Concrit and The Angel of Charity

[paulamcg]

I'm glad I dared take part in July 2022 Swap on concrit_x. I knew I'd need to give concrit to two writers with whom I'd have no fandom in common, but I managed to choose something where the canon was far from unfamiliar.

I'd loved A Little Princess decades ago, and the story must have somehow stayed with me, and this was an opportunity to reread it. And around five years ago, reading Sapkowski's novels and playing Witcher The Wild Hunt were one of the main sources of joy for me.

Now I completed my two concrit assignments by writing about a delightful, charmingly era-appropriate Sara/Becky fic, A Propitious Season of Living by regshoe, and about a challenging, fascinating story with an OC protagonist who convincingly belongs to Sapkowski's fantasy world, Such Things as False Truths and Honest Lies by farla.

And I've got concrit on two of my Remus fics: Was There Love Involved and The Angel of Charity, or This Awfully Long Month! No harsh criticism, just some suggestions for improvements. And, above all...

Well, the former comment, on a recent 700-word piece (written as an exercise at a punctuation workshop) means a lot in particular because of the praise for characterisation – and because it urges me to consider posting my “pièce de résistance ” – the long post-OotP story Remus Lupin and the Revolt of the Creatures – on AO3.

The latter piece of concrit is the first ever comment on The Angel of Charity. In spring 2019, soon after returning from my hiatus and before finding any contacts, I spent a full month working on this fic, and it's probably the story I've been more fond of than any other. It's a dream come true that this story has finally been received and appreciated. The feedback is amazing and makes me, too, understand better what managed to say in the story. I can simply revel in this consummation – or get eager to seriously self-rec this...

poignant, ultimately hopeful study of the subtler effects of poverty and discrimination … [in which I've] done a fabulous job grounding Remus' story in its historical era and intertwining the Muggle society of the time, the mainstream wizard society, and the part-human underground to create a rich, multilayered world.

Now (while I've been composing this post) that latter concritter has surprised me by reading chapter one of Revolt on LJ.

All this... when throughout another July I've felt almost totally incapable of writing and sharing new fics, let alone any that would be both hopeful and meaningful.

Comments

[bluedreaming]

It’s so lovely that you had such a meaningful and positive experience! I must admit that the idea of concrit makes me nervous but that’s likely a biased opinion on my part.

I hope August is better for you with respect to writing and sharing ♡

[paulamcg]

Thank you for reading and commenting,and for your kind wishes!

I admit I was a bit nervous, too, particularly because my writing gets so little attention. I was afraid I wouldn't react well to concrit as the very first feedback on a story which I had loved and only hoped readers would find and respond to. But back before my hiatus I had got used to concrit as an essential part of interaction between writers, and I missed it.

This activity and its outcome has also helped me not feel that my four weeks off in July were completely wasted fandomwise. :) I still haven't started writing anything new, just chatted about my first fanfic and posted some old fics/links to old fics on tumblr.

[bluedreaming]

I'm glad it went well then! Yes, I've definitely heard that there used to be a more comfortable level of expected concrit (if that makes sense, not sure how to phrase it), I can understand that things have changed and it's complicated, but it's too bad to have lost that.

It's never a waste! We need rest times and also archiving and linking is always important too <3

[paulamcg]

Ah, thank you for your understanding, reassuring comments! <3<3