Writing is entertainment. What good is the best written book if no one wants to read it? So, while I'd like to say quality should be the most important aspect of the craft, it is not. What is success? If people are entertained, it's a success. A force awakens was considered entertaining despite lacking any creativity at all. I would consider it a success, regardless of the number of people that looked down their noses at it. It's like art. I don't need some snooty critic to tell me what's a great painting, if I like it, I consider it good.
Are writers not as respected as they should be?
- Thread starter Kyriakos
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While writing seems indeed to be defined as "entertainment" by and large, i think that some writing is closer to providing insight and cause for thought and new creation by those who read it 
Eg some of Borges' best short stories are quite intricate webs of connections and mirrors reflecting opposite mirrors. It can give the sense of there being much untaped potential in writing as an act.
Eg some of Borges' best short stories are quite intricate webs of connections and mirrors reflecting opposite mirrors. It can give the sense of there being much untaped potential in writing as an act.
... fill in the blank. I agree with this, particularly when it's someone on TrekBBS screeching at me that because the nuTrek movies made this-much-money and scored whatever rating on Rotten Tomatoes, that means it's a good movie.
I don't care what the critics say. The only time I pay attention to reviews is on Amazon, when I'm trying to find out if a product is durable and works, or if a Marketplace seller is reliable.
There are some movies and books that I really like, and I accept that other people may not like them. So I claim the right to the reverse situation, should it occur (which it often does).
I do think, however, that saying something is "a success" without defining how it's a "success" is ignoring the reasons why other people may not consider it a success. Reasons are an important part of this, because without feedback, how will the writer/film maker ever know why people like or don't like their work?
For example: Are the nuTrek movies successful at including a whole lot of special effects? Yes. Are they successful at portraying the characters as professional Starfleet officers? Not in my estimation.
Sam Hughes.
While I generally agree with this, ESPECIALLY on products, there are a few critics that if I've agreed with their assessment in the past will influence me when no other information is available to me.
Me, too. There's one person who reviews adult coloring books (no, that's not a euphemism for something disgusting; these are merely very detailed books that are of much higher quality than the average child's coloring book) who makes a video in which she lays out the book and turns every page so people can see what sort of pictures are in it. It's very helpful, so I can decide if I like the pictures enough to buy the book.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I generally look at the average of a whole crapload of reviews. If a product or book or movie is consistently getting horrible marks by reviewers, there's probably a reason for that. Same thing with consistently high marks across the board. It doesn't mean I'm going to like the movie, but generally speaking the chances of me enjoying the movie go up.
But what if the audience is polarized to the point where the only ratings are 1/5 or 5/5?
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
With a large enough sample size that doesn't happen. If it does, I ignore it and try to figure out if the movie is good or not via some alternate means.
hobbsyoyo
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I quite disagree. Even if the product is tripe I feel that someone who actually put the time and effort in to complete a full novel then they are worthy of some respect as storytellers if nothing else. It's hard work just to do it, much less do it well.
Most people who aren't "professional writers" aren't particularly good at writing - being a good writer is a huge advantage is unrelated fields.
I wouldn't call you "not a writer" if you're not included in the common definition of "writer", it's just a semantic shortcut for ease-of-use, not some judgement of your abilities.
Oh, it does, you can see some real examples of bias in the largest sample sizes. 538 has a bunch of articles:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features...he-online-reviews-of-tv-shows-aimed-at-women/
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features...t-example-of-how-internet-ratings-are-broken/
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fandango-movies-ratings/
Also, I would kill for markdown support, I haven't been able to do nice url links since the forum upgrade... for a writer in the internet age, markdown is *amazing*.
Are they, though? I gave up on finishing reading novels even of people i know, cause the story just wasn't good. I recently read a collection of short stories by a friend, and actually liked it considerably, but it is rare.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
That's why I said it is earned. If someone takes the time to write a book and they do a good job and the proper research and put a lot of sweat blood and tears into it and it ends up being successful - yeah, I would respect a person who accomplishes something like that. But just writing a book isn't quite enough for extra respect, IMO, it's the details that determine that.
@Zelig, yeah, there's exceptions of course. It's not something that always works. However,
Okay so men don't like Sex and the City. Makes sense to me, from my understanding the show is targeted mainly at women.
So I mean, I don't use online ratings as some sort of a holy guide for me to follow. It's just a quick way to get some sort of a quantification of a movie's potential goodness. It's not always accurate, and you can always keep in mind demographic considerations to try to figure out if you should give it a shot or not.
Newsflash: Some women don't like it either. I find that sort of program incomprehensible, not to mention I'm flabbergasted that people actually think Kim Cattrall (Spock's Vulcan protegee in Star Trek VI) can act.
That's not the point. The point is that men tank the ratings of shows they don't like more than women tank the ratings of shows they don't like.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Sounds like women need to ramp up their online voting habits in the name of statistical accuracy and/or gender equality
I know, I didn't say that this was the case. I am certain that there are many women out there who do not like the show. The universe just wouldn't make sense to me otherwise.
I agree if the book is well researched and written and stands out in some way. Not just any book will do for me is I guess what I'm saying.
