What's Worse - Negative Comments or No Comments?

[RetroFan]

When you post a story, you nervously await the reaction of readers when it gets posted. Will they love it, like it, dislike it, hate it or be indifferent to it? What sort of comments will you get?

Sometimes you get extremely negative comments on a story you really put a lot of effort into which can be disappointing, but what of stories that you post which readers simply don't seem interest in and which attract no comments at all?

To me, I find the no comments a greater disappointment than negative feedback telling me how much both me and my story suck. It is even worse if the story is something different or has an interesting theme and nobody reads it.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Rob_Howard]

No comments is definitely a bigger disappointment to me than negative comments.

Earlier, I used to think the other way round. But now I feel that if a reader has taken the effort to comment on my story, he/she might have been moved in some way or other by the story, and that's more than enough achievement for me.

Positive comments are cherry on top of Hot ratings, while constructive comments are necessary but bitter pills to swallow. There aren't many comments on my stories so I almost have no troll comments; I actually deleted one such comment.

A story with Hot ratings but zero comments feels like a plain dish to me, nothing wrong, but nothing exciting too.

 

[SimonDoom]

It depends on whether the negative comment has any useful value or not. If it's just a hostile, stupid comment, as some are, then I'd rather have no comment.

After five years, I've come not to expect too much from comments. It's nice to get one that is positive or useful, but I don't expect it. I have a story I published 14 months ago that has only two comments. But it has 54 votes and a score of 4.6, so I know over half the voters liked it enough to give it a 5. That gives me some satisfaction.

What I find is that if I write enough, and I write in different categories, including categories that get more readers (the story above was fanfiction, one of the least popular), I get enough feedback, overall, that I don't mind much when this or that story doesn't get much feedback.

 

[rescatooor]

Definitely no comments is worse. I know I am more curious over stories that have comments than those that have none. I doubt I am the only one in that. It's one of the few ways others can determine whether there has been any meaningful traffic to a story. If there has been lots, it piques curiousity.

EDIT: Also, I should probably add that I sometimes look at the comments first before I look at the story. I don't mind spoilers, ever.

 

[AlinaX]

Stories with no comments feel very lonely to me.

 

[windar]

For most of history, until the internet came along, writers seldom, if ever, heard from readers, yet they continued to write. They might hear from their peers-fellow writers in Bloomsbury or the Algonquin Hotel-and from critics, all of whom were at least knowledgable about writing themselves, even if they had their petty feuds and jealousies.

So, anonymous comments from readers are OK, but limited in value, whether positive, negative or neutral. I have been fortunate to have received great support elsewhere from other writers whose work I admire and with whom I interact on an on-going basis, and I am extremely grateful for that. I honestly don't know how one could replicate that on a site as huge and scattered as this one is. There is that Story Discussion Circle, but it seems to be defunct.

 

[rescatooor]

For most of history, until the internet came along, writers seldom, if ever, heard from readers, yet they continued to write. They might hear from their peers-fellow writers in Bloomsbury or the Algonquin Hotel-and from critics, all of whom were at least knowledgable about writing themselves, even if they had their petty feuds and jealousies.

So, anonymous comments from readers are OK, but limited in value, whether positive, negative or neutral. I have been fortunate to have received great support elsewhere from other writers whose work I admire and with whom I interact on an on-going basis, and I am extremely grateful for that. I honestly don't know how one could replicate that on a site as huge and scattered as this one is. There is that Story Discussion Circle, but it seems to be defunct.

There are ways to befriend authors in private.

I have a couple of people here who I exchange emails with, talk of writing, ask opinions on title, etc. You just need to be a bit brave and contact them via the feedback option, and if they get back at you, they are usually quite happy to engage in some conversation about a story you have written or a story they have written or both. Then one day, you ask if they have pictures of dogs and they start sending you pictures of dogs.

 

[Blind_Justice]

A negative comment means I managed to provoke some kind of reaction, even if it results in a complaint. No comment at all equals apathy and that's the worst result in my view. I can sift and sort the feedback, discarding and/or ignoring those comments bitching about sexual preferences or perceived plot holes.

 

[windar]

There are ways to befriend authors in private.

I have a couple of people here who I exchange emails with, talk of writing, ask opinions on title, etc. You just need to be a bit brave and contact them via the feedback option, and if they get back at you, they are usually quite happy to engage in some conversation about a story you have written or a story they have written or both. Then one day, you ask if they have pictures of dogs and they start sending you pictures of dogs.

As a matter of fact, I have done that and am currently critiquing a story that this fellow writer is working on and they critiqued an old one of mine that I am considering expanding and/or repositioning. That is extremely valuable and the kind of interaction that is highly meaningful.

The site could do more to facilitate that kind of interaction, but you are right that it can be done. One thing I find frustrating in the general story comments is that they take hours, even a day or so, to go up. That makes a real back and forth exchange almost impossible. I'm told that all that's done is to run them through a spam filter-that literally should take microseconds.

 

[Lifestyle66]

When you post a story, you nervously await the reaction of readers when it gets posted. Will they love it, like it, dislike it, hate it or be indifferent to it? What sort of comments will you get?

Sometimes you get extremely negative comments on a story you really put a lot of effort into which can be disappointing, but what of stories that you post which readers simply don't seem interest in and which attract no comments at all?

To me, I find the no comments a greater disappointment than negative feedback telling me how much both me and my story suck. It is even worse if the story is something different or has an interesting theme and nobody reads it.

What are your thoughts?

I see in your list of stories you posted two to the Loving Wives category this year, where all others over the years were to other cats.

The LW category readers are notorious for their 1-bombing ratings and hateful comments. I think those are the guys sitting at home reading LitE stories while their wives are out f-ing other guys.

As other authors here have advised: look at the category and see what those types of stories average in ratings and comments. And in LW, expect the negative.

But I believe as you, posting a story is like an actor taking the stage: It's lonely to play the role to an empty theater, and worse yet to make a final curtain call to silence.

 

[JuanaSalsa]

No comments is worse.

If I didn't want to connect with people I would just keep all my stories in my head. I write to connect. I need a response or what is the point of posting?

I mean, I could get by on the vaporous fumes of hope that what I wrote has affected someone, but that ultimately leaves me uninspired to continue to share. I imagine that if I lived in pre-internet times I would get by only on actual written correspondence and newspaper reviews. I can not pour my soul into a void and feel satisfied.

I've had only one truly negative comment, and it was sad because it was more a reflection of that persons own prejudices than my writing. Still, that was better than no comment because I can imagine their vitriol might inspire another commenter's passion. It hasn't happened, but I dream.

 

[SimonDoom]

But I believe as you, posting a story is like an actor taking the stage: It's lonely to play the role to an empty theater, and worse yet to make a final curtain call to silence.

The analogy doesn't quite hold, though. There may be many people in the audience, metaphorically speaking, and they may like the performance and clap, but they choose not to fill out the little review card that's passed out at the end. That, to me, is what the Lit comment function is like.

I get more favorites than comments. The ratio ranges from about 1:1 to about 30:1. The favorites tell me there's somebody out there who reacted to my story and probably liked it, even if they didn't tell me anything specific about it.

And, if you think about it, that's the way it is for most authors. The number of readers who give feedback that they actually here is just a tiny fraction of the total. Of course, out in the real world of publishing, they make money, and we don't, so there's that.

So I think the way Literotica authors should look at comments is that they are the tip of the iceberg. Even if the tip is barely visible, the iceberg is still there.

 

[rescatooor]

The analogy doesn't quite hold, though. There may be many people in the audience, metaphorically speaking, and they may like the performance and clap, but they choose not to fill out the little review card that's passed out at the end. That, to me, is what the Lit comment function is like.

I get more favorites than comments. The ratio ranges from about 1:1 to about 30:1. The favorites tell me there's somebody out there who reacted to my story and probably liked it, even if they didn't tell me anything specific about it.

And, if you think about it, that's the way it is for most authors. The number of readers who give feedback that they actually here is just a tiny fraction of the total. Of course, out in the real world of publishing, they make money, and we don't, so there's that.

So I think the way Literotica authors should look at comments is that they are the tip of the iceberg. Even if the tip is barely visible, the iceberg is still there.

I don't quite trust favourites.

Many people use them as a way of bookmarking a story for later-reading. Those people, once they have read it, usually remove the favourite. I'm sure it sometimes occurs that the story is endlessly on someone's favourite list, simply because they have forgotten to return to it and read it.

The only way I can truly know that someone has engaged with the story at all is via comment. Which is why I always try to remember to add a disclaimer for people to please leave comments.

 

[TadOverdon]

Most of my stories get pretty good ratings but I rarely get comments.

Most comments are positive, some are critical. I don't expect comments, though, and it doesn't bother me that I get few. I hadn't thought about how often the average story here draws comments, I guess I've just assumed that they're rare.

Several times, writers who participate in the Authors' Hangout have sent me comments via Private Message, and I've had one or two extended email exchanges. I appreciate those a great deal.

 

[MrPixel]

Most of my stories get pretty good ratings but I rarely get comments. ...

Same here. In my limited output (6) over the past ~2 years I can count comments on one hand: 3 positive, 1 constructive and 1 negative.

The funny thing is that the negative was unhappiness about how the story ended, with the MF couple coming dangerously close to both being raped, that such a conclusion was implausible. What's interesting is that particular story was not fiction, it was an accurate recollection of actual events three decades ago. Reality does suck sometimes, which in this case must have burst the fantasy bubble for the commenter.

I think in my case the lack of comments is the topic area - Group Sex. It doesn't seem to get as much traffic as the other topics, so I consider the few comments indicative of the lower interest. Also, one thought I have is that readers might be hesitant to comment on stories they have no basis in their own life experiences to judge - the four positive comments were from other swingers.

 

[SimonDoom]

If you want to get more comments, there are things you can do. I can think of two in particular, based upon my reading over the last almost 20 years:

1. Write a cuck story and publish it in Loving Wives. You are 100% certain to get comments, but they won't be positive. If you get a masochistic thrill from lots of hyper-nasty comments, this is a good strategy.

2. Write a good story, probably relatively long, with characters that the readers get emotionally invested in. I've found that this is a common denominator of many stories that get a lot of comments. There are plenty of stories here that get good scores and good view totals, but don't necessarily get a lot of comments. I think the thing that's missing is that while the story may be good and highly erotic, the readers don't feel the emotional connection that nudges them to lodge a comment.

My advice to authors who want more reader interaction is actively to study those authors who ARE getting more comments and what sets them apart. What is it about their stories that is prompting readers to comment on them? Look for authors who publish stories in the same categories you do or of the same type you do.

 

[NotWise]

If you want to get more comments, there are things you can do. I can think of two in particular, based upon my reading over the last almost 20 years:

1. Write a cuck story and publish it in Loving Wives. You are 100% certain to get comments, but they won't be positive. If you get a masochistic thrill from lots of hyper-nasty comments, this is a good strategy.

2. Write a good story, probably relatively long, with characters that the readers get emotionally invested in. I've found that this is a common denominator of many stories that get a lot of comments. There are plenty of stories here that get good scores and good view totals, but don't necessarily get a lot of comments. I think the thing that's missing is that while the story may be good and highly erotic, the readers don't feel the emotional connection that nudges them to lodge a comment.

My advice to authors who want more reader interaction is actively to study those authors who ARE getting more comments and what sets them apart. What is it about their stories that is prompting readers to comment on them? Look for authors who publish stories in the same categories you do or of the same type you do.

I'd add #3, which is to keep your readers involved--especially emotionally involved--all the way to the end of the story. A long denouement lets their attention drift away before the story's over.

 

[Omenainen]

I’ll let you know if I ever get negative comments. I'd guess it’s worse to get no comments, but also I’m pretty certain that if I’d had negative comments on my first story it would’ve also been my last story. So I don’t know.

 

[TadOverdon]

The cuck/LW thing speaks to the (IMHO) fact that people who are angry or unhappy are moved to speak up and complain, while people who are satisfied are often satisfied to be satisfied.

The notion that stories which involve the reader on more emotional levels would get more comments than stories that are well-liked but serve mainly to sexually gratify readers also makes a lot of sense. I get a red H, I figure that the story is turning people on...and since that's what I'm trying to do, that's probably why I don't miss the comments.

 

[MrPixel]

I'll add that we're dealing with "consumers" of the stuff we write, not people we are to expect feedback from either in comments or scoring. Keeping track of my most recent upload that went live early yesterday, there have been 2K+ views yet only eight votes.

I liken it to my own attitude about "how are we doing?" surveys in the real world. They're annoying, and like you said if I had a problem, I'd let 'em know, otherwise, accept the lack of feedback as tacet confirmation you have done your job to my satisfaction.

 

[DanDraper]

No comments can be hurtful, because you're hoping to see what others think. But the negative comments are worse, because then you see what people really do think about your stories and it can sting sometimes.
Although, I don't mind reading the negative comments, it helps me learn what to do better in my stories. But there are those who go out of the way to just be rude and ignorant. Anyone who sees the comments in the LW section knows what I mean.



....

 

[Comshaw]

I'm going with no comments. Even a "Worse story I ever read! A 1 for you!" indicates they did at least read it. Is that better than nothing said? I think so.

Comshaw

 

[lovecraft68]

Like the saying goes, bad publicity is still good publicity

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I love comments (even the amusingly insulting ones - if I'm annoying incels and the overentitled, that's a good thing), but don't get many. The only story that's got quite a few was Wheelchair Bound?, mostly from people with experience of using wheelchairs.

Partly it's just not having that many readers - I don't post in LW or I/T, and my stories tend to be a bit niche. The people who do actually read them tend to like them, though, which is nice.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I'm going with no comments. Even a "Worse story I ever read! A 1 for you!" indicates they did at least read it. Is that better than nothing said? I think so.

Comshaw

I've had several comments saying: "I didn't even need to read this shit to give it a 1."

There are anon commenters in the LW crowd who just pick the title and one-line description, then scroll to the bottom to get it a 1.