To a fellow student at USF

The following is a letter I wrote to a fellow student in my Fiction I class at USF. I wrote this letter after I had read a very negative review written by this student on one of my short stories. I did not send the letter to the student because I did not want to start a big conflict in class. I changed the students name to protect their identity and also because I am a coward. If I had a bit more courage, perhaps this is what I would have responded with.

Dear Pat,

First, I would like to thank you for reviewing my story and taking the time to read it. I think it was very obvious that the majority of our class did not read any of the stories that entire week. Sure, they may have been busy but more than likely they were just lazy. As most people know, the majority of English students are only here because their parents are forcing them to go to college; they actually have no interest in becoming published authors or being involved in the written word in any sense. These students will go on to do less with their English Creative Writing degrees than those students who actually want to become writers, which would considerably less than the average Financial Accounting student.
Still, I’m getting off topic. I wanted to comment on your review of my story, “A Society in Perspective.” I’m glad someone finally had the courage to say they didn’t like a story; we spend so much time in class with everyone making up reasons for why they like someone’s story, when we’re all thinking of how bad it is. You, you had the courage to say you didn’t like my story, and I’m happy for that. You even provided me with a list of reasons why you didn’t like it, which I was grateful because it will make the last line of my letter to you mean so much more.
I was prepared to write you a longwinded explanation on how you missed the entire meaning of the story, that you didn’t look deep enough into the action and only saw what was happening on the surface. I wanted to explain to you how you were correct that certain parts were cliché, but they were cliché because they represented more than just flesh and bone figures; they represented ideas. You were right about the dialogue, it was very unbelievable, and I wanted to spend pages explaining that it was unbelievable on purpose because the characters are allegories and I want their dialogue to be over the top. However, I realized what I wanted to do was make you like a story you didn’t like, and that was wrong of me. I don’t have to defend my story against you, and you don’t have to defend your review against me. This whole thing, it’s just our opinions and they cannot be right or wrong, it is just what we believe. So I won’t write you a ten page essay explaining why you’re wrong and I’m right, because I’m not right, but either are you.
So, if I could say anything in response to your review what do you think it would be Pat? Would I say thank you? Thank you for being honest? No, because you should be honest anyway and to thank you for it would imply that you’re doing some kindness when you’re not. Should I write a long literary paper, that is very polite and well thought out, and try to convince you that your review is wrong? Of course not, because you’re entitled to your own opinion as everyone else. So, as one college student to another, as a colleague to a fellow colleague, or as a writer to a writer I say, “You are stupid and I hope you die.”

Love
John Fisher