Frell, frack, dammit.

[agilebrit]

I checked up on the story I reviewed yesterday, and sure enough, it was gone. But she's uploaded yet another version in its place...and now it's back to single-spaced big ol' block o' text.

"Fine! I give up!" I said, throwing up my hands.

Then I checked my inbox.

thanks for leting me know i'll fix it up but its hard when its small writing but i'll give it a go

asdlghadk;ad;ja;adfsfgh

She's not throwing a bratty shitfit. She thanked me. *headdesks repeatedly*

But what does she mean by "small writing"? Is...she not old enough to read chapbooks? Does she not know that she can change the font size in her word processor?

What have I gotten myself into?

Comments

[kurukami.livejournal.com]

Run! Run while you can! The stupidity could be contagious! *grin*

Yeeeesh. Yeah, I'd say wash your hands of it.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

But...but...

SHE THANKED ME.

I don't think she's stupid. I think she's really, really young. I think she doesn't know how to format and upload it so it's not a huge block of text...although she accomplished that when it was in script format, so I'm not sure how that works. And I think she can be taught.

I'm just not sure that I'm the one to do it.

[kurukami.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see that... but banging your head against the naivete and rampant ignorance of grammar and spelling's got to hurt after a while. *pets*

[whirligigged.livejournal.com]

Hee, you've managed to make me actually laugh out loud. I was sort of thinking that your reviews were growing successively nicer, perhaps unintentionally? The last one even had a smiley face. And now she's gone and thanked you. CLEARLY YOU'VE GOTTEN SOFT. And now you've accidentally become the closest thing she has to a mentor! ;)

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I'm actually intentionally getting nicer, because the more I look at this, the younger I think she is.

Now, if it turns out that she's actually sixteen or something, I may stop being quite so nice. But I try to save the snark for people who deserve it, and by showing a willingness to make an attempt to fix the trainwrecks in her writing, and not flaming me, she doesn't deserve it.

And now I've told her to IM me, if she has YIM. *headdesks* Because I have SO MUCH TIME, yes.

[sunnyd-lite.livejournal.com]

Hey mentoring is good for the soul! And reading her writing so it mades sense must be like cracking a code and that's got to be a good mental work out.

I understand how when someone is willing to change, it's hard not to help them.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I'm getting enough of a mental workout writing a battle between faeries and bees, thank you.

She's getting line breaks in her beginning author's notes. Putting them inside the actual story shouldn't be rocket surgery. *grumps*

[mommanerd.livejournal.com]

I think the most giggle worthy thing about this is that her note thanking you contains nearly every error you've pointed out to her.

Maybe she isn't eight. Seriously, this could be a limited intelligence situation. Poor thing.

(She lurves you!)

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I wondered about that myself, but didn't really want to say it out loud. If this is the actual best she can do, then more power to her; at least she's trying. And I honestly think she wants to get better, otherwise why take it down so many times...and actually edit it?

I wish I knew how old she really is, though. I'd know better how to approach her.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

You fed it, and it followed you home. Now, it's your responsibility. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Um, sorry.

Small writing? Is it possible that English is not her primary language?

She thanked you for correcting her. Do you know how rare that is these days? If she is young, and signs seem to indicate, most her age would have either had a hissyfit and flamed you or ignored you.

Her writing may stink, but I'll give her points for class.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I know! She's making it impossible for me to point and mock. *pouts* I hate it when my expectations fall flat on their face like that.

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

English must be a second language for her. It's gotta be. The only explanation.

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

I see others have reached the same conclusion as I have. Her word patterns really suggest to me she's a non-native speaker. Problem is, I can't think of a good way to ask such a question unless you ask something along the lines of "what state do you live in?" on the excuse of trying to line her up with resources. If she answers Germany or Taiwan or whatever, you have your answer.

You could always ask if she has taken any writing courses and see if her response gives you an age clue.

I know of many non-native speakers who write fanfic. It's rarely the best thing I've read and often isn't my cup of tea but I always think they are so brave to attempt fiction in a language other than their own.