"The critic creates the finished work by his reading of it, and does not simply remain the inert customer of a 'ready-made' product. Thus the critic need not humbly efface himself before the work and submit to its demands: on the contrary, he actively constructs its meaning: he makes the work exists;"

- Terence Hawkes, Structuralism & Semiotics -

Hey there! If you are here, it means either two things: you are a reviewer, reader or simply a fellow writer that got interested in me by my critic about fanfictions. Or perhaps, you are a writer whose work I've criticized.

Now, since you are here, let me tell you something interesting! It is merely my observation of the FanfictionDot.Net's community that I believe, should you spend enough time here, would have the same observation as I do. Alright, let's start!

Around 60% of FanfictionDot.Net's readers do NOT leave thoughts of any kind (such as a review, flame, and critic) to a story. Again, the number isn't factual, merely my observation. Now why is this? Well, it could be for a number of reasons. First, they weren't moved enough to leave a thought. Yes, we all are guilty of this, even I and not just on fanfictions but on other story mediums as well such as films. Now, the reason for it maybe we were too tired, too lazy or the story just didn't tickle us enough for a more active response.

For an example, a guy reads Harry Potter and once he was finished, he was done. Although during the reading, the story evoke emotions in him, it wasn't enough to make him take a more active action after reading like, sending fan-mails, leave his thoughts, comments and questions on forums and so on.

This reader is the inert customer of the book.

Now, this isn't entirely the fault of the writer but the reader. Even the greatest story will not make all of its reader, an active customer. The readers are human after all.

Or maybe, it was the second reason; they didn't want to bother their time and energy on a 'bad' fanfiction. Come on, let's face it, fanfiction is like the Internet; most of it are junk and there are only a few diamonds in the rough or pure diamond worth the time wading through all that thrash. Am I right? There are stories that is so terrible either because of its story or writing that no amount of criticism, advice or help can save it. It is so bad that it isn't worth our time to flame it. And to flame is easy and that says a lot. It sounds harsh, but that is the truth.

The truth is that FanfictionDot.Net's community is tame compared to other forums such as SpaceBattles and Dark Lord Potter.

Now what about the rest of the 40% of the readers? Ah yes, they are the ones that weren't lazy or too tired. They are the ones whose bones, minds and hearts were tickled enough to warrant an active response. They are the active customers of FanfictionDot.Net. And believe me, it is not easy to be an active customer. So for those that have reviewed, congratulations!

However, 90% of those readers are just reviewers, trolls or flamers. But mostly reviewers so their reviews tend to be positive, so yay! But! Good reviews are good but not entirely good. Most of it are merely the thoughts, opinions and comments of an average reader that do not have writing experience. Merely a client that has never experienced being the server. Not to say that they are completely bad, it just that they are not entirely helpful for the writers.

Reviews can make writers feel appreciated and inspire them to write more. However, it does not help them grow much as a writer. This is because reviewers only points out the good. They did not point out the bad and the flaws of the story or writer that needs to be addressed for them to improve. This is understandable however as not all reviewers can detect those flaws due to lack of experience or skill. Or simply because they might not have the confidence to do so as not all writers can accept that their stories have flaws.

Now here comes the rest of the readers, the 10% or the critics. And critics helps writers tremendously. They help because they point out the flaws that writers might not have detected and in a sense, they are an editor of sorts...but only after the fanfiction is published. And the funny thing is, a good story will have LOTS of reviews, but only few critics. And for someone who has published a story here, good reviews become stale after a while. Good writers will want LONG LENGTHY reviews and criticisms!

And sometimes, although we might have hundreds of good reviews, it is the criticisms that will affect us tremendously. Bad writers can perceive it as an attack, while good writers acknowledge it and would strive to improve to prove the critic wrong.

Believe me, I know that feel.

However, critics can be seen as evil because their critics are often seen as harsh or even personal. That may be true, I won't deny it. However, this 'evil critic' perception fault is on the writers and also the critics as well. Most writers can't accept even the tamest critic and perceive it as an attack. And most critics were offended by the level of writing that it makes their critic more like a flame, even if it has valid points.

So how do we solve this? My advice for writers; depersonalize a critic, no matter how harsh and flamey it might sound. Handle critics with a calm head and professional manner. Dissect the points first and separate it from the rotten rest. Then you attack critics for their delivery. You the writers doesn't have to submit completely to critics. Defend your work and at the same time, admit that it has flaws.

Of course, I'm not saying that critics are perfect and can do no wrong. Oh no. Critics are only human after all. So my advice to fellow critics; be professional and triple check your critic before posting it!

Just as writers can create wonderful stories, a critic can destroy it.

Don't believe me? Try and watch Nostalgia Critic on Youtube and see if your childhood movies are not destroyed by him. Do it, I DARE YOU!

Anyway, back to the topic. If my critic isn't professional, then I'm sorry. However, I will do my best to post a professional critic, that I can assure you.

So, if you have reached here, thank you for taking the time to read this. I appreciate it tremendously. Believe me that I critic because I care.