[Feedback] "They Love It!...They Hate It...They Love It!...

[Shadow Sketches]

So with Murdoc bringing back up the situation of rp's being abandoned because players don't take initiative and are losing interest in the rp's, Commander brought up a good point of how the problem might be that we're not letting creative writing "grow and flourish" as much as we should because of the lack of feedback we give to one another.

Let's face it, when someone compliments us on something we do that makes us want to do that more. If someone tells you that they love your jokes, your gonna want to tell more jokes. That's no different with writing. I'm sure most here have at one point or another have someone compliment something about their writing. Whether it was something small such as telling you they like the way you described a certain room in the story, to them giving you praise on how surprising the plot twist you wrote was.

Now some may be thinking "What does that have to do with letting creative writing grow and flourish?!?!" Well simply put, if someone receives feedback, whether positive or negative, they're more likely to write more so they can improve their writing skills. Because they know that at least someone out there cares enough to even try to tell them what they did good and what they did bad.

Commander wrote up an amazing post in the Creative Writing section on how to write good feedback and criticism (which I highly suggest you check out) but after I finished reading it I couldn't help but thinking "This can definitely help me give better criticisms...but where do I give such criticisms? Stories in the Creative Writing Sections do sometimes have a feedback thread but what about rp's? I don't want to drown OOC's with feedback posts, but where else can I put them?" So I came up with my own answer, this thread!

I don't know whether someone has done something similar to this before or not but I figured I'd try it out. I made this thread so others can give feedback on ANY posts in ANY rp as well as letting others read the criticisms people had on other posts so they can improve their own writing skills as well, even if they're not the one's directly being criticized. Also, if someone criticizes a post here and you notice something as well or just want to give your own two cents, then you can go ahead and write your own thoughts about the post to add on to what has already been brought up. You can never have enough feedback after all!

So how exactly do you criticize a post on here? Thankfully Hukuna has told me can easily grab a quote from elsewhere. Just hit the quote button and copy the quote from the reply box and paste that. It works just like regular text. (Preferably put it in spoilers so we can distinguish the writing from the criticisms more easily.) Make sure to tell us what RP it came from, who's the writer, and perhaps what page it's on. Maybe even give a bit of background info to the scene if you feel it will help, but it's not necessary. It doesn't matter if you want to criticize a short paragraph or an entire post, go crazy. Also, tell the writer of the post that you are criticizing their writing here so they are aware. After all, what's the reason of criticizing their writing if they don't read it?

So what criticisms do we write here? Simple, any and all criticisms you'd like, good or bad. Doesn't matter how small or trivial you may think it is, just go ahead and give your thoughts on the post. Anything you want to share with the writer you can write here. But let me be clear, put some effort into the criticisms. No writing just "I liked this part because it made me laugh, this character's funny." No, none of that here. We want actual criticisms that will help us grow as writers. Tell us why that post was so funny, did the imagery just really pop out at you and make you smile? Did the writer portray the character in a humorous way successfully? How exactly did they do that? Was the dialogue just to die for and had you rolling on the floor giggling?

Also, don't just write positives! We know everyone likes to hear they're doing good but they probably won't learn as much unless you also tell them what they did that wasn't as good alongside it. Maybe the amount of detail was lacking. Perhaps their word choice was atrocious. Maybe the paragraphs were formatted weirdly. Tell them what they did wrong. BUT, you should also tell them what they can do to improve their mistakes for the future. Help each other grow as writers.

That being said, you should also refrain from just writing negatives OR positives all the time. A perfect criticism would be one that shows both the positives AND negatives. I can't stress this enough, you don't want to make someone feel awful by just pointing out their mistakes all the time. But you also don't want to just tell them everything they're doing is perfect because no one's writing is ever perfect, there is always more room to grow somewhere, and you won't be helping them at all by leading them to believe otherwise

One last thing:

Be open minded and understanding when receiving or giving criticisms!!!

No one likes to be told they're doing something wrong, but we should learn how to take others criticisms to improve ourselves. Most people won't be telling you what your doing wrong because they want to hurt you. In fact, they probably want to help you grow as a writer. It's okay to feel slightly sad and disappointed if someone points out what you did wrong, but make sure to hold your head up high and take that information to improve your writing skills. Also, always try to give others some positives ALONG with the negatives. It's just the best thing to do, and everyone will appreciate it.

Now, knowing all this you are prepared to go ahead and write whatever criticisms you'd like. Just remember, all of this is to better ourselves but don't forget it's about having fun too! We all write because we enjoy it after all, so let's keep on enjoying it as well as helping others enjoy it by helping them along!

Quick Tip from Hukuna, if you click the quote button on a post it will quote it automatically for you in a quick reply. Copy and paste this to quickly get the text you are looking for etc. So long as you don't delete the quote box the text can also be edited and changed around to iterate what lines in specific you're looking at etc...or highlight something you liked or thought was a strong line etc. All in all quotes save a lot of time and quite a bit of headache ((since they are typically a lot cleaner than doing a straight copy paste.)) and can be edited like normal text. It also credits the person who wrote it really easily. All in all, they are super handy.

ANd yes... they work across threads. So long as the Quote is on your clipboard you can copy it into a post elsewhere on the forum. Hope this helps all would be users of this thread.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Hukuna Fulmine
adding something via the OP's request.

[Shadow Sketches]

I'll kick things off with the first criticism of the thread. Hopefully this'll give the rest of ya'll an idea of how you can go about this.

RP: Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread

Writer: Stratos

The rat however, took the wave quite a bit differently. A quick, angered squeak filled the silence. Fangs plunged down on her hand with force like a vice grip... or at least, they tried to. The force of the vermin's strike came back to bite in the ass when the twin, razor honed fangs snapped like twigs against the glossy dark armor. Blood dripped from it's gums, the beast recoiling in shock and horror as it's eye's transfixed on the pearly white sabers lying broken on the stones.

Aurora gave a sigh. Fast as lightning, her hand shot out. No more of the groggy bit of mercy from earlier. No more opportunity for escape. This was the motion of an apex predator. A being born to kill and destroy, to subvert the natural order and install a new one. The rat had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Her fingers clasped around his fur like vice grips, enameled clamps of black steel as she tried to curl them around the circumference of the... they wouldn't reach. Her fingers... could not curl around the entirety of this vermin's neck. That was enough. She opened her eyes now... the time for sleep was over. She finally took a good long look at what the everloving hell she held captive in her grip. Her eye's widened at the sight.

"My... you're quite the freak, aren't you?" She was already reaching for her spear behind her as she spoke. The furry, nude tailed beast she had pinned was easily at least the size of Sylvi in her beast form. Which made her think for a moment... "Speak your business here."

The rat's only response was a horrified, frantic bit of screeching as tried to free itself from her grasp, gnawing on her forearm with what was left of it's fangs and flailing with all it's might, hoping he could overcome the might bearing down on the scruff of his neck. The thing's crimson, beady eyes looked up and met her own. And in that moment, she saw it. This wasn't a Were-being. There was no intelligence in those twin red orbs. Only a fear that ran as ancient and primal as time itself.

The fear of imminent death.

Ah yes, Stratos... I'm sure a lot of us here have seen this man's beastly posts. I got to give him credit, his imagery is some of the best I've read in an rp. He definitely leaves me in awe at how well all his posts are.

In this particular one, his character (Aurora: The Friendly Neighborhood Spider Woman) is receiving an unlikely visitor. His imagery practically leaves the reader feeling the despair and helplessness this poor, disgusting rat is feeling. He gives us plenty of detail for us to clearly see how helpless of a situation the rat is in.

But perhaps the format in the second paragraph could have been done slightly better.

"Her fingers clasped around his fur like vice grips, enameled clamps of black steel as she tried to curl them around the circumference of the... they wouldn't reach. Her fingers... could not curl around the entirety of this vermin's neck. That was enough. She opened her eyes now... the time for sleep was over."

The ellipses, in my personal opinion, were a tad overused. I understand why they were in the first sentence, to show complete surprise at how Aurora hadn't been able to completely reach around the rodents neck, but after that it gets a bit iffy. I don't think the next two ellipses were really required in the following sentences, perhaps it would have been better to just get rid of it in the second sentence and maybe try rephrasing it along with the fourth sentence. Maybe even switch the ellipses position so it came after the second sentence.

"Her fingers clasped around his fur like vice grips, enameled clamps of black steel as she tried to curl them around the circumference of the... they wouldn't reach. Her fingers, surprisingly, could not curl around the entirety of this vermin's neck... That was enough. She opened her eyes now... for the time to sleep was over."

To me, it makes the sentence run more smoothly. At least in my mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So this was an example of how one can criticize a post. And just for clarification, don't be afraid to voice your opinion. Even if in your eyes the other person seems like a much better writer, you can still offer your criticisms if you see something that doesn't look right to you. Most will appreciate your opinion if you do it in a friendly way.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Shadow Sketches

[Sutoratosu]

Ah yes, the old ellipses problem, I know thee well...in fact, i was wondering when you would start popping up again.

((Eh, just be happy the post is 90% actually content and only 10% ellipses. There have been post I made in past rps where the things were literally everywhere and the split was more of a 60/40 or an even 50/50 XD))

But yeah, ellipses are kinda just a part of the style I use. They were present a lot in my early posting on the site (like literally everywhere, left and right, it was just how I typed out my thoughts and even how I actually talk given how damn introverted I am and the fact that trying to hold a conversation with me is like trying to slowly torture information out of a terrorist operative. Unless I actually have something to say to you, then I'm just gonna stand there all quiet like and you're practically gonna have have to fight for every word you get out of me.) Over time, when I moved from the general forums and started to concentrate more and more of my time into the Role-playing section, that conversation habit integrated itself into my writing style... which, in turn, lead to me using a shit ton of Ellipses everywhere. Eventually though, I began to get a bit more forceful with how I type my mind as I started getting better and realizing that not everything I make is total shit after all (IE, Achievement Get: Confidence Confirmed) and the pauses and trailing off into thought mid-sentence got fewer and fewer in presence.

But eh, you did me, so now I'll do you. And I'll use this OP to do it... (well, this really isn't an actual criticism, just a highly recommended change of wording)

That being said, you should also refrain from just writing negatives OR positives all the time. A perfect criticism would be one that shows both the positives AND negatives. I can't stress this enough, you don't want to make someone feel awful by just pointing out their mistakes all the time. But you also don't want to just tell them everything they're doing is perfect because 9.9 times out of 10, all their writing won't be perfect and you won't be helping them grow at all.

Now yeah, see, that section in red there. Everything else about this paragraph from the thread's OP is fine, especially the part stressing that criticism should be a two sided coin where both the positives and negatives are presented- in the world of amatuer criticisms, there are times when people do get carried away picking out every little thing that they find wrong and don't bother either noticing or listing the positives or the things they enjoyed about it, so It's definitely important to remind folks that if they got something to say, their thoughts and evaluation had better be more well thought out and crafted than a simple bashing session.

But this one paragraph, this one paragraph, bro... it gets to me, see.

It gets to me because in brutal honesty, there is no such thing as perfect writing, and by extension, there is no such thing as a perfect writer either. Those things simply don't exist, if they did, the world in it's vast entirety would simply implode from such a monumental anomaly- writing that is universally loved and praised by anyone and everyone who dares to read it, that no one can find anything bad about or that could be improved, even slightly? Sounds like a sign of the end of days to me.

Writing is a craft where opinion is a very big factor, that's just the nature of the artform. It's also a craft that is easy enough to learn, but literally impossible to ever truly master. It doesn't matter what skill level you are, how many books or poems or short stories or screenplays you've written, the fact of the matter is that no matter where you are on the path of development, you could be Orson Scott Card or my main man George R.R. Martin, it doesn't matter, there will always be room for improvement, however slight or minikin such improvement may be. There is a reason why if you go to Literary reveiw sites such as Goodreads.com, you never see a book with an average of a perfect, 5/5 score unless it's only got a few reviews. Because for one, like I said, opinion and style are very big parts of writting, some people will like one author's style very much, while others may hate it. And secondly, it's because nothing can ever be perfect, regardless how much we as humans strive for it and try to delude ourselves that such a state of existence is attainable by the hands of mere mortal beings. Yes, I know how utterly depressing and discouraging that sounds to some, but think about it- is a lack of perfection really that much of a bad thing? Lack of perfection leads to variance, and variance leads to variety- it's in the name after all -and Variety in turn leads to diversity. Imagine how boring the world would be if every human being ever born was perfectly, undisputably congruent to each other in both body and soul. Now imagine if every story ever written was so great, so monumentally moving and engaging, that there is nothing wrong with them and no point in authors making the effort to experiment or try something new, to take risks with their storytelling and craft, and instead they all just stick to the cookie cutter story model that virtually guarantees success all day everyday.

The literary world would become boring as hell literally overnight. The whole artform would stagnate like fetid pond water that's been sitting for 6 months straight in a pitch black, dank cave full of only the most dank of memes.

Imperfection isn't bad, not at all, despite how much perfectionist like myself (yes, the irony of it is not lost on me. In even greater irony though, it is my very nature as a perfectionist that ultimately led me to realize and come to terms with this message, but only after it also got me spiralling into a period of mental turmoil where my confidence in my own writing was at the lowest it had ever been since I started because I could never succeed in satisfying the urge to make it all perfect, and in my attempts to do so only ended up making what I wrote worse.) constantly try to adjust and nudge things so they're just right and we can feel better about ourselves after our OCD stops flaring up.

Imperfection isn't bad at all, it's what makes things interesting, it's the spice that keeps life from getting bland. Only when you begin to embrace imperfection, and accept that things can never be perfect, can you begin to truly move forward and, while unable to make them perfect, can start working to make them pretty damn good instead.

The point of all this rambling being this:

I can't stress this enough, you don't want to make someone feel awful by just pointing out their mistakes all the time. But you also don't want to just tell them everything they're doing is perfect because 9.9 times out of 10, all their writing won't be perfect and you won't be helping them grow at all.

In my humble opinion, given all I have learned and seen over time, would do a far better service if rewritten perhaps someway along the following lines:

I can't stress this enough, you don't want to make someone feel awful by just pointing out their mistakes all the time. But you also don't want to just tell them everything they're doing is perfect because no one's writing is ever perfect, there is always more room to grow somewhere, and you won't be helping them at all by leading them to believe otherwise.

Also, @Hukuna/Murdoc, could we please get a pin for this

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

I'll probably pin it currently until I work out the directory that I'll be making for this forum at some point. ((like other forums have.))

On an aside you can easily grab a quote from elsewhere, hit the quote button and copy the quote from the reply box and paste that. It works just like regular text.

Example, the first post from Heartless Souls IC

((This thread will be used for goings-on that happen within the Castle and the small area surrounding it, also know as Underdark. Any events that happen here must be written well... here! Training is an exception, but that will be handled later since there won't be any true training until that thread is unlocked and the story begins.))

Azegeor, Tempest, Henrick, and... The Figure of White. Time: 1st of the Year of Rebirth. Early Morn'

"We all know he's gone mad... even the citizens are feeling it now. What are we waiting for?"

"It's not so simple Heinrich... "

"Psssssssssh, of course you'd say that bag o' bones. Everything is about the right time for you. We waitin' for the Planets to align? Huh? Huuuuuh?"

The vampire lord leaned forward, towards the target of his hurled insult. He tried to look imposing scary, but his thin fragile looking frame betrayed him. Despite his demeanor and his words, he looked harmless, like there wasn't really anything he could do about it. He looked like a shady character, a mobster, but more so like the boss, the one who never got his own hands dirty. Without any of his muscle around he just looked like a skinny punk trying to throw his non existent weight around. He hair was obviously slicked back and held in place with something. A small curt mustache sat on his lip. It was well trimmed and maintained. It curled at it's end something put there by many hours of meticulous work. Clearly, this one cared a lot about his appearance. Now, the target of his words, was a Lich. The skeletal remains of a powerful wizard... or so they said. The Lich sat directly across from this Heinrich. It was hard to see really any of his frame as it was covered in a inky black cloak. It was strange to look at as it looked as if the night sky adorned his body. It really messed with the eyes and the mind.

He pressed his boney hand to his temple. and sighed loudly. How this was possible without a windpipe... who knew? But it happened nonetheless. "No, Heinrich, you can't just remove a monarch and expect no recourse. Despite how bad we know he is for Dour right now he has supporters. We can't just waltz in and remove him."

"He's right after all. Even if I don't really want to agree. I wish I could just flow with the wind and do what I wanted when I wanted, but the world is not as carefree as me." said another figure from out of frame. Both gentleman sat back in their seat as they turned to face the one who had just spoken. It was... some sort of being. One that really couldn't be seen, but yet could at the same time. A slight shimmering in the form of something humanoid stood at the other end of the table. Cracks of lightning jumped in the frame lighting the room with soft glows of blue light every now and then. Where a person's finger nails would be were five shards of light in the shape of sharp nails. They seemed to be rocks, but in reality were hardened Lightning. It was faint but they had the same blue glow that the surging bolts within it's frame.

"Of course Tempest, the adults are talking though keep quiet."

"Quiet Heinrich!"

Azegeor probably would've been betrayed by his face revealing his emotion however, due to being a Lich... he didn't have facial features. Luckily for him this didn't portray his anger towards Heinrich. Instead it sounded as if he was a superior telling a subordinate to cease their prattling.

"We have more important matters to attend to. Where are the others?"

The Elemental girl spoke up, the Tempest that Heinrich was referring to earlier.

"Well, Father Babble is attending the Night Benediction after all, you should now that is this night. However, will he prepare the Benediction of Solomon... or the benediction of Azegeor?"

"My Sybil is attending to the servants as well My lord, though I've not really let her know too much of the plan."

"That's not a concern Heinrich... despite what you think she knows she knows everything. She has her ways." In response to this statement... Heinrich's pale face seemingly turned red with embarrassment. O course, everyone in the castle but him seemed to know that Sybil, was in charge of his affairs whether he liked it or not. Though she had never once been to one of these meetings she knew their entire contents. Azegeor admired her tenacity and resourcefulness. It was really because of her he even let Heinrich in on it. Nothing she would follow suit with her husband's desires if she wanted them as well, he made sure that despite how much a bother it was having Heinrich know anything, he was a good affront for Sybil. He was the face, the body people got to see. But the Spider lurked behind. He was the baying hound, the bark. She was the Hiding spider... the bite.

"However, what do you think, White?" The figure of White... a mysterious female figure that had been at Castle Dour longer than most could remember. It was in her hall they held this meeting... her dreaded hall. Most feared to go here. Despite the claims that the Figure of White could heal any wound no matter how grave, from any being... she was feared. She was mysterious. Her Mirror was rumored to see all within the Castle and that she knew the sins of anyone she met. And, as such... she'd collect on them if you came for healing. No one knew how true this was, but they could see why these rumors spread. The entire back wall of the chamber, a Mirror, however a cloudy one. Nothing could be seen in it. However, apparently White could see everything within it. The apparent whispers of the world. Or so she claimed. In front of it a giant wooden chair. In it sat the Figure of White, or White for short. Nothing could be seen of her other than her hands towards the end of the arms and her raven black hair that flowed down the back of the chair.

"I think that all that needs to be is in place. You have an ally within the throne-room. A Solider by the name of "Times". For now he is not on your side, but the ripples will align him with you. He is a loyal man. His word lies with that who is the Lord of Night. Your numbers will be bolstered and control easily wrested. So... Azegeor... the throne is in your reach. What will you do once you obtain it?"

"I'll lead Castle Dour to greatness. We will be the gem of the Damned we once were."

"Is that true? Hmmm, well I'd like to say I believe that. We'll see your rule in time."

[Shadow Sketches]

@Stratos

I made sure to reword the phrase, I definitely do agree with your point. I usually don't like to tell anyone they can never be "perfect" at anything because it makes it seem kind of hopeless (It's like telling 2 year old kids Santa Clause isn't real.) But I guess it goes without saying that nothing will ever be perfect, no matter how much we yearn it to be.

But that doesn't mean one can't become really damn good and get close! We all can become better at anything we'd like, even if it's not perfect.

@Hukuna

ooooo my post is pinned, am I famous now? :^)

Thanks for the tip, I had no idea I could quote a post like that. Made sure to edit it into the main post so others can know how to do it as well.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Since you gave me the permission to I will, otherwise I'd leave it lol. But yea, here's hopin'.

[Commander]

Alright, I could probably go into a lot of discussion here about criticism, but how about I just let the critic takeover and discuss. I'm actually going to make a few different symbols to refer to what I'm talking about in the original section so that I don't have to repost the passage 100 times:

Be open minded and understanding when receiving or giving criticisms!!!

No one likes to be told they're doing something wrong, but we should learn how to take others criticisms to improve ourselves. Most people won't be telling you what your (should be you are) doing wrong because they want to hurt you. In fact, they probably want to help you grow as a writer. It's okay to feel slightly sad and disappointed if someone points out what you did wrong, but make sure to hold your head up high and take that information to improve your writing skills. Also, always try to give others some positives ALONG (doesn't need the emphasis) with the negatives. It's just the best thing to do, and everyone will appreciate it.

Now, knowing all this you are prepared to go ahead and write whatever criticisms you'd like. Just remember, all of this is to better ourselves but don't forget it's about having fun too! We all write because we enjoy it after all, so let's keep on enjoying it as well as helping others enjoy it by helping them along! (I don't know why the last sentence sounds a little jarring due to the overuse of enjoy, but it has a good point)

Look at all the color there. Isn't it beautiful? I just want to start off with that you really did give a good message and got the point across, but the biggest issue is that there's a lot of subjective material in it. Hasty generalizations are bad, especially if you want to give a good impression. The worst culprit in this section was the term the yellow I highlighted at the start of the passage. If you're building a bomb that's supposed to set off at 10 minutes, but you make it go off at ten seconds, I sure hope someone would tell me I'm doing it wrong. Writing is the same way. I want to know if I'm doing something wrong so that I'm aware and can fix it. If you want someone to understand what you're saying there, maybe provide an experience and what you did about it.

The next thing I want to cover is the term open minded in the emphasized part at the start. I like the whole phrase but I'm picky about open minded and how little you told us about why it's so important in your section. When I think of the term alone, it could be saying to accept criticism no matter who it's coming from. Understanding is covered in this section, but you never told us why we should listen and think about the criticism as a whole. Not all feedback is both good and bad, but from my understanding, you should be willing to accept you have faults and use feedback and criticism to improve or get around those weaknesses. I'd love some more on what you do with criticism here.

My biggest pet peeve here had to be the use of probably. Critics in writing exists, not because they want to point out faults, they want to help you and ones are more familiar with will really guide you and give you advice. When I first read somebody's work, I generally just go into very broad and wide things as criticism can take a long time to pick out details. After I get to know the person's writing style better, I may negate certain areas and just plainly focus on what they want and need to work on. If a person is good at editing and finding typos, I won't spend time mentioning and correcting them which allows me to have more room for both constructive and positive feedback. I can confidently say that writing critics do want to help you in writing. There may be exceptions, but this is a good spot to use a generalization vs doubt. Don't ever throw doubt where you don't have to.

"It's okay to feel sad or disappointed" From up front, there is nothing wrong with this phrase. This is more opinionated, but I feel like this isn't okay, but you can't always help it. Your greatest critic is yourself and you must learn to control it. There's also the issue that there is no right or wrong in writing which is also why criticism can be subjective. Sometimes a critic is wrong, I'll admit I've been wrong before. Sometimes after a bit of elaboration, instead of doubt and sadness, what someone says is wrong, was just written in an odd way, but with a few touches could be golden. This would've been the place to elaborate more on what you mean by open minded because this is not a simple black and white subject.

Another minor nitpick is repeated words. The use of you and enjoy 3 times in each of the sentences I noted kind of stick out. Whenever I have a habit of using a word way too much, I put it on the ban list. The hardest thing I ever did was a chapter with first person perspective without the use of "I". It may feel difficult, but you'll force yourself to vary your word choice a bit more.

The last little bit I want to talk about is that emphasis of ALONG. Generally, I say stick to italics for emphasis as capital letters seem like shouting. I don't care for them personally though as I feel they shouldn't ever be needed unless it's supposed to stick out like a sore thumb and usually be the first or only thing people read. It's a minor nitpick, but not using cap words makes you look a bit more professional.

I'll end this critique on a high note. I really liked the line and use of "The point of criticism is to better ourselves" along with that tiny paragraph at the end. You did get that point across which is the whole point of that section. It's a really good message especially remembering to include it's all about having fun. Sometimes I feel people forget that causing doubts and worry if their writing is any good.

[Shadow Sketches]

@Commander

I'm just going to start off by saying that when it comes to excessively repeating words in a paragraph, I'm the worst culprit of that crime. I do that a lot in my writings, and although I do try to fix it when I spot myself doing it sometimes I just don't notice it or just have a hard time figuring out a way to rephrase the paragraph but still get the same point across. Honestly, I would not mind if someone made sure to point out whenever I overly use the same words in a paragraph because I would like to fix this annoying habit, but for now all I can really do about it is just practice and examine my writings carefully.

Another of my issues when it comes to writing as well is the use of "probably". I'm generally a very unsure person, I always second guess everything. I could know for a fact that something is absolutely right but in the back of my mind I'll still be thinking "Maybe it's wrong." A lot of this comes from me having an absolutely horrible memory so I always find myself being unsure of what I'm remembering. I use the word "probably" often because of how unsure I am. Most often than not, I'll plug in "probably" into a sentence just so no one takes what I say and think of it as fact.

An example would be if (hypothetically) I said "Commander doesn't like to receive criticisms about his stories." Then if others took that to heart and never criticized any of your writings, not only would you (hypothetically) be upset if you found out no one is giving you criticisms because I said that you didn't like receiving them. But also when other find out that you actually indeed enjoy receiving criticisms they will feel lied to and might not trust my word anymore.

But if instead I said "Commander probably doesn't like to receive criticisms about his stories." Then if that statement ends up being proven wrong, I can always fall back on "I said probably, I wasn't sure whether he liked them or not." At least in my mind. I know it's kind of a dumb reason but I've just gotten so used to it that it's hard to break the habit.

As for the bolded capital words, I usually don't use them much but I just wanted to be absolutely sure that everyone got the message. I know how easy a critique could seem like it's just one person bashing another and I didn't want that in this thread. I want people to not be scared of receiving critiques and if all others do is just point out the negatives and make them feel like garbage for even trying to write then this would actually hurt more than help. So I tried my best throughout the main post to let everyone clearly know to also try and give some positive critiques along with the negatives to show others not everything they're doing is wrong. Of course, there may be times when someone will be criticizing a post where the whole paragraph is just a giant mess and there would be very few, if any, positives to add along with the negatives. But in these cases one just has to explain to the other how they can improve their writing, so it doesn't look like the critiques aim is just to put another person down because their writing skills aren't great.

Now I know I didn't explain open mindedness much but that's mostly because I am personally not a super duper amazing writer/critique so I wasn't sure how exactly to portray it. When it comes to the critiques, I feel like everyone should receive and give criticisms in a polite and friendly way. And use those criticisms to better yourself as a writer.

That being said, not all critiques should be completely taken to heart. If someone critiques another's war story by saying "It needs more romance", they as a writer should look at that criticism and think to themselves "Is this a critique I should follow? Do I want to add romance into my story?" Most will have different opinions about this. Some may agree with the critique and add in romance into the plot, while others may decide that there's no need for romance and continue the story without it. But whether one chooses to take in the criticism or not, they should always have utmost respect for the other's opinion. Instead of just retorting back with "Romance is stupid. Your stupid for wanting romance, I'll write what I want."

Not sure if this is the explanation you wanted (I'm pretty sure it's not). But if anyone really does want/need some more details on what I mean by being open minded then I wouldn't mind explaining it some more and adding it to the main post.

[rustytengo]

I should have more to say on things like this given how long i have been around this section(I've been around since it started),but i really don't. the only thing i have to say is that if there is anything i ever post and you find mistakes or what not point them out to me. it helps me a lot.

[Commander]

@ SS (...I just realized what that spells so I put a space...),

There's nothing wrong with anything you did there, but I was just giving merely pointers to make it look a bit more mature and professional. Articles and the likes generally stick to being more mature and straightforward vs an original work which can range to just about anything. That's just my general basis though sometimes throwing a little laugh here and there can help keep people's attention. I also tend to throw a lot more "negatives" in my comments when first talking to someone to get a better idea what to give feedback on and focus on more. Likely if I read something else of yours, I'll avoid going in depth on stuff like repeated words and uncertainties only briefly mentioning them just to give you an idea.

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@ Rustytengo (and probably anyone else who wants feedback/criticism)

I'll be blunt: the more info you give me, the better and more useful feedback I can give. If you tell me ahead of time about things you want me to look at because you don't feel you do them quite well, I can certainly look deeper into it and focus on that versus just reading the section 3 times (yes, I do read something three times...though the second and third are a lot of skimming) and giving my overall thoughts on it. I mean I'm fine with giving an overall generalization of what I think, but it saves me time sometimes when reviewing something since sometimes I can also skip something.

I suppose I should give an example in case someone wants to review a RP post of mine for the heck of it:

Just due to time constraints and often lack of motivation, my details in the posts I make are severely lacking. I could say that if there weren't pictures of the character and the Pokemon, it'd be very difficult to get an image of them they're so half fleshed out. I also know for the Ymora RPs, there were times it felt like I forced a 'mon in just to include them for that tiny segment with was to kind of show their view and personality. It's more or less a bad habit of only being in control of one character instead of the mastermind behind the whole world and story since I pretty much write novels with a bunch of characters who come and go (some of which only have small times to develop).

I also want to mention that this doesn't mean that you can't talk about the things I mentioned, but it's more or less to make people aware that I know it's an issue, but I have some reasoning behind it.