Anonymous comments

[ChloeTzang]

One of my latest (now deleted) anon rants was about the wording of the copyright notice at the start of my stories.

It's standard wording for most mainstream fiction printed in the UK but anon considered it wrong.

There's some very weird people out there

 

[Nezhul]

In my experience, if you write a good story - you will not be attacked.
You get attacked not because there are sharks who will do so regardless of your work. It happens because the readers get frustrated and angry about spending their time on your story that was subpar.
Or maybe your story caused them too much cringe and negative emotions. It caused them to lose the mood they had when they opened up an erotic story

Thing is, this angry feedback is STILL a constructive one. Not everyone are able or have any desire to systematically point out your mistakes for you. Some people just tell you what they think of your work and move along.

It's not like you can say "It's free, so they shouldn't complain". That's hypocricy. And it's not free - it costs them time, it makes searching for well-written and well-balanced story harder if you post your half-assed blurt, even for "free". It may ruin reader's mood for the day. A story has costs for the reader even if it's on open site. And they are at full rights to voice displeasure.

You openly say that you are aware of your problems. So how can you actually criticize the readers for hating on it? You can't expect to offer people a piece of crap for free, and then after they eat it and throw up - expect them not to have any hard feelings towards you.

Get better. And your comment sections will improve. Over the time, I've had maybe 2 or 3 hateful comments towards my work, because I never published anything that wasn't ready or wasn't good. I put disclaimers if there are controversial topics, so that people can avoid it if they don't like such things. But you can't excuse poor writing, really - not in a disclaimer, not anywhere.

You feel hurt whenever you get a bad comment? I feel duped and cheated and frustrated about wasting my time when I read a bad story. If you KNOW it's not good - don't post it, please.

 

[sr71plt]

In my experience, if you write a good story - you will not be attacked.
You get attacked not because there are sharks who will do so regardless of your work. It happens because the readers get frustrated and angry about spending their time on your story that was subpar.

Nope. There's no limit to why separate readers (or even those who react without bothering to read) will either praise or attack stories no matter how well (or badly) they are written or even for reasons that have nothing to do with the story.

 

[ChloeTzang]

In my experience, if you write a good story - you will not be attacked. You get attacked not because there are sharks who will do so regardless of your work. It happens because the readers get frustrated and angry about spending their time on your story that was subpar.

Nope. If you write in Loving Wives, you WILL get savaged. And the LW trolls will follow you across all categories if they dislike your LW story strongly. You can write really good LW stories (I have, based on the ratings and comments) but it matters not to those who dislike the subject in its entirety, or at least the writer's interpretation.

Other categories are a little different, altho Interracial can also be an interesting one now and then. Nothing like LW tho. Ogg can speak for what happens when you write Femdom stories. There are some readers who for whatever reason are very insecure when they run into conflicting views about relationships, which strikes me as really weird given this is an erotica story site and erotica covers a really wide spectrum. But there you have it.

It's not that your story is subpar. Not being too modest, mine are not subpar, they're generally pretty good. I get attacked purely because I have written a few LW stories (as far as I can tell, because before I submitted in LW, that didn't happen). I'm not complaining about this - I submitted stories in LW knowing about this and laughing about it. I still do. I'm secure enough now about my writing that the trolls and the ratings don't matter to me as much as they did when I first started here. It is what it is, but it does exist.

 

[oggbashan]

In my experience, if you write a good story - you will not be attacked.
...
You feel hurt whenever you get a bad comment? I feel duped and cheated and frustrated about wasting my time when I read a bad story. If you KNOW it's not good - don't post it, please.

Sorry. That's not MY experience.

It doesn't matter how good or bad my story is - not my judgement but readers voting and leaving positive comments - it will still get attacked for obscure reasons or just randomly.

It will get attacked for being in the Fetish category and anon doesn't like fetish; it will get attacked in the Romance category because anon wants more in your face sex; and if it is Femdom it will get attacked because anon thinks ALL women should be submissive.

It will get attacked for being too short or too long.

As for 1 votes? ALL my stories get them, sometimes many 1 votes across a range of older stories in an hour.

If you're not seeing that? You are fortunate.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

The flip-side of comments is: Lotsa folks leave feedback that's bull shit.

I bought a novel yesterday with 1300 high scores from readers. The writing is awful. So I posted a real comment and 2 stars.

It was like DOOFUS and GOOFUS got together and co-wrote a lame romance.

 

[RetroFan]

Nope. There's no limit to why separate readers (or even those who react without bothering to read) will either praise or attack stories no matter how well (or badly) they are written or even for reasons that have nothing to do with the story.

I remember reading one story now which drew heavy criticism from one reader because the writer had called the main character Samantha. I'm not kidding you.

 

[sr71plt]

I remember reading one story now which drew heavy criticism from one reader because the writer had called the main character Samantha. I'm not kidding you.

Yes, I remember drawing criticism for using a name from a TV program--just the given name, not a full name--when I'd never heard the TV program.

 

[SimonDoom]

In my experience, if you write a good story - you will not be attacked.
.

I could not disagree more with that statement.

One of the peculiarities of this site is how particular readers are about their expectations for what belongs in a category. If you violate those expectations, you can get trolled mercilessly, and it doesn't matter how well-written your story is.

It doesn't matter how beautifully written your mother-son incest story is. If the story is published in the incest category, and if mom and son have anal sex, you may draw a reader who hates anal scenes, and that reader may savage you in the comment section, regardless of the quality of the writing.

You can write the greatest slutty wife/willing husband story of all time, and if you put in Loving Wives you will get hit by a chorus of comments telling you that you should be dead, or something to that effect. That's just the way it is.

 

[ChloeTzang]

.....You can write the greatest slutty wife/willing husband story of all time, and if you put in Loving Wives you will get hit by a chorus of comments telling you that you should be dead, or something to that effect. That's just the way it is.

And you write a beautifully romantic and extremely hot story about a sweet chinese girl putting it all out for her guy aaaaannnndddd .... you get called a gook slut...

it's so saaaaad

 

[Hypoxia]

Keep in mind that LIT readership encompasses the full spectrum of sanity, and that saner readers probably won't leave anonymous comments. Feedback comes from the rest.

 

[SimonDoom]

Keep in mind that LIT readership encompasses the full spectrum of sanity, and that saner readers probably won't leave anonymous comments. Feedback comes from the rest.

Hmmm. I think this probably is not true. My impression is that many sane, intelligent readers with useful things to say choose, for one reason or another, to leave comments anonymously instead of leaving them in their own name.

 

[Sonatatre]

I think all feedback is good, even the senseless anomymous one. Usually the worst ones only confirm something I already know. For example that someone in the story is cheating on her husband. I also knew beforehand that it could lead to a nasty comment or two.

Most of the anonymous feedback is positive and sometimes even greatly constructive. I am glad it exists and it helps inspire me as an author.

Now I need to work towards publishing something because its been 8 or so months. Looking forward to a lot of anonymous comments when I get it done.

 

[rjordan]

Hmmm. I think this probably is not true. My impression is that many sane, intelligent readers with useful things to say choose, for one reason or another, to leave comments anonymously instead of leaving them in their own name.

That's been my experience as well, SimonD. I get more thoughtful responses from Anonymous than I do from registered members. There are many reasons why someone would not want to comment under their registered name. That's why I don't block Anon.

rj

 

[Comentarista82]

And you write a beautifully romantic and extremely hot story about a sweet chinese girl putting it all out for her guy aaaaannnndddd .... you get called a gook slut...

it's so saaaaad

Sometimes some of the idiot posters need an "amazing prize"! Since you love your snarky comments, this should be right up your alley--and you'll know what the "amazing prize" refers to also! Watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfgbrRSf40Y

 

[NOIRTRASH]

That's been my experience as well, SimonD. I get more thoughtful responses from Anonymous than I do from registered members. There are many reasons why someone would not want to comment under their registered name. That's why I don't block Anon.

rj

I hatpooned a writer at Amazon. 1300 readers scored the novel high, and its trash. Sposed tp be Raymond Chandler-like, I called it THE BIG SNORE. Chandler isn't boring.

 

[SimonDoom]

You've got to get a handle on your obvious Chloe crush.

You're the little boy in the classroom who doesn't know how to express his true feelings other than to dip the object of his affection's pigtail in the inkwell.

 

[ChloeTzang]

The openings are getting better. I hope.

Secure? I got hit on to write stories for money and it wasn't me making the approach. That kind of gives one a bit more confidence, especially when it's unsolicited.

You've got to get a handle on your obvious Chloe crush.

You're the little boy in the classroom who doesn't know how to express his true feelings other than to dip the object of his affection's pigtail in the inkwell.

Aaahhhh, but I love Noir, I do. He can dip my pigtail in the inkwell any time. Just not to be dipping anything else, okay lah! Noir always feel so happy after giving Chloe hard time

 

[KindofHere]

...........

 

[ChloeTzang]

I hatpooned a writer at Amazon. 1300 readers scored the novel high, and its trash. Sposed tp be Raymond Chandler-like, I called it THE BIG SNORE. Chandler isn't boring.

Noir! I'm shocked I tell you, shocked. You did that "Big Snore" comment on one of my stories as well. LOL. "Happy Birthday to Me"? That's such a sweet story. And an early one too when I was just starting here.

I've got my eyes on you ... no dipping pigtails....

 

[RetroFan]

Yes, I remember drawing criticism for using a name from a TV program--just the given name, not a full name--when I'd never heard the TV program.

Yeah, people are strange. In the case of the story I read, I just couldn't work out why this guy hated Samantha's so much. I hope he doesn't read one of my stories, which features a girl named Samantha. Maybe he had an ex-wife named Samantha who took him to the cleaners in a divorce, or a girl named Samantha who bullied him in school?

 

[the_stoic]

One of the peculiarities of this site is how particular readers are about their expectations for what belongs in a category.

This is interesting . . . and yet considerably preventable. Not on the part of the writer, but in terms of general site administration. Firmly realigning and defining the expectations (and parameters) of the categories would go a long way toward corralling readers, each with their own understanding of what constitutes a red line.

 

[SimonDoom]

Are you revealing something about your preferences/fantasies/kinks?

 

[SimonDoom]

This is interesting . . . and yet considerably preventable. Not on the part of the writer, but in terms of general site administration. Firmly realigning and defining the expectations (and parameters) of the categories would go a long way toward corralling readers, each with their own understanding of what constitutes a red line.

I'm not persuaded that this is possible. I suppose if you doubled the number of categories, and established very clear and narrow guidelines for what was to be expected of stories in each one, you might do this, but there would be a big cost to doing so, I imagine, because the number of categories would become so great as to be bewildering to readers and writers alike, and effectively to Balkanize the site and its community into an excessive number of separate but increasingly small and isolated reader/writer communities.

I'm inclined to think that the solution is for writers simply to understand and accept that the anonymous comment community is what it is, and it's part of what you deal with when you publish stories here. Most of the "solutions" to the anonymous comment "problem" will, I think, simply create bigger problems.

 

[curiouschattycouple]

My stories are in the LW category, and deal with MFM scenarios. I was shocked by the hate from anonymous comments, but there were others that took on the trolls or sent positive emails, which balanced things out nicely and kept me writing.