Might have written a sixteenth
It's just an opinion like any other. It's not mean as far as I can see; it's just critical. You are, of course, free to call something that has only 300 words a story, but the comparison with any long story would be ludicrous and unfair. All of this is mostly a matter of proper classification, nothing else.
Is it not an art form?
Art is very subjective. All you said could be true for someone and untrue for someone else. I remember discussing abstract art with a friend of mine once. The argument was that it didn't matter what was in the painting. It could be just a few lines and dots and one could still call it a remarkable piece of art. I argued against to a degree. But even if such a painting is "a remarkable piece of art", does it make any sense to compare it and classify it in the same way as, say, Rembrandt's Night Watch?
Totally agree.Art is very subjective. All you said could be true for someone and untrue for someone else. I remember discussing abstract art with a friend of mine once. The argument was that it didn't matter what was in the painting. It could be just a few lines and dots and one could still call it a remarkable piece of art. I argued against to a degree. But even if such a painting is "a remarkable piece of art", does it make any sense to compare it and classify it in the same way as, say, Rembrandt's Night Watch?
I made this argument before already with Michelangelo's David. I am going to run out of artists.
My philosophy is "If the story is within the site's rules, it's not my place to criticize it." My opinion and your opinion don't matter.
I think we can agree that in a library or bookstore, nobody puts Shakespeare next to James Patterson.
You are absolutely right about that one. On AH, we usually discuss things out of principle, I guess. I don't think that anyone here thinks they can influence the website owners, no matter how good their idea is or how much authors' support it has, or in my case, of even getting any reply from them on any subject
This is not a literary site, it’s a porn site. Us authors (or some of us) care about quality. The readers often don’t. Just look at the highest ranking stories. Often they are dire from a literary perspective, but they expertly scratch a particular itch. This is a talent in itself, just not one I aspire to acquiring.I think we can agree that in a library or bookstore, nobody puts Shakespeare next to James Patterson.
Yet here, all of these stories are clumped together, displayed in the same New lists and Hall of Fame lists. It's stupid, to put it mildly.
Follower count works so well for many?
Yeah. And if I was getting paid to do it, that’s what I’d do. As it’s a hobby, it has to be stimulating and fun. That means work that might struggle to find an audience. I’m well aware that my kinks are pretty broad and put off some readers. They might like my lesbian stuff, but not when it gets into urination. They might like the whimsy of my Angels & Demons, right up until one of the girls drinks cum out of the other’s ass. They might like the semi-hard SciFi of Coleoidphilia, but not appreciate the digestive tracts of the two FMCs being daisy-chained by a squid tentacle.
I agree with much of what you have said, I just don't understand why would any of us just accept the role Lit wants us to take? We all write for our own reasons and motivations. I don't think there is a need to adapt because this isn't about survival or even profit for many of us. It's about expressing ourselves and being read, and many other individual reasons for each of us. I couldn't care less about what makes Lit happy. They certainly don't give a fuck about my own happiness.
And I don’t adapt. I write my stuff, not stories tailored to a particular Lit audience. But… given that, I have to settle for lower readership and lower ratings.
I've just uploaded a 1200 word story about a Reddit girl who is a bit of an exhibitionist when it comes to urination. Will be interesting to see how it goes down!
There is an audience. I have stories rated in the 4.7x range with female urination. But some find it squick.
…many
