What entices people to comment?

[Melody_Lightdraft2]

I don't really care that much because some comments are crap, but I noticed something curious. I have one series up with four parts so far. They each have the reads, the ratings and the favorites, but not one has even a single comment.

Another story that is not part of that series has several comments (some of which are kind of assholish).

These have all gone up this week, so it's not a matter of aging either.

It depends, as an author and with nearly five years of creative writing classes, the first thing you are taught is constructive critique.
The format being the, "feedback sandwich."
Basically, what you enjoyed about the story. What you found as a problem, rounding it off with suggested improvements.

 

[Bazzle]

I leave a comment if I want the author to know that I've read it?

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

Yes please!

Your wish is my command. I have a fairly chunky Halloween story coming up shortly, and a sequel to Uninvited Guests is in the works.

 

[jehoram]

I comment usually in one of two situations:

1. I really like the story and I want the author to know that I appreciate it, or

2. I have a critique of the story that I think I can put in a useful and constructive way.

I don't ever leave a comment like, "This is just crap."

As for #2, I usually don't put something like that in the comment section. Instead, I PM the writer about it. This sometimes ends up in a very nice dialog with the person about how and why a story was written that way.

 

[SimonDoom]

As for #2, I usually don't put something like that in the comment section. Instead, I PM the writer about it. This sometimes ends up in a very nice dialog with the person about how and why a story was written that way.

You have to do it the right way. If you don't, you run the risk it won't be taken well and the point of the critique is lost. I've softened my approach over time.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Someone once posted (and I keep reposting it) that people tend to comment on what they see as really good or really bad. If you fall into the bell curve between those two, comments might be harder to come by. I think there's a lot of truth to the idea.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Someone once posted (and I keep reposting it) that people tend to comment on what they see as really good or really bad. If you fall into the bell curve between those two, comments might be harder to come by. I think there's a lot of truth to the idea.

That was me: https://forum.literotica.com/threads/what-entices-people-to-comment.1618082/#post-99552125

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

Someone once posted (and I keep reposting it) that people tend to comment on what they see as really good or really bad. If you fall into the bell curve between those two, comments might be harder to come by. I think there's a lot of truth to the idea.

That’s interesting. One of my most commented stories was exactly that. Positives and negatives but no MOR. So from a (uh, mature) musician’s perspective, Steely Dan and Oasis but no Nickelback.
Stands back and awaits deluge of outrage …

 

[Writer61]

For me it is a matter of principle: if I want people to comment on my stories I should comment on others. Thus I try to comment on every story that I read to the end. I even have a list of stories that I have read but am yet to comment on.

As for what entices non-authors to comment … no idea but I am grateful to them for doing so.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've found stories with an emphasis on place tend to get some comments related to that place, if it's recognisable. Or any other unusual feature that people can relate to - medical conditions, for example.

 

[WeShallUnclench]

I am of the same school of philosophy that I kinda want more comments, but at the same time I am somewhat crap at commenting myself.

My number one comment trigger is when I see something really fun that I want to point out ("I see what you did there, so 1. you can be happy I appreciate it and 2. I get a pat on the head for being such a good reader").

I often have what I think of as constructive criticism, but rarely share it because it's hard to tell how it would be received.
For that, I suppose the better format might be a message to the author, rather than talking in front of the whole class.

But even then - I know from my own experience that even constructive criticism can feel deflating. That's because it is likely to touch on things the author neglected because they did not consider them important, or overlooked them. So it can feel like people misunderstand you, or you find out you accidentally ruined your own story by missing a step.

Thing is, constructive criticism is great if you come at it with the mindset that every story is just part of the process, an opportunity to learn and get better. Which it kinda should be.
But for you, every story might be your baby that you want to see appreciated all by itself...

 

[WeShallUnclench]

Also it can be genuinely hard to juggle all that -

So many stories I have seen here are such a wild mix:

I love the premise, I even love the story in itself, I find some details amazingly well written, I may even appreciate the author from talking to them in the forums...
But then the story might simultaneously be kind of a mess in how it is written, say in that "gushing" style where you get the impression the writer pictures you (the reader) moaning in front of your screen with your hands down your pants with no capacity of coherent thought, and so they just throw "Tits! Tits! Mega tits! Penis! He was so amazing and so hot and so amazing but then OHHH her TITS..." at you page after page.

How do you even comment on that?

 

[NoTalentHack]

The problem with a lot of the advice that you're likely to receive on getting more comments is that it requires you to change either how you write or what you write. Unfortunately, my advice will not be much different.

Leaving aside the comments I've received that are either "1* cuck shit" or "I loved it, best story ever" (both of which I still like for their own reasons, but which do little to tell me why they commented in the first place other than loving/hating the story), here's what I've found:

• Publish in a popular, comment-heavy category. Loving Wives is the top tier for this, both in terms of volume and articulation of what the reader does/doesn't like. I sorted my stories by comments, and the first one outside of LW that showed up was in Mature, but that one had a prequel that I later put in LW, and I know a bunch of traffic came in that way. After that is "Loving Loving Wives," which is an essay about the category. The next after that is the only one without a tie to LW, "Beloved Scars," in Exhibitionist/Voyeur at 71 comments. Incest gets a lot of reads, but not nearly as many comments; my sole I/T story, while reasonably well-rated, only has 50 comments.
• Specificity helps. I have several stories where medical and/or mental health issues come into play (memory care, long-term patient care, depression, etc.) and all of them got a ton of comments not just about authenticity, but also from people who thanks me for talking about issues they faced in their lives in a way that was compassionate. It can also drive angry comments, though; in one story, I wrote a scene where a gun with its safety on went "click" when the trigger was pulled, which most don't do. That was a slip-up that made it past both me and my beta reader, and the readers let me know. A lot.
• Ambiguity/no right choice. My second highest-commented story, No Place to Go, picked up 300 comments in the first week. It has 574 comments a year and a half later, making it my second-highest ranked in that regard, even though it has less than half the views of my most-commented on, At the End of the Tour, which has 585 comments. In "No Place to Go," the main character is put in a series of no-win situations through little/no fault of his own. I got a LOT of comments, most of them positive, about how anxiety/rage-inducing the reader found his dilemma, but even more that said, "he should have done X or Y or Z instead."
• Imperfection of character. This follows on from the above. At the end of In Health, the MMC does something that a whole bunch of people didn't like; I'll be honest, that surprised me, because I found it to be a relatively mild burn, but some people, even a few hardcore BTB folks, were like, "hey, no, wait, that's way too mean." This is one that also had specificity on its side, so I can't give the credit entirely to the ending, but it certainly figured in a number of responses. It has less than 70K views but also 298 comments, putting it at a view/comment ratio in line with "No Place to Go."
• Subversion of expectations. I play a lot with tropes, especially around character motivation or story structure, in Loving Wives, in particular. I Know My Wife, the first story I posted there, was a short, bog-standard "Honey, We Need to Talk" mild BTB story, but it's still garnered 452 comments in the two years since it went up, largely from people commenting on the structure (one phrase with variations, followed by two paragraphs, repeated almost throughout), with people both loving and hating it.
• Very good writing or very bad writing. This one goes without saying.

One important thing to note, however, is this: very often, the stories that get the most comments also get lower ratings. People weigh in, as @ElectricBlue has helpfully pointed out, on things they hate and things they love. Angling for more comments can often lead to a lowering of ratings. I decided a long time ago that I wanted to worry more about readers engaging me directly through comments, so that doesn't bother me... much. But it is a thing you should think about. If your readers aren't saying much to you, but they're rating you well? Maybe they already are commenting, in their own way.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I generally don't comment on or like this account. Jo and I have another account from which our commenting is based. Sometimes, I comment on other writers' tales so they know I like their work. I'm not sure why it developed this way. I think in the beginning, I determined it helped me stay anonymous. I've often said way too much about me and my family on here to the point that it endangers my privacy, mainly in the forum.

I like comments, especially the honest ones. Constructive criticism is always welcome. However, the ones that are rude or try to make the writer (me) out to be a bad person for doing what the character did, I really take offense from those.

 

[AG31]

I'm afraid I contribute to invalid stats on Lit. I pretty much only leave comments for stories and authors I like. I want to support the author.

I do very much like the process of editing, and when I'm in that mode I'm pretty ruthless. But I don't edit in comments (or at least I don't remember doing that.)

 

[Cagivagurl]

I don't really care that much because some comments are crap, but I noticed something curious. I have one series up with four parts so far. They each have the reads, the ratings and the favorites, but not one has even a single comment.

Another story that is not part of that series has several comments (some of which are kind of assholish).

These have all gone up this week, so it's not a matter of aging either.

What entices a reader to comment...
Two things...

Love or hate. Achieve either of those two and you will get comments.

Anything that falls in the middle of those will get little in the way of comments.
Some categories attract more than others.
Merely my opinion.

Cagivagurl

 

[lc69hunter]

My stories tend to antagonize the LW trolls. However, I have garnered far more followers based upon my comments on other writer's stories than based upon my own.

 

[jessIncognito]

I love when I get a great hate filled rant comment. Nothing makes me more happy to reply. Bring it on!

But the person earlier in the thread that said it was 1 comment per one thousand reads is pretty accurate AFAICT.

I wish I got more comments. They are my favorite thing as a writer.