(no subject)

[feotakahari]

On writing sites, the worst trolls you’ll meet don’t tell you you’re a bad writer. They tell you there’s no way to change or influence how much people like your writing. Ask any question about how to improve in any way, and they’ll show up to insist it’s not possible. Which makes me wonder what the hell they’re doing on sites that are meant to improve your writing . . .

Comments

[flamingsword]

Not all trolls are straight white men, but trolls will come out in droves to maintain a status quo that is white, male dominated, and straight. Most of the writing advice available comes from already accepted authors, and since writing has been, for hundreds of years, dominated by a particular sort of person, most of the advice is by and for those people's viewpoints.

Take Star Wars. For years, fans have been desperately hoping for new movies that are not focused solely on the child and teen markets like the prequels were. Then we get some, and the white dude parts of the fandom immediately start complaining that they are not centered in the narrative. It's SJW bullshit, they say. Its political correctness run amok, they say. But what they mean is that the only person in a major role who looks like them is a bad guy. (And as a queer person, I would like to welcome them to the club I have always belonged to.)

Even when you give trolls what they claim to want, they will be unhappy with it unless it reifies their own beliefs and prejudices in *your* narrative. Not all of the people who do this are straight white dudes. But that is who it benefits, and it's a majority of trolls.

[feotakahari]

I don't think we're talking about the same issue. People who think your writing is bad are at least theoretically different from people who think some folks are inherently good writers, other folks are inherently bad writers, and talking about how to make your writing better is pointless.