Wolf's Bane

This is what you get when you have multiple blogs. Sometimes you post on the wrong blog. I accidentally posted this on the old Daria Fandom Blog, then when it failed to populate on Fortress CINCGREEN, I simply assumed it had been lost in the ether, for the better.

However, since legendeld went to the trouble of actually finding it on the old DFB site, I have since removed the post from the old site and reposted it here, where it should have been.

--CG

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Dear legendeld,

I hope that your purpose in writing "Earthfall" was, as it is said, soli Deo Gloria -- "for the glory of God", in this case, the God of writing. There is nothing wrong at all with seeking positive recognition in the act of writing; God knows we all get too little of it in day to day life.

If you didn't get the positive recognition you sought, I apologize for that. As for myself, I don't publicize this blog. There are people who know it exists but I don't go out of my way to draw attention to it. The Angst Guy has it linked; I've never asked him to unlink it but I've never reciprocated the link or even made note of it. Rest assured, the number of readers of this blog is a mere handful, and given your nominations for The Booties and the other positive accolades you have received in 2007, I hope you will not begrudge me my small work here. Indeed, it seems that you are held in some esteem in Daria fandom and hopefully my comments will not impede your future work.

I do take a slight objection to your claim that I have "republished the work". There was some editing, but no creation of characters, no changing of words or situations. Only a very small part of Chapter 1 Part 1 of EarthFall -- less than a tenth part -- was altered, and other parts have been written since then. You have left the impression that somehow, I've claimed credit for this work and tried to make it my own. Let me assure you that this is not the truth.

On the whole, I believe it would be fair to say that your contributions to the fandom are valued, in that it takes courage to throw one's work out there to what could be a pack of ravenous hungry wolves. I've only taken a small bite at it, and I've suggested remedies to bind the wounds and serve as future wolfs bane. Hopefully, my taking liberties with the text balances out against your claim that I have somehow claimed this work as my own.

My somewhat bold opinion is that it would be a mistake to ignore the criticism posted here, for if I've noticed these problems with the work, then other writers have certainly noticed them. My entire review concerned the format of the tale and made no moral judgment regarding the story told. Besides, I don't claim that I have supernatural power to separate the sheep from the goats or to claim that "this is a good/bad tale, and shall be forever and ever, Amen". On the contrary, I merely point out what I think is obvious.

I don't have any immediate plans to review future chapters of "EarthFall". However, I reserve the right to review other works of yours in the future. After all, you never e-mailed me personally to tell me that you were writing "EarthFall" and I therefore find it unfair for you to make the demand that I inform you personally when your work is reviewed.

I'll conclude by writing about Mark Twain, one of my favorite writers. He wrote a story called "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg". The town of Hadleyburg had as its motto, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation". Circumstances, however, forced Hadleyburg into temptation for which they were not prepared. As a result, the town changed its motto to "Lead Us Into Temptation", and Twain ends with “It is an honest town once more, and the man will have to rise early that catches it napping again.”

Therefore, I say, seek out harsh criticism, the harsher the better. If you're interested in improving as a writer -- and it's a sad thing when someone isn't interested in self-improvement if relatively painless -- you should find a beta-reader who will tell you what is wrong with a story. smk, Dennis, and Scissors MacGillicutty are excellent betareaders, but their talents might be a bit in demand these days.

Yours, etc.

--CG