When your story just sucks

[blozo]

I've written more than one I didn't think were all that great, including my geek pride entry that I waited way too long to start on and had to rush to finish.

However, one story really stands out. I thought it was good when I published it, but the readers soon (and vehemently) corrected me, both in the ratings and the comments.

A critical re-read brought me to the same conclusion; it sucks from its treacly beginning to its maudlin end.
It's got 32k views, a 3.52, and 15 faves.
I know I can take it down. I should take it down.
I can't imagine the 15 people who faved it will miss it that badly.

Yet something I can't pin down keeps holding me back.
Is it the fact I once thought it was good? Or the fact that at least a few people liked it? I don't know.

I just wondered if any of you have had to make this decision.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

The fact that it got 15 people to hit the favourite button says something. And 32,000 views, although that can mean a couple of things, still isn't insignificant. The number of favourites in particular doesn't quite mesh with the score.

One might suspect you've got a nasty case of one-bombing trolls. Just an initial hypothesis, you understand.

 

[SimonDoom]

Don't delete it!

I didn't read it, but I noticed it was a Loving Wives story, so that's your explanation right there. The ratings scale for those stories is completely different.

My lowest rated story by far is in Loving Wives. 3.66 and holding fast after over two years. No way I delete it.

Ignore the bad -- you have 15 favorites. That's something to feel good about.

Even if you hate it, keep it up as a marker of your writing progress as you go forward.

My second-lowest rated story was a rush job I wrote in about 24 hours for a contest. It's probably my weakest effort but I won't take it down. I like to see how I started here. It was my first published story.

 

[Blind_Justice]

I've written more than one I didn't think were all that great, including my geek pride entry that I waited way too long to start on and had to rush to finish.

However, one story really stands out. I thought it was good when I published it, but the readers soon (and vehemently) corrected me, both in the ratings and the comments.

A critical re-read brought me to the same conclusion; it sucks from its treacly beginning to its maudlin end.
It's got 32k views, a 3.52, and 15 faves.
I know I can take it down. I should take it down.
I can't imagine the 15 people who faved it will miss it that badly.

Yet something I can't pin down keeps holding me back.
Is it the fact I once thought it was good? Or the fact that at least a few people liked it? I don't know.

I just wondered if any of you have had to make this decision.

Um... 32k views and you're COMPLAINING? Many of my stories don't even have 1/10 of that. Only two out of thirty-nine (39) are above 30k, one is in I/T, the other is six years old by now.

...and I thought *I* had weird hangups in regards to my stuff.

 

[blozo]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about its performance, I've got a worse performer that's a good story.
The problem is, I think it's terrible.

 

[jaF0]

3.52 isn't bad.

I've got one with 72K views, and a 2.98, but 26 Favorites.

It isn't bad in my eye, but it's in LW where they hate everything.

 

[TxRad]

Keep ip. Uh, the story that is. I have 244 stories posted. When you get to a hundred you'll think about par it down some but which ones and why. Each story is a step in your history as a writer. I cringe at what I didn't know when I go back and read some of my early stuff but i leave them alone. I don't even edit them.

Loving wives is a rough crowd. 3.52 is a good score for there. I have several there. Some higher and some lower. Add a full point to see the corrected score.

 

[vanmyers86]

I'll play devil's advocate to the prevailing view to keep it. If it makes you wince to look at it, why would you keep it on the site where you constantly have to see it? Life is hard enough without deliberately keeping sources of unhappiness around.
Every writer has stories that provoke that reaction. In my journalism days, those were the ones I didn't cut out of the paper and include in my clips. I have exactly no regrets at leaving them behind.
Do what you think is right for you, and don't look back. If you later feel you made a mistake, repost it and see what happens.

 

[gordo12]

I'll play devil's advocate to the prevailing view to keep it. If it makes you wince to look at it, why would you keep it on the site where you constantly have to see it? Life is hard enough without deliberately keeping sources of unhappiness around.
Every writer has stories that provoke that reaction. In my journalism days, those were the ones I didn't cut out of the paper and include in my clips. I have exactly no regrets at leaving them behind.
Do what you think is right for you, and don't look back. If you later feel you made a mistake, repost it and see what happens.

Cause it reminds you to stay humble when success comes calling. You know, talk shows, radio spots, book signings

You can point at it and say, "see what I came from!" Nobody likes beginners luck!

 

[gordo12]

It's got 32k views, a 3.52, and 15 faves.

3.52 is pretty respectable in LW. I figure the category inflicts a penalty of roughly .25 to .50. Your true score is 3.77 - 4.02.

 

[Voboy]

What everyone else is saying is worthwhile.

My feeling is that I never post stuff I think is bad, and I’ve never had a situation where a good story felt bad to me after time passed, regardless of the comments. Honestly, did you have misgivings before you posted, perhaps misgivings that you overlooked? Or did you genuinely think it was good?

If the latter, nothing would induce me to pull it down. I’d remain proud of it regardless.

 

[blozo]

Honestly, did you have misgivings before you posted, perhaps misgivings that you overlooked? Or did you genuinely think it was good?

If the latter, nothing would induce me to pull it down. I’d remain proud of it regardless.

When I wrote it I felt it was my best work yet, being my first entirely fabricated piece.

My previous stories had been based in large part on real life experiences. My "Aunt Mary" story, except for the fact she was my on and off girlfriend's aunt, not mine, is almost word for word the way I remember it.

I'm still trying to reproduce that real life feel, with varying degrees of success.

This particular story just feels fake, which makes me think that maybe it's worse than it really is.

 

[yukonnights]

Okay, I'll play the cheerleader I just read your story. (only 2 pages folks-hint, hint) I really enjoyed it. It was quite realistic in that it portrays the weakness' and flaws most humans have. It has a complete story arc from beginning to end with change in the characters, it has it's moment of tension, it has characters I believed in. All in all, this is one of the better LW stories I've seen—more believable than most for sure! It was in fact, a true Loving Wives story where the wife loves her husband...(redacted to preserve the ending )

IMO, you need not feel bad about this story...and I'm not just saying that.

Reasons for the lower score are most likely due to the expectations the LW category has fostered over the years. This one is more about believable human foibles and emotions—less about the expected trope that is LW. (I could be more specific but it would ruin the story for those who haven't read it. )

 

[ChloeTzang]

Leave it there. You wrote it, people read it, some liked it enough to favorite it. Just leave it, it’s a part of you. History. Experience. Leave it as a reminder of how much you’ve improved. I look at my early stories here and go cringe, rewrite, but I don’t. I write the next one instead.

 

[MetaBob]

I just wondered if any of you have had to make this decision.

Not me, I don't look back. Opinionators opine, comment, and/or rate, and to my mind those comments/rates don't really matter, only your opinion does. Listen and evaluate everything worthwhile said, but in the end it's all you.

I (think I) read the piece in question. It had some typos. Not a lot, but more than a few and maybe enough. I thought it good on balance. Take that for what it might be worth. Build on it, if my opinion matters, and best wishes.

 

[Handley_Page]

However, one story really stands out. I thought it was good when I published it, but the readers soon (and vehemently) corrected me, both in the ratings and the comments.

Yet something I can't pin down keeps holding me back.
Is it the fact I once thought it was good? Or the fact that at least a few people liked it? I don't know.

I just wondered if any of you have had to make this decision.

~If it's the one about Becca, I say leave it alone.
It ain't that bad a story; it's not treacley - it's really not bad at all.

 

[Voboy]

When I wrote it I felt it was my best work yet, being my first entirely fabricated piece.

My previous stories had been based in large part on real life experiences. My "Aunt Mary" story, except for the fact she was my on and off girlfriend's aunt, not mine, is almost word for word the way I remember it.

I'm still trying to reproduce that real life feel, with varying degrees of success.

This particular story just feels fake, which makes me think that maybe it's worse than it really is.

Then leave it. No question.

 

[oggbashan]

I have several stories that I hate - in retrospect. I thought they were good or at least reasonable at the time.

But I have left all of them on Literotica to remind me how bad a writer I was and still can be. But some readers do not share my opinion and sometimes I get a favorite or a favourable comment on those stories.

Edited for PS: The rating of a story is no indication of how I perceive it.

 

[TornConflict]

Honestly, like many have said, don't delete it. Sometimes feedback can change your opinion on your own work. I am always impressed by how high my work is rated, I usually expect much worse. I know I miss a few things here and there but my work feels like it gets better every time. For some reason I have a few trolls that seem to go out of their way to insult my work or send me nasty comments. I was actually kinda depressed by a few email comments from my Geek Day stories. Then today I got an email that made my day. A very kind email telling me how much my work meant to them and they saw some of the nasty comments on several of my stories. The email then told me I should ignore those people because they hide behind the cowaerdess of being anonymous and were likely all the same person just being a troll. This comment came in on one my least popular story so don't fret it if you don't have to. Just write and improve. Also just stay out of loving wives.... That place is over harsh.

 

[blozo]

Thanks all. I guess I'll leave it alone, or maybe go in and clean up all the spelling errors.

 

[ajmoor]

I've written more than one I didn't think were all that great, including my geek pride entry that I waited way too long to start on and had to rush to finish.

However, one story really stands out. I thought it was good when I published it, but the readers soon (and vehemently) corrected me, both in the ratings and the comments.

A critical re-read brought me to the same conclusion; it sucks from its treacly beginning to its maudlin end.
It's got 32k views, a 3.52, and 15 faves.
I know I can take it down. I should take it down.
I can't imagine the 15 people who faved it will miss it that badly.

Yet something I can't pin down keeps holding me back.
Is it the fact I once thought it was good? Or the fact that at least a few people liked it? I don't know.

I just wondered if any of you have had to make this decision.

We all have stories that we hate, but that doesn't mean we should dismiss them. I have written over a million words of erotica, and some of it just wasn't very good. Some was. But all of it got read in one way or another, and some people like most of it. Sometimes we are just too hard on ourselves. Keep your piece and write another one you like better.

A.J. Moor

 

[yukonnights]

Thanks all. I guess I'll leave it alone, or maybe go in and clean up all the spelling errors.

Just a random thought that popped up when I read this; What-if, instead of just cleaning up the few technical errors like misspelled words...You use what you've learned since that first story to enhance it and polish it to your liking. Then slightly change the Title and post it in Erotic Couplings? (actually, I think it could also survive Romance. You might need to expand the Epilogue a bit—I'm not sure. I like the use of the Epilogue since it provides the punch that wraps up the story so nicely.)

Obviously, the reason to do this is to find out once and for all if the less than expected reception is mostly a factor of the category you first put it in. I made the exact same error on my first ever story—I assumed Loving Wives were loving wives

 

[SimonDoom]

Just a random thought that popped up when I read this; What-if, instead of just cleaning up the few technical errors like misspelled words...You use what you've learned since that first story to enhance it and polish it to your liking. Then slightly change the Title and post it in Erotic Couplings? (actually, I think it could also survive Romance. You might need to expand the Epilogue a bit—I'm not sure. I like the use of the Epilogue since it provides the punch that wraps up the story so nicely.)

Obviously, the reason to do this is to find out once and for all if the less than expected reception is mostly a factor of the category you first put it in. I made the exact same error on my first ever story—I assumed Loving Wives were loving wives

It's not a bad idea, but I think we already know the answer to a 95% certainty. If you polish the story, fix the things you don't like, and change the names, and file it in erotic couplings, you will get a much higher score. You also will get far fewer views, votes, and comments. You may get fewer favorites. Living Wives stories get far more readers than Erotic Couplings stories, but Erotic Couplings readers are nicer than Loving Wives readers.

 

[blozo]

Just a random thought that popped up when I read this; What-if, instead of just cleaning up the few technical errors like misspelled words...You use what you've learned since that first story to enhance it and polish it to your liking. Then slightly change the Title and post it in Erotic Couplings? (actually, I think it could also survive Romance. You might need to expand the Epilogue a bit—I'm not sure. I like the use of the Epilogue since it provides the punch that wraps up the story so nicely.)

Obviously, the reason to do this is to find out once and for all if the less than expected reception is mostly a factor of the category you first put it in. I made the exact same error on my first ever story—I assumed Loving Wives were loving wives

I like that idea.

 

[Hypoxia]

Revisiting a finished story is like a dog returning to its vomit. Let it go.