Complaint?

R. Richard

Literotica Guru
Joined
Jul 24, 2003
Posts
10,382
I am R. Richard. I have begun posting here and I have some 20 stories posted.

Apparently I have offended/am offending someone in Literotica. Each time I post, I see rather low scores for my stories. The low scores improve each time as more people 'vote.' The only conclusion I can come up with is that someone dislikes me/my stories/my writing style and is 'punishing' me by voting a low score. In general, my scores are in the 4s. I do not seek to offend anyone, but I cannot and will not change my writing style. If a person(s) do not like my stories, why do they just not read them?

Since my scores are my 'pay' for posting my stories, I am concerned.

What can I do? TIA.
 
Hi, R.

Welcome to the Hangout.

Is it possible that some people out there actually think your stories are good but not excellent? And others may think they're crap? I think 4 out of 5 is a great score...

I know it's tough, but you I don't think you can demand pay raises in a case like this.

If low scores affect your ego, you can always turn votes off. Otherwise, I think you complain too much.
 
Lauren.Hynde said:
If low scores affect your ego, you can always turn votes off. Otherwise, I think you complain too much.
Dear R,
What she said.
MG
Ps. You haven't offended anyone at the AH, since you've never posted here before.
 
R...in the fours are good scores(lol...I rhymed)...I wouldn't complain ...:)
 
It's entirely possible that people have no problem with you but don't like your work anyway.
 
Welcome to the Hangout, R.R.

Add a link to your story page in your profile signature and we'll take a look and decide for ourselves. If you're here, you're in good company, but don't think we can't rip each other's stories to shreds if they need improvement. The trick is we'll do that service because we like to see people improve.

So to start with, I believe your first posted story back in July of this year. Biker covers a lot of territory and runs very quick. It does have a few problems with tense and style changes - but it was your first story here.

Woman With the Machine is your latest submission and is much better written. The pace allows the reader to garner a better visual of the scenes. The only thing that disappointed me was the final paragraph switching the tense and jolting me back to the voice of the writer as author where the rest of the story is writer as narrator.

I would recommend not letting a one page limit affect your flow of writing. Other than that, I think you may be flooding your readers with so much to choose from they may be in too much of a hurry getting to the next story to vote.

-FF (hope this helps - and remember, we only pick on those we like)
 
R.R.,

One way to interpret the pattern you see is that someone dosen't like you. Another is that you have begun to build a fan base. When your story first comes out and appears in the new stories list you may get a lot of views from people unfamiliar with you. As your fans begin to read the story and vote it may raise the initial "less than average for you" scores.

-Colly
 
I could see by the ecstasy on Karen's face that my wife had apparently just experienced her first orgasm. I leaned in and softly kissed Karen, as she began to work up to her second orgasm. Karen's only response was to orgasm again.
RR,

The paragraph I just quoted illustrates what could be one of your problems. IMHO, you're telling the reader what you, the narrator, is seeing, experiencing, and feeling. That violates the old "show don't tell" rule and tends to put distance between the story and the reader.

There's also a couple of mechanical things you might want to consider. Every sentence begins with "I" or "Karen." And speaking of Karen, the name appears in every sentence. In one sentence, you refer to her as both Karen and, "my wife." All that repetition can become distracting.

Even if some of this is right, a long shot at best, it's just a supplement to the advice you've gotten from ffreak and others. You have a great imagination but like about 99.9% of us, IMHO, you need to work on some of the mechanics of writing.

Rumple Foreskin
 
And it's also possible, however unlikely that the one scorer thinks that that is the best score.

"why do they just not read them?"

They, as readers, have a certain right of expectation, you as an author have a right to turn off voting.

Gauche
 
R. Richard,

Come on Rich, you do not think you are alone? How many authors get hit by the one bandit? If it bothers you too bad. I like high scores too and seems to be at 4.61 or higher the ones begin to fly. Amazing how many votes you can get in just one night. and doing the math they are all ones. Gotta love it someone cares about thier score being higher. Now that is a waste of time that could be spent writing better stories.

Good thing I write for me and the feed back.
 
R. Richard said:
If a person(s) do not like my stories, why do they just not read them?


And if people don't like George W Bush, why don't they just not vote at all in the next Presidential election?

If people only voted when they thought a story was worth a '5', the whole voting system would be irrelevant.
 
Any score consistently over 4 is worth having.

My scores vary dramatically because what I write is not mainstream on Literotica.

Some of my low scores are for bad writing or for insufficient sex. Some are for being too clever. Some are for being boring. Those remarks are from feedback.

I like my erotic horror story "White Scut" but it holds my record for consistent low scoring and is currently standing at 2.00, the lowest of all the Erotic Horror category. Why? Because it isn't erotic, it isn't horror, and it's about a rabbit and a vixen. General reaction is "It couldn't happen" and if it did "What's the point?"

There are a few people who will vote a story down because it is competing with theirs, there are others who will vote down any story that gets an E or an H perhaps because they are jealous.

Stories tend to get high scores when first posted, get hit by the voting Blue Meanies and then drop dramatically to even out over the longer term. If a story has over 50 votes and is still over 4 or better still over 4.5 then you should be satisfied that it was reasonably popular.

Og (first use of colour in a post from me)
 
I am blinded by Og's dazzling use of colors. I may have to give up posting completely now. :(
 
Jenny _S said:
I am blinded by Og's dazzling use of colors. I may have to give up posting completely now. :(

Please don't do that. I'd miss thinking? about your AV.

Og
 
Thank you for your responses.

I did not mean to come off as a total complainer. I have been getting really nasty, useless feedback that I suspect is from one person. I had hoped to find out more about why I might be getting the feedback. (By nasty I mean: "You can't write!" "Why are you posting this trash?" "This is drivel.")

I would like to thank Ffreak and Rumple Foreskin for the critical feedback. This is what I have been looking for.

Let me add something. I do not mind negative feedback, if the person will tell me what their problem is. While I will NEVER turn it down, positive feedback is pretty much useless if it just says "I liked your story."

I like 5 votes! However, I expect people to vote what they feel regardless if the vote is a 1 or a 5. What upset me is someone who does not like my work who seems to want to punish me for writing my stories. I thought perhaps to get a response from the grumpy one.

As to what some may perceive is my inability to take criticism, I believe you are off base. I grew up in the mean streets of a central city. I was known as "the white kid." The nickname was sufficient to identify me. I was not liked and people at first would threaten me with nasty things such as death. I heeded the criticism and took steps. The problem was finally solved when I got a new nickname: "SIR!" As you can see, I took my criticism and improved myself.
 
Jenny _S said:
OMG ! Does this mean our dear Og is a T & A man?
No, dear. He's simply a woman's man.

Perdita

p.s. to Ogg: My friend and mentor, and former Sh're professor, calls her episodes of depression the Blue Meanies (I suspect because her late husband was Blueish :) )
 
Jenny _S said:
OMG ! Does this mean our dear Og is a T & A man?

T - yes. Some of my stories reveal that, although reading what an author really thinks from what they write is a dangerous exercise.

A - if it means aesthetic which your AV is. I like in- your-face red in women's clothing.

For the Venetian Lady,

Blue Meanies are from the Beatles cartoon film Yellow Submarine but they represent any type of killjoy. In real life I keep reminding myself not to be a Blue Meanie when younger people are enjoying themselves loudly. I can remember what I was like when young and I was, and can still be very noisy. A quarterdeck voice is useful for bringing Annual General Meetings to order. Microphone? What's that for?

I like happy noise. I don't like drunken brawls especially between people too young to drink which in the UK means under 18 years. Seeing drunken 12 year old girls is not pleasant - for them or me.

I try to help get facilities for younger people to enjoy but not if those facilities are to be used to encourage them to drink too much.

Og
 
oggbashan said:
Blue Meanies are from the Beatles cartoon film Yellow Submarine but they represent any type of killjoy.
. . .
I like happy noise.
Dearest Ogg, you flatter me by pointing this out. I not only saw the YS on its release but I also learned 'killjoy' from my WWII vet father.

Happy noise, yes. That's a lovely simple sentence, just want to tell you.

Ah, how I wish I really were a Venetian lady (even a Venetian tart would do ;) ).

Perdita :rose:
 
Back
Top