Being good & being popular

[dr_mabeuse]

I was wondering what to do to raise my reader rating when it occurred to me: just how popular do you want to be?
Should earning a perfect 5 rating be the goal every time you write?
Is being popular the same as being good? If not, then how do you know if you're any good?

Readers can rate you down for any number of reasons. They may not like your subject, or your style, or your character's name. How many of these things are you willing to change for the sake of a higher rating?

So I'm interested in hearing how other people understand and use these ratings,

---dr.M.

 

[Pookie]

I like to think that writing good stories will make you popular. You should not have to sacrifice something "good" in your story to become "popular". I see being "popular" a result of writing "good" stories.

Some readers will give you a low rating no matter what you do. I had a reader tell me in their feedback that they were going to give me a "1" because of all the "incest crap" in one of my stories. He stated that if the incest wasn't in the story that he would have given me a "5". I'm not about to change my story just for that reader's benefit so I can be popular with that reader. The humorous part of the situation was that the story was clearly labeled as an incest story.

If your stories are good, you will become popular. You won't become a good writer by trying to be popular. Stick to improving your writing style. Its very important to know the audience you are writing for as well.

I try reading stories by excellent writers as often as I can, looking for the things they do to make their stories fun to read. Thats what made them popular to begin with.

If you write good stories, the popularity will come with it. Remember, the rating here is not everything. I have read some excellent stories by excellent writers that do not receive the scores I think they deserve. Some stories at the top of the lists are not nearly as "good", in my opinion, as some that are ranked below them. Just focus on improving your writing and the popularity will come. That should be the goal of any author, learning and improving from story to story.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

For me, I know some stories are much better than others.

My story Haunted Lover http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=67074 is a much better story than a stroke story I wrote as an experiment in writing for other people's requests. (Megan My Dear, still pending). This one is sensual, subtle and sexy.

When I write, I usually have a purpose...am I here to write a stroke story to get myself and my readers off? Am I here to explore a certain type of sex?

The quality of my writing can vary from piece to piece, but that's my opinion. Some of what I thought were better stories have lower ratings than those stories that I thought weren't as great. So I write for myself, aim for quality and most of the time I think I get there. And if my rating reflects it, so much the better.

 

[sirhugs]

Ratings are overrrated. So much depends on the unknown, unseen rater. If they just want " stroke" stories, your best complex narrative will score low. If they like chapter stories, and yours is a single scene, you score low. If they like a single paragraph of your least satisfactory effrt ( from your own view), they vote and score you high.

Incest will always get more hits. But more votes? Who knows.

I agree that writrting well is good but ultimately, if one person enjoys my story, I am a success, regardles of the "score".

 

[NaughtyMike]

You can not achieve a perfect five. People read at this site for different reasons. Some look for romance novels, and secondary character developement. Others are more concerned about plot and whacking material. Some like long stories, some short stories.

I write what I feel like writing, although I do keep the audience in mind, I only keep in mind my loyal fans, those who bother to e-mail me. I feed off their e-mails.

My first goal was to present a main charcater's life story. I am almost done with that, I have two first person stories to go. I will kill off my main character in first person.

Once that is complete the people whose life he touched... will have spin off autobiographies. They will tell some of the same tales, but from a different point of view.

At least one spin off character will be written by someone other than myself.... that is the woman responsible for my death.

While the stories may not rate a "5" -I am happy to know I am doing something different here and there will be a few avid fans who will enjoy the fuck out of this, and I am certain to have copy cat authors. That will give me real writer satisfaction, far more than any vote tally by the crowd who frequent this site.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Depends on how you look at it. Some writers here write good stroke stories, but they have no realism or literary value. SOme write stories that have almost all value, but little stroke appeal.
I always aim for a five, but I merely aim for it by trying to spice up the sex scenes, while the storyline, etc. are not sacrificed. I've noticed, however, that my highest rated story just happens to be more stroke-styled than anything else.

 

[Guest]

So I'm interested in hearing how other people understand and use these ratings,

---dr.M.

I find that the story ratings don't correlate very well with my own taste. Also, the best kind of story for me is a "Love it or Hate it" story (movies too). Trouble is, a story with 100 1's and 100 5's gets the same as one that gets 200 3's. So you can't even tell how a strong a reaction a story gets.

 

[Whispersecret]

Great questions.

Should earning a perfect 5 rating be the goal every time you write?
Personally, while the scores are interesting to me and it's gratifying when I get high votes, I don't write with the goal of achieving fives. If I did, I'd be writing incest stroke stories, I think. I don't think my stories have enough hot sex in them to really rate highly.

Is being popular the same as being good?
No, no, a thousand times no. I see many stories at the top of the list that are, in my opinion, bad, boring, and banal.

...how do you know if you're any good?
The feedback I get from readers makes me FEEL as if I'm good. Also, when people I know and respect tell me I've written something good, I feel I've accomplished something, but whether I'm actually good or not will always be a matter of opinion.

Personally, I feel a story of mine is good if I can go back and read it weeks, months, or years later and still smile at the end and feel proud that I wrote it.

 

[Quasimodem]

Now, where have I overheard this question discussed before?

Oh, yeah! Girl's High School Sex Education.

 

[TheEarl]

I write some which are popular and some which are good (well quite good anyway). Depends how I feel at the time, but popular and good very rarely mix. Jack of all trades...

The Earl