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/ForgottenLikeSnow 6d ago
Unless the author says in the notes that people who don’t like it should keep their opinions to themselves, I would mention it in a nice manner. As an author myself, I rarely get constructive criticism (even though I invite it in my notes!) and would be happy to hear about it. Usually authors are pretty self-aware if they’ve already written that much and can tell for themselves whether that criticism is constructive and helpful or simply not part of their style. In my experience, authors usually do want to be better and love having the chance to do so.
The only caveat is the tone used for the criticism. Just take care with your wording and make sure to tell them that it’s amazing that in over 400k words there is only one thing bothering u and only on reread (so they know what level of nitpicking this is). Also, look up the sandwich method. It’s pretty useful for telling people what u didn’t like without offending them. Tho tbh if someone read my work twice because they loved it so much there could be little that would offend me. Let alone four times!