I don’t understand the absolute entitlement mindset that
young people have. Here is the definition as provided by- http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entitlement
en·ti·tle·ment noun \-ˈtī-təl-mənt\
: the condition of having a right to have, do, or get
something
: the feeling or
belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges)
: a type of financial help provided by the government for
members of a particular group
I highlighted the application of the definition I am using. A
young man, who asked if I would give him some critiques and help him tighten up
the story, sent me a manuscript. Naturally, I said yes. So after reading
through it and making my notes I send him back an email with my notes on what I
found wrong and what he needed to work on.
Later on, I received an email from him, great, I thought I
would get a quick thank you and off he’d go on his literary journey.
I was taken aback by the tirade I read. Apparently, the
young man felt that somehow I had slighted him and was being mean, and that I had
failed to read or understand his story. This young man, in an expletive laced
run-on sentence, told me he had a great story because his family and friends said
it was good.
I went back and looked over my notes to see what he was referring
to, I was very specific, he had spelling errors that took away from the story
and he painted illogical pictures that didn’t make sense to me.
Some of the spelling errors are ones that writers should not
make, such as “There” and “Their” which he consistently used in the wrong context.
He also used ‘Witch” when he meant to use “Which”, a simple error because spell
check would not pick it up since the word is correct.
The biggest thing is when I criticized the opening sentence of the story; “Concealed in the pitch-black darkness, the silhouette stood in
the darkened doorway hidden from anyone’s gaze.”
I merely noted that he should fix it because you cannot see
a silhouette in pitch-black darkness in a darkened doorway. I was very matter
of fact about it, the sentence made no sense. Yet somehow I am mean and rude
and oh yes, I am jealous because I don’t write so good, simply because I
provided exactly what he asked me to provide, critiques and constructive criticism.
