Give me strength (or a shotgun; whichever's handy)

[saviourseph]

Quick opinion-get: when giving critique, should it be cushioned with complimentary platitudes even when there aren't redeeming qualities?

Remind me not to intercede to avoid forum wars breaking out ever again, lest I get more PMs from butthurt Norwegians. -_-;;

ETA: ilu, mintylim & lthlf <3

Comments

[omgimsuchadork.livejournal.com]

Granted I have no idea what you're talking about, but an attempt at softening the blow of stinging words (whether or not they actually ARE stinging; people always get uppity when critiqued) never hurt anyone.

[zellie-kinneas.livejournal.com]

I always try to at least pick out something that could be a good point. I mean, if there's absolutely no good points about it whatsoever, then, well... I guess it's up to you if you wanna be a liar or not. Best is probably to just give the honest, constructive criticism and hope they're mature enough to take the tips into consideration =/

[wrongly-amused.livejournal.com]

If it's a critique? Then my personal feeling is "yes." Because critiquing is about refinement of a standard base, something that's got potential and has the capacity to be much better. It's balancing what an author's doing right and then pointing out what's wrong or could be improved. You can be blunt, but you should be fair on giving balanced cues.

Criticism, on the other hand, is just whatever you want it to be: blunt, forward, impolite, etc. You're there to point out flaws and expect the artist to do their job and figure the details out. I will say that my feeling on blunt criticism, however, is that while anyone has the right to do it, it's completely hypocritical to whine if the artist in question gets defensive or even hurt. People have to accept that publishing can be the equivalent of placing one's bare neck on the guillotine, but reviewers have to be responsible for how they come across as well.

[taure.livejournal.com]

Your criticism wasn't even very harsh anyway. I don't see why he took it maturely one day and then two days later get upset over it. Personally, I think it has to do with a certain "photoshop skillz" topic.

[thatkindofguy]

...He needs to get his ass out of his head. Your critique was in no way inflammatory and pretty helpful as far as critiques-and-not-cc go. He needs to know that you can't just run a Photoshop filter or two over something and call it good.

[lthlf.livejournal.com]

Fuck
ing
L
O
L

Troll thread was lol. right? riiiiiiiiiight?