stupid ratings...

[Worker11811]

The thing that I really don't like is NOT to get feedback. Not even NEGATIVE.

Let me tell you a story about myself:

It was back in 1993 when I entered some of my best photographs in the county fair. I'm talking about "wet" photography, not digital. I put a lot of effort into those pictures!

At this particular fair, the entrants received advance admission to the galleries right after the judging concluded. I was chomping at the bit. I was first in line. You probably can guess. My work didn't win. I didn't expect it to. I WANTED to win but when I saw some of the other entries I knew I was outclassed. There were guys who put up stuff that was WAY better than mine. If I had to judge my work against all the others, I'd give myself third place at best. No, the fact that I didn't win wasn't the reason why I was upset. What upset me was the picture that DID win: A picture of a cat!

It was one of those snap-shots taken with a disposable camera. It was partially out of focus. It was poorly exposed. It was an old, fat tabby cat sitting in the middle of the living room floor. Its eyes were red from the camera flash. It was framed in one of those crappy plastic Wal-Mart picture frames. It was truly bad! But this STILL isn't the whole reason I was upset.

Out of several dozen photos on display, the only ones that won were in crappy plastic Wal-Mart picture frames. They were taken with disposable instamatic cameras. They were ALL in color.

Not ONE black and white photo in the whole exhibition got ANY recognition.
Not ONE picture that wasn't in a gawd-awful frame was recognized.
No picture that was dry-mounted was acknowledged.

My pictures were all in black and white. They were all unframed and dry mounted on acid free matte board.

None of those other pictures that were better than mine got recognized, either!

That's what pissed me off! LACK of recognition!

I stepped over the barricade and took my pictures off the wall, right then and there! I put them in the trunk of my car and took them home. Not ONE of them has seen the light of day since then!

I have not shown ONE work of art, publicly, since the day I pulled out of that fair! That was thirteen years ago!

The work that I just submitted to Literotica, which you are about to see, is the FIRST piece of art that I have shown to ANYBODY besides a personal friend in thirteen years! When it is approved and published I DO NOT expect to see high marks! It would make me VERY happy if I did get high marks but, no, I don't expect to get all "fives".

If you really want to punish me, don't send any feedback at all!

If I had walked into that gallery thirteen years ago and found a big, red "DISQUALIFIED" sticker on my photo I would have been pissed off but not NEARLY as pissed as I was when I got NO recognition!

As a matter of fact, there are times when I LIKE negative feedback. Some of you said it before. Negative feedback can be a great motivator!

Do you want to know what I will do to people who give negative feedback?

Fuck them! Literally, FUCK them! Like this:

I click the mouse and open the folder where I keep my "special" application programs. I scroll down the list until I find the one I'm looking for: Revenge.exe

I activate it. The window pops open. The program springs into action.

"SEARCHING FOR IP ADDRESS..." the computer displays.

"IP ADDRESS FOUND"

"TRAPPING MAC ADDRESS..."

"USER IS ON-LINE... COMPUTER LOCATED"

Oh! "Mister Negative Feedback" is about to find out that he messed with the wrong guy! The specially designed virus I just launched against his computer is about to teach him a lesson he won't soon forget!

The greasy bastard is sitting in front of his computer in the dark. He is reading some sleazy i-Porn website. I can't tell exactly what it is but I can see that there are pictures of farm animals and body parts covered in excrement... Really sick and twisted stuff!

His screen blanks out and my face appears.

"I'll teach YOU, ya' freakin' TROLL!!"

He blacks out.

A few minutes later he wakes up. He is naked. He is strapped to a gurney. I am pushing him down a long, dark hallway. He can not escape. He tries to question me to find out what I'm going to do to him but I do not answer. I push him through a set of squeaky, double doors into a large, empty room.

Standing there, in the middle of the room is one of my most favorite fictional characters, Mistress Stephanie. She's wearing the same black leather outfit I always put her in when I write stories about her.

"My creator tells me you've been a bad boy!", she says to the troll.

She cracks her whip in mid air. The troll is too paralyzed with fear to move, much less protest. I give him a patronizing look and pat him on the top of his balding head. I blow a kiss to Mistress Stephanie. She smiles back at me. I walk out of the room.

As I walk back down the hallway, I hear the troll start to scream.

"That'll teach you!" I say over my shoulder. I walk back to reality and sit back down in front of my computer.

"CTRL-S" I type.

"Save As..."

I think for a moment.

"Troll Bait.doc"

I press return. I shut down the computer. I brush my teeth and go to bed, happy with the knowledge that I have vanquished another troll!

 

[The Mystery Valiant]

Whoooooooaaa! chill out!

I can understand, as many can understand how you feel...., in theory that might be how it works, but never in practice! But you must always have faith in your work! Always have faith in the art you must feel! If you turn your back on what you have put your heart into, then did you ever feel anything above that of which you critique so harshly. Do the pieces that you produce become any more valued than that "Instamatic Cat"? If you can't put a little more heart into your art and shine it out there for everyone to see, even the butt-ugly critics, Then you wasted you efforts. You shouldn't expect any honors. Because you won't give any to your own work. If you can't stand any negative remarks or incidents, what makes you think your ready to recieve postive ones. (As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about this as well, I should listen to my own good advice.) I've been brutalized while playing guitar. As I was starting out, I wasn't even tolerable. But I refused to listen to their barbs and diatribes. I worked hard at playing guitar because, "I" loved the way it sounded as I played. I loved the way my fingers danced on the fingerboard! Don't ever let other people dictate your needs and/or dismantle your desire to create! After all it is your work, not their's. I learned a while ago, If I want something, then no one will stop me! And I will show it even in a critical atmosphere! I want that feedback! Because it tells me not only about my work, but it tells me volumes about the critic. I have never won a poetry contest, but I have loads of "Editors Choice Awards". That may not mean much to others. But then I have an idea of where I want to go. Nobody else is going to go there but me. I am the first one to make the step into that part of the wilderness. This is my country!

 

[Worker11811]

Instamatic Cat!

Awesome! I love it! With your permission, I would like to use that, someday!

I would rather be torn down than to get no recognition at all. Being torn down makes you stand up for your work or change it. If you can't defend it you have to change it.

As a matter of fact, that's exactly what my last photography teacher did to us.
We finished our assignments and posted them on the board in front of the class. Then he would walk around and smack the wall beside the photos with his cane.

"Who took this picture?" he would say.

"Why did you take it? What are you trying to tell me?"

He would make you stand up in front of the whole class and explain yourself.

If the criticism is honest, I can take it. Like it, even. It makes me stretch.
Just because I haven't shown a photo in 13 years doesn't mean I don't like to make art anymore. I just haven't shown it to anybody I don't trust.

But, I'm starting to move out of that shell. The creative instinct is too strong in me. It's just taken time resurface.

 

[ColinGraham]

Those who can write, do.
A pitiful few who can't,
trash those who do.
Fuck 'em. Keep writing.

 

[Darkest Lord]

I wish I knew why.

It would seem that Literotica has people who seeming just read the story and give a low rating just to be a fucking asshole. It is such a sad thing that the human race has to tolerate these uneducated uncouth retardates. I understand your frustration about this. It has gotten to the point where some authors will not accept feedback on their stories because of a few out there that cannot act in a civilized manner.

If there ever were a case for sterilization or summary execution, the people that leave crass remarks or give a story a low score because they get off on it this is it.

 

[Fiach]

This explains a lot....

My husband's most recent submission was posted within the past two days, and there's already a six comment back-and-forth exchange in the comments about where the story should have been posted (Loving Wives vs. Group Sex). Huh. I didn't realize there was a controversy. Perhaps it's just between "anonymous" and "anonymous in the usa." Now that I'm aware of comments, I have noticed these commenters and others in other stories. It's pretty clear that they are debating each other, with no concern about their effect on the author(s).

As long as there have been artists, there have been critics. Let the doubters doubt and be damned. I skim through some of the stuff on the site, but lots of the work is fantastic.

My husband's a soldier. When he's here, we read together and bookmark stories for each other. When he's gone, y'all are lifesavers. My Magic Wand gets a workout just about every time I open the Literotica site. So thanks.

 

[Darkniciad]

"And with the birth of art came the inevitable afterbirth.... the critic"

History of the World Part I~ Mel Brooks

I think that says it all

 

[Worker11811]

I've been thinking about advertising my story on the boards for others' consideration but, because of the idiots who "lowball" others stories just to pump up their own egos, I haven't until now.

http://english.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=253839

Since I've been reading stories around here, especially now that I have put my own on here, I virtually always give a "4" or a "5" rating. If I like the story I give a "4". If it gets me hot I give it a "5". If it's just a so-so story I'll pass it up without leaving a vote.

 

[Shadow_Kyss]

i know how all this feels. i have a tendency to piss people off in the chatrroms because they forget that its only online stuff and most people are lying for attention.

a few of my stories (that were voted highly of) all of the sudden took a dive. some of the votes were removed but the childish people were back still voting down my stories.

instead of letting them keep me from writing i turned off the voting and left the stories for my true fans to enjoy.

fuck those that forget this is fantasy. i don't have time for the childish beahavior, i have 2 kids already and i don't want any more.

so keep writing and enjoy.