A harmless question

[jehoram]

I'll give a story either a 4 or a 5, or I won't rate it at all. IMO, there's nothing wrong with a 4; you're telling the author that it was a good story, even if it might not come up to the level of excellence that a 5 would indicate.

All the ratings tell an author is whether his or her idea of eroticism matches the mainstream. I guess that's useful for some people, if they want to tailor their writing to the readership rather than their own tastes.

I've written a few "series stories" following a common theme. The ratings have been all over the map, but I can't really see a difference in the quality of the stories. So I don't worry about it very much.

 

[GroverLang]

I would rather get an honest vote and a comment then the thousands of silent reads. Apparently the story did not touch them enough to either favorite it, vote on it or leave a comment.

James

I must admit I find it strange that when someone has got to the end of a story they can’t move down slightly and click on a star. A question that will never be answered only guessed at.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Same here, I'm pretty forgiving with grammar if the story is interesting, so for me to get put off it has to be pretty bad.

There are others that haven't voted on or left a comment, yet hit the back button so fast the I thought I was in a time warp. Horrid spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Just unreadable. And I wonder how they got published.

 

[lovecraft68]

There are others that haven't voted on or left a comment, yet hit the back button so fast the I thought I was in a time warp. Horrid spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Just unreadable. And I wonder how they got published.

They get published here because its a free site with virtually no screening process.

And I don't think bad grammar is a reason Laurel will kick back a story

 

[Rustyoznail]

They get published here because its a free site with virtually no screening process.

And I don't think bad grammar is a reason Laurel will kick back a story

Yes it is. I've edited a couple of rippers from supposedly native (well, American) English speakers that were rejected because of their poor grammar.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yes it is. I've edited a couple of rippers from supposedly native (well, American) English speakers that were rejected because of their poor grammar.

That's the first time I've heard that.

I know one person who told me a few years ago they had one kicked back because of dialogue tags....as in he had none. But that's an extreme

I wonder what the 'limit' is before its deemed that bad, or it was a case of her eyes happened to fall on just the right spot because there are some pretty shoddy stories that can be found here.

 

[Rustyoznail]

That's the first time I've heard that.

I know one person who told me a few years ago they had one kicked back because of dialogue tags....as in he had none. But that's an extreme

I wonder what the 'limit' is before its deemed that bad, or it was a case of her eyes happened to fall on just the right spot because there are some pretty shoddy stories that can be found here.

It was unreadable. Sentences ran on forever, grammar was horrible. The funny thing was he had submitted a couple of shorter stories in fetish which were published. This one was I/T with a very strong water sports bent, so I guess that may be why it received extra attention.

My first, pretty light effort got returned, along with the second. It then became a matter of pride for me to get it published, and I seriously demolished it and put it back together. It’s sitting around 4.4 the last time I looked, but geez it took a while.

 

[SimonDoom]

I must admit I find it strange that when someone has got to the end of a story they can’t move down slightly and click on a star. A question that will never be answered only guessed at.

Sometimes I don't vote because I can't make up my mind. I may really like one thing about it, but not another, and I can't settle on a number.

Sometimes I feel like giving a story a 4 because I feel I can't give it a 5, but if it's on the 4.5 bubble I'll decline to vote because I don't want to knock it out of its perch, especially if I think it genuinely deserves about a 4.5.

Sometimes I forget to vote.

There's not much here that I find strange, except the really obsessive trolling and downvoting behavior by some readers.

 

[GroverLang]

They get published here because its a free site with virtually no screening process.

And I don't think bad grammar is a reason Laurel will kick back a story

My first story was sent back, not because of any spelling errors, but for punctuation. A good friend of mine, who’s a better writer than I’ll ever be, also had her first offering sent back for the same reasons.

Which makes it really annoying when you (attempt to) read some of the stories on here, and not just the older ones, that are much worse than either of our stories. I think Laurel must scan for the obvious infractions and probably the volume on that particular day has an effect.

One problem regarding a story getting through, and there are many as bad as the ones Rustyoznail has referred to, is the writer thinks there’s nothing wrong with their writing and plods on.

As for Lovecraft68, and I speak as a fan, you are too hard on yourself when you refer to your inadequacies. But I do think you have an automatic pass from Laurel, as do many other very good writers, and deservedly so.

 

[Damoiselle]

Personally, when I'm reviewing another story, I tend to only vote if I liked it, in which case it gets a 5. If I don't like it, I leave it alone. This is because I know how much I'm addicted to looking at the red Hs. Do unto others, and all that.

I was so nervous when my most recent story sort of floundered around a 3.5 for a bit longer than usual.

 

[jsmiam]

If we set the stage that we have a story with a score higher than a 4, I still say to take it in stride.

I’ve always noticed some degree of a difference in my scores based on how well I did my proofreading and polishing. The ones with fewer typos, miss steaks (ha, see what I did there?) in names or continuity, and yes, things your English teacher chastised you for tend to have slightly, but noticeable score differences.

I’ve always felt that there are grammar police out there who are saying, “not bad, but I’ll give you a 4. Consider that my digital way of circling your error in red ink!”

In a twisted way I accept it, even if ultimately the 4 isn’t helping the score.

Also, (math nerd warning), a 4 pulls down your score far less (4 times less in fact) than a one bomb. So yes, it stings, but if my story were better, I’d get less four scores.

I feel a math nerd post coming on. Several recent threads came out from people with new stories (a.k.a not a lot of votes) wondering if the illuminati were after them. (They’re not. It’s because they have low vote counts)

 

[GroverLang]

If we set the stage that we have a story with a score higher than a 4, I still say to take it in stride.

I’ve always felt that there are grammar police out there who are saying, “not bad, but I’ll give you a 4. Consider that my digital way of circling your error in red ink!”

Also, (math nerd warning), a 4 pulls down your score far less (4 times less in fact) than a one bomb. So yes, it stings, but if my story were better, I’d get less four scores.

If you have a score of more than 4 be pleased with yourself (but not satisfied, work to improve) it’s just your story has received more 4’s than 5’s. If it’s received 1’s or 2’s then you should be even more pleased because it means the majority of your votes were 5’s.

The first consideration should be whether the story was enjoyable and if so did any errors affect your enjoyment. That’s the difference between a 5 and 4 for me. If I can’t give a story a 4 then I don’t vote.

Getting a 4 stings because a 4 means the reader liked the story but not enough to justify a 5. So you should look at why. The 1 or 2 doesn’t sting because it means they probably didn’t read the story or if they did they had already made their mind up which star they were going to click.

 

[ElectricBlue]

In a twisted way I accept it, even if ultimately the 4 isn’t helping the score.

It is helping the score in the sense that it's setting up a "more accurate" rating for that story. Seeing a 4.20 vs a 4.70 tells me something about those stories if they're by the same author, and to a much lesser extent one author compared to another.

Human behaviour, en masse, does tell you something, I think, and the voting behaviour across Lit demonstrates that. Sure, there are exceptions, but I generally find the range of scores in a writer's body of work gives a reasonable idea of the relative worth of their stories, measured against each other.