A brief analysis of comments on a "Hot" Loving Wives story

[PennyThompson]

EDIT: You have to add my 4 highest commented works together to equal that.

I had to add my top five commented stories to get past 180

I don't feel the temptation to churn out a bunch of formulaic Incest and LW stories just to generate followers and comments, but I can't deny that it's a valid clout-building strategy if that is one's end goal!

 

[AwkwardMD]

I had to add my top five commented stories to get past 180

I don't feel the temptation to churn out a bunch of formulaic Incest and LW stories just to generate followers and comments, but I can't deny that it's a valid clout-building strategy if that is one's end goal!

I couldn't if I tried. I'm just not wired like that, but spending a month on something that'll get 2 comments total is so depressing sometimes.

 

[TheLobster]

EDIT: You have to add my 4 highest commented works together to equal that.

I need to add five, and they’re all T/I. LW is just built different.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Well, the story ends with reconciliation, if that's what you mean by pandering. I don't think I would call it neutral, judging from the comments it got regarding politics, abortion rights, and female characters

We also had zero out of 186 comments say that the story would have been better if one or more of the spouses had cheated, so I think that undermines the argument that cheating is what the category is all about.

What I didn't include in my pretend research paper (might go back and add it) is something like:



And I think my flaky research sort of suggests the Null Hypothesis here. The BTB faction of LW is relatively small, less than 10%.

There is also a significant non-BTB/non-RAAC population of LW readers who are judging stories based on other attributes!

I don't think that 10% BTB audience is a valid assumption from the responses to one non-cheating story.

If you try writing other stories which include a cheating wife, or a cheating husband, and divorce or RAAC, with some including violence against the cheater and lover, or not, ... you might find the audience wishing for BTB in a story is far greater. I place it at about 40% when a story involves extra-martial sex.

But your analysis of misogynists stat may be about right. There are those here in the AH who think that ANY and EVERY disparaging remark about a woman is misogynistic. But I disagree. Many hateful comments might come from a man who loves and respects women, but truly HATES those who cheat. It doesn't make them misogynists when they've framed their opinions around targeting a specific type of woman for a very specific reason.

IMO, they believe in marriage and that sex should be exclusively between husband and wife. That doesn't make them misogynists anymore that a wife who HATES husbands who cheat is a misandrist. They hate CHEATERS, not the entire opposite sex.

 

[PennyThompson]

I don't think that 10% BTB audience is a valid assumption from the responses to one non-cheating story.

If you try writing other stories which include a cheating wife, or a cheating husband, and divorce or RAAC, with some including violence against the cheater and lover, or not, ... you might find the audience wishing for BTB in a story is far greater. I place it at about 40% when a story involves extra-martial sex.

Quite possible! Someone would have to run a similar analysis on a few more stories that are more cheating-focussed, and it's not going to be me

But your analysis of misogynists stat may be about right. There are those here in the AH who think that ANY and EVERY disparaging remark about a woman is misogynistic. But I disagree. Many hateful comments might come from a man who loves and respects women, but truly HATES those who cheat. It doesn't make them misogynists when they've framed their opinions around targeting a specific type of woman for a very specific reason.

IMO, they believe in marriage and that sex should be exclusively between husband and wife. That doesn't make them misogynists anymore that a wife who HATES husbands who cheat is a misandrist. They hate CHEATERS, not the entire opposite sex.

I did my best to separate out the "Cheating is the worst of all sins," comments from the "Women are the worst of all sinners," comments.

I feel pretty confident in the ~5% number from this comment cohort, but it could be that a more cheating-focused story would draw out more rage toward women, and not just individual woman characters.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

Add it to the notebook!

This notebook keeps growing.

@PennyThompson - Mind if I use "Penny's" instead of "Wendy's" to avoid Trademark issues?

 

[PennyThompson]

This notebook keeps growing.

@PennyThompson - Mind if I use "Penny's" instead of "Wendy's" to avoid Trademark issues?

I would be honored... I think

 

[Actingup]

This notebook keeps growing.

@PennyThompson - Mind if I use "Penny's" instead of "Wendy's" to avoid Trademark issues?

Where's the pre-order link?

IMO, they believe in marriage and that sex should be exclusively between husband and wife. That doesn't make them misogynists anymore that a wife who HATES husbands who cheat is a misandrist. They hate CHEATERS, not the entire opposite sex.

Yes, totally. There are misogynists in LW, but there are those who are most concerned with justice and morality, and often they are on different sides of a debate. That's what I got out of my earlier 'Game of Snooker'. There were those that thought that the female MC was terrifying and to be avoided at all costs, and those who thought that she was a plucky heroine who was fully justified in her actions, and sometimes they argued with each other in the comments:

It was a good story, but as another commenter said, I'd never fully trust her. She seemed a little too smooth to me, and sitting beside her while she orchestrated what turned out to be three murders should give anyone pause.

vs

It was all a matter of survival, and Catherine was resourceful enough to turn everything to her benefit, which was only to be free of the threat of harm and death. She couldn't have escaped any other way. Does that make her a bad person? Not in my book. It just means she is not a victim. That's a separate thing from being able to trust her, especially if she puts her trust in Matt. And it's my belief that the most important thing in any relationship, is trust and honesty.

 

[PennyThompson]

Where's the pre-order link?

Yes, totally. There are misogynists in LW, but there are those who are most concerned with justice and morality, and often they are on different sides of a debate. That's what I got out of my earlier 'Game of Snooker'. There were those that thought that the female MC was terrifying and to be avoided at all costs, and those who thought that she was a plucky heroine who was fully justified in her actions, and sometimes they argued with each other in the comments:

It was a good story, but as another commenter said, I'd never fully trust her. She seemed a little too smooth to me, and sitting beside her while she orchestrated what turned out to be three murders should give anyone pause.

vs

It was all a matter of survival, and Catherine was resourceful enough to turn everything to her benefit, which was only to be free of the threat of harm and death. She couldn't have escaped any other way. Does that make her a bad person? Not in my book. It just means she is not a victim. That's a separate thing from being able to trust her, especially if she puts her trust in Matt. And it's my belief that the most important thing in any relationship, is trust and honesty.

I need to go back and read that one, I only know Catherine as a slightly scary but undeniably sexy soon-to-be-mommy

 

[Actingup]

I couldn't if I tried. I'm just not wired like that, but spending a month on something that'll get 2 comments total is so depressing sometimes.

Two different versions of soul-destroying work. I think that writing formulaic stuff just to be popular would pale into depression more quickly though.

My most recent story has only 4 comments (and a comment from me) and that's brought me back to earth!

 

[AwkwardMD]

Two different versions of soul-destroying work. I think that writing formulaic stuff just to be popular would pale into depression more quickly though.

My most recent story has only 4 comments (and a comment from me) and that's brought me back to earth!

Most of the time I'm fine puttering along in my vacuum, creating what I want to create. Every once in a while, though, I get exposed to other writers experiences and I'm crushed.

I know I get good views. I have good fans. Most of my stuff isn't bereft of attention. I just get a little down about it sometimes.

 

[Actingup]

Most of the time I'm fine puttering along in my vacuum, creating what I want to create. Every once in a while, though, I get exposed to other writers experiences and I'm crushed.

I know I get good views. I have good fans. Most of my stuff isn't bereft of attention. I just get a little down about it sometimes.

That's kind of sobering and humbling coming from such a widely read and well respected writer as you. I guess it's a reminder that none of us are sitting too loftily on our pedestals to be unaffected by these matters.

 

[iwatchus]

Every once in a while, though, I get exposed to other writers experiences and I'm crushed.

I think this is why I ended up writing the T/I story. I now know I can get 80K views and 100+ favorites (and 2k votes) in a few weeks by investing four hours of time into a crap story. Having seen the comments from this one, it would have done even better if I had been willing to grovel in the slime a little deeper.

I think almost any writer can do it if they are willing to write to the crowd. I won't do it again.