Your best story with a terrible rating

[EmilyMiller]

We all know that ratings are a bit of a mess and open to both the vagaries of audiences and plain old abuse. [not sour grapes, I have over twenty thirty Hs]

Given this, if you had to pick the one of your works which has the most egregious gap between story quality and rating, what would it be?

For me, it’s pretty easy. A Hard Day’s Night is probably me at close to my current best; at least in the short story arena (it’s 11k words). The tale’s rating is suppressed by the [IMO appropriate] category I published it in, but nevertheless it’s not a 3.98 (or even a 4.48 if you make allowances for the 0.5 Loving Wives “tax”).

How about you?

Em

UPDATE: Apparently I can’t count

 

[StillStunned]

It's pretty easy for me, too: Ben's Big Mistake, by a margin.

Overall, readers have been kind to my stories, and this is the only one below around a 4.3. In fact, it's currently at 4.07, and I know why. It's been up long enough that I can give away the twist: the narrator wants to blackmail his student, but finds out the hard way that she's trans. And she blackmails him.

It was an experiment on my part, not just for the subject matter (NC/C *and* a trans woman) but writing in the present tense. Overall, though, I'm very proud of how it turned out, and objectively I think it's one of my best pieces.

So far from a "terrible rating", but it deserves better.

 

[SimonDoom]

Easy choice for me: BTB, Incorporated, my Mickey Spillane spoof BTB turned something else story. It was my third story, published almost 7 years ago, and my first in the Loving Wives category. Currently sitting at 3.73 and not likely to improve. It's received more hilariously scathing and scatological comments than all my other stories put together, but it received some positive comments, too. One of my most fun stories to write, because I let myself go completely over the top. It's not great art but I think it's humorous.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Easy choice for me: BTB, Incorporated, my Mickey Spillane spoof BTB turned something else story. It was my third story, published almost 7 years ago, and my first in the Loving Wives category. Currently sitting at 3.73 and not likely to improve. It's received more hilariously scathing and scatological comments than all my other stories put together, but it received some positive comments, too. One of my most fun stories to write, because I let myself go completely over the top. It's not great art but I think it's humorous.

I always get a load of positive comments in LW (as well as the other kind, which you expect to get). In fact, numerically at least, the comments are typically more favorable than the ratings.

Em

 

[AchtungNight]

I don’t do ratings here anymore, but if I still did… Fire Woman easily. The plot is great, the sex is hot. It ties up multiple long term plots in my ficverse. If it wasn’t for category trolls… it’d probably get a higher rating.

Other stories I’ve written have had bad luck with popularity. That’s the only reason no Hs were earned.

 

[MrPixel]

Easy one for me, as well, @ 3.54/194: A Hard Lesson In Responsibility. It is a one-page morality tale about the dangers of father/daughter incest that I wrote knowing that it would not be fondly received by the I/T crowd. Comments were positive, however, so it seems to me the balance I was going for was achieved.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Easy one for me, as well, @ 3.54/194: A Hard Lesson In Responsibility. It is a one-page morality tale about the dangers of father/daughter incest that I wrote knowing that it would not be fondly received by the I/T crowd. Comments were positive, however, so it seems to me the balance I was going for was achieved.

That actually sounds kinda interesting. I/T isn’t my kink, but maybe I’ll add it to my [lengthy] list.

Em

 

[Zootonius]

My worst rating is 4.49 for my first romance story, which a commenter called me out for implying a love triangle coming in part two ruined it. And they were right, damn it!

It if funny it's sitting at 4.49

 

[lovecraft68]

Sealing The Deal currently sitting at 2.96 and of course in Loving Wives.

I don't think its my 'best' story, but its the one with the rating lower than the story/effort deserves.

The story is an example of writing for myself over expectations and ratings because what I wanted to do-and did-was present a story with three characters, none of whom were the 'good' one, but all kind of sleazy and shitty in their way. The cuck husband couldn't even be seen as the victim by the 'all women bad' incels because he did something in the past that was so low that many could say he deserved what he got in his wife.

Among the one bombs and abusive comments however, there's several along the lines of "well written, but just couldn't root for anyone" and that was the goal, so at least some gave a nod towards the actual story telling/writing but the concept had no real hope.

The below three rating is also due to my public disdain for factions of the category so the LW ghosters here were waiting. Glad I could make their day.

 

[alohadave]

My Daughter's Friend

A 750 story that is sitting at 3.94/108.

It's a stream of consciousness tale with no quotes used. Rather than my normal over explaining, I leave things less distinct.

The comments are encouraging, if not the score.

 

[ronde]

Mine isn't what I'd consider my best story, but it's on par with the rest. It's "The Vixen and a Daughter's Advice" and is currently the only of my stories rated below 4. It's a romance but part of the plot is a married woman seducing a married man. It has a happy ending, but I think the low votes were because I didn't draw and quarter the married woman who did the seducing.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Deleted.

 

[BBlaketbv]

I only have four stories up yet, the fifth is pending.
My lowerst rated story is my first one. Which is fair, I still had to learn how to write. However it still has a 4.29 rating, and it has the most views and the most votes.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I don't know that I can honestly answer that. I honestly believe most of the stories below a 4 deserved a better rating. However, the lowest-rated story is the cuckold story, Candy's Dandy, posted to Loving Wives with a 2.74 rating that received a lot of hate. Just above it, at 3.05 (and one I like a lot), but it was also a Loving Wives story in Loving Wives and angered the trolls to no end. Both deserved better than received. I didn't deserve the abuse I took in the comments.

Well, I guess I did answer it honestly.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Drive In Double Feature is my lowest rated story. I think it's cute and funny and has a damn clever title, but I only spent about two days on it, so I can't get too huffy about it.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

Mine is Molly and Ronnie. It's not my best story, but its better than it's rating and view amount. I don't there was enough "non" for it to be non-con.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I maybe should have had Loving Wives and non-Loving Wives categories.

Outside of the lowest pit of hell, I guess the story that meets this criteria best is Fragile. It’s my first attempt at a serious story; and it shows. But it’s probably stronger than some works I have in the 4.7s. It’s currently languishing at 4.47.

Em

 

[StillStunned]

Here's a question: what's the appeal of writing LW stories? Maybe it's because of how often the subject comes up, but it seems like a disproportionate number of writers regularly dive into that category, despite openly acknowledging the "challenges" of the readership.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Here's a question: what's the appeal of writing LW stories? Maybe it's because of how often the subject comes up, but it seems like a disproportionate number of writers regularly dive into that category, despite openly acknowledging the "challenges" of the readership.

If you find Incest and Taboo too icky a subject, it’s the only category with a ginormous audience.

I think I’ve had LW stories finish day one with 25k views. Try getting that in Sci-Fi & Fantasy.

Also some authors like the challenge of limiting yourself to a particular audience’s needs. Constraints can lead to creativity. I wrote one straight up and down LW story to prove I could do it (currently sitting at 4.62) and then lost interest. My two other LW stories don’t fit the 1950s hetero vibe (as many comments have told me).

Em

 

[AchtungNight]

Passion: Hollywood Nights was awarded a 3 by its one reviewer before I locked out ratings. Guess they weren’t expecting a fanfic that showed a famous married couple is pretty ordinary. He puts the kids to bed after an easy day as a pro athlete slash stay at home dad, she returns home after a rough night as an actress with limited options. They hook up quick and hot before she falls asleep in his arms. They have a hotter swinging life when they can work it in… should I have even mentioned that? Should I have gone with more popular celebrities? I wanted to update a big personality in my ficverse, could the one reviewer not appreciate that? I thought it was worthy of a 4 minimum. Oh well.

 

[MillieDynamite]

If you locked the voting after one vote, you didn't give time to find out what a majority might feel about it. DangerNacht, you need to let the moles, trolls, general readership, fans, fanatics, and sycophant, all get a chance to express.

Passion: Hollywood Nights was awarded a 3 by its one reviewer before I locked out ratings. Guess they weren’t expecting a fanfic that showed a famous married couple is pretty ordinary. He puts the kids to bed after an easy day as a pro athlete slash stay at home dad, she returns home after a rough night as an actress with limited options. They hook up quick and hot before she falls asleep in his arms. They have a hotter swinging life when they can work it in… should I have even mentioned that? Should I have gone with more popular celebrities? I wanted to update a big personality in my ficverse, could the one reviewer not appreciate that? I thought it was worthy of a 4 minimum. Oh well.

I meant @AchtungNight.

 

[Zootonius]

If you find Incest and Taboo too icky a subject, it’s the only category with a ginormous audience.



Em

I believe Erotic Coupling is the one that is bigger. By story count at least.

 

[AchtungNight]

If you locked the voting after one vote, you didn't give time to find out what a majority might feel about it. DangerNacht, you need to let the moles, trolls, general readership, fans, fanatics, and sycophant, all get a chance to express.

I meant @AchtungNight.

Can you suggest a way to do that while preventing the imps of Loving Wives from wrecking my work and making it popular? I had the story up for several months and only one vote resulted. Despite much advertising on these boards. Ugh.

 

[YDB95]

4.32 isn't exactly bad, but Brand New Tennessee Waltz was a ton of fun to write and I've always thought it deserved a higher rating.

 

[StillStunned]

I think I’ve had LW stories finish day one with 25k views. Try getting that in Sci-Fi & Fantasy.

True, I suppose. Two of my stories were published on exactly the same day, last Thursday. The one in EC is at 9.3k views and 81 ratings. The one in SF/F is at 588 views and 9 ratings.