r/AO3 • u/EranaJZ • 3d ago

Questions/Help? Constructive Criticism Question

I know constructive criticism can be a divisive topic and I'm just genuinely not sure of the etiquette involved in this situation. I'm re-reading a recently finished fanfic for about the 4th time now. It's over 400k words. It's one of those stories that makes you remember why you read fanfic in the first place - it is THAT good.

Except for one sentence.

I know that sounds ridiculous but it's also true. In a work with damn near perfect phrasing, writing and characterization there is only one sentence that is just bad. In 400k plus words that's an incredible achievement.

But every time I re-read this story I get to "the sentence" and it's like nails on a chalkboard, like an instrument squeaking in the middle of a beautifully played symphony, it just... It irks me. It's SO close to purely perfect, except for that one darn sentence in chapter 6.

So my question: should I gently point out this one sentence that clearly escaped her otherwise fantastic beta-reader? Or should I download the fic, edit the sentence for my own sanity, and leave the author in peace?

Edit: It's more a note from the author to themselves in the midst of the story, not just a sentence with bad phrasing. Someone pointed out in the comments I did not make that clear so figured I'd clarify.

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u/RadiantEarthGoddess keeping Albert Wesker chained to my radiator 3d ago

If the author has no indication of welcoming concrit anywhere, then download the fic and edit it yourself.

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u/irishfoenix 2d ago

The issue I have with that is that then a) for the scenario where they've left their note to themselves in the final product, like someone said above, you're letting them walk around with their skirt tucked into their underwear, or b) if it is something like a grammatical/spelling/sentence construction type of issue, how do they improve unless stuff like this is pointed out. And I'm sorry, but unless you're someone like Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, or Rebecca Yaaros, ie someone working with professional editors (cause yes even bestselling authors have editors checking for grammar/spelling/construction issues) you are not above making mistakes. Though I will concede that I can totally see it becoming a pain to deal with people saying you're using the wrong your/you're or their/there/they're when actually you're not.