Commenter wanting me to rewrite a story

[8letters]

One of my brother-sister stories has an ending where the brother and sister don't stay together. The sister at one point lays out all the reasons why their relationship won't work long-term, and in the end she helps her brother and his girlfriend reconcile. I published the story 4 1/2 years ago and it has a 4.72 rating.

I got a comment today:

:
[Things the reader would like to see done differently]
:
I would suggest doing a rewrite and changing it to something more in that vein.

I'm fine with people not liking the way the story ended, but why would anyone think I'd rewrite a 4 1/2 year old story with a 4.72 rating?

 

[oggbashan]

Just ignore them.

 

[KeithD]

Just ignore them.

This. There's no one answer to that question anyway.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I’d suggest they rewrite the story the way they’d like it with my blessing to do so.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Well, in one sense, it’s actually a complement. Maybe a tad unreasonable, but nothing to lose sleep over.

 

[SimonDoom]

Well, in one sense, it’s actually a complement. Maybe a tad unreasonable, but nothing to lose sleep over.

I think this is the way to see it. Feel good that your writing affects someone so much that they are asking this of you. There's nothing you can to do make sense of it, and responding probably won't accomplishing anything, but you can enjoy the fact you got a response.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Go back to the reader and say, "Sure, I do commissions. Pay me and I'll write what you want."

I'm curious - how long was the list of "this reader wants..."?

 

[8letters]

Go back to the reader and say, "Sure, I do commissions. Pay me and I'll write what you want."

I'm curious - how long was the list of "this reader wants..."?

Full comment:

The author shouldn't have had her fuck Jacob

Maybe if Rebecca hadn't fucked Jacob I would accept her getting with Thomas, but as it stands, it's a big nope from me. If I were Thomas I wouldn't want her back.

It also makes for shitty characterisation, what happened to her resolution to not have sex before marriage?

It makes her come across as weak, and someone not worthy of respect. Not to mention stupid.

She's supposed to have a lot of positive qualities, according to Thomas, but we aren't shown them, rather the opposite.

The story would work better if she hadn't fucked Jacob. His reaction to that, and how he would treat someone not putting out, would have been a good way to show her his flaws and make her reconsider.

I would suggest doing a rewrite and changing it to something more in that vein.

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

That's a new one.

 

[SimonDoom]

Full comment:

In other words:

Re-write your entire story so the characters are likable to me.

Sounds reasonable!

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

I’d suggest they rewrite the story the way they’d like it with my blessing to do so.

Off topic, but congrats on your contest win!

 

[Hypoxia]

We are mini-vacationing at an old favorite locale. Our great dinner spot's online reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but two (total) hated that they didn't serve food not on the menu. Reasonable? Ha.

You served a good meal to someone wanting something else. Their problem, not yours.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Something I thought of. It's not all wetness and woodies - people read stories here to distract them, to create alternate universes preferable to their own. Some of them really get into it.

I remember hearing a bit about one of the popular soaps. One episode had the heroine decide to leave her husband. In the final shot of the episode, she tossed her wedding ring into the garbage can on a train, a recognizable route running between two real cities.

The producers apparently got bags of mail saying, essentially I ride that route myself. I've checked every garbage can on that train for days, but haven't been able to find __'s ring. I'll keep looking!

That you have brought somebody into an alternate, preferable existence speaks well of you.

 

[KeithD]

When I was in high school and riding a bus to school, one of the students I sat with had a sister appearing in one of the soap operations. Guiding Light, I think. She was playing the part of a "sweet but bad" girl who got in with the wrong crowd and did wrong things. The soap ran on TV after we got home from school. The next morning we'd talk about what this sister's character had been up to as we rode to school. The bus was always very quiet as we discussed it. The day the character was found dead and stuffed into the trunk of the car, there was crying all over the bus and the girl on the bus was treated very sympathetically for weeks.

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

One of my brother-sister stories has an ending where the brother and sister don't stay together. The sister at one point lays out all the reasons why their relationship won't work long-term, and in the end she helps her brother and his girlfriend reconcile. I published the story 4 1/2 years ago and it has a 4.72 rating.

I got a comment today:

I'm fine with people not liking the way the story ended, but why would anyone think I'd rewrite a 4 1/2 year old story with a 4.72 rating?

I posted a story, Serendipity, here a year or so ago and so many people hated how I ended it. A few said they understood the ending but hated it. Some said it can't end like that, write more!

It was posted in 4 parts and I think at least 2, 2 and 3, were over 4.5, with chapters 1 and 4 right under. No one rated 4 high because so many people disagreed with my ending and I guess chapter 1 didn't do well because it was a bit slow building the scene and characters.

I did try to write a part 2 because I had so many requests about it not ending like that but I didn't like where it was going so I never finished part 2.

Funny how people just assume we'll read their comment and think, Oh hey they're right! I better go rewrite this the right way now.