If you put together a resouce and just offer it out there, no one will take offence. Don't worry. :) It's only when people offer unsolicited concrit that people generally get their hackles up. It totally depends on the author, though. Some authors beg for it at the outset - which is not to be confused with the manner of author who posts something which s/he boldly declares has been posted sans-beta and wants readers to point out errors as they come across them - while others get offended for life if you so much as breathe anything slightly less than pure squee.
Bad characterisation cannot be cured. There's just a fundamental lack of ability to see accurately what has been created in the first place, and that's nigh impossible to fix! I was once approached by an author who shall remain nameless (and I do use that term rather dryly), who had just finished writing a story and was dissatisfied with what she perceived as its less-than-stellar quality. She wanted me to help her re-write it, but better. Insert headdesking here. You're thinking, OMG, you didn't DO it, did you??? I did. I asked for a first chapter to see what I was getting myself into before committing, and it was... terrible, in a word. The characters were scarcely recognisable, the plot was cliched (and, as I later discovered, wholly stolen from someone else) and Not Good, and there were strange gaps in the writing. Here is a sample of a bit of similar-but-made-up dialogue:
"Why not?" Ron said. He was confused.
"SHUT UP!" Harry screamed. A wall sconce wobbled dangerously.
"HARRY GET DOWN FROM THERE!" Hermione screamed repeatedly, wishing he wasn't up there.
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Date: 2007-08-31 05:09 am (UTC)Bad characterisation cannot be cured. There's just a fundamental lack of ability to see accurately what has been created in the first place, and that's nigh impossible to fix! I was once approached by an author who shall remain nameless (and I do use that term rather dryly), who had just finished writing a story and was dissatisfied with what she perceived as its less-than-stellar quality. She wanted me to help her re-write it, but better. Insert headdesking here. You're thinking, OMG, you didn't DO it, did you??? I did. I asked for a first chapter to see what I was getting myself into before committing, and it was... terrible, in a word. The characters were scarcely recognisable, the plot was cliched (and, as I later discovered, wholly stolen from someone else) and Not Good, and there were strange gaps in the writing. Here is a sample of a bit of similar-but-made-up dialogue:
"Why not?" Ron said. He was confused.
"SHUT UP!" Harry screamed. A wall sconce wobbled dangerously.
"HARRY GET DOWN FROM THERE!" Hermione screamed repeatedly, wishing he wasn't up there.
(cont'd)