Why read and comment on things you don’t like?

[Cagivagurl]

I think that can still be a valid critique, even though I think the commenter should be a bit more precise in their feedback.

Stories can definitely be too long for what they are and can wear out their welcome. Stories can be repetitive, overwrought, or tread too much water between the important stuff. Something that was 30K words could have perhaps been more effective trimmed down to 25K or even 20K.

A lot of works (including some of my own) could definitely be improved by trimming some of the fat.

As somebody who writes long stories... 40 - 50,000 words. I understand. I am not an experienced writer, no formal training. Didn't even finish High school.
I have received comments about the story being to long.
Fair enough... I know I tend to ramble. I do it for a reason though... I try to make my dialogue seem real. (Important note... I try to, not saying I'm good at it.)
In real life, conversations are like that. People go back over things, argue.
Anyway, I have received those comments.
I don't like them...
Why?
Because what they're complaining about is the writing. I personally love long stories. I search for them...
If I get to the end, and say Phew, that was long."
It wasn't the length of the story. It was the quality of the writing. It didn't hold me. Maybe I stuck with it, but really. It wasn't the length. It was the ability of the writer to hold me in the moment.
That's what the comment should say.
If IO rambled a bit, and lost the plot. That's what the comment should be saying.
Anyway. Just my thoughts.

Cagivagurl

 

[Luv4hotwives]

imagine I just don’t like pizza. Really don’t like it. And I go to a pizza restaurant and leave a comment saying it is a bad restaurant as I don’t like pizza. Why go and eat there?

Same happened with my story. The tags are clear, you know what you are going to read. Why read it and tell me you hate reading about the things you knew were going to be there?

It is an anonymous comment, so well, never mind. But I do wonder, why does someone do that? Any ideas?

I don’t like heavy metal. Not going to a concert but I do appreciate that someone might like it and leave them to enjoy it.

Love,

Abdel

I've wondered that too. I think criticism is great, but it's weird when it's a passionate hatred. Reading a story is an investment of your time. I for one will stop reading things I do not enjoy, much less finish reading an entire story that I hate.

But certain people also greatly dislike certain genres, they don't even like that they exist. The topics I write about always bring out haters, regardless of the writer.

A couple things that reduce it. If you post in fetish you'll often get targeted less. And sequels. Even if someone finishes a story they hate, they are a lot less likely to read sequels. Those are generally read by only those who wish to read them.

That being said there will always be some negative stuff. I laugh at most of it. Once I put in a disclaimer to make sure people understand the content. I had a comment that said something like, "I didn't even need to read the story. The moment I read your disclaimer I skipped down and gave it 1 star bc I hate these stories!" lol then had several more angry aggressive comments on my other stories with the same writing style. Some people are just going to hate your writing.

 

[lovecraft68]

You're too thin skinned.

I may go to a restaurant or a hotel/lodge. I discover it's not what was advertised. The meat was chewy. The table cloth was dirty. The room was moldy and noisy. The staff was miserable. I leave a bad review -- so that others know.

What is the point of reviewing and commenting, if all the reviews and comments are positive?

If I want to go to a restaurant or a hotel/lodge, first thing I do I check out the reviews -- and look for the negative ones, because they're the only useful ones.

But there's legit negative-like your example, a place like that would deserve it, but then there's just nasty spew from someone who may not have even read the story. If a person is only going to decide on bad reviews, then they may be missing out because you have no idea how real that review was.

 

[Newreality]

It's unfortunate that people are myopic. Social media has allowed people to express every knee-jerk reaction without giving time to think about the topic. We're now subjected to everyone's opinion like it matters. The realization should be in an anonymous venue such as Lit, don't take criticism personally, dont equate yourself with people you dont know, and don't allow their behavior of others alter your inner peace.

 

[Escierto]

Haters gotta hate.

 

[Abdelkaoolomocro]

You're too thin skinned.

I may go to a restaurant or a hotel/lodge. I discover it's not what was advertised. The meat was chewy. The table cloth was dirty. The room was moldy and noisy. The staff was miserable. I leave a bad review -- so that others know.

What is the point of reviewing and commenting, if all the reviews and comments are positive?

If I want to go to a restaurant or a hotel/lodge, first thing I do I check out the reviews -- and look for the negative ones, because they're the only useful ones.

Calling me/it sick and perverted is not constructive criticism. Serves no purpose at all.

 

[VerbalAbuse]

Calling me/it sick and perverted is not constructive criticism. Serves no purpose at all.

I've been called worse on the forum.
Not losing any sleep on it.

 

[Abdelkaoolomocro]

Aren’t youbjust a tiny bit curious why they’d say that to you? They’d never say it to your face. And they do it anonymously. It makes me wonder. Not that I am losing sleep over it. Just like to know why. But as I read in the postings, they probably haven’t even read it.

 

[MohanSingh]

Let me people say what they think. If I didn't like the pizza, I would leave a 1 star review for the restaurant. Free the comments.

 

[scixxxfi]

Just gonna add something else to this thread: Interpreting critique is an artform in itself. when you hear something that sounds like hate-spew, you should stop and consider if there's actually any technical value in the critique. There may well be.

No one can advise you on expressing yourself, but the content of your stories is in fact a technical factor. If you want to write appealing stories, you have to pay attention when some folks find it unappealing. But if you just want to express yourself, then tune it out.

I'm a much more avid artist than writer. One of the best things I ever did for my artwork was expose myself to remarkably brutal and unfiltered critique. I made about 5 years of progress in 2 years by submitting my art to a board that had no problem absolutely torching me, and didn't care how I felt about it.

Ultimately I learned how to extract value out of critiques, even if they sounded like offensive gibberish. Some were actual gibberish, but they were frequently trying to tell me something, and by thickening my skin and listening to them I was able to improve my artwork.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Helgamite]

That sounds a little sad. Maybe that’s why they post anonymous.

one of the things i've learned about the internet. Keyboard warriors exist only cause people can't or won't say things in person for fear of a broken nose or a slap to the face. saying things behind a keyboard gives people a false sense of power, they cannot be touched and feel they can comment on anything and say anything they want. It's an irritant and most will write anonymously cause they are either too cowardly to put a name to their comment or will comment and never see it again.

 

[yowser]

Just gonna add something else to this thread: Interpreting critique is an artform in itself. when you hear something that sounds like hate-spew, you should stop and consider if there's actually any technical value in the critique. There may well be.

I'm a much more avid artist than writer. One of the best things I ever did for my artwork was expose myself to remarkably brutal and unfiltered critique. I made about 5 years of progress in 2 years by submitting my art to a board that had no problem absolutely torching me, and didn't care how I felt about it.

Good points, and a vote for maturity (never a minus.)

Getting torched by people who know what they're talking about is highly beneficial, and also 'bracing', it is just often hard to tell commenters' motivations and experience here, and that is part of the difficulty.

But I appreciate that you advocate listening to negatives, even if poorly expressed. If I get negative criticism from another author (or even someone with an account) I am far more likely to treat it as something valuable than most anonymous feedback.

 

[SimpleEnigma]

Just wanted to add - and this is on our profile as well - since this is a basically a porn site, we feel that many of those ranting zingers are a way to atone for, well, being on a porn site. They jack or jill, then feel a need to repent by preaching from the pulpit. It cleanses them in some cathartic way. Simple and I have long had comments for our series in LW turned off because most were of the typical harassment and name calling variety, and we don't want to propagate negative exhaust. We've also found that turning off comments has not diminished the feedback we get through PMs. Yes, some of them ARE negative, but they are QUALITY negatives. It seems that actually going through the trouble to PM us makes for more thoughtful criticism than just the 'cuck fag shit'. Most of the PM feedback is positive though.

One more observation: while we agree with the premise of the analogies put forth here, we do feel that complaining about something you PAY FOR that doesn't meet your expectations (restaurant/hotel/pizza) is different than attacking someone that has provided you with a FREE product. But as many have pointed out, anonymous is as anonymous does.

Our two cents, and stay tolerant, friends.

 

[Andrew1968]

One commenter here mentioned how KFC stopped doing nuggets because of comments. Apparently comments somehow work. This poorly thought-out observation demonstrates a lack of quality and understanding, in my view.

I can buy nuggets from KFC with no problem, right now, if I want to, but that doesn’t really matter. A business like KFC really isn’t motivated by mere comments. A business like KFC would stop making chicken nuggets if people didn’t actually buy them and they hence became unprofitable for a profit driven business like KFC. Comments can be deleted or KFC can turn around and say: “oh, we're sorry about that, but we ain’t gunna stop doing nuggets cause we actually make a lot of money off em.” Actions speak far louder than words.

In terms of this place: the comments and even the scores don’t really matter too much. What matters to this place Literotica as a business concern is this: are the stories being produced and consumed. Are the stories being written by a large number of people and are they being read by a large number of people? The answer to that question is: yep, they sure are! It’s all about production and consumption of the goods. The commenter who referenced KFC nuggets doesn’t seem to understand the obvious as it pertains to this website: the nasty comments, the bad attitude, the arguments and the good and bad scores are merely a form of advertising which the owners of this business concern called Literotica can rely on to draw the audience in and keep the audience there.

The people who make these nasty comments on a regular basis provide regular marketing. They have no real control and no real power. They continue to use the site and consume the product on a regular basis as required. Their over the top and ridiculous form of marketing keeps the punters coming in and staying. The more noise you make, the more people will come and look at what’s going on… That's just one of the reasons why LW is so popular and followed by such a large audience... The poorly performing clowns keep the punters coming and staying...

 

[Nightwaves]

Trust me, I feel your pain. It's amazing how my incest stories can get so many positive comments, then one negative comment makes me shake my head and laugh at the fool. I'm not talking constructive criticism, which I sincerely appreciate and seek, but some poorly-written mishmash. I may be missing something, but I wish I could respond directly (and publicly) to certain comments on my stories. My highest-rated, "Missing Dolores," received this recently:

Is this really good story? not at all mother son oral sex should be more..this is a oridinary story..2 star

My response? To each their own, anonymous critic. Incest is like Vegemite, you either love it or hate it. May I suggest proofing your comment before posting? It would have more impact if it didn't look like a third-grader wrote it, or someone who doesn't passably comprehend the English language. Such is the nature of anonymous posts on the internet.

Cheers, All!

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

Trust me, I feel your pain. It's amazing how my incest stories can get so many positive comments, then one negative comment makes me shake my head and laugh at the fool. I'm not talking constructive criticism, which I sincerely appreciate and seek, but some poorly-written mishmash. I may be missing something, but I wish I could respond directly (and publicly) to certain comments on my stories. My highest-rated, "Missing Dolores," received this recently:

Is this really good story? not at all mother son oral sex should be more..this is a oridinary story..2 star

My response? To each their own, anonymous critic. Incest is like Vegemite, you either love it or hate it. May I suggest proofing your comment before posting? It would have more impact if it didn't look like a third-grader wrote it, or someone who doesn't passably comprehend the English language. Such is the nature of anonymous posts on the internet.

Cheers, All!

Just a head's up, mate: For someone who "shakes his head and laughs at a fool", you seem to be pretty hung up on it. At least that's the impression I get from you repeatedly telling the tale of what you would have liked to respond.

 

[Nightwaves]

Just a head's up, mate: For someone who "shakes his head and laughs at a fool", you seem to be pretty hung up on it. At least that's the impression I get from you repeatedly telling the tale of what you would have liked to respond.

Yes, it does linger somewhat, mate. Thanks for noticing .

 

[AngelRider]

I don't seek out garbage and I will generally quit a story if I don't like it. If I like something, I usually try to let the person know. I can be a bitch, well known but I'm trying to reign in the snark. I do try and offer constructive criticism though where I think it could be helpful.

However, there is one series that I started and liked even if it was way out there for me and nothing I would even remotely do in my personal life. The story is so ridiculous and depraved at this point, I just can't look away. I can't figure out if the author is just a troll or if he actually believes his story is a legitimate arc. Obviously, he can do whatever he wants and write his story any way he wants. I guess as masturbation material it's fine but when you have well over 100k words with 11 chapters, I would assume one would strive for verisimilitude and some semblance of realism. I just can't imagine any serious attempt at plot resolution being taken seriously due to the ridiculous character development and plot holes.

Those kinds of situations do draw me in even if I am not enjoying myself. I guess its like watching a train wreck?

 

[Djmac1031]

I just don’t like pizza.

What kind of monster doesn't like pizza???

imagine

Oops. Nevermind.

My attempt at humor.

Anyway. What I'm assuming you were trying for is someone reading catatagory they don't enjoy then tell you how much they didn't enjoy it.

Which I suppose happens. Right along with those who read it because they like the category but didn't enjoy your interpretation of it.

Also beside those who one bomb it without even reading.

It's part of the deal. There are all kinds of reasons why stories get trashed in comments and ratings. Some legitimate, others, less so.

Not much to do but turn them off if they bother you that badly.

 

[geoffrey1963]

Because it works.

There's a reason why KFC stopped selling nuggets. Because people wanted chicken but didn't like that particular kind of chicken, so they gave it bad reviews nobody asked for and KFC stopped selling them. Simple as that.

Seriously, I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but you kinda just have to live with the fact that, if you post something on the internet, people will tell you when they don't like the flavor of what you created. The only defense is to turn comments off.

And just to be thorough: Tags don't help. Lit screwed that up when they allowed authors to write whatever they like. I rarely look at tags anymore because half the stories don't even have them, while the other half has inaccurate tags.

I don't object to the criticism so much as the fact that its almost always supplied by "Anonymous". If you believe your comments have merit, have the courtesy to sign your name, even if its only a screen name. That way I can respond to your input. Being anonymous makes it nearly impossible to reply because there are sooo many "anonymous" reviewers out there. It also provides license to be rude and callous.

 

[darkride]

The internet... Brings out the best of us, and the worst of us.

Nah, that just feels like lip service.

Fact is, humans suck. Sometimes they suck cock, and that's great. Sometimes they suck nipples. Mmm, nipples..... But sometimes they suck ass, and not in the Mmm kind of way.

 

[Areala-chan]

Never accept critique from those you would not go to for advice.

That said, something I keep in mind when someone lobs a comment bomb in my direction is, "And yet, you read it anyway."

I made a mistake in grammar? Misspelled a word on page 6? Used passive voice too much in my opening? You read it anyway, mate. Thanks for the click!

 

[Helgamite]

I don't object to the criticism so much as the fact that its almost always supplied by "Anonymous". If you believe your comments have merit, have the courtesy to sign your name, even if its only a screen name. That way I can respond to your input. Being anonymous makes it nearly impossible to reply because there are sooo many "anonymous" reviewers out there. It also provides license to be rude and callous.

Even if they sign their names to it, 99.9% of commenters rarely even look to see if they have been answered. So honestly, turning comments off is the thing to do or just deleting those comments you don't like.

People have to have thick skin to be online anymore. Haters gonna hate, lovers gonna love and everyone is fucked in the head. It's a fact of life.