It's often impossible to 'read the room'. Even people who state they want concrit can react badly to it--there's no way you can just guess what they would welcome.
*nods* I rarely offer concrit on stories, outside of a heads-up about a typo -- mostly it's because doing so is hard work, and even offering more detailed positive commentary (like, specifying what you liked instead of just saying "Great fic!") already takes a lot of thought, but also because not everyone wants to have their fic workshopped when they post it, for a variety of reasons (the fic's already done, and so they don't want to hear about things they could/should have done differently because they want to shift their focus to the next fic; they want fandom to be purely a light, fun hobby and aren't in it to improve their writing; they react badly to criticism; etc.). There's pressure not to ask that people refrain from offering concrit, and so if someone's said nothing about it one way or the other, criticim's just as likely to be unwelcome as not.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-11 05:32 am (UTC)*nods* I rarely offer concrit on stories, outside of a heads-up about a typo -- mostly it's because doing so is hard work, and even offering more detailed positive commentary (like, specifying what you liked instead of just saying "Great fic!") already takes a lot of thought, but also because not everyone wants to have their fic workshopped when they post it, for a variety of reasons (the fic's already done, and so they don't want to hear about things they could/should have done differently because they want to shift their focus to the next fic; they want fandom to be purely a light, fun hobby and aren't in it to improve their writing; they react badly to criticism; etc.). There's pressure not to ask that people refrain from offering concrit, and so if someone's said nothing about it one way or the other, criticim's just as likely to be unwelcome as not.