Voting system

[Addicted2Writing]

Has any author found the voting system detrimental to your writing?

I had an issue with my PAST editor/co author that was, I thought, just between us. Within hours I get two anon posts berating me for a particular scene that I specifically wrote. My score also went down .16 per the two people's votes.

A month later and another much smaller issue with this ed/co author and within 24 hours the score went down .09 with 2 votes.

No, I am not paranoid. I read between lines very well.

But I am considering not finishing on Lit and posting elsewhere...free site, no voting system. I have hated the voting system from day 1 of joining this site. I thought mature adults would know how to handle themselves. How wrong I was.

Just curious if there are others out there.

 

[lovecraft68]

Two things I would say

One, ditch this "editor/co-author they are obviously immature and petty.

Two if you want to write and not be distracted by score you have the option to disable voting, comments as well

 

[Hypoxia]

Keep in mind that de-activating voting could mean your story hits fewer eyeballs. If voting is disabled at any time for a story, it will not make any of the toplists, likely won't be presented as a sidebar link. I disabled voting on my stories for a while because I was pissed at 1-bombers. I probably shot myself in the foot there. I guess the applicable truism is: If ya can't stand the heat, don't jump into the fire. If you don't like irrational criticism, don't post on LIT. Cheers!

 

[Addicted2Writing]

: If ya can't stand the heat, don't jump into the fire. If you don't like irrational criticism, don't post on LIT. Cheers![/QUOTE]

Truest words I have ever heard.

. Some days it doesn't get to me, but other days it does. I have gotten better at not getting worked up and deleting nasty comments--- have even admitted to myself I'm a wuss ---- and also know I am not the most perfect author on here. Kudos for them!

But it's the immature pettiness from others that get to me (not referencing past editor).

 

[Addicted2Writing]

corrected

Two things I would say

One, ditch this "editor/co-author they are obviously immature and petty.

Two if you want to write and not be distracted by score you have the option to disable voting, comments as well

Oh, I do have a new editor and corrected in my original post.

 

[StrangeLife]

Has any author found the voting system detrimental to your writing?

Sometimes peoples reasonings for voting you down can be... baffling... and leave you with the feeling that your efforts dont really matter. You write a story that represents a fair piece of work with decent language, good editing and a somewhat well-thought-out plot. And then you get comments like "Sound's like some cuckie asshole shit to me - you get a one" ...or this one (a real comment)...

Shit, had a glock??

And didn't use it??? WTF!!! Never Never Ever point a gun at anybody unless you intend to use it. If not you just armed your attacker? Protagonist? Nemesis? Take your pick. I waited to vote, this one was easy..........ONE as in 1 star for being gun stupid!!!! And he still hasn't divorced the bitch!!!

In other words, I was voted all the way down because my character made a decision the reader didn't like. Not because of the quality of my writing or my story. Ok, two decisions - he hasn't divorced the bitch either. But still. If you watch a movie, you rarely see the protagonist do everything right. Even Lassie screws up once in a while.

"How did you like the Avengers? I hated it because Agent Coulson's tie didn't match his shirt! What a shitty movie!"

http://s18.postimg.org/sgbqbsl6t/684_59a8c19ad602c5d5b3149cef52540c113.gif

But even established authors are facing this dilemma. When J.K. Rowling killed Dumbledore (sorry for for spoiling Harry Potter, but if you haven't read it, you deserve it.) thousands of kids stopped reading the books and she had crying kids coming up to her at book signings to complain. And when she also made him gay she got the parents on her back, naming her "Harlot of Satan." So people went from adoring a book to hating it because of the actions of a side character.


And in a recent story I used the following expression....

Throwing around accusations of that nature frivolously can kill a marriage faster than George W. Bush killed the American economy.

... and trust me, I got a voting-shitstorm for that one. To my big surprise - I had no idea Dubya still had so many fans left.


Then at the same time you read other stories with poor language, repetitive prose, sloppy editing, cardboard characters, the immersivenes of a fake pond in midwinter and no real plot, yet they get voted high because the author is catering to the trolls and have the cheating wife gang-raped and sold to slavery while her lover is burned alive and stuff like that. And at first it can indeed feel kinda like watching some sloppy bozo at work getting a promotion he doesn't deserve while you are getting a pay-cut.

But at the end of the day, we are not paid according to the votes (unless you're taking part in a competition). Our motivation is having fun writing. So to be honest I can't really get too excited about ratings - high or low. I am actually more amused than upset when I cause a 1-bombing attack for some odd reason. Having been a Lit author for some time, I pretty much know what to do and not to do in order to get rated high - there are several threads about it too - but writing like that isn't fun.


So no - you're not the only one. However I sincerely hope that you will accept the rating system for what it is and stick around. It would be sad if you were discouraged by something that evidently doesn't have much to do with your accomplishments as a writer. Lit is a big place and chances are that you have many fans out there that maybe just aren't so active in the comments. I can pretty much guarantee that you'd be missed by some if you stopped submitting.


And a final encouraging observation - as far as the toplists goes, the rating system seems to work. The toplisted stories are consistently of a high quality and you find none of the aforementioned hack-jobs there. So you might just get there in the end

 

[DiminutiveDame]

I get that the higher ones score the more likely it is to be read and on the top lists and such.

And I get that not everyone scores based on the quality of writing, talent and plot, so on and so forth.

But what is considered a good score? Because if it's only dropping point something, is it a big issue?

 

[StrangeLife]

I
But what is considered a good score? Because if it's only dropping point something, is it a big issue?

For me it's everything >3 stars

But generally I think 4.5 or above is considered good.

 

[sr71plt]

The voting has been detrimental to my readership, because there are many who won't read anything without a red H and I have a stalker or two who try to make sure mine get knocked down under that if they go above. But I try to stay content with the reader base I have here, which appears to be greater here than anywhere else. And I can then be happy to see the occasional "glad I found your stories" comment.

I think the readers would be served better by a two-tier "hot" marking system. Maybe anything about a 4.5 being "blazing" and anything about a 4.2 being "hot." But I don't see that change happening.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

For me it's everything >3 stars

But generally I think 4.5 or above is considered good.

I disagree. Recall that Reuben won AMERICAN IDOL and vanished from Earth. Clay Aiken lost yet has a career.

 

[sr71plt]

I disagree. Recall that Reuben won AMERICAN IDOL and vanished from Earth. Clay Aiken lost yet has a career.

And some folks here have the voting system turned off because they are too thin skinned.

 

[_Lynn_]

Two things I would say

One, ditch this "editor/co-author they are obviously immature and petty.

Two if you want to write and not be distracted by score you have the option to disable voting, comments as well

Three: write in friendlier categories?

 

[lovecraft68]

I think in the beginning everyone gets caught up in the scores. I agree its one thing to accept a low vote for a "real" reason such as the grammar was poor, or the person simply did not like the story.

But the bombs for the sake of bombing and the "you fucking suck" comments can be upsetting to some people.

I've considered myself fortunate that I am thick skinned and nothing stops me from writing what I choose and how I choose to.

But as time goes on the scoring is meaningless to me. Yes its nice to get an H and good feedback, but now I'm more interested in trying to stretch myself and write some more off the wall things.

Also at this point I have built a large enough fan base that I no longer feel a red H is entirely deserving of it. A lot of us have those fans that will 5 vote just because they like your other stuff and want to "help" so I've gotten past taking the H's seriously and don;t sweat scores one way or the other.

Feedback is what I am interested in and even in that you have to throw out the "you suck" but also "you're the greatest writer ever" because that is just as inaccurate. But there is a lot of stuff in between that can give yu something to go by.

 

[lovecraft68]

Three: write in friendlier categories?

That's possible, but I missed if he said where he was writing. I think the editor would have bombed him anywhere.

I think except for LW which is in a world of its own, the only other badly trolled categories are noncon/incest/and gm and they all have that same troll type. The one that shits all over the material as sick, but yet they are there.

 

[_Lynn_]

That's possible, but I missed if he said where he was writing. I think the editor would have bombed him anywhere.

I think except for LW which is in a world of its own, the only other badly trolled categories are noncon/incest/and gm and they all have that same troll type. The one that shits all over the material as sick, but yet they are there.

I was giving a generic reply, not directly to the OP.

 

[lovecraft68]

I was giving a generic reply, not directly to the OP.

Oh, I see.

What do you consider the friendlier categories? I know Romance and Non human are pretty soft with the comments. Personally I have found Mature and group to be a fun bunch with little trolling.

 

[_Lynn_]

Oh, I see.

What do you consider the friendlier categories? I know Romance and Non human are pretty soft with the comments. Personally I have found Mature and group to be a fun bunch with little trolling.

Well, I wouldn't include incest or LW in that list.

Romance, non-erotic, mature, first time maybe . . . Categories with topics that aren't as volatile or filled with personal angst.

I don't write in all the categories. Correction . . . I don't have stories posted here in all of them.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

And some folks here have the voting system turned off because they are too thin skinned.

You really oughta try and keep up before you blabber about what you know not of.

 

[sr71plt]

You really oughta try and keep up before you blabber about what you know not of.

So, you want posters who can easily look your story list up to believe that you don't turn the voting off on most of your stories. Interesting, but just more evidence that, with you, there's no there there.

Or maybe you forgot that you've turned the voting off. I guess that's always a possibility with you.

 

[sr71plt]

Well, I wouldn't include incest or LW in that list.

Romance, non-erotic, mature, first time maybe . . . Categories with topics that aren't as volatile or filled with personal angst.

I don't write in all the categories. Correction . . . I don't have stories posted here in all of them.

I haven't found commenters in the GM category particularly abusive. There is the occasional homophobic comment, but those are pretty rare for a general erotica site like this.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

So, you want posters who can easily look your story list up to believe that you don't turn the voting off on most of your stories. Interesting, but just more evidence that, with you, there's no there there.

Or maybe you forgot that you've turned the voting off. I guess that's always a possibility with you.

Youre right except for the part about the voting turned off.

Plus its my story not yours. Wrap your pickled brain round that fact.

I kinda enjoy the idea I keep you awake at night.

 

[Hypoxia]

I started submitting here a few months ago and was thrilled (or not) by the votes. I got 1-bombed, and pissed-off, and I disabled voting. Now my skin is thicker, I guess, and voting is back on, and I'm HAPPY to have a VERY high-ranked tale (THAT'S MY GIRL) -- which, since voting was disabled for a while, will never make a toplist. Darn.

Voting here can be irrational, but what it generally indicates isn't a stroy's technical quality, but how well it connects with its audience (intended or otherwise). Sometimes it's a pisser. I wrote my EARTH DAY story ONE BLADE OF GRASS intending it for LW, where the skank's fate would have won approval. But Laurel slotted it into NON-CON -- most readers have NOT liked it FTW. I get public and private comments praising its quality, but the NC audience treads it underfoot. Darn.

So, as I've mentioned in other threads, contributors here need to clarify in their own heads just what their motivations are. Lots of votes? High-scoring votes? Money? (HA!) Lots of faves? Lots of eyeballs, regardless of the votes? Or do we write because we must, regardless of rewards?

OP: The LIT voting system only affects us as much as we allow it to.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I started submitting here a few months ago and was thrilled (or not) by the votes. I got 1-bombed, and pissed-off, and I disabled voting. Now my skin is thicker, I guess, and voting is back on, and I'm HAPPY to have a VERY high-ranked tale (THAT'S MY GIRL) -- which, since voting was disabled for a while, will never make a toplist. Darn.

Voting here can be irrational, but what it generally indicates isn't a stroy's technical quality, but how well it connects with its audience (intended or otherwise). Sometimes it's a pisser. I wrote my EARTH DAY story ONE BLADE OF GRASS intending it for LW, where the skank's fate would have won approval. But Laurel slotted it into NON-CON -- most readers have NOT liked it FTW. I get public and private comments praising its quality, but the NC audience treads it underfoot. Darn.

So, as I've mentioned in other threads, contributors here need to clarify in their own heads just what their motivations are. Lots of votes? High-scoring votes? Money? (HA!) Lots of faves? Lots of eyeballs, regardless of the votes? Or do we write because we must, regardless of rewards?

OP: The LIT voting system only affects us as much as we allow it to.

Votes matter depending on what you want the votes for. Is it vanity? Do you wanna impress Ma? Has the shelf life of the story passed, and new votes dont matter much? I think votes lose significance after a while, each vote is diluted in a larger pond. So I track new stories.