"The Viewer" by
Dr_Sinder has been deleted at -11 for falling below the deletion threshold.
Feedback from
Plilt
This is not very good.
The quality of writing is mediocre, with numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes. It's mostly uninteresting exposition and the tone comes off as overly edgy (mysterious enigmatic vengeful vastly powerful narrator, brutal death), and the narrator is pointlessly enigmatic; the dialogue isn't compelling and comes across as unrealistic. Why is the Foundation member reminding the other Foundation member of why they exist?
The stated point to the Viewer's actions don't line up with what they're actually doing—how is letting a homicidal statue kill people advancing their goals?
Feedback from
ThePianoMan1616
Plilt's comment was neither overly opinionated nor out of line, nor false. It was measured, honest, and very accurate.
"This is not very good" is a value statement in that Plilt expressed an opinion, which they have every right to do. As a writing site, we have an obligation to communicate honestly with one another about the quality of the work we produce. If writing is not good, which this isn't, it is downright dishonest to not be clear about it. If you'd prefer it not expressed in value statements, look no further than the details which follow shortly *after* the value statement. The piece is filled with grammatical errors which make the reading experience difficult. The format also makes it difficult to read, and the "dialogue" is written in such a way that it does not audiate naturally in the reader's mind. Neither the identity, nor motive, of the narrator are expressed and in lieu of even that, what background information builds only mystery but with nothing to back it up, therefore it entices no reader investment in what's happening.
This site is for short fiction, not screenplay. There may be areas of overlap but the point stands.
This work is described as overly edgy because it relies on heavily overused tropes to have any sort of impact at all. Again, this is not screenplay, so you can't trust actors to put emotion and meaning into the scene, you have to convey that through the writing itself.
The fact that the characters (who by the way are little more than names that shout and then die, with no personality) react "appropriately" to the situation does not change the fact that the reader has to search their own mind to come to that conclusion. The dialogue doesn't read like dialogue, it has no flow, it only exists to establish more background. That alone makes the statement "this is not well written" go from an opinion to just a truth.
It seems like you don't know what a "D-class" is. While I don't blame you for that, I'll explain that we on this site get a lot of entries that in actuality belong on a different site with a different premise. Authors attempt to take the tropes and characters from the SCP Foundation and write them here, because posting here is an easier process. This in turn lands us readers with a bunch of low effort formulaic articles that we are under no obligations to be "gentle" about or "avoid using value statements with." That's the kind of deep background that goes into an article and comment like this, which are important to know before you leap to the defense of a work which is, in actuality and for multiple legitimate reasons, bad. It is you who lack understanding, and while I apologize if that sounds harsh, I'll not have a commenter reproached for offering legitimate and honest critique.
Feedback from
NotAnOligarch
I'd like to throw in my two cents.
No, this isn't a good article.
Yes, the Critique was completely valid.
Again, don't use the Library as a knockoff SCP wiki. This work isn't suited for this website.
There's nothing substantial here. An author doesn't just put words on a page. An author transliterates feeling, emotion, and mood onto the medium of paper. An author crafts a story like a chef crafts a meal. The characters aren't characters, they're cardboard-cutouts.
The grammar and word choice is distracting at best, and horrid at worst. There isn't any emersion, at all.
Also, why are there suddenly a bunch of accounts rallying to support this piece? I'd not like to think that enough of the Library's population cares, or would like this article. I don't mean to sound paranoid or conspiratorial, but my sockpuppetry sensors are blaring.
Anyway, even if I'm wrong, it's not a good article. -1
Another note, there are further comments from users that were banned for being sockpuppets. Additionally, there are staff further staff comments responding to this. The specifics of that case can be found here.
"Tears Within A Storm" by
Arbiter_Darkness has been deleted at -4 for falling below the deletion threshold.
Feedback from
RJB_R
I didn't really feel anything about this until the last line, and even then that wasn't enough. It's hard for one poem to stand alone to be enough to support a page, maybe try publishing a collection here so there's more the reader can find to enjoy?
Feedback from
Maxyfran73
Not a fan of this one. It needs more substance to it, as the piece itself is rather barren. The italic stylizing of some words also feels off as, since it's used so much for such a short piece, makes any reasoning for its use moot.
-1
Feedback from
UncertaintyCrossing
Agreeing with Maxyfran here, it needs a little more substance - either an expansion and polish to this piece, or perhaps adding it to a collection of other short poetry pieces so the page has more weight to it to stand on its own. The formatting I think can be done in moderation, but sticks out a bit too much on a piece like this. It's been a bit, but if you do plan on rewriting this, I'd recommend joining the Discord or utilizing the critique forums to get some feedback on the rewrite!
"The New World Spire" by
BlueJones was deleted at -4 for falling below the deletion threshold.
Feedback from
ZeroMan
Unfortunately, there are a lot of things in this article that made me want to downvote it.
1 - There is absolutely no characterization. If you swapped the 1st person view with a feelingless narrator nothing would change, and I feel like that really damages the article.
2 - There are a lot of things in the narrative that happen simply to further the narrative, and not because they make sense. The character simply exists where he is, and for some reason he has a suit of the CI. He reaches the spire and it's protected thaumaturgically, but he still manages to get in. He has water, finds food, and always goes where he needs to be at the right time.
3 - The creature attack was really random, and the character makes it seem like he knows what it is and that's why he fears it so much, but then suddenly he doesn't know and is only running.
4 - The fact he's immortal was referenced subtly in the beginning but then almost thrown at the readers' face when he's running from the creature
5 - The ending was rushed and I didn't really feel anything after it, it just ended
I feel like this needs a rework, but it could be improved if you built the world and the character better. So far, many things happen that the reader just has no reason to care about. I wish you the best in your future writing endeavors, and good luck with your next articles for the context!
Feedback from
Snapdragon133
Was going to leave a good amount of crit for this one, but Zero covered pretty much all of it, so I'll keep it brief. I found this to be boring, because while things happened they happened for either no reason or with no explanation. Additionally, I find the use of the phrase "mind fuck" at the end to be out of character. It really doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the story either. I'm happy to see that you've thought about editing after the contest, and encourage you to do so
Feedback from
Gabriel McQueen
A short story has to do a lot of worldbuilding and character establishing very quickly. I think you've got the story beats down, but you need more substance. By the end of this story, I still didn't know who this character was, why they had been in a cell, what the spire was and why they wanted to explore it, who else was in the spire, or what caused the change in the sky and land that's described in the first paragraph. All questions that could be answered, or at least have answers suggested or hinted through memories, thoughts, actions or reactions of the character during the time they spend exploring this space, rather than summing up that time as just travling x number of days, or x number of floors. I wanna know how this person feels about what they're experiencing. Are they shocked/horrified/saddened by the changed sky? Do they struggle at all on the three day journey to the spire? Do they know why they were in a cell, and how do they feel about having been in one? Are they offended/perplexed/unsettled/disgusted by the fact that their clothes have been changed, seemingly without their knowledge? Stuff like that, that's what makes a character real to me, and makes me want to know what's going to happen to them next.