard are messages the people who write and say 
something like:
'This story is really going to start sucking if you don't let Nabiki and 
Ranma get together by the end of the story. You've spent so much time 
setting them up that it will invalidate the rest of the story if you let 
them fall apart.'

There are other examples, but I'm certain you get the general gist.
The example I heard most often from working on The Clan were people who 
wrote and told me that I was making a mistake by concentrating the story on 
the characters rather than the setting or plot. I had several people upset 
because I would not go into more detail on the histories of the vampires or 
raveners. I had people angrily flame and tell me that I was 'ruining' the 
story, but if I would just introduce one little change to the plot that it 
would make it a good story again.

It is very true that there is a fine line between saying, 'I think that 
what you are trying to accomplish would be more evident if you included 
more or less of x' and 'You are invalidating what you're trying to do by 
doing more or less of x'. It's so fine a line that I made the decision to 
discard both.

 >Wouldn't a link to
 >his URL been more than adequate?   A direct post to RAAC, perhaps?

By forgoing one very specific kind of C&C, I should forfeit any and all 
others? If I'm not willing to let readers make any changes they want to my 
plot or my characterization, then I should not be able to accept changes 
they suggest about other matters?

 > There is
 >also another matter of etiquette involved.  If someone takes the time to
 >write something to you, expressing their feelings, is it not only polite to
 >return the e-mail, even if it's only to say "Thanks for you effort, but I'm
 >not taking C&C into account."

Perhaps it would have been appropriate for me to say that I was not 
interested in any type of suggested plot changes, but I stand by the fact 
that I have *never* said I was not interested in C&C or that I was 
discarding anything other than direct creative story input, like I wrote in 
the author's notes.

 >He says in the notes that he hopes people enjoyed his writing, his actions
 >speak differently.  There are a lot of people I don't agree with, but I try
 >to give them the consideration of returning their inquiries and especially
 >their interest.
 >
 >"I'd also like to apologize to everyone, friends and new readers alike, who
 >asked to preread or edit. For reasons I'll explain in a bit, I told them
 >'no'."  This is a direct quote from his notes.  I saw no evidence that he
 >actually said 'no' to anyone, only ignoring.

I could have been combative every time someone made negative C&C. I could 
have flamed them on the FFML or through private email. Instead, when 
someone offered to pre-read or edit my stories, I very politely declined. I 
didn't answer *every* email that was posted in response to my stories, but 
I did answer the great majority of them, explaining why or why I wouldn't 
use a particular piece of criticism.

A little while back, Michael Noakes (I believe, Please forgive me if I've 
slipped up or if I've misspelled your name) wrote a fairly long response to 
the chapter of newRanma in which Ranma was having erotic dreams... a few of 
them violent. Without being in any way accusatory of Michael, I believe he 
was unhappy with the direction the story was going and with the writing 
techniques I was using to tell it. He thought I could be doing a much 
better job if I changed certain aspects of the story and the story telling. 
He wrote at the very beginning of his letter that 'it was my story' and 
that his comments were offered as advice and not as demands.

I could have written back and posted a long repetition of 'Well, I'm sorry 
you think that, but I think it's more important to write the story the way 
I want it rather than following your advice.' Rather than slapping him in 
the face like that, I chose *not* to be an asshole and let his comment 
stand on its own for everyone else to agree or disagree with. It didn't 
help me much when writing the story, but I thought perhaps it would help 
other writers. Michael has written some incredible stuff and has provided 
some great stories and information to the list as a whole. His opinions 
were valid and well thought out. I felt like it would be a disservice to 
him to either publicly or privately say 'That's nice, but it doesn't help 
me,' about what he wrote.

 >He ends the notes with, "Thank you all for reading. Please send e-mail... or
 >fanart *hint* *hint* if you like my story."  But why, just to stroke his
 >ego?  Getting negative feedback is a part of life.

This request was made in good humor... almost as a joke. Yes, the story is 
mine, and written for me, but I truly treasure each and every one of my 
readers. Would I write the story if I didn't get any comments at all? Yes. 
Is it all the sweeter that I do have people writing to tell me, thank you, 
I enjoyed the story you posted? Yes. Is it nice to receive comments from 
people who say... The story was great, but I noticed several errors in what 
you wrote? YES! Is it wonderful to receive comments like, 'I wrote this 
follow up lemon scene to Chapter X' or 'I made this fanart based on Scene 
X'. IT'S INCREDIBLE!

What's not so great is to receive an overwhelming majority of comments that 
are negative... which was the case with The Clan. Worse, the more and more 
of the people I tried to please by changing The Clan in response to 
story-input type C&C, the more and more negative comments I received.

 >I don't care if people don't use my comments, or disagree with them.  But
 >the rudeness that has been displayed by Mr. Jones is a different story, and
 >is one of the reasons I and other people I know don't do more C&C.

Kenneth, I'm very sorry you feel like I've been rude to you and other 
subscribers to the FFML. I feel like one of the most immature behaviors 
that one can exhibit is the 'It's my ball, and I'll take it away if you all 
don't play the way I want you to,' act.

What I've done may not be that much different in your eyes, but I feel like 
I had to say 'It's my ball, and I'm playing this game with it. Everyone 
else who wants to play is welcome, but these are the rules...'

 >IF the
 >author is too busy to acknowledge it, what's the point.  It's a waste of my
 >time.  Which I have precious little of.  And MR. Jones is not the sole case
 >of authors pleading for comments but ignoring the people who they want
 >comments from.

Kenneth, after everything I or anyone else has said and written, if you 
truly feel your C&C is wasted, I urge you not to bother. Please, add me to 
your killfile or filter me into your 'Deleted Items' folder.

To everyone else, I urge you to continue submitting C&C both to the list 
and privately to authors. Even if an author is not interested in C&C or 
discards your suggestions, the fact that you took the time to read and 
respond to your story is an indication of interest and a morale boost to 
that author.

Again, this was not meant to flame Kenneth but to explain my actions in 
hope that more people don't act like him in return.

C.
* * *

C. Jones - guilty@furinkan.net - http://www.furinkan.net

Public Key: http://www.furinkan.net/key.txt

Everybody in the room stared at Mihoshi. The policewoman
began to cry. "I didn't mean to infect the world! I'm so
sorry!!!! WAHHHAHHHHHHH!!!!"

                         - From 'The Virus'



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