A New Resolution: Comment on every story I finish.

[TheRedChamber]

We all complain that we'd like more comments on our stories. With that in mind, I've decided to make a rule that every story that I finish, I must comment on. It doesn't need to be a long comment, just a sentence or two, but I must give some kind of thought back. I've been trying to wear the reader's hat as much as possible and not get into giving technical feedback unless I really really can't stop myself. The nice thing is what goes around, comes around and I've already had a couple of newish authors follow me after I left a sentence or two on their story.

I'm also experimenting with not looking at the existing rating and giving fours for stories which are not *that* great but have at least something going for them. My usual practice would be to not vote if I didn't think I it was worth a five.

I'm not sure how long I can keep this up, but at the moment...feels good.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

Nice experiment! I too want to start leaving comments but I often find it hard to be objective if a story isn’t hitting my interests.

For the 4 stars, are you explaining what would make the story a 5 in your eyes?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

We all complain that we'd like more comments on our stories. With that in mind, I've decided to make a rule that every story that I finish, I must comment on. It doesn't need to be a long comment, just a sentence or two, but I must give some kind of thought back. I've been trying to wear the reader's hat as much as possible and not get into giving technical feedback unless I really really can't stop myself. The nice thing is what goes around, comes around and I've already had a couple of newish authors follow me after I left a sentence or two on their story.

I'm also experimenting with not looking at the existing rating and giving fours for stories which are not *that* great but have at least something going for them. My usual practice would be to not vote if I didn't think I it was worth a five.

I'm not sure how long I can keep this up, but at the moment...feels good.

I don't want to step on your positivity, but you needing to make a resolution to do that, tells volumes about how messed up this whole process is.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't want to step on your positivity, but you needing to make a resolution to do that, tells volumes about how messed up this whole process is.

It's on the readers though, surely, to comment? I think we all agree, we want to see a much more interactive comment mechanism, but your comment is suggesting there's a "process" someone has to go through. There isn't a process - readers either comment, or they don't. Nobody can make them.

Well, good writing can solicit comments, so maybe there is someone who can influence the feedback they get...

I agree with @TheRedChamber, there's a knock on effect. Someone from here commented on an older story of mine, someone else must have seen the comment and left another comment on the same story, and I got four new followers in the same time-frame. That can only be from readers seeing those comments on display pages somewhere, since I haven't released a new story for a while.

 

[Carnevil9]

I don't want to step on your positivity, but you needing to make a resolution to do that, tells volumes about how messed up this whole process is.

I used to belong to a writing site where you earned points by commenting on stories. When you earned enough points, you were allowed to post your own story. I think it worked out to about five or maybe ten comments until you could post your own. It certainly worked well to keep the community engaged and lots of feedback flowing. Alas, that site is no more.

 

[SimonDoom]

We all complain that we'd like more comments on our stories. With that in mind, I've decided to make a rule that every story that I finish, I must comment on. It doesn't need to be a long comment, just a sentence or two, but I must give some kind of thought back. I've been trying to wear the reader's hat as much as possible and not get into giving technical feedback unless I really really can't stop myself. The nice thing is what goes around, comes around and I've already had a couple of newish authors follow me after I left a sentence or two on their story.

Every little bit of engagement has the potential of increasing engagement with one's stories by readers. That's my experience. This is a good idea, not just as a courtesy to other authors but for promotion of one's own stories.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I used to belong to a writing site where you earned points by commenting on stories. When you earned enough points, you were allowed to post your own story. I think it worked out to about five or maybe ten comments until you could post your own. It certainly worked well to keep the community engaged and lots of feedback flowing. Alas, that site is no more.

That's quite an interesting idea. I would have loved to see how much of those comments were really constructive.

It's on the readers though, surely, to comment? I think we all agree, we want to see a much more interactive comment mechanism, but your comment is suggesting there's a "process" someone has to go through. There isn't a process - readers either comment, or they don't. Nobody can make them.

"process" is definitely not the word I meant to use, at least not in that sense. Maybe "system" would have been a more appropriate word. My point stands though. Along with some minor ones, there are at least two major reasons why there will never be any notable feedback on most of our stories, sad as that is.

 

[Lifestyle66]

We all complain that we'd like more comments on our stories. With that in mind, I've decided to make a rule that every story that I finish, I must comment on. It doesn't need to be a long comment, just a sentence or two, but I must give some kind of thought back. I've been trying to wear the reader's hat as much as possible and not get into giving technical feedback unless I really really can't stop myself. The nice thing is what goes around, comes around and I've already had a couple of newish authors follow me after I left a sentence or two on their story.

I'm also experimenting with not looking at the existing rating and giving fours for stories which are not *that* great but have at least something going for them. My usual practice would be to not vote if I didn't think I it was worth a five.

I'm not sure how long I can keep this up, but at the moment...feels good.

There's a faction here in the AH which believes that if you give their stories anything but a 5, then you're a down-voting troll helping to take away their Red-H.

Not me. You can 1-bomb all of my stories for all I care. But I've read this sentiment from others here in the past. So, be careful. You might make enemies with that approach.

 

[Carnevil9]

That's quite an interesting idea. I would have loved to see how much of those comments were really constructive.

They were pretty much all constructive, or at least thoughtful. This was a community full of writers, and everyone read each others stories and commented as writers. There were some non-writer readers, too, but they rarely commented. This wasn't an erotica site, though, so that may have provided a different dynamic than here as well.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

This wasn't an erotica site, though, so that may have provided a different dynamic than here as well.

Ah, that's probably why
Still, that's an interesting concept.

 

[astuffedshirt_perv]

I try to comment, but it seems that "loved it, fantastic" is so plain as to be barely worth it. I would like to point out how the story failed to play exactly to my tastes, but it isn't my story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

They were pretty much all constructive, or at least thoughtful. This was a community full of writers, and everyone read each others stories and commented as writers. There were some non-writer readers, too, but they rarely commented. This wasn't an erotica site, though, so that may have provided a different dynamic than here as well.

There's a bunch of major differences between a literary, writer oriented site and a reader oriented erotica site. Different purposes, different results (different strokes for different folks)... sigh.

A big improvement here, I reckon, would be some of comment thread capability, so a conversation of sorts could take place tor those writers who wanted to opt in. In most categories that would be fairly civilised, I think, but how the hell would you moderate over there -----> ?

In any event, I think the take-up would be limited - given that most readers seem to sit inside the great bell curve of saying nothing, which is what they mostly say now. I can't see that changing much, unfortunately.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't want to step on your positivity, but you needing to make a resolution to do that, tells volumes about how messed up this whole process is.

For the win...

 

[lovecraft68]

There's a faction here in the AH which believes that if you give their stories anything but a 5, then you're a down-voting troll helping to take away their Red-H.

Not me. You can 1-bomb all of my stories for all I care. But I've read this sentiment from others here in the past. So, be careful. You might make enemies with that approach.

True

There is also a school of thought that is sad, but true, that sometimes if someone here comments on a story and posters or ghosters here don't like that person, they will then bomb that story just because the other person liked it.

The only time I ever comment on a contest story is sending a feedback through the portal and let them know what I think. I don't want to get anyone any troll bombs.

I don't think its as bad now, but there was a time when a different crowd was here that me commenting on a story was the kiss of death.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

There's a bunch of major differences between a literary, writer oriented site and a reader oriented erotica site. Different purposes, different results (different strokes for different folks)... sigh.

A big improvement here, I reckon, would be some of comment thread capability, so a conversation of sorts could take place tor those writers who wanted to opt in. In most categories that would be fairly civilised, I think, but how the hell would you moderate over there -----> ?

In any event, I think the take-up would be limited - given that most readers seem to sit inside the great bell curve of saying nothing, which is what they mostly say now. I can't see that changing much, unfortunately.

Literotica (same as other story sites, to be fair) not facilitating readers' feedback is one major reason why we aren't getting enough of it. In order to make things better, giving feedback should be instantaneous and interactive. You need to make giving feedback as easy and gratifying as possible to motivate readers. Lit admins are clearly not interested in doing that, so yeah, tough luck.

But why are readers so reluctant to give their feedback? Why is it so hard to leave some feedback on a story you took the time to read; why is it so hard to spend a couple of minutes on that, so much so that even authors need to apparently make resolutions to make themselves do that?

The answer is surprisingly simple. It is actually our fault. We have devalued our stories so much that it's no wonder readers aren't appreciating them anywhere nearly enough. We offer them for free, which is fine by itself, but we are also so, so overproducing them. So so much. There are tens of thousands of stories on this site alone. But more than that, there are 150+ stories being published every day. Even the most avid readers can't read more than like 10-15 stories per day, and for the average reader, that's probably like one story per day or so. So readers have to be very harsh when they sift through them, discarding them left and right, and that is why they rarely appreciate them. It's impossible to appreciate something you posess in such abundance.
To borrow Sir Isaac Newton's famous line - sort of, it's like coming to the beach and spotting a pretty pebble. You pick it up and give it a look... and then you flick it away. There are so many pebbles on this beach, so many pretty ones even, so there is nothing really special about this one, nothing you can truly appreciate. And new pebbles are being shoveled in every day. If you find a ruby or a diamond, well yeah, those you will appreciate, but those are really fucking rare.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Nice experiment! I too want to start leaving comments but I often find it hard to be objective if a story isn’t hitting my interests.

The rule says I have to finish a story to be required to comment. I can always bail early on when it becomes clear it just isn't going to be my thing.

For the 4 stars, are you explaining what would make the story a 5 in your eyes?

i'm of the view that says I should vote but votes can be anonymous. So I'm not usually drawing attention to how many stars I've given. For a four star comment though, I probably am suggesting some way in which the story could be improve or how it just didn't click for me. If I'm listing a whole bunch of issues but still givign it five stars I might clearly say that's what I've given it.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I try to comment, but it seems that "loved it, fantastic" is so plain as to be barely worth it. I would like to point out how the story failed to play exactly to my tastes, but it isn't my story.

Honestly, I'm happy to recieve a 'loved it, fantastic' on my own stories, so why not say the same thing to others when it applies.

There is also a school of thought that is sad, but true, that sometimes if someone here comments on a story and posters or ghosters here don't like that person, they will then bomb that story just because the other person liked it.

That could happen, but I'm of the opinion that it's better just to go out there and be nice than worry overmuch about what could happen. If I had evidence it was happening, I might rethink things, but I'm not going to worry over a hypethetical.

The only time I ever comment on a contest story is sending a feedback through the portal and let them know what I think. I don't want to get anyone any troll bombs.

I don't think its as bad now, but there was a time when a different crowd was here that me commenting on a story was the kiss of death.

That's a reasonable point - I probably shouldn't comment on any story in a contest I'm already taking part in. For contests I'm not entering I don't see a problem. You are a great deal better know that I am, so your name attached to someone else's story probably has more effect (for good or ill) than mine ever will.

There's a faction here in the AH which believes that if you give their stories anything but a 5, then you're a down-voting troll helping to take away their Red-H.

My scoring metric runs
5: Anything reasonably well written and enjoyable enough to finish.
4: Anything with very obvious technical or other problems, but which still has enough 'genuine fantasy' feel about it to be worth encouraging.
That is all.
So the Red-H AH crowd on here can rest easy. Your story probably got a 5 from me. I'm still giving them away like candy.
I would really like there to be a 6 stars options for stories which genuinely blow me away, but that's a different conversation.

I don't want to step on your positivity, but you needing to make a resolution to do that, tells volumes about how messed up this whole process is.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the 'process'. The comment box is right there. It's very easy to write a comment, it's just that I frequently didn't - for a number of reasons. It can be hard of thinking up something pithy to say. It can be hard to wrestle with what as wrong (or less than perfect) with a story and express that to an author in a polite way, and so on...

 

[ronde]

There is another reason for the lack of comments on stories. I know for a fact that some readers won't open a story that isn't rated at least 4.5, and I would assume other readers have a similar threshold. If all you read are "good" stories, it's probably difficult to leave a comment other than that the reader liked the story. That depends upon the genre, but is probably at least a factor in the number of comment a given story gets.

I think another reason is the relative popularity on the site for an author in a particular genre. I doubt there are many readers who go through the entire new story list every day or even every week. They look for an author they recognize and read that story, then go on to find another. They're interested in reading their favorite authors in their favorite genre and don't want to spend the time to comment.

I also think a lot of people believe in the old saying, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." I know there are certain genre where it seems the opposite is true, but for the most part, readers don't want to upset an author.

 

[THBGato]

We all complain that we'd like more comments on our stories. With that in mind, I've decided to make a rule that every story that I finish, I must comment on. It doesn't need to be a long comment, just a sentence or two, but I must give some kind of thought back. I've been trying to wear the reader's hat as much as possible and not get into giving technical feedback unless I really really can't stop myself. The nice thing is what goes around, comes around and I've already had a couple of newish authors follow me after I left a sentence or two on their story.

Good for you! I've been doing the same (I'm about to breach 400 comments - I joined Lit in January). Like you, I've found I've picked up followers that way too, though that wasn't my motivation. I was thinking more along the lines of "do as you would be done by".

 

[AchtungNight]

Good luck with your resolution. If you want to include my stories in your reading, your feedback is welcome.

 

[Bazzle]

I used to belong to a writing site where you earned points by commenting on stories. When you earned enough points, you were allowed to post your own story. I think it worked out to about five or maybe ten comments until you could post your own. It certainly worked well to keep the community engaged and lots of feedback flowing. Alas, that site is no more.

I post my stories at a website where people need to keep their interaction levels up.

So my stories literally get a "thanks" as a comment.

So where people earn points for comments, does make it joke.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the 'process'. The comment box is right there. It's very easy to write a comment, it's just that I frequently didn't - for a number of reasons. It can be hard of thinking up something pithy to say. It can be hard to wrestle with what as wrong (or less than perfect) with a story and express that to an author in a polite way, and so on...

Yeah, "process" wasn't really the word I meant to use. My point still stands though. You read a story. Maybe the story was great, maybe it was just okay, but it shouldn't have sucked since you stuck till the end. Depending on the size, reading took anywhere from 15 minutes to, say, 2-3 hours. As an author, you know how much time and effort a story takes. You know how much we authors crave feedback. Leaving at least some feedback should be a must as a sign of appreciation towards the author. If you loved the story, you should leave a more thoughtful comment even. Yet it so rarely happens.

As I already said in this thread in more detail, it's a sign that even we who should know better do not really appreciate these stories. It's only natural considering they are offered for free and in such overwhelming abundance.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've been trying to leave more comments over the last year. I'm horribly fussy, so it's actually rare I finish a story and feel I enjoyed it.

Once I found a bit on the Lit category home page that had 'Most recent comments' and certainly a few comments encouraged me to read certain stories.

Given how rare both votes and comments are in my categories, I figure any generic complimentary comment will be well received, if I can't think of anything better. I certainly like them much better than nothing! Also it means those authors may click on my username, and if I liked their stories, it's plausible they may like mine.

Two readers atm have been working their way through my entire catalogue (70 stories), Favouriting a few a day and have left a couple comments. It's very cool.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

I try to comment, but it seems that "loved it, fantastic" is so plain as to be barely worth it. I would like to point out how the story failed to play exactly to my tastes, but it isn't my story.

I really struggle with this. There's a very good author on Lit that writes about things well outside of my experience and which in the ordinary course of events I would never pick up. I don't have much sympathy with their MCs, so it's kind of 5* for the writing but 2* for the meat of the story. I don't want to discourage them so I don't comment - which also feels a bit dishonest.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

Two readers atm have been working their way through my entire catalogue (70 stories), Favouriting a few a day and have left a couple comments. It's very cool

Yes! I've spotted a bit of this behaviour and it's very encouraging to think that they'll wade through 320k words of my work and upvote things on the way.