“I don’t want to have to think while I’m reading”

[lovecraft68]

I had the kind of the reverse:
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Thing was, I had tried to make a wildly improbable story seem more realistic by adding tiny background details/nuance.

The comment came off as a backhanded-compliment, even though I don't believe that was the intent.

Anyways, it made me laugh.

Glad you said intent, because I see where you could see it as a bit of an insult, but at the same time they seemed to really enjoy it, so just the wording.

Plausibility is a personal limit kind of thing here. I write a lot of taboo and I'll try to make is believable, but end of the day, even I'm like "Come on"

 

[AwkwardMD]

Try getting the feedback I got last week.

That's awful. No one should get comments like that. It's not okay.

I'm sorry you got that. I know you weren't looking for, or asking for, support, but still.

 

[lovecraft68]

That's awful. No one should get comments like that. It's not okay.

I'm sorry you got that.

I appreciate that, but I didn't post it to make anyone feel bad or piss anyone off. Just like I said an example of perspective.

But yeah, there's trolling and there's things like that. I grew up in that old school way of you say whatever dumb shit you want to me-or whoever-but you never bring someone's family into it.

But then I default to my opinion about people sucking. Set that bar on the damn ground and they will slink under it. We've all seen plenty of that in our lives, I'm sure.

And maybe that's why I don't take things like comments here too seriously, I have the ability to put things in order of real life importance, but some don't have that and at times I should be more mindful of that.

 

[FrancesScott]

This thread wasn’t intended as a pissing contest about the worst types of comments that undoubted low-life can make. It was specifically about the disconnect between thinking and reading. I’m sorry that people get attacked in such base ways. Attacking people is cowardly and wrong.

 

[ChuckWolf]

Yeah, again, I just showed that comment because the criticism/compliment was the exact opposite of yours and I thought the whole thing was funny.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I thought the "didn't want to think" comment was hilarious. I was initially sure it was a joke.

--Annie

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I got a comment along these lines. I found it very depressing. I know most readers are in one hand mode, but isn’t the point of writing to make you think and feel?

It depends really. People are in the mood for different types of entertainment at different times. It isn't just about sex, some times you want to read Dickens or Tolstoy, other times you are in the mood for something light hearted and fun.
The reader is simply telling you that your story wasn't what they were looking for.
There's nothing negative about that. It's like someone leaving a review for Chipotle saying, "I was looking for a hamburger."
Have a good laugh and move on.
Why delete it? I suspect a vanishingly small number of people read the comments before they read the story. If I did the comment would make me more curious than anything.

 

[Statius]

I know a writer who has received death threats through email, so someone saying they don't want to think when reading is kinda funny to me. My reaction would be why read my (this) story then? But I wouldn't react to it.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

I got a comment along these lines. I found it very depressing. I know most readers are in one hand mode, but isn’t the point of writing to make you think and feel?

"I don't want to have to chew while I'm eating."

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm not going to tell any individual writer "you shouldn't feel what you feel," because I don't know their circumstances or whatever has happened in their lives to lead them to feel what they feel.

But I'll offer this as general, philosophic advice about writing and what to expect. The point of writing is not to try to control what the readers of your writing think and feel. You CANNOT control it. Publishing a story is like dropping a pebble in a pond, and the ripples are going to go where they go and you can't control them. "Control" is an illusion, and if you are counting on it you are bound to be frustrated and disappointed.

Instead, have confidence in what you are doing, take pleasure in the act of writing, enjoy creating art the way you want to and in submitting your writing to the world, and get satisfaction from the positive feedback you get, whether it's in the form you desire or expect or not, and try not to focus on the negative. It may be that your writing has positive influences that you never expected. See that as a good thing. Don't fret about why readers got a good orgasm out of your story rather than a scintillating intellectual experience.

The publication of a story is an interaction between the writer and the reader. You only have control over one half of that interaction. Accept the process and the uncertainty and unpredictability that follow.

I think it's MUCH more satisfying if you look at it this way. It's certainly better for mental health, and it's a better way to fortify you as you go forward and do your art the way you want to do it.

 

[Robin_Starveling]

What am I missing here? The comment basically says: “I want to be so immersed in the story that I forget I’m reading, without all the bumps.” Another possibility is that you’re slipping in some heavy philosophy, which most porn readers aren’t after. Or maybe you’re writing docu-realism, which clashes with their preference for escapism. Either way, the comment is perfectly legit, even if it sounds like a complaint.

Why get depressed over it... unless we’re looking for an excuse to be offended, to wrap ourselves in that warm coat of self-pity?

 

[lovecraft68]

Just so the OP doesn't feel to bad, I've been accused of writing without thinking and I doubt I'm the only one who's heard that.

I might just be the only one it applies to.

 

[FrancesScott]

I really appreciate the thoughts of other writers on this thread. Sounds like some of you have been there, and that others have developed coping mechanisms. We all expose something of ourselves (not in an E/V way) when we write. Non-writers don’t really understand that vulnerability.

 

[Robin_Starveling]

Some non-writers have an X-ray vision for people. They don’t expose themselves; they expose others, along with all the grim social consequences.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Okay

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Some non-writers have an X-ray vision for people. They don’t expose themselves; they expose others, along with all the grim social consequences.

I've missed you.

 

[FrancesScott]

I've missed you.

Work on your aim.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'm not going to tell any individual writer "you shouldn't feel what you feel," because I don't know their circumstances or whatever has happened in their lives to lead them to feel what they feel.

But I'll offer this as general, philosophic advice about writing and what to expect. The point of writing is not to try to control what the readers of your writing think and feel. You CANNOT control it.

Surely the level of control an author has over the readers' responses is neither "none" or "all" but somewhere in between.

Publishing a story is like dropping a pebble in a pond, and the ripples are going to go where they go and you can't control them.

Odd analogy. In choosing which pebble to drop, and where in the pond, and from how high - and by having observed how ripples behave on previous occasions - one does have a fair bit of control over what kind of ripples result. Not at a "make them spell out one's name" level*, but "I'm gonna rock this lily pad in particular" is a perfectly achievable goal.

And if I drop a big rock next to you and then claim I had no control over the fact that you got splashed and the water just went where it wanted to go...well, that would be obviously silly.

"Control" is an illusion, and if you are counting on it you are bound to be frustrated and disappointed.

This has not been my experience. Total control is impossible but it's quite possible to achieve significantly more than zero.

Quite often in my stories on Lit I've gone in with the intention of eliciting some particular reaction from my readers, and planned where and how I'm going to drop my pebbles. And quite often the feedback has suggested that the ripples did what I intended them to - again, at a "rock this lily pad" level, not a "spell out my name" level - and that has been anything but frustrating or disappointing.

Or perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "control"?

*Pauline Reage has entered the chat.

 

[AG31]

I got a comment along these lines. I found it very depressing. I know most readers are in one hand mode, but isn’t the point of writing to make you think and feel?

On an erotica site, one can assume that the point is to make you feel. I know I could get a lot of solid fiction here, but for thinking I go to the library. It's probably mostly a hold-the-book-in-my-hand vs screen reading.

 

[dirk2024]

People come here for all kinds of reasons. The most important one, I think, is escapism: to read a story and be lost in a sexy world that matches their kink. In other situations they might be willing to exercise their brain, but sometimes all you want is to have the entertainment presented to you for your enjoyment.

I'm here for the escape, and often I exercise my brain to do so.

 

[dirk2024]

Plausibility is a personal limit kind of thing here. I write a lot of taboo and I'll try to make is believable, but end of the day, even I'm like "Come on"

My plausibility meter is situational. I can read "Tentacle Fuckers from Planet X69" and not have any issues.

But if I'm reading about Bill and Mary (in whatever category) and what they are getting up to, I need to believe at least some of what's happening.

You had a Taboo story recently that caught some flack. Plausibility wasn't an issue for me with that tale.

 

[PennyThompson]

One of my favorite comments recently was from @Eosphorus saying "I always finish your stories feeling smarter and uplifted. I also always learn something new."

On the same story I got another comment from Anon saying "Good story easy to follow..."

So I just don't even know anymore

We can't control how people receive the stories we write, every creative work shared with another mind inevitably becomes a new thing, a co-created meaning synthesizing the artist's intention and the audience's interpretation. That can be scary and surprising and sometimes frustrating, but it's also a kind of magic

 

[FrancesScott]

One of my favorite comments recently was from @Eosphorus saying "I always finish your stories feeling smarter and uplifted. I also always learn something new."

On the same story I got another comment from Anon saying "Good story easy to follow..."

So I just don't even know anymore

We can't control how people receive the stories we write, every creative work shared with another mind inevitably becomes a new thing, a co-created meaning synthesizing the artist's intention and the audience's interpretation. That can be scary and surprising and sometimes frustrating, but it's also a kind of magic

Your help on a couple of recent stories has been invaluable, thank you.

 

[lovecraft68]

My plausibility meter is situational. I can read "Tentacle Fuckers from Planet X69" and not have any issues.

But if I'm reading about Bill and Mary (in whatever category) and what they are getting up to, I need to believe at least some of what's happening.

You had a Taboo story recently that caught some flack. Plausibility wasn't an issue for me with that tale.

Yeah, I expected it to for most of the reasons readers mentioned. It was a bit out there, but what I wanted to write so it is what it is.

Part of knowing what works here is knowing what doesn't. Whether you care or not is another discussion.

 

[PennyThompson]

Your help on a couple of recent stories has been invaluable, thank you.

Soldier's Widow was a special story and I felt lucky to see it take shape