Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Critiquing Outside the Box

I've been on Critique Circle for a while, though mostly I just play Hangman.  Occasionally I critique queries people post because I don't really have time to critique story excerpts because you have to write 150-300 words.

Anyway, one day someone posted a query for a YA story about a kid who moves to a new town (real original) and meets a girl at a record shop.  But then of course the record shop is going to close and they have to try to save it.

To which I just groaned.  It's all so cliche!  I mean the "save the record shop" has been done in movies like Empire Records and in books like Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue.  On a broader scale, the whole kids have to band together to save their favorite spot thing has been done to death in books, movies, and TV.  It's even been parodied in shows like South Park and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  (And I assume The Simpsons because they've done everything.)

Well someone who wasn't even the author comes along and screams bloody murder because the author didn't ask anyone to critique the plot so how dare you say that!  Her big contribution was to point out where a couple of commas could be inserted--Andrew Leon would be proud.

My thought is:  who gives a shit what the author asks for?  It's not like "singers" could go on American Idol or The Voice and say, "I only want critiqued on song selection.  Not anything else!"  You put your query or story up for critique and you're opening it up for whatever you get.  If you don't like it, tough; you probably shouldn't have put it up then.

Though again it wasn't even the author complaining.  I'm not sure where this person got off complaining when she wasn't even involved.  One of those things that annoys me is critiquing someone's critique.  Unless it's Jay Greenstein's copy and pasting the same spiel over and over.  (How I miss that.  lol)  Everyone should get their say and let the author decide what they want to use.  If you have someone going around trying to shout others down, it just makes things unpleasant.

Anyway, agents probably don't mind cliche stories that much.  It's more about if they think you can sell your cliche story.  Still, it's good if you at least know your story is a cliche.

On a different query (one I talk about in a month or so) this dude made a similar complaint.  He used the metaphor of going into a skyscraper that's finished and complaining about it.  Well if I'm the building inspector and see your skyscraper is tilted 30 degrees, the basement is full of water, wires are sticking out, and you've got rat turds all over then I'm going to say something.  I'm not going to say to myself, "Well the thing is done so I guess just leave it."

Honestly, I'm not doing you any favors if I censor myself.  If a schlub like me can see these weaknesses, you think a professional is going to miss them?  Maybe, but I doubt it.

It was kind of funny a couple months later when the same bitch who whined about that first critique pulled the same shit on another thread, complaining that we should respond to what the original poster asked.  To which I said I did respond to the original poster--like six weeks earlier when it was first posted!  That shut her up.  She apparently didn't read the whole thread.  And yes if these things go on for a while (or someone responds after a long time) they can go off in different directions.  It's just the nature of these discussions.  Stop being so anal and just let it happen.

2 comments:

Cindy said...

Feedback on the plot is more important than debating commas. There is a queue on Critique Circle called the Hook. You would probably like it because there are no word count requirements. All you do is just comment whether or not you were hooked.

Maurice Mitchell said...

I guess the name Critiques Corner counts for something. I haven’t read the query but it does sound derivative. Kind of like Darkest Minds the concept needs a fresh new take or it’ll bomb.

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