Pondering Minutia and Criticism

Excellent point, Stephan. I tend to judge works by my style, and I believe that's a natural bent of most people. I have to consciously work to avoid this. If someone says they're trying to copy a certain accent or attitude of common people, we can't fault them for incorrect spelling or grammar. On the other hand, if the writer's purpose is something like, "Just something that popped into my head, so I jotted it down", then I think criticism for leaving brain-fartings uneditted is called for. Otherwise, this site will degenerate as have others. In summary. I think we should encourage people to tell us the purpose or effects they want the writing to serve. Perhaps a field just above "Comments" would serve this goal. It might also inform the writer that we expect that they have a purpose or goal.

WF: You're right, you're not an expert poet, but commenting is important because it helps the writer to see his poetry from the POV of a less informed reader, and helps the commenter go more deeply into the better writer's work. In short, both sides of the process are improved. Sounds like a pretty good win-win deal to me. An extra bonus - unless the writer is a snob, it will start conversations between writers and critiquers, even if the former gets pissed at the latter. Conversation is good.

Leanne: You're right, I tried writing poetry in a vacuum, but I couldn't fit.
One more thing. It's not Miss Dick; it's dick miss. Trust me, I know.

Alcuin