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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Merlion" data-source="post: 3122544" data-attributes="member: 10397">Criticism is one thing. I believe some works are better or at least better-crafted than others (although even that is somewhat subjective as many different people may have different ideas about what is better), and criticism helps one to improve their abilities to the utmost. However, degrading and belittling a work is not useful criticism. Claiming that a work is totally without value despite the effort put into it is not criticism. Pointing out the flaws is criticism. Pointing out the flaws, and suggesting ways to improve is constructive criticism.  Neither is bile-coating it though. Two things to think about. One, who decides what is bad, and how do they make that decision? Two, does this mean that you feel that if someones writing is bad, then thats it for them? Its also not a very good example, because it has no context. In a serious drama, that snippet would be out of place. In a comedic or absurdist novel however, it would fit right in.  By whose decision, and what criteria? Thats what I am interested in. You can say you didnt like them, but by what objective criteria do we determine they are "written poorly"? And even if they are, does that strip them of all value and make their creators time and effort worthless? I think the only remotely objective scales that could be used would be popularity and/or financial success. You can measure how much money something makes in objective terms, and you can take a poll and find out how many people say that they enjoyed the work. Anything else is by nature a matter of opinion. So the time thought and effort put into something becomes meaningless if it doesnt meet certain criteria?With some things I can see this. If your a blacksmith, and you forge a knife thats dull and cant cut butter, your efforts failed. But if your a writer or an artist, and you write a book or paint a painting, and the critics and "experts" say its "bad", if people still enjoy it, does it "just suck" and become worthless?</blockquote>

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