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[deleted] OP t1_iqtrh1j wrote

Reply to comment by nhaines in IamA recently published romance sci-fi author, about a story involving romantic couples and a mysterious disease. AMA! by [deleted]

People don’t like when they’re criticized for something when in their eyes it’s finished. Being harsh only makes them better if they listen. Saying, “this sucks” and nothing else helps no one. You’re telling him how to improve based on experience since you see how it could be better. That’s great leadership.

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riptaway t1_iqu6wsc wrote

Eh, tbf he didn't ask for criticism. I know it's ask anything but that doesn't necessarily mean it's appropriate to rip his project to shreds.

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[deleted] OP t1_iqulej2 wrote

It’s free mentoring or guidance. He’s telling the author what needs improvement in a respectful way. If he’s coddled and told everything is ok, everything’s just ok.

I’d say this IAmA is an appropriate time to tell him what’s up. Personally I thought the names were weird and the story seems like the author’s spiteful of people who find love. I’m not a writer, I have no idea what to look for, but that alone makes me uninterested. nhaines knows what to look for and my take would have been useless. He’s not giving advice to a random person not asking for it.

There’s things that have been done before and mistakes that have already been made. He’s only showing how to avoid that so an entire “series of books” don’t get written off.

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nhaines t1_iqv3h6n wrote

> He’s not giving advice to a random person not asking for it.

That's exactly what I did. I didn't have a question for him.

When I wrote my comment, the AMA post was at 0 karma, he'd gotten like 3 replies after 4 hours, and he had already gone to bed. I thought the thread was going to disappear forever or I'd have maybe PMed him. But that seemed a little too direct. It wasn't an attack.

I don't know if he was receptive to it or if he was raging in private (or both, lol). Or even if he plans to ignore it all. None of that's my business. "Thank you for your feedback" was a super professional response, and it impressed me.

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[deleted] OP t1_ir1mpb9 wrote

So it’s not like at the gym where random people go up to each other and give advice. There’s a comment section for a reason. It seems like quite a few people shared your opinion anyway and you shouldn’t feel bad about it. I was only trying to show appreciation for someone leaving feedback that could help improve OP’s future projects.

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nhaines t1_ir35yl0 wrote

And I appreciate it!

I'm just saying that "AMAs aren't the place for critical feedback" is also a valid take.

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riptaway t1_iqv0fjd wrote

Which is fine, if the person asked for that kind of criticism. If they didn't, it's usually polite to either say nothing or just say "it's got some issues". I don't necessarily have a problem with it on the internet; when someone decides to put it out there it's free game. But OP was obviously not asking for that kind of response.

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