Haha. Leevil, my criticisms are not here to be critiqued.
Neither are yours or anyone elses.
Matt's work is what is being critiqued.
Scene 2 of my sitcom Page 2
Be the bigger man and move on.
I've seen too many crit-wars to know it's easier if you both just drop it before it gets blown out of hand and it gets personal.
I understand, Leevil. However, who was the one that asked for the criticism.
I am more than happy to drop it. I DID drop it, but his comment of "Stay in American forums" was uncalled for. Much like it was said before, funny is funny.
Yep, it was uncalled for, however ...
Matt, first remember a crit is only opinion. There may be good reasons for that opinion, there may be bad, but you (and you alone) eventually have to decide what you take (if anything) from the opinions offered. Even if Gervais and Woody Allen offered their opinion, it is still only opinion. So treat it as such.
Are they valid points? Are they not? Take whatever points you choose and disregard the rest. However, if the crits generally say the same thing then sometimes it's highlighting a point that we really need to address, because often we get too close to the work to see the obvious.
One thing I have to say, Matt, is the "Stick to US forums" idea wasn't valid. Humour can and does cross the water in both directions. And telling people which forums they should and shouldn't frequent isn't our place.
To the critics here, truthful and direct is good. That you've taken the time (and in Luke's case) posted some in-depth stuff is great. But we sometimes only remember that a direct crit helped us grow, we forget the pain.
Socknose, your comments weren't that helpful. You offered little crit and tended to comment on the comments. It came close to baiting with all the references to 'weak'.
And I'd disagree. An excerpt from The Royale Family or the Office would (I think) come across as a terrible read on here. Long pauses, "Nana go see what baby David's crying about." "Booshaka" Stares at the telly, and each other. Having Nash and Aherne as writers guaranteed that it never had to fight for existence on a comedy forum.
Isn't it true the Office script was continually rejected until they filmed a pilot? It was only when the humour was visualised that the script made sense.
Luke, I think your crits were good and direct so continue doing so. Matt, you have to remember that none of us are the finished item but unfortunately the only way to learn is to get the crit. You were lucky in that you had detailed crit from someone willing to discuss it. That's a rare gift in the writing world.
I deal with neg crits almost every day but I keep telling myself that if I'm unprepared to take the bad with the good then I'm in the wrong business.
Socknose, your comments weren't that helpful. You offered little crit and tended to comment on the comments. It came close to baiting with all the references to 'weak'.
Oh come on. There was no baiting there whatsoever. I was just telling the guy to get over himself and accept critique albeit in a slightly more direct manner then you just have.
Agreed.
Nothing wrong with the criticisms but they should remain exclusive to the piece, generalities do not help anyone and criticising criticisms is just stupid. By all means explain your criticism or justify your work but crtiticising criticisms is about as constructive as a bull in a china shop.
Matthew999 its not up to you or anyone else to tell the author which points are valid and should be considered. If they are valid and the author knows what he is doing he will consider them.
dont drag me into this! of course the points are valid, they came from an honest place - all this stupid fighting hadnt started then! he put his work up for crit, he got some, that's valid crit because it seemed considered.
im not telling anyone how or why to do anything, thanks. i couldnt care less. but dont put work up here and then get offended if hoardes of people dont start jacking themselves off in excitement about the peice that's been written...
Maybe we should have two separate critique forums - the 'Ego Massage' and the 'Tell it like it is' *tongue firmly in cheek*
I understand that it hurts when people criticise your work, but in my view as long as it's constructive criticism that's okay (even if it smarts).
Sometimes when I see people say they love something when it's blatantly flawed in my eyes, it smacks of telling a toddler that their finger painting is a work of art, and is frankly patronising.
Maybe some people are happy to see others stuck in a groove of mediocrity, as it will ultimately improve their own chances of success?
As for your work Matt, I think it has potential, but agree with luke that the point is laboured for too long. IMO this scene could be boiled down to a few seconds of a longer scene.
See criticism as a way of developing the Rhino skin you'll need to make it in this game, then crack on and write some more - the other positive thing about criticism is that it ignites the 'i'll show 'em' attitude, which can only be a good thing.
Good luck.
I'll ignore the spat. Work on your characterisation, Matt and cut the scenes down so that the material is always getting a laugh or driving the narrative. I think this could be really good -I love the potential of the stalky postman!
Hi everyone!
I just want to say thanks for all your comments, I've taken them into account and I must admit I was completely in the wrong and it was ridiculous how personally I took the criticism. I was just having a bad week and sort of took it out on here. As for my "GET BACK TO AMERICA" comment, that was just crazy- to be honest I think I was looking for a cyber fight!
SlagA, the points you made really made me realise the whole point of forums like this, so thanks a lot for taking the time in commenting, I really appreciate it. And that goes for almost everyone else too, I'm really grateful.
I've actually been doing quite a lot of writing over the last two weeks and have been taking on board what people have said about getting to the point quicker and not over stretching scenes. These were things I had read and heard about before but I didnt realise that I was making those mistakes with my writing so its good that you've pointed it out for me.