OK What's Fair Game For Scores & Comments?

[NOIRTRASH]

Really, what feedback can you live with? Whats fair?

I get almost no feedback. I get an occasional insult and never anything useful or illuminating. I LOVED IT is as lame as YOU SUCK.

A while ago I posted my criteria for scores:

You get a ONE for the effort (rather than nothing)
You get a TWO for whats coherent rather than word salad.
THREE means your effort is coherent and cohesive, it holds together and makes sense.
FOUR means its interesting and worth a read.
FIVE means I wanna read it again. Its a keeper.

 

[legerdemer]

Really, what feedback can you live with? Whats fair?

I get almost no feedback. I get an occasional insult and never anything useful or illuminating. I LOVED IT is as lame as YOU SUCK.

I prefer feedback that suggests the reader actually read the story, thought about it a bit, just a tad, and then told me what they liked and what they didn't about it. Those are the best types of comments. If the story got him/her off, great, so much the better.

You've pointed fingers at overabundances of adverbs, for example - I try to pay attention to that when I write. Probably doesn't work all the time. Other authors have commented on plot structure, and those comments are quite useful. But ultimately...
Hemingway was probably right - writers write alone. This was an interesting recent interview about him.

 

[NotWise]

I'm new here, but I'm not new to feedback. I've been putting written material on the web for twenty years. Professionally, I'm edited on a daily basis by a genius with an Ivy League PhD. I'm not a genius, but I get to edit him too.

I'll never get any feedback more damaging than I got from one of my thesis committee members. He developed an aggressive brain tumor that altered his previously very helpful and understanding nature. His comments on my thesis were an outright assault and the rest of the committee stood by and watched. The thesis was never completed.

After that there's little that Mr. Anonymous can say that will phase me. And in the end I suppose I won. He died two years later and I have a successful career in the same field.

I'm not getting as much feedback here as I hoped for, but very little of what I've been given is a problem. I'm sure the insults will come in time and I'm sure they'll roll right off. It's been a little more of a problem for me that some of the comments I've been given aren't really about what I wrote, but more about how the reader imagined the characters and the direction of the story. They loved their own characters and story line.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I prefer feedback that suggests the reader actually read the story, thought about it a bit, just a tad, and then told me what they liked and what they didn't about it. Those are the best types of comments. If the story got him/her off, great, so much the better.

You've pointed fingers at overabundances of adverbs, for example - I try to pay attention to that when I write. Probably doesn't work all the time. Other authors have commented on plot structure, and those comments are quite useful. But ultimately...
Hemingway was probably right - writers write alone. This was an interesting recent interview about him.

The trouble with adverbs is writers don't know how to use them. They are shortcuts for what has gone before and doesn't require repetition.

Hemingway wrote two books worth reading: A FAREWELL TO ARMS and THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. He awoke one day, realized he wrote a ton of crap, and blew his head off.

 

[NotWise]

A while ago I posted my criteria for scores:

You get a ONE for the effort (rather than nothing)
You get a TWO for whats coherent rather than word salad.
THREE means your effort is coherent and cohesive, it holds together and makes sense.
FOUR means its interesting and worth a read.
FIVE means I wanna read it again. Its a keeper.

I've had some training in scoring martial arts events. We used a 10-point system, but were told up front that five or less is an insult (and who do you want to insult?).

Wine is usually scored on a 100-point system, but I've never heard anyone give a score less than 50; it gets that much just for being wine.

I suspect that most people who vote in the Literotica popularity contest are doing something similar. Normal scores are 3, 4 or 5; 1 and 2 are intentional insults. Does it work out that way for others?

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I'm new here, but I'm not new to feedback. I've been putting written material on the web for twenty years. Professionally, I'm edited on a daily basis by a genius with an Ivy League PhD. I'm not a genius, but I get to edit him too.

I'll never get any feedback more damaging than I got from one of my thesis committee members. He developed an aggressive brain tumor that altered his previously very helpful and understanding nature. His comments on my thesis were an outright assault and the rest of the committee stood by and watched. The thesis was never completed.

After that there's little that Mr. Anonymous can say that will phase me. And in the end I suppose I won. He died two years later and I have a successful career in the same field.

I'm not getting as much feedback here as I hoped for, but very little of what I've been given is a problem. I'm sure the insults will come in time and I'm sure they'll roll right off. It's been a little more of a problem for me that some of the comments I've been given aren't really about what I wrote, but more about how the reader imagined the characters and the direction of the story. They loved their own characters and story line.

Hemingway said newspaper writing was the best for learning how to write. George V.Higgins got his start with AP, and swore it was the best teacher. I got my start with my state Department of Health and Rehab. In 1985 our pissant word processors allowed space for one long paragraph to summarize criminal and civil cases. In 1993 the space expanded to 80 lines. And in 2005 we had 40 pages of space. But I was conditioned to say it within 10 or 12 lines. Our judges loved it, and the bureaucrats hated it. You cant hide much in 10-12 lines. Judges hate long ass novellas. Be it a judicial review or a probable cause petition or a pre-conviction order recommendation, they like it short and simple. Judges matter, bureaucrats do not, so I survived.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I've had some training in scoring martial arts events. We used a 10-point system, but were told up front that five or less is an insult (and who do you want to insult?).

Wine is usually scored on a 100-point system, but I've never heard anyone give a score less than 50; it gets that much just for being wine.

I suspect that most people who vote in the Literotica popularity contest are doing something similar. Normal scores are 3, 4 or 5; 1 and 2 are intentional insults. Does it work out that way for others?

Less than 5 is an insult.

 

[sr71plt]

It's really irrelevant--and frustrating for the author until she/he comes to grips with reality--for the author to say what's fair in feedback. Feedback is entirely in the control of a group of readers, each with his/her own criterion that the author has no control over. If you can't take varied feedback, just turn the voting and comments off--or don't let ratings control your emotions and use your power of comment erasing. You're just spinning your wheels otherwise and constantly whining about something out of your control. The negative effect is suffered by you, not by the readers.

 

[rjordan]

Really, what feedback can you live with? Whats fair?

I get almost no feedback. I get an occasional insult and never anything useful or illuminating. I LOVED IT is as lame as YOU SUCK.

A while ago I posted my criteria for scores:

You get a ONE for the effort (rather than nothing)
You get a TWO for whats coherent rather than word salad.
THREE means your effort is coherent and cohesive, it holds together and makes sense.
FOUR means its interesting and worth a read.
FIVE means I wanna read it again. Its a keeper.

I give a 5 for any story I finish or any story that gives me a boner for whatever reason. Otherwise, no vote. That seems fair, but doesn't serve the purpose of a voting system that rates to two decimal places. Seriously, hundredths of a vote mean anything??? The whole voting system is worthless because so many people have a completely arbitrary system like mine.

For what it's worth, I've given several 5's and several abstentions for your stories. I don't think any of them were for boners.

I'm fine with any comment that deals with my story, good or bad, honest or arbitrary, whatever. A person should be able to say anything they want about it anyway they want. Their feelings about the story are valid no matter what.

However, I don't let personal comments stand. The reader knows the story, because I posted it in its entirety. They DON'T know me so any comments about me personally are clearly not valid. I delete them.

I don't get a lot of comments. I don't think I ever got more than a dozen for a story even those with 60-70,000 views. No idea why that is. No idea why I should care. I've never commented on a Nelson De Mille or Stephen King story, so I'm not worried about a lack of comments on mine.

rj

 

[sr71plt]

I've never commented on a Nelson De Mille or Stephen King story, so I'm not worried about a lack of comments on mine.

rj

Bingo. Mainstream authors don't usually obsess on comments on their work because they get very little beyond a sale being an affirmation before reading. They usually only see reviews then as having an affect on future sales--by then they are mostly on to getting the next one to the publisher and writing the one after that.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

I just got maybe my favorite feedback of all time the other day:

"A New favourite writer

I must admit, I've only recently seen your work - and I've become a big fan. You're obviously a filthy, depraved creature - and I mean that as a compliment. . . . "

 

[NotWise]

You're obviously a filthy, depraved creature - and I mean that as a compliment. . . . "

Nice!

 

[DreamCloud]

I've never commented on a Nelson De Mille or Stephen King story, so I'm not worried about a lack of comments on mine.

rj

I'll never be a Nelson De Mille or Stephen King. I love my comments, each and every one of them. They are the only pay I will ever see.

 

[oggbashan]

...

A while ago I posted my criteria for scores:

You get a ONE for the effort (rather than nothing)
You get a TWO for whats coherent rather than word salad.
THREE means your effort is coherent and cohesive, it holds together and makes sense.
FOUR means its interesting and worth a read.
FIVE means I wanna read it again. Its a keeper.

IF the 1 to 5 rating on Literotica was balanced so that a 3 was an average score, then your rating criteria would be reasonable.

BUT with HOT set at 4.50, the rating isn't balanced. It's skewed. Anything below a 4 unfairly penalises a story. The centre point is now 4.5 so a 4 means 'less than good' and a 3 or lower is 'appallingly bad'.

Of course I have stories rated at 3.00 to 4.00. I don't think ALL of them deserve to be rated as bad.

The way Lit's rating works, a 3 or lower causes serious damage to a story's score and can only be corrected by several votes of 5.

Readers should be very sure that the story is awful to vote a 3. That doesn't mean 'I didn't like it'; 'It wasn't to my taste'; 'I don't agree with the premise' but should mean 'This story is badly written by an incompetent writer'.

 

[redzinger]

I've just found this left as a review for one of my novels on Amazon:

1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
By D elizabeth I on 28 October 2015
Didn't read it. Prefer crime type books

Wtf is that about? It doesn't even pretend to be a crime novel.

 

[4glory6]

IF the 1 to 5 rating on Literotica was balanced so that a 3 was an average score, then your rating criteria would be reasonable.

BUT with HOT set at 4.50, the rating isn't balanced. It's skewed. Anything below a 4 unfairly penalises a story. The centre point is now 4.5 so a 4 means 'less than good' and a 3 or lower is 'appallingly bad'.

Of course I have stories rated at 3.00 to 4.00. I don't think ALL of them deserve to be rated as bad.

The way Lit's rating works, a 3 or lower causes serious damage to a story's score and can only be corrected by several votes of 5.

Readers should be very sure that the story is awful to vote a 3. That doesn't mean 'I didn't like it'; 'It wasn't to my taste'; 'I don't agree with the premise' but should mean 'This story is badly written by an incompetent writer'.

I agree that it's the 4.5 hot rating that causes most of the consternation. In one of the last system updates, the score was added to the stories on the author's story listing. Hopefully in the next update, the 4.5 hot symbol will just disappear and the reader can look more closely to the scores in deciding what to read. 4.0 is supposed to represent a good story.

 

[loquere]

Really, what feedback can you live with? Whats fair?

I get almost no feedback. I get an occasional insult and never anything useful or illuminating. I LOVED IT is as lame as YOU SUCK.

A while ago I posted my criteria for scores:

You get a ONE for the effort (rather than nothing)
You get a TWO for whats coherent rather than word salad.
THREE means your effort is coherent and cohesive, it holds together and makes sense.
FOUR means its interesting and worth a read.
FIVE means I wanna read it again. Its a keeper.

I turned off all my feedback. I write for me, fuck them. I'm a dictator, my stories aren't a democracy, good or bad fuck them all!

 

[oggbashan]

I've just had a look at the lowest ratings on my stories as oggbashan.

The three in the 3.1x range are probably my worst. They are old stories that I ought to rewrite or delete.

But some of the others in the 3.00 to 3.90 range don't deserve that rating.

 

[loquere]

I've just had a look at the lowest ratings on my stories as oggbashan.

The three in the 3.1x range are probably my worst. They are old stories that I ought to rewrite or delete.

But some of the others in the 3.00 to 3.90 range don't deserve that rating.

"Rewrite" that's actually something I want to talk about.

 

[DreamCloud]

I've just found this left as a review for one of my novels on Amazon:


Wtf is that about? It doesn't even pretend to be a crime novel.

The cynic in me says that if you contact her, she will tell you how much it will cost to change it to a 5. Lawsuit

 

[oggbashan]

"Rewrite" that's actually something I want to talk about.

I try to avoid thinking about it. I have so many more stories in the pending file that rewriting old stories isn't on the radar.

 

[loquere]

I try to avoid thinking about it. I have so many more stories in the pending file that rewriting old stories isn't on the radar.

Yup, I see that your one of those writers with a 100+ stories. I have a boutique collection.

I've had problems with motivation in the last couple years.

 

[DwellerDark]

Honestly, I'm just happy when someone takes the time to read one of my stories, and especially happy when they take even more time to tell me what they thought, whether it be 3 words or 200, and whether it be praise or criticism. Maybe I'll become more jaded as I finish and post more stories, though.

 

[rjordan]

I've just found this left as a review for one of my novels on Amazon:



Wtf is that about? It doesn't even pretend to be a crime novel.

Next time pretend.

rj

 

[lovecraft68]

I've just found this left as a review for one of my novels on Amazon:



Wtf is that about? It doesn't even pretend to be a crime novel.

Yes amazon's wonderful review policy where someone doesn't even have to buy the book to review it. And even if they buy it amazon grants unlimited returns.