I've been syndicated!

[eumelia]

While I love most of what I write, I am always surprised to find myself quoted or asked to be linked to other LJ's.

But this is the first time I was really surprised to find myself linked, because as I said, I am usually asked to be linked or quoted.
I was reading the linked posts that appear on the syndication fangirls_attack and suddenly I come back to my own LJ!

How cool is that!

Here's the page on which my post appears, I know it's silly, but I'm so proud of myself!
All the other posts are fun to read as well.

Add to that, that that particular post is not my best, IMO.

Comments

[aesiron.livejournal.com]

Pretty cool. You have the raw talent to be a really good writer and with the right editor, I think you'd be great. You're easily one of the better essayists on my friends list and that includes one actual journalist.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Oh, GD, you've made my heart flutter.

Thank you so very much, you have no idea how good that comment made me feel!

I wish I had a real editor, but the only one I know is my mom and, well, it just wouldn't work out since we differ in our tastes and opinions a whole lot.
Not to mention that I use the word fuck here and there and whatcha' gonna do sometimes you need it!

[hagar-972.livejournal.com]

It was the closest you came to having an ordered thesis, and ordered thesis is one of the most important things for a good essay.

Personally, I think your writing skill is not yet professional - though you're not quite in the amateur zone, either.

Organization is one of the major factors - on all levels: constructing the entire essay, each paragraph, etc. Also, your written language is still too spoken-style at times.

Journalist level? Sure, you can go up to standard journalist level easily enough. But is that what you'd call "good"?

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I don't consider "Journalism" to be the pinnacle of good Essay-ism, I much prefer Anthologies on certain subject, e.g. my various Buffy references, my pop-culture and philosophy books, and "Bitch" by Elizabeth Wurtel (now she's a good Essayist)

And I knew I could count on you for constructive criticism :) Thanks!

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Another thing, could you expand on what an "Ordered Thesis" is, it's a term I've never heard before.

And other than the "written too much like spoken" shtick, what could I improve upon?

[hagar-972.livejournal.com]

While we're at constructive criticism.

1. For each "point", introduce it first in a few sentences and only then discuss it. It would serve to make your essay more readable to non-pop culture people, but it would make it far easier on the pop-culture people as well.
The key example from your last essay would be the new batgirl. Faceless, mute - my curiosity totally went "Huh!?" over that.

2. Counterpoints. Totally neccesary. In your last essay, the counterpoints would be "Everything Joss Whedon" - and that has its own internal counterpoint, Willow. Now, the way your essay is put, it's not understood (a) why "Joss is good", and (b) why did he mess up with Willow. If you're making a point, even a counterpoint, introduce and discuss, even briefly.

I won't repeat what I already said. (Organization, and spoken/written dichotomy.) I'll add that you're definitely getting better - this latest essay was couple of levels above anything i've previously seen from you.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

The key example from your last essay would be the new batgirl. Faceless, mute - my curiosity totally went "Huh!?" over that.

"Huh!?" as in "What is she talking about?" or as in "What the f@#k are comic book people thinking!?"

this latest essay was couple of levels above anything i've previously seen from you.

Really? I really don't consider it my best, which was why I was surprised to see it elsewhere.

[hagar-972.livejournal.com]

1. What I called "ordered thesis": look, it's not an official term or anything. What I meant is this: when you write an essay, do you have a point? There are the points you're making throughout the texts - example, counterexamples and the likes - but there should be a point to the whole text, and it shouldn't be something you discover while writing. This point is what you want to say - and the essay is written to serve that.
This "point" can be many thing: you could be introducing a subject/field, in which case much detailing would be neccesary. You could be introducing a question in a field - I think that's what you tried to do with your discussed essay above. Or you could be making a point of your own - "This is what we already know; this is what I suggest, and why" - more in the style of a real thesis or paper.
What I meant that, you have to know what it is you want to say, and what kind of a say is that; and the text should be written to reflect that - and that means not just content, but just as importantly the organization of the text.
To learn how to do these things, just pick a good text and read it thinking "How did the author made her case comea cross?" - not trying to understand the "case" itself.

2. Sorry. I'm not very good with those things myself. I recognize them when reading, and I can usually tell when someone, or I, is going overboard, but that's about it.

[hagar-972.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" as in "What's going on here?". Note so much "What is she talking about" as much as "how does that fit into a storyline". (The other "Huh?!" too, but that's not the one I meant in my comment.)

Your latest essay is couple notches above your previous ones for a couple of main reasons:
(1) Whoa, there's a point in there. In previous posts, if there was any what-I-want-to-say then it was lost in the disorganization. This is also why I refer to them as "posts" and this as "essay".
(2) Examples, details - not just general claims. These are part of the big differences between an essay, and ranting to your in-the-know friends.
(3) It had something resembeling a structure. "Joss Whedon is considered an example of positive femail representation. While this is generally true, there are examples of streotypical, negative female representation in his work as well. More than that: Joss Whedon's relative 'progressiveness' is a counterexample to the general tendency in pop culture." Then you presented quite many examples, including recent ones, and sealed off the essay by repeating the main point. (That femail characters are misrepresented in pop culture.)