A Christmas Wish by Hans Schreiber

[Cole Parker]

Jeff, I do the same thing. If I'm going to read a story and haven't yet, I stay clear of forum comments on it till I'm done with it. I don't like knowing anything about a story going in. I want to see it unfold as the writer intended it to.

There's nothing wrong with commenting, though, and expressing feelings. I just choose not to read them in advance.

C

[Guest Dabeagle]

I don't think that pointing out inconsistencies or lapses in reality is negative. The 'rules' of the story set up what kind of story it is and, following that, I didn't find it believable. That you -or anyone else - chose to look past that is fine. But that doesn't make it negative.

I wrote a series about angels, demons and sorcerers. I had to try and stick to certain rules or it wouldn't make sense. I'm sure there are inconsistencies, though I did my best to catch them. Some may have been either missed by the reader or ignored for the sake of the story. I would have preferred to make it all line up to reliable rules so that 'fans' could rely on them for not only this but any future stories I may write in that genre or storyline. If someone points out where I missed something, that isn't negative - it helps me make a better story. In fact someone did point out a historical error I made, and it is being corrected in revisions.

Now, the language used to point this inconsistency out...that's another matter. Like the thread where we discussed feedback - where I was clearly wrong and have apologized to the authors for sending such unsolicited feedback - this is simply a discussion of the work. Perhaps I could have used kinder language, however the central theme is the same.