I'm no watcher of the show--tonight's was the only episode I've ever seen, hence I have no clue what's going on--but--

Is it just me or were those totally MIBs on tonight's episode of Fringe??

I used to have bad dreams that the MIBs were coming to get me. (This was many years before the goofy Will Smith movies.) ZOMG I have not thought about the MIBs in years. I used to always freak out whenever a helicopter flew over or a big black car drove by. Ha. *is a dork*

 

Good Lord, do the bizarre reviews never end?

I will probably regret posting this in haste, but...it must be read to be believed.

Today somebody commented on "A Crack Of Light," one of my favorite stories (it's highlighted on my port), telling me they'd sure like to see something new and current, something I "just wrote today," because I am what I do, not what I did. (Paraphrased.)

WTF??

Don't tell me people read my work because they have some hankering to know "who I am" based on "what I do"? I honestly thought I was just posting my writing to entertain people, not to be subjected to some psychological test.

Not to mention there were absolutely no comments on the quality of the writing itself (which, because it was written several years ago and, gosh darn it, isn't "current," merits a 3.5 rating).

This is the reply I sent since it was anonymous. I haven't anything against that, since I understand wanting to be anonymous, but on the other hand, it's a bit creepy that some anonymous person is so desperate to know "who I am" based on "what I'm currently doing (writing)." I thought that's what my blog was for, not my fiction. Seriously. You want to know who a writer is, read their autobiography; otherwise, just enjoy their fiction for what it is--fiction.

The reply:

Unfortunately, work that I "just wrote today" isn't yet available for viewing seeing as my writing goes through a proofreading process before being posted, and also because I mainly write in serials where there are many chapters to be posted before the most current ones. It can be months or even years before my most "current" work sees the light of the Net. That doesn't mean the work isn't still current to me, the writer. If it were no longer representative of how I write, I would include a disclaimer on it.

This story is written in the style I still use today, so it's still representative of how I write today. I find it odd to give it a 3.5-star rating (without any actual commentary on the writing quality or lack thereof) just because it happened to have been written several years ago and you happen to want to read something written "today." Perhaps you can browse the newest CREATED items as opposed to most recently MODIFIED? You will be likely to come across many unfinished items by people who posted them immediately without any thought for proofing or editing.

I'm not calling my work publishable or classic by any means, but according to your argument, would you eschew reading a published work that was written several years ago just because of that fact, that it wasn't written "today"? I'm pretty sure most published works weren't written the day the reader reads them. Does that nullify their worth?

Sorry, but my writing process does not work that way.

I am both what I did AND what I now do. It's called history, and everybody has one, else they have nothing on which to base the present and future. I'm also rather puzzled that you should care who "I am," when my goal here is just to share my writing, not convince people who or what I am based on what I do or did. Judge the story for the story, not for the author behind it. You really can't tell who or what I am by reading this story alone; since you offered no comments on the writing itself, I wonder if you did read it, or just looked at the creation date and decided that since it's a few years old, it must be stale.

I do strongly suggest that when you search for works to read on this site, you sort by most newly created so you can find something more along the lines of what you're looking for. Do be prepared for a lot of unpolished work, though.

Seriously. I wonder if they would refuse to read King's The Stand because it's not his latest book, or anything by Dickens because he's dead and so of course none of his work is current or representative of "who he is" (i. e., most likely a dusty old skeleton). I wouldn't bother posting my writing if I felt it had no current value whatsoever, and anyone who knows me has seen that I put big fat disclaimers on anything written so long ago that my style has changed. Even if my style has changed, however (e. g., as in the case of Manitou Island), that doesn't mean all the content must be crap since it was written almost a decade ago. I wouldn't even edit the stuff to show up in the listings again if I thought it was so lousy, so "not me." Notice the items in my port that haven't been modified in months or years? THAT is usually the stuff that is no longer representative of who I am or what I do. Yet even it has its purpose--it's part of who I WAS, which contributed to who I am today. Otherwise it wouldn't be posted at all. Is "current" writing the only worthwhile writing there is anymore? Is history pointless because it's not the present? Color me surprised. According to this logic, this reader wouldn't care to read even something I wrote today because by the time they get around to reading it, it will have been written several hours ago, or yesterday, or last week even, and of course that's what I did, thus not who I am.

You do realize that ANYTHING I write, even if written today, is already something I did and am not currently doing? Therefore, ANYTHING I write is not representative of who I am because it has already happened and is already written. According to this line of reasoning, the only writing that would be representative of who I am would be the stuff I haven't even written yet. And how can writing that doesn't even exist represent who I am right now? Cripes on a stick, this is confusing. I thought this was Writing.com, not Philosophy.com.

When all is said and done, "A Crack Of Light" is still VERY much representative of "who I am," seeing as I'm always thinking about the characters and situations in that particular story. Same goes with most of my other work, even the stuff I wrote when I was twelve. That stuff made me who I am today and will influence who I am tomorrow. What I "did" is very much a big part of who I "am." Not that any of this should matter to somebody just looking for something entertaining to read--most people who read my work really couldn't give a flip who I am!

Seriously. Why do I keep getting these people. Must I now include disclaimers that it's just my writing, read it for what it is and not for who or whatever the hell is the writer behind it?

I really could have used a talk with Psychologist today. WTF seriously.