Poor Prose Writers, You Still Here?
A Rambling Essay or Something Like That100 total reviews
Comment from bhogg
I don't really know how I got to your post, I know it's been out there awhile. I used to be on FS quite a bit and suffered a bit of burn out for several of the reasons you pointed out. Oh well, slumming here for a little while today. Enjoyed your rant. Bill
reply by the author on 12-Feb-2016
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I don't really know how I got to your post, I know it's been out there awhile. I used to be on FS quite a bit and suffered a bit of burn out for several of the reasons you pointed out. Oh well, slumming here for a little while today. Enjoyed your rant. Bill
Comment Written 12-Feb-2016
reply by the author on 12-Feb-2016
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Hi, Bill, good to see you.
Wow, this goes back. Gee, I seem to rant a lot. Ha! Yes, it can be frustrating. I've been a two a day and been ready to leave and everything in between. In the end I suppose most of us end up on the sidelines jumping in here and there, maybe a little spurt once in a while. I suppose there's no answer and it's pretty good as is considering all the factors involved. It does make for a decent rant on occasion though. Thanks for stopping by. mike
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Hi Mike - read my latest. Got some points, but hey, I think it's pretty damn good. Bill
Comment from CALLAHANMR
This is very well taken. I don't review much poetry because with few exceptions I can't find much to say about it. A lot of it is only a line or two. So all I can think of is uh, very nice. Since the review has to be more substantial than that, people wind up quoting lines from the poem to get wordage and are criticized for that. Cut and paste, you know. So I'd rather spend my time and effort on prose. The underlying problem is that people review to get money to promote their own work and poetry takes less time and pays better.
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This is very well taken. I don't review much poetry because with few exceptions I can't find much to say about it. A lot of it is only a line or two. So all I can think of is uh, very nice. Since the review has to be more substantial than that, people wind up quoting lines from the poem to get wordage and are criticized for that. Cut and paste, you know. So I'd rather spend my time and effort on prose. The underlying problem is that people review to get money to promote their own work and poetry takes less time and pays better.
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from Ekim777
Our writer invites us in with a poetic phrase. To me, the only reason why a poem is easier to review, is because it is shorter. To produce a poetry review, it surely essential to enter the poet's head. This is not necessary in reviewing a good prose piece. What is the difference between these two forms? In both, technique must carry the day. That is, in good prose we need some fine literary phrases, especially in the opening page. (It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...) In good poetry, every line must be fine. So said William James. I reckon short prose pieces come close to being lyrical and poetic. To do this throughout a novel is to attempt a masterpiece. Try tackling Thomas Wolfe; (Look Homeward angel) I love his 'Purple Passages'. "Well I can go on and on..." to quote our reviewer. My response is that there is no one more verbose than Dostoevsky but I could cheerfully devour his every page! In answer to your final question, let me quote Freud who claimed that Shakespeare, Sophocles and Dostoevsky are the only literary figures from whom he gained some knowledge. -Ekim777
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Our writer invites us in with a poetic phrase. To me, the only reason why a poem is easier to review, is because it is shorter. To produce a poetry review, it surely essential to enter the poet's head. This is not necessary in reviewing a good prose piece. What is the difference between these two forms? In both, technique must carry the day. That is, in good prose we need some fine literary phrases, especially in the opening page. (It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...) In good poetry, every line must be fine. So said William James. I reckon short prose pieces come close to being lyrical and poetic. To do this throughout a novel is to attempt a masterpiece. Try tackling Thomas Wolfe; (Look Homeward angel) I love his 'Purple Passages'. "Well I can go on and on..." to quote our reviewer. My response is that there is no one more verbose than Dostoevsky but I could cheerfully devour his every page! In answer to your final question, let me quote Freud who claimed that Shakespeare, Sophocles and Dostoevsky are the only literary figures from whom he gained some knowledge. -Ekim777
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from Leineco
If for no other reason than empathy, I wanted to applaud the thoughtfulness of this write. In essence this is an echo of discussions I have had with assorted other members of this site.
I want to add the complicating issue of "feeling competent" to review prose. With poetry, we get to address things like flow, cadence, imagery evoked, rhyme scheme, metaphor and simile, form compliance, etc. With prose, as merely a reader, very occasional writer and not a qualified editor - I often find my only "thought" is. . ."Hey, I enjoyed that". But with the minimum review length, I often just end up reading and enjoying - but not knowing what to say to the writer (with any semblance of "valuable response"). . .so I often just read and move on. (Hoping at least the view count is encouraging to the writer.)
I guess the only thing I can come up with for making the reward for reading and reviewing prose pieces more enticing has to do with increasing the pay-off based on the length of the piece (i.e. X1.5 if over 500 words, X 2 if over 1000 words and X3 if over 5000 words) and somehow increasing the length requirement for reviews accordingly. But that starts getting complicated (from a programming point of view). The truth is, reviewing prose is a time consuming business (if done with real meaning), and the pressure to accumulate $$$ turns into a deciding factor in how we spend our time here. It sucks - but it is a fact of life.
Anyway, great write - particularly in that it addresses an issue many of us have thought about more than once.
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If for no other reason than empathy, I wanted to applaud the thoughtfulness of this write. In essence this is an echo of discussions I have had with assorted other members of this site.
I want to add the complicating issue of "feeling competent" to review prose. With poetry, we get to address things like flow, cadence, imagery evoked, rhyme scheme, metaphor and simile, form compliance, etc. With prose, as merely a reader, very occasional writer and not a qualified editor - I often find my only "thought" is. . ."Hey, I enjoyed that". But with the minimum review length, I often just end up reading and enjoying - but not knowing what to say to the writer (with any semblance of "valuable response"). . .so I often just read and move on. (Hoping at least the view count is encouraging to the writer.)
I guess the only thing I can come up with for making the reward for reading and reviewing prose pieces more enticing has to do with increasing the pay-off based on the length of the piece (i.e. X1.5 if over 500 words, X 2 if over 1000 words and X3 if over 5000 words) and somehow increasing the length requirement for reviews accordingly. But that starts getting complicated (from a programming point of view). The truth is, reviewing prose is a time consuming business (if done with real meaning), and the pressure to accumulate $$$ turns into a deciding factor in how we spend our time here. It sucks - but it is a fact of life.
Anyway, great write - particularly in that it addresses an issue many of us have thought about more than once.
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from Max Edon
I can really relate to this essay. I get so frustrated because my poetry always gets plenty of reviews, even when they don't pay that well. But no one ever wants to read my scripts.
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I can really relate to this essay. I get so frustrated because my poetry always gets plenty of reviews, even when they don't pay that well. But no one ever wants to read my scripts.
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from jmdg1954
Michael, you points in this are well taken and are a concern. Many will agree with what you wrote and with your view. Me, maybe I'm different from the norm. I write to enjoy myself, learn as I go along and hope the reviews are honest and also fix, correct, suggest, stroke the ego, and lend themselves towards our betterment. You pay for that. One can always rip out the M/C or Visa and buy member dollars. Me, I cannot afford to do that. So I read and review my fan base, and pick and chose the rest. Of course that will be the higher pay-outs. We are all human , we all will do that. I do as well read many two-cent payouts if the art or title catch my eye.
So, what have I said? A whole bunch of hogwash I guess. The sites rules are what they are, we all play within the rules, I guess.
Nicely written and with a lot of courage I might add... John
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Michael, you points in this are well taken and are a concern. Many will agree with what you wrote and with your view. Me, maybe I'm different from the norm. I write to enjoy myself, learn as I go along and hope the reviews are honest and also fix, correct, suggest, stroke the ego, and lend themselves towards our betterment. You pay for that. One can always rip out the M/C or Visa and buy member dollars. Me, I cannot afford to do that. So I read and review my fan base, and pick and chose the rest. Of course that will be the higher pay-outs. We are all human , we all will do that. I do as well read many two-cent payouts if the art or title catch my eye.
So, what have I said? A whole bunch of hogwash I guess. The sites rules are what they are, we all play within the rules, I guess.
Nicely written and with a lot of courage I might add... John
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from padumachitta
Hi. I have given this a six for (and I admit) the issue and the fact that you put it out there. Rambling or not, it makes a hell of a point. I am not looking for Spag in this, because I am just off holidays and my grammar glasses are misty!
However, it strikes me as more than sad, almost an affront, that longer pieces don't often get a full read.
I try to read through and review only what has kept me going. That is true for all forms of work. I sometimes read and don't post a review. This only when I know that I don't deserve the 'money', because well, I skimmed.
Still, I would like to see the price for prose higher than for poetry. I also have stopped posting longer work. I found myself turning into a 1000 word writer. My problem; I know.
Mmmm, where is my rambling going?
Ah, short enough to say I agree with you.
Should we get a bunch of us to write 'tom', those that run the site? I think the problem may run in the programming...if prose was to get more money per review.
I will think on it. As, it is my concern with this site.
Thanks,
padumachitta
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Hi. I have given this a six for (and I admit) the issue and the fact that you put it out there. Rambling or not, it makes a hell of a point. I am not looking for Spag in this, because I am just off holidays and my grammar glasses are misty!
However, it strikes me as more than sad, almost an affront, that longer pieces don't often get a full read.
I try to read through and review only what has kept me going. That is true for all forms of work. I sometimes read and don't post a review. This only when I know that I don't deserve the 'money', because well, I skimmed.
Still, I would like to see the price for prose higher than for poetry. I also have stopped posting longer work. I found myself turning into a 1000 word writer. My problem; I know.
Mmmm, where is my rambling going?
Ah, short enough to say I agree with you.
Should we get a bunch of us to write 'tom', those that run the site? I think the problem may run in the programming...if prose was to get more money per review.
I will think on it. As, it is my concern with this site.
Thanks,
padumachitta
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from Kausar_Javeria
Hello there~!
A nice rant, this. It's something most prose writers here want to rant about, I'm sure. Well, at least, that's what I want. It is true that people choose poetry over prose, probably because of the short length (or maybe, simply cause they like poetry)... anyway, I don't really have any suggestions. This is mind-boggling for me as well. i too want people to review my prose and tell me how I can improve, but reviews for prose these days are so rare... *sigh*
Anyway, thanks for sharing this. made me feel, as it was very feely in a feely way as it made me feel! (LOL, sorry, I couldn't help it! XD)
But in all seriousness, it made me feel good to see a rant about something I wanted to rant about. :)
Great Job!
JazakAllah Khair~!
(God Bless~!)
(^_^)/~KAUSAR~(^_^)
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Hello there~!
A nice rant, this. It's something most prose writers here want to rant about, I'm sure. Well, at least, that's what I want. It is true that people choose poetry over prose, probably because of the short length (or maybe, simply cause they like poetry)... anyway, I don't really have any suggestions. This is mind-boggling for me as well. i too want people to review my prose and tell me how I can improve, but reviews for prose these days are so rare... *sigh*
Anyway, thanks for sharing this. made me feel, as it was very feely in a feely way as it made me feel! (LOL, sorry, I couldn't help it! XD)
But in all seriousness, it made me feel good to see a rant about something I wanted to rant about. :)
Great Job!
JazakAllah Khair~!
(God Bless~!)
(^_^)/~KAUSAR~(^_^)
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from scd41
I am an out-and-out prose lover but during my short stint at Fanstory, I am already enjoying the privilege to read some of the shortest poems in my life. In addition, I had mouthful of sweet haikus and sanryus.
Talking about reviewing, poems with fewer lines and same rewards as for prose may be irresistible for some; but for me a few poems and especially the one having just seven words proved daunting. I scratched my head at times to delve into the mind of the poet to first understand and then to try to write a few lines by way of review which should not be drab.
Stories may be lengthy but I manage to get some meaning out of them without having to scratch my baldy head again and again. Of course, reviewing Chapter 43 without knowing what was in Chapters 1-42, would be shooting yourself in the foot.
My reviewer friends of proses need not lose heart unless you are obsessed with raking more fake dollars. I think it is better to choose proses with interesting titles like yours which attracted so many reviewers. Making a cocktail of proses and poetries can be very intoxicating. Yes, take it from me.
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I am an out-and-out prose lover but during my short stint at Fanstory, I am already enjoying the privilege to read some of the shortest poems in my life. In addition, I had mouthful of sweet haikus and sanryus.
Talking about reviewing, poems with fewer lines and same rewards as for prose may be irresistible for some; but for me a few poems and especially the one having just seven words proved daunting. I scratched my head at times to delve into the mind of the poet to first understand and then to try to write a few lines by way of review which should not be drab.
Stories may be lengthy but I manage to get some meaning out of them without having to scratch my baldy head again and again. Of course, reviewing Chapter 43 without knowing what was in Chapters 1-42, would be shooting yourself in the foot.
My reviewer friends of proses need not lose heart unless you are obsessed with raking more fake dollars. I think it is better to choose proses with interesting titles like yours which attracted so many reviewers. Making a cocktail of proses and poetries can be very intoxicating. Yes, take it from me.
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
Comment from kiwisteveh
A fuschia called Julia? You confused me already.
The rest of this is a reasonably articulate rant/ramble which exposes a genuine problem on our beloved site.
You do repeat the word 'here' twice in one sentence somewhere near the beginning. That exposes another difficulty of reviewing long prose pieces - identifying the location of spags, typos and other errors you might have noticed.
Good luck with finding a solution to this one.
Steve
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A fuschia called Julia? You confused me already.
The rest of this is a reasonably articulate rant/ramble which exposes a genuine problem on our beloved site.
You do repeat the word 'here' twice in one sentence somewhere near the beginning. That exposes another difficulty of reviewing long prose pieces - identifying the location of spags, typos and other errors you might have noticed.
Good luck with finding a solution to this one.
Steve
Comment Written 27-Jul-2014
