Anonymous feedback

[Alex De Kok]

The anonymous feedback facility that Literotica provides is pretty much a Good Thing, enabling those who might otherwise not have provided feedback to we writers to do so. At the same time however it's frustrating when a reader raises a point which I might have wished to respond to but don't know where to send the response. I've responded to some of you who have provided return addresses but there are one or two anonymous points I'd like to address, so here goes. You know who you are!

Texture - a good point and one I'll try to bear more in mind in the future.

Matt and Karen ('Aunt Ellen' Chapter 2) - I originally had no intention of writing anything about Matt and Karen but the comments started me thinking. It's almost ready and will be submitted soon.

'Kate' and 'Meg' - These tales were originally linked, as one or two of you have surmised. They were to form two parts of a trilogy, from the point of view of each of the protagonists with Mike's viewpoint (never submitted) being the other part. I found it too restricting trying to keep the dialogue and scenario aligned and any spontaneity there might have been in my writing was lost. I was quite fond of the characters so I took the two parts and modified them as separate tales. Enough of you have voted on 'Kate' to get her into the Top Lists (well down, unfortunately) but 'Meg' could do with a few more votes (strong hint).

General - Enough of you have said that you like my work to encourage me to continue. I will be writing more (I think I've sown enough seeds in 'Aunt Ellen' to keep me going for quite a while) BUT my free time for the next six months will be severely restricted. I'll keep on writing when time and the muse permit but don't hold your breath!

Alex

 

[Whispersecret]

I knoew exactly what you're talking about, Alex. I have made a point to reply to every feedback letter I get, if only to thank them for taking the time to write, and to let them know about the stuff I'm working on and when they can expect it.

Recently I received a letter full of attitude which pointed out a "mistake" in my How to Name Your Characters piece. While I REALLY wanted to reply to it, it was anonymous. Probably for good reason. Anyway, here's my reply (so I can get it off my chest!):

Mr./Ms. Anonymous, yes, the bad guy in Back to the Future was named Biff. What's your point? If you had read more carefully, you would have seen that I said that stereotypes attached to names can be overcome.

 

[alexander tzara]

And to "Prince Fucking Charles", who sent me the message, "Your an ugly sack of shit, Mr Tzara, with no discernable talent and a fat arse," I'd just like to say - there's an "i" in discernible and you spelt "you're" wrong. I'll happily edit any more work you see fit to send my way.

 

[Whispersecret]

Hey, Alex, I think you've got a good thing here for us authors. A place where we can respond to feedback we can't reply to, whether it's constructive feedback or just nastiness. Thanks! I doubt the anonymous critics who write us will see it here, but it doesn't matter. Just the thought that they MIGHT is enough for me.

 

[Hecate]

Slightly off topic but ...

... this thread has me wondering...

I did use the anonymous feedback a few times because it is sooo convenient - just tick on the reply button and voilà!

I always signed my "letters" with Hecate, but admit I didn't always put down a reply e-mail... for the following reasons, either I was pretty sure the person I responded to could easy enough find my e-mail addy here on lit if interested, but mailny because I figured there was no response needed to my comments and therefore I wanted to express my understanding (or my wish to facilitate things or ... well, can't come up with the right expression right now, it seems)that I doid not EXPECT a reply, so the author wouldn't have to "bother" with this fan-mail (I admit I usually only spontaneously comment on the goodies by the reply option - the "baddies" take more time to elaborate and I write those using my usual e-mail client so my address is given anyway).


I now am really wondering if it is the "right" way, seeing that you would rather have an "immediate reply" possibility ...

 

[KillerMuffin]

I would like to thank Hecate for that wonderful feedback on the Coming Home story. Thank you!

Someone else sent me a nice bit about how I'm a pretty good writer and it's refreshing to see a story where dick size wasn't mentioned. Thank you

 

[Whispersecret]

I think that the feedback link is great. I just don't like when people use it as a way to "hit and run," and give you no way to make a rebuttal or explain yourself.

Hey, KM, did Hecate like "Coming HOme?" I feel like that was "our story." LOL.

 

[KillerMuffin]

She liked it. I'm surprised it's done so well since it's not incest, lesbian, or a gangbang.

 

[EuropaSpins]

The anonymous feedback has been extremely helpful to me! I had toyed with the idea of sending something in for submission for a long time. Now I'm quite glad that I did. Of course, I've only received positive feedback. I'm sure the demon-seed will get me eventually! (I just hope he wears a condom. I hate it when I have to insist.)

Cheers,
ESpins

 

[christo]

Sometimes I use the anonymous feedback to respond to a story I just liked, not loved, and want to tell the author good job. I know that I love getting feedback, anonymous or otherwise, so if I don't want to get into a correspondance with a writer I'll do in on the QT.

If a story flat-out sucked and was horrible and offensive and stupid, I'd sign my name. You want to hack on someone, have the guts to sign your name.

 

[alexander tzara]

email from anonymous
Madonna has never had any talent. And she\'s always been ugly. Beyond that, she has no formal education. And interviews confirm that she has no intelligence.

Thanks for the pointers, Anonymous. I'm afraid that's not really the kind of indepth background information I was looking for but well done anyway.

 

[HSWriter]

I've found that, for the most part, I have gotten a lot of Anonymous Feedback that just says "Hey, great story..." Well... It's pretty much like the non-Anonymous Feedback I get. But I did recently get one in response to "The Tour Ch.1" that very plainly said "dream on faget".... So, while it can be helpful sometimes, it's also a good place for unintelligent people to express their ignorance...

 

[CAT~~]

I must admit that I have sent anonymous reply notes to authors of stories that I liked or loved. I guess I don't want them to feel obligated to thank me for enjoying their story, but I love getting positive feedback. It always makes me feel good when someone likes my stories.

I do sign my name to emails when I don't like the story, just because it doesn't seem fair to write something negative and then not give the person the chance to have a rebuttal.

Unless they were like this one jerk who went off on me because I said that his story needed a little work. (ie the spelling errors and he kind of got the names of his characters confused...grin) Thankfully, that wasn't on this site, but sometimes the need to be anonymous is good because you have no idea if the person is open to constructive criticism or not.

There are a few writers that I have read posts that they have written here and would feel comfortable sending them emails signed either way. But, that is only after seeing that they open to hearing what others think.

The only other thing you can do, is say nothing if you dislike the story. You know the old adage, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". The silence would be telling if a story wasn't well received.
Didn't mean to ramble on for so long...grin. I sounded like one of those talk shows...LOL!
Cat~~