What kind of comments would you like to receive on your stories?

[Comshaw]

- How happy are you about very short comments that are essentially just a thumbs up ("I like this") ?
Happy as a pig in mud. It's a comment and a good one. The reader may not have anything else to say, but if they enjoyed it and took the time to tell me so, I'm happy.

- How unhappy are you about the opposite - short negative comments ("this is bad") ?
Not unhappy, but a bit sad they didn't tell me why. To be truthful I have never received many of that kind of comment. All the ones that tell me it's a bad story go into lengthy descriptions of my parentage and my lack of everything civilized.

- How does constructive criticism have to be phrased so you feel supported ("this is really gonna help me"), not disappointed ("oh no, I messed up")?
For me, any which a way. I'll put this upfront, I do not have a thick skin. EVERY criticism hurts. But I've always been able to get past that and look at what was said, no matter how it was said. And I also can look at myself and y work objectively and know when I've screwed to pooch. So any criticism, if it contains something that I need to fix, no matter how it's worded, is appropriate and wanted criticism.

- How detailled and specific should positive comments ideally be?
I'd love to have every critique of my work to be long and detailed. But that ain't the way the world works. So I'll settle for what ever they wished to tell me.

- How do you feel about questions for clarification / requests of further discussion of your choices?
Interestingly, I've never had any of that. In fact I can't recall even one instance of it. Why? I have no idea, but it's given me something to think about.

Comshaw

 

[pink_silk_glove]

We all know there are comments we do not want.

Any comment is gravy. Any at all. Seriously. I do not care how nasty it is. I do not care how inaccurate it may or may not be. I will probably get something out of it, something to move forward with.

- How detailled and specific should positive comments ideally be?

Perfect world? Write me a full page review! Go nuts. I know what I wrote but I can't know how it's read. Tell me how you felt with every scene, about every character. Tell me if my happy scenes made you smile or laugh or feel warm or not. Tell me if my sad scene tore at your heart or made you cry or not. Tell me if my sex scenes heated you up or not. Tell me if anything bored you or not. Hated it? Fire away! No sugar coating, just give it to me straight doc, I can take it.

But I am grateful for any comment, no matter how short, negative or absurd.

Remember folks, just because you wrote it for free doesn't mean that the readers owe you anything. They are reading for free too.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

"hated the first paragraph, 1 star, didn't finish" which thankfully I've never had.

I've had a few of those and I'm sure that I'll get more.

If you never get critical pushback it just means that you never write outside the lines. You never dare. That's all.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Inspired by this thread by @Five_Inch_Heels , I feel it might be worth while to ask ourselves what we are actually hoping for, when we are hoping for comments.

We all know there are comments we do not want.
But it's potentially a bit more subtle than saying "I want lots of positive comments".
And while most of us invite constructive criticism, what does that mean?

From a lot of people, it means "tell me this story is great while making me feel like you're not just saying that to spare my feelings".

A few starter questions to get things rolling:

- How happy are you about very short comments that are essentially just a thumbs up ("I like this") ?

Like eating a chip. It's nice but a few minutes later it's forgotten.

- How unhappy are you about the opposite - short negative comments ("this is bad") ?

*shrug* Never expected to please everybody.

- How does constructive criticism have to be phrased so you feel supported ("this is really gonna help me"), not disappointed ("oh no, I messed up")?

Less about the phrasing (though "you are a terrible person and here's why" generally isn't a great start), more about the content.

• Specific enough and timely enough to be actionable.
• Critic needs to know what they're talking about. (About half the "errors" people want to point out to me are not actually errors.)
• Clear enough for me to understand what the critic is talking about.
• Based in some understanding of what I was trying to do with the story: e.g. if my objective is to write about how sex changes a friendship, telling me "this would be hotter if you just focussed on the sex scenes and got rid of all the friendship scenes" is not helpful.

In the end, it's rare that I get useful constructive criticism from Literotica public comments. That's not a slam on people who comment on stories, I just don't think it's the right medium for that sort of thing. By the time I post a story I've already gotten feedback from a group of people who know me well and who have similar tastes to mine.

One of the most useful pieces of feedback I ever got was from somebody I'd asked for expert feedback on a particular plotline in a story. It was fundamentally flawed, and she didn't mince words in telling me that. I ended up having to trash that whole plotline and come up with something different. I'll grant my ego was a little bruised, but that wasn't because of the way she phrased that feedback, just from the realisation that this sequence that I'd thought was so clever was actually clichéd and bad.

That said, this was feedback from somebody who I had asked for feedback, because I respected their opinion on this. If a stranger attempts to give me "brutally honest" feedback unsolicited, they first need to convince me of why I should value their opinion, and they'd best know what they're talking about, otherwise I'm likely to be equally brutal in response.

- How detailled and specific should positive comments ideally be?

Even the completely non-detailed "I like it" comments are fine. But comments that speak to something I was trying to do in that story, and tell me that I succeeded in it, are gold.

- How do you feel about questions for clarification / requests of further discussion of your choices?

Enh. If it's something short and definite ("I didn't understand what this part meant") that's fine. But for a lot of questions the answer will just be some variant of "because that's the story I wanted to tell" and that's not a very satisfying conversation.

Also there's a certain percentage of dudes who initiate "discussion" on topics they're not actually interested in, because once they get a reply they'll take that as permission to start humping one's leg. So I'm a little wary of low-effort conversation starters.

 

[Bassytian]

I barely get comments at all, which does concern me. Any comments would be great, except for "I fucking hate your story, go fuck yourself!" Now "I fucking hate your story because.." would at least tell me something.

My chapters get good ratings and I gain followers with each submission so I do have an audience.

 

[MyBareTorso]

I get so few comments that I am honestly happy with just about anything. I do really appreciate it, however, if the person commenting appears to have really read the story and not just skimmed it to get to the sex and nudity. Negative comments are cool too, as long as they're not just mean or, even worse, snide and sarcastic. Anything remotely thoughtful is always very welcome.

 

[Erozetta]

Genuine thoughts from the reader. Anything they want to say, I want to read. Good or bad. Chances are any mistake they point out I've already caught post submission, but I still like the confirmation that I did, in fact, fuck up.

 

[ChuckWolf]

I'd like honest feedback (good or bad) preferably with as much detail of what they liked or didn't like, using specific examples.

However, not interested in excessive grammar-police stuff.

 

[WeShallUnclench]

Oh yeah, one elusive and perhaps impossible kind of feedback I sometimes daydream about is "This is grammatically correct but shows that English is not your first language, We Would Not Say It Like That, and here is a suggestion how I, as a native speaker, would do it"

Might be impossible because there are so many ways to write and get things wrong, in any language, whether or not it's your first language, that it's hard to point out the distinctly "foreign" elements.

I guess I first got paranoid about this in a horror writing contest where someone entered a story involving creepy genetically modified humans, and what set those cattle-people apart was their speech patterns. "No regular human would ever talk that way". That was one of the main sources of Lovecraftian horror, in the story.
Except to me the content and grammar of their speech looked perfectly fine.

EDIT: Then again, the author may have had a particular fixation with language, because I believe I also saw a post of them saying they hate it when foreigners speak english because it's supposedly "creepy". Could be I am confusing them with someone else, though, it has been a couple of years.

 

[WeShallUnclench]

I don’t really care about comments anymore because I realized it’s a fraction of a fraction of the people who read any story that comment on it, and a sample size that small can never accurately represent the readership’s opinions overall.

As someone who has always gotten relatively little feedback, even by internet standards, regardless of what I share or where I do it (I never get tired of whining about tumblr teens who log on and instantly get 800k notes and 1 million followers and then talk like that's the very baseline of the online experience), it pains me to say that, but I always suspected "no comment" is also a type of comment. If I get 1000 readers and 3 comments the difference kinda reads to me as 997 negative comments.

Now granted I get maybe a liiiiiittle bit too frustrated sometimes, and even I can see that's a very melodramatic way to look at it.

The grain of truth in all of this however is that you only get comments when you made a connection meaningful enough that you break through people's indifference or inhibitions. I am a reader myself, so I know what the other side of the equation feels like, as well.

And multiple comments? Dozens? Hundreds? That really only gives you one additional data point - that you somehow connected with The Crowd. It proves you triggered something on a bigger scale. The thing is, I have no idea how to achieve something like that on purpose, and I suspect hardly anyone does. I firmly believe that it's like 99% luck, that you accidentally hit on something everyone else cares about, too, or that you are naturally the kind of person who understands The Crowd on an instictual level.

 

[StillStunned]

If you never get critical pushback it just means that you never write outside the lines. You never dare. That's all.

This seems a bit harsh. Some people are quite happy writing their stories and their readers are happy reading them. It never even occurs to them to try something "outside the lines" - in fact I reckon most writers are like that. It has nothing to do with daring or not daring.

And even if you do dare, who's to say the rewards are worth it?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

This seems a bit harsh. Some people are quite happy writing their stories and their readers are happy reading them. It never even occurs to them to try something "outside the lines" - in fact I reckon most writers are like that. It has nothing to do with daring or not daring.

And even if you do dare, who's to say the rewards are worth it?

My comment was not a judgment on daring or not daring, simply the observation.

 

[THBGato]

This seems a bit harsh. Some people are quite happy writing their stories and their readers are happy reading them. It never even occurs to them to try something "outside the lines" - in fact I reckon most writers are like that. It has nothing to do with daring or not daring.

My comment was not a judgment on daring or not daring, simply the observation.

For what it's worth, I didn't feel judged ;-)

Observe away.

 

[THBGato]

Ok, so this comment just dropped on my story Pygmalion 3.0 and I immediately thought of posting it to this thread as an example of brilliant comment. Here's it is in full:

First of all. Five big beautiful stars. The writing was amazing. A hundred times better than I could ever do. That said, I struggled with a few things. First, the big one, the one the entire story pivots on. I don’t believe for one second that Pippa thought Shannon wasn’t serious about turning gay for her. The little strip-tease in Pippa’s bedroom was Shannon’s declaration of love for Pippa, and not just as friends.
Shannon should have ripped Pippa a new butt hole about not believing her undying love for Pippa, in stead of just walking away.
Second thing I struggled with. Lesbians have been telling people for decades that being gay is not a choice. But, because of the flow-chart, the story certainly reads that way. Shannon made the choice to be gay to stay with her friend.
Third struggle, not really your fault. You are writing for your UK audience. Being on the other side of the pond as I am, all the school terms went right over my head. They became little speed-bumps as I was reading a story that was otherwise flowing beautifully.
I still enjoyed the writing immensely. Your descriptions were excellent. Like I said in the beginning. I’ll likely never be able to write as good as you.
Thank you for sharing your talent.
All my best.
Rose Monroe

So why do I think it's a great comment.

1. It's obviously flattering - who doesn't love that?

2. It's from a great writer whom I follow, and that always means a bit more to me (peer approval is powerful).

3.However, most importantly, it's critical in specific and helpful ways. Points one and two... useful feedback but I probably won't change the story at this stage. Though if I do ever write a story again that involves a previously-straight woman choosing to become lesbian for one specific woman (something I have encountered in real life), it seems I will need to sell it better.

Point three, however, is gold. I am a Brit (for the moment at least) and the closest I've gotten to the USA is the Canada side of Niagara Falls. Yet I am aware that most of the readership is state-side. I thought I'd been clear enough about how the UCAS system worked and what A levels were, etc, but clearly I wasn't. As I will definitely write more stories set in the UK, then obviously I need to work harder at explaining those cultural differences more clearly, without resorting to info dumps. That was great feedback to have, something I would never be able to see for myself.

4. Finally, don't you just love the way this is structured? Positive, negative, negative, negative-but-might-be-on-me-as-a-reader, back to positive. As a writer, I just have to admire that!

5. Plus she signed her name, which is just classy.

So there you go. I don't think I can imagine a better comment than that. Just thought I'd share.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

4. Finally, don't you just love the way this is structured? Positive, negative, negative, negative-but-might-be-on-me-as-a-reader, back to positive. As a writer, I just have to admire that!

Otherwise known as the shit sandwich.

 

[Naughtylit81]

I will take any comment I can get like most people. However, the comments I crave are the ones that either pick out the little jokes I leave sprinkled through stories or tell me what they liked about character of the characters.

My all time favorite comment was someone pointing out to another commenter that the female lead doms from the bottom

 

[AlexFourways]

Just found this thread...
Short answer ... What sort of comments would I like to recieve... Any!
To be honest, and I know it's a bit needy of me, but I just would like some comments as I often get one or two.
But what I would really like are comments from those who score 3 and below as to what I did wrong (in their eyes) as I hate the idea I wasted their time (and mine).
I'm shortly going to be submitting a Stand Alone story in Loving Wives (as with many it could be another category or two ie GS or EV) just to see if it stirs up any hornets.

 

[Actingup]

The ones that give some insights on the like/dislike are best. My most recent story is a sequel that I was unsure about as it was a serious subject and I made some choices that probably weren't going to be as emotionally satisfying as readers would have preferred (eg blowing up the villain with a truckload of dynamite) but that I felt were more authentic. Comments so far:

1) Again well told tale. 5!

2) Great story, 5+. You have described the small Aussie rural town perfectly. The way the town relies on the success of the farmers for its survival. Most importantly are the people. The many good people & the domestic violence bullies like Ron & their cronies that protect them "my mate wouldnt do that"

3) Not as good as the first part.

The story is rating 4.68 at the moment (albeit after only 28 votes), and the first part is rating 4.51. Out of those 3 comments (which are all very welcome), #2 is obviously great to read, not just because it is positive (although that is really nice), but because it's telling me how the reader connected to the story, which is gold. #3 tells me that not all readers are responding better and that this one enjoyed the first part more, but gives me no information about why. And #1 is nice to read (and appreciated), but gives no other information or comparative rating - everything is awesome (again, appreciated!). So, if I was going to rate the comments in descending order, it would be #2 (highest), #3, and #1, based on what insights they're giving me. I would have loved it if #3 had said why they didn't enjoy it as much.

 

[LonRivers]

Not that I particularly enjoy negative comments, but they can be good too. Unless they are just outright rude and trashing your work, they can be helpful to you in trying to improve your writing, or they may give you ideas for a follow up story or a new one altogether.

I enjoy short comments and lengthy comments as long as they are good or have a point to them. I know that I am not the only one to get the Anonymous poster who goes off on his love for a hairy bush on a woman. I thought it amusing at first, as I tend to favor a more natural bush myself, but this guy went overboard and went on a rant about it.

I usually delete those comments. I want my readers to enjoy the story, and to some extent the comments. It gives them a pretty good idea of the quality of the work.

 

[AlexFourways]

Ok, so this comment just dropped on my story Pygmalion 3.0 and I immediately thought of posting it to this thread as an example of brilliant comment. Here's it is in full:
<SNIP>
Third struggle, not really your fault. You are writing for your UK audience. Being on the other side of the pond as I am, all the school terms went right over my head. They became little speed-bumps as I was reading a story that was otherwise flowing beautifully.
<SNAP
Rose Monroe
<SNIP>
I thought I'd been clear enough about how the UCAS system worked and what A levels were, etc, but clearly I wasn't. As I will definitely write more stories set in the UK, then obviously I need to work harder at explaining those cultural differences more clearly, without resorting to info dumps. That was great feedback to have, something I would never be able to see for myself.
<SNIP>

Just read this one (new to this thread) and I don't know if I subliminally read the 'speed-bump' comment but I recently PM's on a story set in England written by an Antipodean about the use of some non-English terms that caused reading road humps for me.
In my latest story (not yet live) in the UK 1970's I put (at the suggestion of my Stateside Beta Reader) clarification of the terms Fanny, Knickers, Bottom and Slacks at the top, though I often have 'this story is set in England... see if anyone wonders' (which is at the end). Might be worth considering and saves on mid story explinations. YMMV and I reserve the right to be wrong!

 

[geronimo_appleby]

comments that actually convey a message. as in a crituque that's worded in a way more than the average LW troll can manage.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Fanny, Knickers, Bottom and Slacks

Those terms shouldn't need explaining at all. They're British-centric but universal enough. They're not so uniquely British as bap or pants (derogatory). In fact slacks isn't uniquely British at all. I think your beta reader needs to get out more.

 

[AlexFourways]

Those terms shouldn't need explaining at all. They're British-centric but universal enough. They're not so uniquely British as bap or pants (derogatory). In fact slacks isn't uniquely British at all. I think your beta reader needs to get out more.

Thanks PSG and understood, but Fanny as in Lady's front bottom might cause a road hump for States readers. Slacks are a bit archaic for younger readers. I have reasons for the other two, again archaic as in Ass being a Mule and Arse not being middle class.
Possibly I hand hold too much, but it keeps it out of the main text! YMMV IRTRTBW

 

[TheLobster]

Fanny, Knickers, Bottom and Slacks

I used knickers as a simple synonym for panties once or twice and no Yankee batted an eye. Pretty sure slacks are even more universal, like PSG said. Fanny is the one that would be confusing (and kinda old fashioned) in an American text so I'd avoid it.

 

[AlexFourways]

I used knickers as a simple synonym for panties once or twice and no Yankee batted an eye. Pretty sure slacks are even more universal, like PSG said. Fanny is the one that would be confusing (and kinda old fashioned) in an American text so I'd avoid it.

Lobster. Agreed and this will be my last response as it's strayed from my point about 'road humps' to readers smooth enjoyment, and also not at all about Comments You Would Like to Recieve (in my case any).
I used old and British terms because it is set in 1970s England middle class and I wanted to achive a sense of all that atmosphere.
My Beta Reader actually only mentioned Fanny, I added the others for sake of archaic sense.
On Fanny, Brits find the term 'Fanny Pack' amusing (especially when a woman wears it at the front) and I presume States readers will similarly find 'Bum Bag' odd, what have tramps got to do with it? For my own reasons, and possibly uniquely, I use the term 'Belt Bag' as it's a bag on a belt.
Enuf said (by me!)
Now back to your normal programming!