On a different note of amusement.
An acquaintance is super excited that I'm posting BookTubes again, because he feels this is an area where he can provide unsolicited feedback re: how I stage myself, mostly based on his love for a range of YT pundits.
I'm long past getting insulted by unsolicited advice, but it is amusing to hear his suggestions that I focus on performance gimmicks and his hints at makeup (absolutely not), when I'm plainly working on developing consistently thoughtful content.
Well said, Corlin.
In creative workshops, this happens often. A circle of untrained readers, asked to comment, will often point to anything that "sticks out" in a story, & pathologize its presence without reflecting on why it might stick out. Is it supposed to? To what end? Is there feedback that might better harmonize the writing around that end, instead of away from it?
"Workshop writing" describes fiction that's had all its distinction smoothed out.
Creators do this to their own!
I posted a fiction piece today, that I thought had some faults. Then as I reread it, found they were deliberate, and a part of the absurd premise of the story. Often a careful re-read is more important than finding that nail that your hammer is always looking for.
I had put that piece aside for a later read, because I find that Justin Smith-Ruiu's fiction always requires a slightly more attentive eye. (Not something to be skimmed!) Glad to know that my gut instinct was right on the money for this one; I look forward to reading it with the care it deserves soon.
@MLClark my advice would be, be you. Do what you want, not what you think others want; that's a slippery slope.
There are some tech channels that I follow, and I tend to gravitate away from those that have adopted 'popular' formats i.e. annoying sound effects and meme like graphics constantly flashing up on screen to reinforce the already annoying sounds.
Give me the facts, your thoughts and opinions and leave it at that. If I wanted to watch gimmick ridden content I'd watch YouTube kids.
@MLClark Makeup?!
I always found makeup to be deceptive. I think, "What are you hiding?" Much less that most men don't wear makeup, so why should women?!
Right on the nose, my friend. :)
I explain it to fellows as never wanting to scare someone with my "real" face later on: what you see is what you get. (I never have to explain this to women.)
And as you sagely note, I highly doubt that any of the scraggly haired fellows who post their bookish thoughts on YouTube are getting asked to shave before recordings. It says more about the viewer than the work.
(I *do* have things I'm working on, one recording at a time - but not those!)
@MLClark I swear, I was always suspicious of any woman who greeted me at the door with a lot of makeup and perfume.
The best way to impress me is to be yourself. I'm being me. You be you.
Unsolicited advice is weird, @MLClark
It REALLY is!
But also - why let the person giving it live rent-free in my head? Being insulted by it just means letting them take up even more of my precious time and energy than their original comment already did. 😉
It's like a poorly-veiled 'humble brag' @MLClark
"Because I'm a self-proclaimed expert at this, let me share my knowledge with you, and show you what a genius I am!" 🙄
💯. Although, when it happens, I also find myself worrying about whether *I* come off like that to any others. I hope not, but tripping into error is always a possibility.
(So do feel free to swat me with a newspaper if you ever catch me doing that here, eh? Or a spritz bottle! 😅 "It knocks it off with the ego-driven commentary on someone else's creative content, or else it gets the hose again!")
So far, so good, @MLClark 👍 🙂
@MLClark
Critics often go after the superficial, because their depth of thought is as shallow as their criticism.
Good helpful criticism takes effort and care. A thing in short supply.