Dangers of posting a story that really pisses people off?

[WeShallUnclench]

1) There is a more general and more benign variant of this, which is the question, do your stories have a negative influence on one another?

I heard of people who delete every story that's not an "H", presumably for fear that they'll be seen as a bad writer if they have anything but H in their portfolio.

But is that true? Do you think less of a writer if they have low rated stories, or stories you are not a fan of, to the point you will lose interest in the rest of their work as well?

2) But regarding the main question, what do you think I risk for my LitE presence in general, if I dare write one story that people might really hate?

(I am sitting on a story I really like and believe to be one of the best I have written, but I can already tell it will get a 1 star rating. I don't mind, on the contrary, but I wonder if that amounts to "LitE suicide".)

 

[MaturemanAJ]

1) There is a more general and more benign variant of this, which is the question, do your stories have a negative influence on one another?

I heard of people who delete every story that's not an "H", presumably for fear that they'll be seen as a bad writer if they have anything but H in their portfolio.

But is that true? Do you think less of a writer if they have low rated stories, or stories you are not a fan of, to the point you will lose interest in the rest of their work as well?

2) But regarding the main question, what do you think I risk for my LitE presence in general, if I dare write one story that people might really hate?

If you aren't a score chaser who cares?
In my eyes it's why people come here as there is something for everyone.
Not saying everyone will like it though

 

[lc69hunter]

Short term is a negative, as readers go and heap hate on your other stories. For the longer term, those stories, including the one that caused the problem, creep up as others find them

 

[StillStunned]

When I wrote my T/I series, I'd notice that my other stories would take a bit of a hit. I always assumed that was T/I readers getting excited to read my entire catalogue, and then being disappointed when they found it was demons and ghosts and the occasional voyeur.

That said, I've tried not to let the potential response from readers influence what I write. Sure it's nice to see all the little red Hs lined up one after the other, but not as nice as completing a story that wants to get out of my head.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Ultimately, this is a silly smut site filled with free stories people wrote mostly presumably for fun. Try to write a good story, have fun doing it, and if it ends up as a sub 2 disaster and all your other stories plummet and lose those treasured red H's don't worry. It's not going to be reported in the national press tomorrow and you'll know exactly why it happened and (hopefully) not feel too bad about it.

Or else just use an alt for this one story...

 

[big_cane_sugar]

1) There is a more general and more benign variant of this, which is the question, do your stories have a negative influence on one another?

I heard of people who delete every story that's not an "H", presumably for fear that they'll be seen as a bad writer if they have anything but H in their portfolio.

But is that true? Do you think less of a writer if they have low rated stories, or stories you are not a fan of, to the point you will lose interest in the rest of their work as well?

2) But regarding the main question, what do you think I risk for my LitE presence in general, if I dare write one story that people might really hate?

(I am sitting on a story I really like and believe to be ne of the best I have written, but I can already tell it will get a 1 star rating. I don't mind, on the contrary, but I wonder if that amounts to "LitE suicide".)

In the LW category, I value the "hearts" (favorites) rather than the score. In romance, the score seems to matter more.

 

[Wifetheif]

I think all of want red H's even on the stories we know are a little below our ersonal standard BUT scores are not why we write or almost none of us would ever post in Loving Wives. Some of the best comments I have gotten have been for niche markets here at L.com. in otherwise middling scoring stories. I post for the comments and feedback. I have several stories with high H scores and thousands of views without a single comment. I know they like those stories but I have no idea why. When If I post in loving wives I get tons of comments. I also get called a cuck, a loser, cursed out because I didn't burn the bitch or provide a HAE. If you are not writing primarily to tell the tale you want to to the best of your abilities, critics be damned, you are missing the very point of being an author.

 

[Lifestyle66]

After a few authors here in the AH sequentially 1-bombed several of my stories a few years ago, I know the true "value" which a Red-H represents.

Those authors probably plus up their own story ratings with multiple 5's, because the rating is SO important to them.

So, anyone who gets too focused on their story ratings will end up pandering to the haters. I ignore the haters and write what I feel like writing at the moment, refusing to empower the haters using that form of manipulation.

 

[SimonDoom]

1) There is a more general and more benign variant of this, which is the question, do your stories have a negative influence on one another?

I heard of people who delete every story that's not an "H", presumably for fear that they'll be seen as a bad writer if they have anything but H in their portfolio.

But is that true? Do you think less of a writer if they have low rated stories, or stories you are not a fan of, to the point you will lose interest in the rest of their work as well?

2) But regarding the main question, what do you think I risk for my LitE presence in general, if I dare write one story that people might really hate?

(I am sitting on a story I really like and believe to be one of the best I have written, but I can already tell it will get a 1 star rating. I don't mind, on the contrary, but I wonder if that amounts to "LitE suicide".)

I think I would want to smack myself in the head if I behaved that way. I have plenty of stories that do not have red Hs because I took risks and wrote stories with oddball premises for my own personal and artistic reasons, and the artistic satisfaction I got far out-weighed any concern about scores. I also have plenty of stories that rank high. I see no evidence that the poor-scoring stories have hurt the other ones.

Write for your own personal enjoyment and to connect with readers who enjoy your stories. High scores can be, but are not necessarily, a useful step toward achieving that end. They are not an end in themselves.