Posted by Jock on September 23, 2005 at 08:08:32 from 217.172.246.144 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Totally mistaken accusation of rudeness posted by Peter H on September 21, 2005 at 21:43:43:
Writing as one who has occasionally got the odd article published, I have nothing but admiration for anyone who sets out to write a novel. Such an enterprise demands a great deal of courage and self discipline. There is the preliminary research and then the actual writing. All this demands time and application. Finally comes the strength needed to cope with all those nasty rejection slips. Anyone who has gone through all of this and still retains the ability to laugh at themselves earns my respect.
Tarboard is at its best when we use it to thrash out contrary ideas in a courteous manner. I have a strongly held view that the best criticism should not or should not appear to denigrate the person with whose views one is disagreeing. I also think it is patronising to post messages of the form, "It is totally inappropriate to discuss X on Tarboard, but the correct position on X is Y, so let's have no more debate on the subject." Anyone who breaks these rules deserves to receive a little bit of teasing, done of course, in a courteous manner;-)