And there you are, still in the sandbox, and still flinging the stuff hither and yon.
You don't have to agree with anything I've written, or anything I've said about it. But if you are going to presume to offer an opinion, in order for it to have any weight, then there needs to be some substance to it. Other than, "Well, that's what I think!" I don't hear it. There's nothing wrong with being a fanboy -- we're all fanboys here; well, maybe even a couple of fangirls -- but your comments presume an acceptance of expertise about what you have to say -- at least that's how they come across to where I sit -- and there is no evidence of that being true.
No, you don't have to be a professional pianist to hear it when the guy playing a concert hits a clunker. But if you are going to offer him lessons in how he could have played the concert better, chances are pretty good he's not going to pay a lot of attention to you unless you can demonstrate some reason why he should. If you are a better player, even a peer, he might be willing to do that. If you are just some guy who listens to music? Who are you to say?
"I didn't like your interpretation of Rachmanianoff's Prelude in C-sharp Minor." Fine, you can say that. But if you can't play it, why on Earth would anybody listen to your notion on how best to do it? Talking the talk is not the same as walking the walk.
You miss my point entirely about the critic and the blank page, which isn't a surprise. A critic needs somebody to have written something -- good or bad -- in order to have anything to say. Give him the paper and say, give me a thousand words, his question is "On who?" Critics are remoras -- no shark? no ride, no food.
Writing fiction is, at best, a sketchy kind of communication. All you have is words, and that limits you. Those of us who do it for a living, least all those I know, try constantly to improve, to find the right word or phrase, to construct out stories in ways that make them accessible to as many people as we can.
On our side of the table, we have a different view of what we do, and how, and why. Now and then somebody from across the table will offer something that rings a bell, that makes sense, and when that happens, every writer I know will nod and accept it, and use the advice. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. But what you have to say, and how you say it? Not coming across. Your opinion of your opinion is too high -- it gets in the way. What comes across is "I know better!"
Don't see it. No evidence. And the best -- and only real -- way to prove it is to show me. When you can do that, then you have something. Otherwise, no.
