Baffling Comment

[BewareTheChain]

I received a comment that refered to my most recent story as "unrealistic" and lacking in "instructional value in hunting sexual satisfaction and sexual partners or learning new sexual techniques."

It's a sci-fi story filled with pseudoscience and overdramatic encounters that I wrote for fun and entertainment, not instruction. I'm not very good at navigating this site, so I'm confused as to whether this is just a confused reader, or if by some means I managed to mislead people with the tags and so forth. Has this happened to anyone else? I submitted it under the "Sci-Fi & Fantasy" category, so I'm genuinely struggling to see what the issue is.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Yeah, people leave weird comments. I got one once complaining about the fact that the main character has an ethnic name that's reflective of his heritage. Got another that just said "this boy dumb". It's no biggie. Put as much effort into understanding it as they did into writing it, shrug your shoulders and drop it in your mental trashcan.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Maybe they misclicked and thought they were in the how to sections instead of sci-fi/fantasy.

 

[JGittes]

I know it's easy to take comments personally, especially when you're first starting out. It is difficult to do when you first publish here, but developing a 'thick skin' regarding comments will make your writing life less stressful.

Readers here have many different criteria for judging a story and leaving a comment. The vast majority, I'd guess around 75%, are looking for a stimulating erotic read that leads to a 'happy ending' within their specific reading timeframe. And many readers haven't fully understood that fiction means 'not real.'

As authors, we have a responsibility (to the best of our ability) to create stories in which the suspension of disbelief feels integral, almost unnoticed. I think most readers come to our stories wanting to believe in the worlds we create, but a few have other agendas.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Given it's a 23-page hucow story, I can't imagine it's anything other than shitposting, or just an incredibly confused person. I wouldn't read into it.

Maybe they misclicked and thought they were in the how to sections instead of sci-fi/fantasy.

Yeah, these Hucow How-To articles have been really blowing up lately, so maybe it could be that...

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Given it's a 23-page ...

That's an AutoNope for me.

But based on the rest of your post, the comment may be on target.

 

[TheLobster]

Yeah, these Hucow How-To articles have been really blowing up lately, so maybe it could be that...

I heard that milking farms are all the rage these days.

 

[Katie_Mae]

so I'm genuinely struggling to see what the issue is.

Assuming you're asking to actually ask (weird thing to say, sometimes people ask questions for reasons other than them being answered, and it can be hard to tell) the person is complaining that your story is long and boring.

I think they might be trying to be funny, but it's a bit hard to tell.

They're trying to say "Your story is long and boring, stories this long shouldn't be unrealistic fiction and instead should be something more instructional..."

It's still strange. They knew it was fiction when they clicked, and they saw how long it was. You tagged it long story and slow burn.

No, there was nothing wrong with your categorisation/title/description/tagging etc. You'll get stupid comments no matter what (unless you turn off commenting)

I wonder if they really think getting sexual education from a story about a scientist hucowifying his personal nemesis is a possibility.

EDIT: actually, I thought again. A better way to interpret their comment might be "I saw a story with a fun premise, and clicked on it with the expectation of suspending my disbelief for a fun romp through a a few thousand words. I saw it was practically a novel and noped out. I'm not going to waste that much time on some silly fun, if I read something that long, I better be learning something from it."
But honestly, comments like this you can be squinting at wondering what they mean for ages.

 

[ronde]

I received a comment that refered to my most recent story as "unrealistic" and lacking in "instructional value in hunting sexual satisfaction and sexual partners or learning new sexual techniques."

It's a sci-fi story filled with pseudoscience and overdramatic encounters that I wrote for fun and entertainment, not instruction. I'm not very good at navigating this site, so I'm confused as to whether this is just a confused reader, or if by some means I managed to mislead people with the tags and so forth. Has this happened to anyone else? I submitted it under the "Sci-Fi & Fantasy" category, so I'm genuinely struggling to see what the issue is.

All you've done is found one reader who had his/her own ideas about how the story should play out before they began reading it. When it didn't turn out that way, they felt compelled to tell you how you should have written your story. Chances are, that one reader has never attempted to write anything.

I've gotten comments that my story was "too long", "too short", "needs more chapters", and "you didn't have the guy get the girl pregnant". Just chalk it up to the universal perversity of a few readers and write your next story as you want to write it.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

I've often thought of writing a story "for instructional value." Do any already exist? Maybe that should be a contest idea.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I've often thought of writing a story "for instructional value." Do any already exist? Maybe that should be a contest idea.

There's an entire How To category for things like that. Though I'm not sure if those include "instructional" stories, or are primarily articles.

 

[StillStunned]

I've often thought of writing a story "for instructional value." Do any already exist? Maybe that should be a contest idea.

One of my currently active WIPs features a nerd who has to learn to have sex to save the planet.

It makes sense within the story. Not much, but enough.

 

[TheLobster]

One of my currently active WIPs features a nerd who has to learn to have sex to save the planet.

It makes sense within the story. Not much, but enough.

Welp, we’re all doomed then.

 

[old_prof]

I've often thought of writing a story "for instructional value." Do any already exist? Maybe that should be a contest idea.

I got a comment on a story of mine (The Important Days) that it should be given out as a how to. Does that count?

 

[Ianus4]

I don't think you should worry about it, your story is simply brilliant.